"LI  B  R.AR.Y 

OF   THE 
UN  IVER.SITY 
OF    ILLINOIS 

92O.O773 
Ail 
1897 


Return  this  book  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below. 


University  of  Illinois  Library 


Jin 


OCT  -' 


i 


• 
AUG14 

JUL08 


J2000 


L161— H41 


ALBUM  OF  GENEALOGY 


AND 


BIOGRAPHY 


COOK  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 


WITH     PORTRAITS 


EIGHTH    EDITION,    REVISED    AND    EXTENDED 


CHICAGO 

CALUMET  BOOK  &  ENGRAVING  CO. 
1897 


THE    CALUMET     PRESS 


PRINTED  BY 

CALL-MET  BOOK  &  ENGRAVING  COMPANY 
170-174  SOUTH  CLINTON  STREET 

CHICAGO 


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PRBFACB 


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(A 


E  BELIEVE  the  time  has  arrived 
when  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the 
people  of  this  county  to  perpetuate 
the  names  of  their  pioneers,  to  fur- 
nish a  record  of  their  early  settle- 
ment,   and   relate   the   story   of  their   progress. 
The  civilization  of  our  day,  the  enlightenment  of 
the  age,  and  the  duty  that  men  of  the  present 
time  owe  to  their  ancestors,  to  themselves  and  to 
their  posterity,  demand  that  a  record  of  their  lives 
and  deeds  should  be  made.    In  biographical  history 
is  found  a  power  to  instruct  man  by  precedent,  to 
enliven  the  mental  faculties,  and  to  waft  down 
the  river  of  time  a  safe  vessel,  in  which  the  names 
and   actions   of  the   people   who  contributed   to 
raise  this  country  from  its  primitive  state  may  be 
preserved.      Surely    and   rapidly   the   great  and 
aged  men,  who  in  their  prime  entered  the  wilder- 
ness and  claimed  the  virgin  soil  as  their  heritage, 
are  passing  to  their  graves.     The  number  remain- 
ing who  can  relate  the  incidents  of  the  first  days 
of  settlement  is  becoming  small  indeed,  so  that 
actual  necessity  exists  for  the  collection  and  pres- 
ervation of  events  without  delay,  before  all  the 
early  settlers  are  cut  down  by  the  scythe  of  Time. 
To  be  forgotten  has  been  the  great  dread  of 
mankind  from  remotest  ages.     All  will  be  forgot- 
ten soon  enough,  in  spite  of  their  best  works  and 
the  most  earnest  efforts  of  their  friends  to  preserve 
the  memory  of  their  lives.     The  means  employed 
to  prevent  oblivion  and  to  perpetuate  their  mem- 
ory have  been  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  intel- 
ligence they  possessed.     The  pyramids  of  Egypt 
were  built  to  perpetuate  the  names  and  deeds  of 
its    great    rulers.      The    exhumations  made   by 
the  archaeologists  of  Egypt  from  buried  Memphis 
indicate  a  desire  of  those  people  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  their  achievements.     The  erection  of 
the   great  obelisks    was    for  the  same  purpose. 
Coming  down  to  a  later  period,  we  find  the  Greeks 
and    Romans   erecting   mausoleums   and    rnonu- 


ments,  and  carving  out  statues  to  chronicle  their 
great  achievements  and  carry  them  down  the 
ages.  It  is  also  evident  that  the  Mound-builders, 
in  piling  up  their  great  mounds  of  earth,  had  but 
this  idea — to  leave  something  to  show  that  they 
had  lived.  All  these  works,  though  many  of 
them  costly  in  the  extreme,  give  but  a  faint  idea 
of  the  lives  and  characters  of  those  whose  memory 
they  were  intended  to  perpetuate,  and  scarcely 
anything  of  the  masses  of  the  people  that  then 
lived.  The  great  pyramids  and  some  of  the 
obelisks  remain  objects  only  of  curiosity;  the 
mausoleums,  monuments  and  statues  are  crumb- 
ling into  dust. 

It.  was  left  to  modern  ages  to  establish  an  intel- 
ligent, undecaying,  immutable  method  of  perpet- 
uating a  full  history — immutable,  in  that  it  is  al- 
most unlimited  in  extent  and  perpetual  in  its  ac- 
tion ;  and  this  is  through  the  art  of  printing. 

To  the  present  generation,  however,  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  introduction  of  the  admirable  sys- 
tem of  local  biography.  By  this  system  every 
man,  though  he  has  not  achieved  what  the  world 
calls  greatness,  has  the  means  to  perpetuate  his 
life,  his  history,  through  the  coming  ages,  for  the 
benefit  of  his  posterity. 

The  scythe  of  Time  cuts  down  all;  nothing  of 
the  physical  man  is  left.  The  monument  which 
his  children  or  friends  may  erect  to  his  memory 
in  the  cemetery  will  crumble  into  dust  and  pass 
away;  but  his  life,  his  achievements,  the  work  he 
has  accomplished,  which  otherwise  would  be  for- 
gotten, is  perpetuated  by  a  record  of  this  kind. 

To  preserve  the  lineaments  of  our  companions 
we  engrave  their  portraits;  for  the  same  reason 
we  collect  the  attainable  facts  of  their  history. 
Nor  do  we  think  it  necessary,  as  we  speak  only 
truth  of  them,  to  wait  until  they  are  dead,  or  un- 
til those  who  knew  them  are  gone;  and  we  need  be 
ashamed  only  of  publishing  the  history  of  those 
whose  lives  are  unworthy  of  public  record. 


'075231 


PREFACE. 


The  greatest  of  English  historians,  MACAU- 
LAY,  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  writers  of  the 
present  century,  has  said:  "The  history  of  a 
country  is  best  told  in  a  record  of  the  lives  of 
its  people."  In  conformity  with  this  idea,  the 
GENEALOGICAL  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  ALBUM  of 
this  county  has  been  prepared.  Instead  of  going 
to  musty  records,  and  taking  therefrom  dry  sta- 
tistical matter  that  can  be  appreciated  by  but  few, 
our  corps  of  writers  have  gone  to  the  people,  the 
men  and  women  who  have,  by  their  enterprise 
and  industry,  brought  the  county  to  a  rank  sec- 
ond to  none  among  those  comprising  this  great 
and  noble  State,  and  from  their  lips  have  ob- 
tained the  story  of  their  life  struggles.  No  more 
interesting  or  instructive  matter  could  be  pre- 
sented to  an  intelligent  public.  In  this  volume 
will  be  found  a  record  of  many  whose  lives  are 
worthy  the  imitation  of  coming  generations.  It 
tells  how  some,  commencing  life  in  poverty,  by 
industry  and  economy  have  accumulated  wealth. 
It  tells  how  others,  with  limited  advantages  for 
securing  an  education,  have  become  learned 
men  and  women,  with  an  influence  extending 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land.  It  tells  of  men  who  have  risen  from  the 
lower  walks  of  life  to  eminence  as  statesmen,  and 
whose  names  have  become  famous.  It  tells  of 
those  in  every  walk  in  life  who  have  striven  to  suc- 
ceed, and  records  how  success  has  usually  crowned 
their  efforts.  It  tells  also  of  many,  very  many, 
who,  not  seeking  the  applause  of  the  world,  have 
pursued  "the  even  tenor  of  their  way,"  content 
to  have  it  said  of  them,  as  Christ  said  of  the 
woman  performing  a  deed  of  mercy — "They  have 
done  what  they  could."  It  tells  how  that  many 


in  the  pride  and  strength  of  young  manhood  left 
the  plow  and  the  anvil,  the  lawyer's  office  and 
the  counting-room,  left  ever}-  trade  and  pro- 
fession, and  at  their  country's  call  went  forth 
valiantly  "to  do  or  die,"  and  how  through  their 
efforts  the  Union  was  restored  and  peace  once 
more  reigned  in  the  land.  In  the  life  of  every 
man  and  of  every  woman  is  a  lesson  that  should 
not  be  lost  to  those  who  follow  after. 

Coming  generations  will  appreciate  this  vol- 
ume and  preserve  it  as  a  sacred  treasure,  from 
the  fact  that  it  contains  so  much  that  would  never 
find  its  way  into  public  records,  and  which  would 
otherwise  be  inaccessible.  Great  care  has  been 
taken  in  the  compilation  of  the  work,  and  every 
opportunity  possible  given  to  those  represented  to 
insure  correctness  in  what  has  been  written;  and 
the  publishers  flatter  themselves  that  they  give 
to  their  readers  a  work  with  few  errors  of  conse- 
quence. In  addition  to  the  biographical  sketches, 
portraits  of  a  number  of  representative  citizens 
are  given. 

The  faces  of  some,  and  biographical  sketches 
of  many,  will  be  missed  in  this  volume.  For  this 
the  publishers  are  not  to  blame.  Not  having  a 
proper  conception  of  the  work,  some  refused  to 
give  the  information  necessary  to  compile  a  sketch, 
while  others  were  indifferent.  Occasionally  some 
member  of  the  family  would  oppose  the  enter- 
prise, and  on  account  of  such  opposition  the 
support  of  the  interested  one  would  be  withheld. 
In  a  few  instances  men  could  never  be  found, 
though  repeated  calls  were  made  at  their  resi- 
dences or  places  of  business. 

CALUMET  BOOK  &  ENGRAVING  CO. 


ADDENDA. 


The  preparation  of  this  volume  has  involved  the  labor  of  several  years.      Since  the  pages 
were  stereotyped,  several  of  the  subjects  of  biographies  have  passed  away. 

Among  these  are  : 

A.  G.  HURLEY     ..........        page  227 

I.  N.  CAMP,              546 

E.  H.  CASTLE,            544 

J.  D.  CATON,                                                115 

REV.  OTTO  GROENEBAUM,           ........  622 

C.  M.  HENDERSON, 391 

EDSON  KEITH,            53 

M.  N.   KlMBELL,                                     528 

T.  E.  LEWIS, 297 

ORRINGTON  LUNT,          .........  503 

JAMES  MCMAHON,                .........  181 

GEORGE  M.  PULLMAN,          ...                                      .  231 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Ills  CenturyBjllisMnj  4  Zi  -ica£° 


J.  R.  HOXIE. 


JOHN  R,  HOXIE. 


(JOHN  RANDOLPH  HOXIE.  Chicago,  the 
I  Queen  of  our  Great  West,  is  indebted  for  its 
G)  marvelous  growth  and  rapid  development, 
which  have  caused  the  whole  world  to  acknowl- 
edge its  commercial  greatness,  to  a  few  men, 
who,  to  lay  the  foundations  of  metropolitan  su- 
premacy, gave  the  best  of  their  heart's  blood, 
their  brain  power,  and  nerve  forces.  The  ma- 
jority have  as  their  reward  wealth  or  honor,  but 
few  have  both.  Among  the  active  business  men 
who  have  acquired  both  was  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  who  obtained  it  through  close  attention 
to  business,  and  unswerving  integrity  and  up- 
rightness of  character. 

John  R.  Hoxie  was  born  December  13,  1831, 
in  Macedon,  near  Rochester,  New  York,  and  his 
parents  were  Cornelius  and  Anna  (Brawnell) 
Hoxie.  He  received  a  partial  education  in  the 
Macedon  Academy,  but  as  his  tastes  impelled 
him  to  use  every  opportunity  for  learning  busi- 
ness ways,  his  schooldays  were  thus  cut  short. 
Many  stories  of  his  youthful  trading  propensities 
illustrate  his  ability  in  doing  well  for  himself,  and 
in  him  could  plainly  be  seen  the  future  financier 
and  business  man.  On  one  occasion  he  wished 
to  buy  a  fish-hook,  but  as  his  finances  were  low, 
he  applied  to  the  banker  of  the  town,  who  lent 
him  three  cents.  After  catching  and  disposing  of 
the  fish  he  very  promptly  paid  his  debt,  thus 
winning  the  esteem  of  his  creditor.  At  the  age 
of  fourteen  years  he  bought  all  the  turkeys  in  the 
neighborhood  and  realized  a  handsome  profit  on 
them.  At  seventeen  years  of  age  he  was  able  to 
buy  his  "time"  or  independence  from  his  father, 
for  one  thousand  dollars.  He  was  always  pru- 


dent with  his  earnings,  and  many  times  walked 
from  Albany  to  Rochester  to  save  the  fare  by 
stage. 

Mr.  Hoxie  became  a  sub-contractor  on  the 
Niagara  Falls  Railroad  at  an  early  age,  and  later 
was  in  the  same  position  on  the  Staten  Island 
Railroad.  While  in  the  latter  position  the  yellow 
fever  began  raging  and  he  was  quarantined,  but 
finally  escaped  to  the  mainland.  After  spending 
nearly  two  years  in  Virginia  he  returned  to 
Rochester,  New  York,  where  he  became  a  dealer 
in  live  stock,  which  he  shipped  over  the  Michigan 
Southern  and  other  Railroads.  His  fame  as  a 
man  of  great  business  tact  and  ability  spread 
over  many  States,  and  in  1857  he  received  an 
offer  to  assist  in  the  management  of  the  shipping 
business  of  the  Michigan  Southern  Railroad,  with 
headquarters  in  Chicago.  This  offer  was  re- 
ceived by  telegram,  and  hastily  packing  his 
satchel,  he  told  his  mother  he  would  return  in  a 
few  days;  but  the  days  lengthened  into  weeks, 
months,  and  years,  and  he  did  not  return  home 
until  1862.  The  officers  of  the  company  recog- 
nized his  ability,  and  the  position  of  stock  agent 
was  offered  him,  which  he  accepted  and  retained 
during  his  connection  with  the  road. 

At  this  time  the  company  was  almost  bankrupt, 
but  Mr.  Hoxie  infused  new  life  into  the  business 
by  building  up  the  freight  traffic,  thus  saving  it 
from  financial  ruin.  For  this  service  the  com- 
pany was  ever  truly  grateful,  and  he  was  retained 
in  office  long  after  his  active  interest  ceased. 
Largely  through  his  influence  the  Railroad  was 
able  to  retain  its  controlling  interest  in  the  Union 
Stock  Yards,  and  the  profits  from  the  tremendous 


8 


J.  R.  HOXIE. 


traffic  in  live  stock  thus  brought  to  it.  When  a 
combined  effort  was  made  by  the  other  roads  to 
induce  Mr.  Hoxie  to  retire  from  the  service  of  the 
Michigan  Southern,  he  declined  every  consider- 
ation offered  him,  and  remained  faithful  through 
all  temptation. 

From  early  morning  until  late  eve  did  he  labor 
in  the  interest  of  this  road,  and  this  was  practi- 
cally his  life  work.  He  foresaw  great  possibilities 
in  its  future,  and  steadily  strove  to  carry  it  for- 
ward to  its  destiny.  His  nature  rejoiced  in 
victory  over  opposition,  and  the  sharp  competition 
he  often  met  was  refreshing  to  his  restless  spirit, 
and  a  stimulus  to  greater  exertions.  He  loved 
work  for  its  own  sake,  not  for  praise  and  reward. 
In  the  end,  however,  he  paid  the  usual  penalty 
for  living  under  such  high  pressure,  by  the  in- 
vasion of  sickness  and  premature  death.  His 
nature  could  not  rest,  and  though  his  life  was 
shorter,  he  accomplished  much  more  than  the 
majority  of  business  men. 

Though  an  extremely  busy  man,  he  was  al- 
ways cheerful,  and  liked  the  society  of  his  fel- 
lows. He  was,  however,  a  stranger  to  the 
fashionable  clubs,  and  made  his  home  the  scene 
of  his  rest  and  recreation.  His  wife  was  a 
worthy  life  companion,  and  her  delight  was  to 
make  the  home  pleasant,  having  a  serene  manner, 
a  contented  disposition,  and  being  a  great  help  to 
her  husband  in  curbing  his  great  ambition  and 
teaching  him  the  lessons  of  patience. 

As  soon  as  he  was  able  Mr.  Hoxie  began  to 
invest  money  in  securities,  and  so  good  was  his 
foresight  that  he  became  wealthy.  In  1878  he 
bought  a  large  grant  of  laud  from  the  heirs  of 
Dr.  Hoxie,  a  veteran  of  the  Texan  and  the  Mexi- 
can Wars,  and  an  army  surgeon  under  General 
Houston.  This  grant  embraced  ten  thousand 
acres  of  land  in  Williamson  County,  Texas,  to 
which  he  added  another  purchase  of  seven  thou- 
sand acres.  It  is  situated  thirty-five  miles  from 
Austin,  and  six  thousand  acres  of  it  have  been 
cultivated,  and  fifty  families  reside  on  it. 

Mr.  Hoxie  also  bought  fifty-two  thousand 
acres  of  land  at  Midland,  Texas,  in  the  Counties 
of  Martin  and  Andrews,  this  land  being  used  for 
grazing.  Beside  his  mansion  on  Michigan  Ave- 


nue, he  had  a  country  home  twenty- one  miles 
south  of  Chicago,  which  included  seven  hundred 
fifty-seven  acres  of  land.  Here  he  spent  many 
hours  away  from  the  cares  of  business  life,  and 
lived  close  to  the  heart  of  Nature.  On  all  his 
farms  he  has  kept  the  buildings  in  excellent 
repair,  having  built  many  new  ones.  Unlike 
most  business  men,  he  early  instructed  his  wife 
in  the  details  of  his  affairs,  being  animated  by  the 
principle  that  what  was  his  also  belonged  to  her. 
To  this  wise  precaution  his  widow  now  largely 
owes  her  ability  to  manage  the  property  with 
such  success. 

Mr.  Hoxie  made  annual  trips  to  his  possessions 
in  the  South,  and  to  every  one  of  these  Texas 
owed  some  improvement,  and  he  many  times 
used  his  influence  in  opening  some  avenue  of 
commerce.  In  1887  he  decided  to  retire  from 
business,  but  never  fully  carried  out  his  intention. 
When  he  was  in  Texas  he  made  his  headquarters 
at  Fort  Worth  and  there  he  was  held  in  high  es- 
teem by  all  the  inhabitants,  and  especially  the 
business  men.  Prior  to  his  coming  to  this  town 
the  business  was  very  dull,  but  he  inspired  confi- 
dence by  organizing  the  Farmers  and  Mechanics' 
National  Bank,  with  a  capital  of  one  million 
dollars.  He  was  the  president  of  this  bank  and 
also  of  the  First  National  Bank  at  Taylor, Texas. 
He  was  connected  with  twenty  other  banks  in  this 
State,  his  influence  and  standing  giving  them 
power  to  exist. 

In  1891,  at  the  urgent  request  of  the  citizens 
of  Fort  Worth,  he  organized  Stock  Yards  and 
Packing  Houses,  and  the  next  year  passed  through 
a  strike  which  made  his  presence  at  the  yards 
necessary.  This  was  such  a  severe  strain  on  his 
finely  organized  nervous  constitution  that  he 
never  recovered  his  former  health.  A  small  bene- 
fit was  gained  at  Carlsbad  Springs,  Germany  ,but 
nothing  could  entirely  stay  the  ravages  of  the 
disease,  diabetes,  from  which  his  death  resulted. 
He  passed  away  November  21,  1896. 

Mr.  Hoxie  was  a  talented  man,  and  had  many 
charming  traits  of  character.  His  influence  was 
ever  for  good  and  his  advice  in  municipal  affairs 
was  often  sought  and  freely  given.  He  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Hyde  Park  and  a 


LEONARD  SWETT. 


school  trustee  in  the  town  of  Lake.  During  the 
centennial  year  he  was  a  candidate  for  Congress 
on  the  Democratic  ticket,  but  was  defeated. 
Though  he  never  afterward  held  any  office  his  in- 
fluence was  such  that  he  controlled  many  positions 
of  trust  and  responsibility.  His  rare  wit  and 
skillful  repartee  may  be  said  to  be  gifts  inherited 
from  his  mother,  well-known  for  her  good  sense 
and  quick  perception. 

Mr.  Hoxie  became  interested  in  the  Chicago 
City  Railway  Company  and  was  instrumental  in 
extending  the  cable  lines,  being  for  many  years 
one  of  the  largest  individual  stockholders.  He 
was  many  times  the  youngest  member  of  various 
boards  of  management,  where  he  was  neverthe- 
less recognized  as  a  born  leader.  His  associates 
often  called  him  "Boy",  among  these  being  such 
men  as  Silas  B.  Cobb,  Daniel  Jones,  Solomon 
Sturges,  Lyman  Blair,  John  DeKoven,  Samuel 
Nickerson,  Lyman  J.  Gage,  John  B.  Sherman, 
P.  D.  Armour,  Samuel  Allerton,  and  others 
equally  well-known .  He  was  called  the  ' '  Mogul ' ' 
of  the  Stock  Yards  Railroad  along  Fortieth  street, 
which  was  secured  by  his  indefatigable  energy. 


In  his  business  methods  Mr.  Hoxie  was  unlike 
the  average  man.  Though  possessed  of  sufficient 
ability  to  carry  on  numerous  vast  business  enter- 
prises at  the  same  time,  he  never  used  books  to 
record  his  transactions,  but  so  carefully  was 
everything  systematized  that  he  suffered  no  loss 
from  this  fact.  His  was  an  eccentric  character, 
but  he  was  no  recluse,  and  enjoyed  rare  friend- 
ships. He  was  well-known  in  Masonic  circles, 
having  attained  the  thirty-second  degree.  His 
wealth  was  accumulated  in  a  legitimate  way,  and 
his  only  extravagance  was  indulged  in  providing 
for  the  comfort  of  his  family.  In  religious 
belief  he  was  a  Quaker,  and  helped  build  and 
maintain  the  church  at  Twenty-sixth  Street  and 
Indiana  Avenue.  The  principles  of  his  forefathers 
seemed  to  be  the  guide  and  rule  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Hoxie  was  married  October  22,  1872,  to 
Mary  J.,  daughter  of  P.  D.  Hamilton.  Among 
the  Quakers  she  was  known  as  "John's  wife. "but 
her  husband  always  spoke  of  her  with  deference 
as  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Hoxie.  Their  union  was  blessed 
by  three  children,  namely:  John  R.,  Junior, 
Gilbert  H.  and  Anna  C. 


LEONARD  SWETT. 


I  EONARD  SWETT  was  born  August  n, 
1C  1825,  near  the  village  of  Turner,  Oxford 
\  J  County,  Maine,  on  what  was  known  as 
Swett's  Hill.  This  hill  slopes  in  all  directions, 
and  constitutes  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spots  in 
New  England,  and  has  ever  since  been  owned 
by  the  family.  His  father,  John  Swett,  was  born 
in  Gorham,  Maine,  February  4,  1789,  and  mar- 
ried Remember  Berry,  on  August  29,  1816.  The 
latter  was  born  at  Buckfield,  Maine,  December 
22,  1794.  They  settled  after  their  marriage  on 
the  above-named  hill,  and  lived  and  died  there. 
The  father  was  seventy  years  old,  and  the  mother 
in  her  eighty-ninth  year  at  the  date  of  their 
respective  deaths. 


Leonard  Swett's  grandfather  was  John  Adams 
Swett,  named  for  his  mother,  who  was  Sarah 
Adams,  a  descendant  of  John  Quincy  Adams, 
President.  John  Adams  Swett  was  born  June  23, 
1763,  and  died  July  14,  1844.  He  married  Betsey 
Warren,  who  was  born  June  28,  1763,  and  died 
June  3,  1846. 

Leonard  Swett's  great-grandfather  was  Dr. 
Stephen  Swett,  born  at  Durham,  New  Hampshire, 
and  died  in  Otisfield,  in  1808.  He  married  Sarah 
Adams,  who  was  born  in  Durham,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  died  in  1807.  They  were  married  at 
Durham  in  1757. 

Mr.  Swett,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  died 
June  8.  1889.  He  married  Laura  R.  Quigg,  of 


10 


LEONARD  SWETT. 


Bradford,  Massachusetts,  July  20,  1854,  and  they 
had  one  son,  Leonard  H.  Swett.  March  5,  1886, 
his  wife  died,  and  July  14,  1887,  he  married 
Marie  A.  H.  Decker,  who  survives  him. 

Leonard  Swett  was  the  second  son  and  fourth 
child  of  his  parents,  and  they  conceived  the  idea, 
at  an  early  date,  of  giving  him  a  better  education 
than  the  town  afforded,  consequently  he  was  sent 
to  select  schools  in  the  vicinity,  and  completed 
his  education  at  North  Yarmouth  Academy  and 
Waterville  College,  now  Colby  University.  He 
then  read  law  for  two  years  with  Messrs.  How- 
ard &  Shepley,  at  Portland,  Maine,  and  started 
in  the  world  to  seek  his  fortune.  At  first  he 
traveled  in  the  South  for  nearly  a  year,  then,  with 
the  spirit  of  adventure,  he  volunteered  as  a  sol- 
dier in  the  Mexican  War,  and  was  under  General 
Scott  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  City  of  Mexico. 
The  war  closed  in  May,  1848,  when  Mr.  Swett 
returned  and  settled  at  Bloomington,  Illinois.  He 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the 
fall  of  1849,  and  gave  to  that  profession  the  labor 
of  a  life.  He  was  in  indifferent  health,  on  ac- 
count of  a  disease  contracted  in  Mexico,  which 
rendered  it  impracticable  for  him  to  sit  in  an  office 
and  do  office  work,  and,  therefore,  at  first  he 
commenced  to  travel  the  circuit.  The  bar  of  that 
circuit,  the  eighth  at  that  time,  embraced  many 
men  of  marked  ability,  some  of  whom  have  since 
acquired  a  national  reputation.  David  Davis, 
since  distinguished  as  a  judge  of  the  supreme 
court  and  a  senator  of  the  United  States,  was  the 
judge  from  1849  to  1862.  Abraham  Lincoln,  for 
two  years  a  member  of  congress,  and  afterwards 
known  to  the  world  as  the  martyred  President 
and  the  emancipator  of  a  race,  was  one  of  its 
lawyers.  Edward  D.  Baker,  a  member  of  con- 
gress from  the  Sangamon  District,  also  afterward 
from  the  Galena  District,  later  a  distinguished 
citizen  of  California,  and  a  senator  of  the  United 
States  from  Oregon,  who  died  leading  his  men  at 
the  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  in  the  Civil  War,  was 
also  one  of  its  lawyers.  There  were  also  Edward 
Hannagan  and  Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  since  sena- 
tors from  Indiana,  who  attended  the  eastern  part 
of  the  circuit,  and  Stephen  T.  Logan,  John  T. 
Stuart,  U.  F.  Linder  and  Oliver  L.  Davis.  The 


sessions  commenced  the  ist  of  September,  and 
ended  about  the  ist  of  January.  The  spring 
circuit  commenced  about  February  and  ended  in 
June.  In  a  life  with'  these  men  and  upon  this 
circuit,  Mr.  Swett  spent  his  time  from  1849  to 
1862.  The  lawyers  would  arrive  at  a  county  seat 
of  from  five  hundred  to  two  thousand  inhabitants, 
and  the  clients  and  public  came  in  from  the  coun- 
try adjoining  at  about  the  same  time.  The  law- 
yers were  employed  in  such  suits  as  were  then 
pending  in  court,  and  the  trials  were  immediately 
begun.  After  from  three  days  to  a  week  spent 
in  this  manner,  the  court  would  adjourn  and  the 
cavalcade  start  for  the  adjoining  county  seat,  when 
the  same  processes  would  be  repeated.  Twice 
a  year  fourteen  counties  were  traversed  in  this 
way,  and  in  this  manner  Mr.  Swett  received  his 
earlier  legal  education.  David  Davis,  in  a  speech 
at  Springfield,  said  in  substance  that  this  time 
constituted  the  bright  spot  of  his  life.  In  this 
expression  he  would  doubtless  be  joined  by  every 
man  named,  most  of  whom  now  live  beyond  the 
river. 

In  1865  Mr.  Swett  moved  to  Chicago,  where 
he  soon  acquired  a  prominent  and  leading  position 
as  a  lawyer.  During  his  life  in  the  country,  in 
Illinois,  he  took  an  active  part  in  politics,  taking 
part  in  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  and 
canvassed  nearly  the  whole  state  in  the  years 
1852,  1854,  1856,  1858  and  1860.  He,  however, 
held  but  one  office,  which  was  that  of  member  of 
the  legislature,  in  1858  and  1859,  and  this  was  at 
the  special  request  of  Lincoln  himself,  to  save  to 
the  latter  the  vote  of  McLean  County.  That 
county  at  the  previous  election  had  been  carried 
by  four  votes.  Lincoln  thought  Swett  could  be 
elected,  and  asked  him  to  run.  He  did  so,  car- 
rying the  county  by  nearly  five  hundred  majority. 
He  then  engaged  earnestly  in  the  work  of  secur- 
ing the  nomination  of  Abraham  Lincoln  for  Pres- 
ident, writing  to  public  men  and  organizing  other 
workers.  The  three  men  who  did  more  than  all 
others  to  make  Mr.  Lincoln  the  nominee  in  1860 
were  Leonard  Swett,  David  Davis  and  Norman 
B.  Judd;  and  the  two  men  who  were  closest  of  all 
to  Mr.  Lincoln  until  his  death  were  Swett  and 
Davis.  Norman  B.  Judd  was  given  a  foreign 


LEONARD  SWETT. 


ii 


mission,  David  Davis  was  made  supreme  judge, 
but  Leonard  Swett  declined  to  take  office  under 
the  administration.  He  was  closer  to  Lincoln's 
innermost  thoughts  and  sympathies  than  any  man 
in  the  world.  He  was  much  like  Lincoln  in  per- 
son, complexion  and  manner,  so  much  so  that  he 
was  often  mistaken  for  the  President  in  Washing- 
ton, and  he  was  much  of  the  Lincoln  mould,  in- 
tellectually. 

It  has  often  been  remarked  that  intimate  as 
Lincoln  was  with  Leonard  Swett,  he  never  gave 
him  any  office,  and  Swett  was  often  asked  the 
reason  why.  He  always  evaded  the  question, 
but,  in  a  letter  to  W.  H.  Herndon,  the  author  of 
the  "  Life  of  Lincoln,"  written  a  short  time  before 
Mr.  Swett  died,  the  latter  explained  this  fact: 
When  David  Davis  was  a  candidate  for  the  su- 
preme bench,  soon  after  Lincoln's  election  to  the 
presidency,  he  was  opposed  by  a  senator  of  great 
influence,  named  Browning,  whom  Lincoln  was 
almost  ready  to  appoint.  Leonard  Swett  was  a 
warm  friend  of  David  Davis,  and,  going  to  the 
president,  he  said:  "  If  you  will  give  that  place 
to  Davis  I  will  take  it  as  one-half  for  him  and 
one-half  for  myself,  and  never  again  will  ask  you 
for  anything."  David  Davis  got  the  appoint- 
ment, and  Leonard  Swett  was  true  to  his  word. 
He  said,  not  long  before  his  death,  that  he  was 
always  glad  he  kept  out  of  office. 

After  his  removal  to  Chicago,  he  devoted  him- 
self exclusively  to  his  profession,  and  absolutely 
ignored  politics.  Mr.  Swett  was  distinguished  as 
successful  in  the  trial  of  causes,  in  fact,  he  did 
little  else  during  his  professional  life.  In  Chicago 
the  most  important  cases  were  intrusted  to  him, 
and  it  was  a  rare  thing  that  he  lost  one  of  them. 
The  reason  of  this  was,  that  he  attended  to  the 
details  of  the  preparation  personally,  himself  see- 
ing and  talking  with  his  witnesses,  so  that  when 
the  cause  was  heard  in  court  it  fitted  together 
' '  without  noise  of  axe  or  hammer. ' ' 

His  business,  in  the  main,  was  in  civil  cases; 
for  instance,  Thomas  A.  Scott,  during  the  war, 
employed  him  for  the  Quicksilver  Mining  Com- 
pany to  go  to  California  to  get  possession  of 
the  great  quicksilver  mine  near  San  Jose,  after 
an  adverse  decision  in  reference  to  the  Almaden 


claim.  This  country  acquired  by  the  treaty  of 
Guadeloupe  Hidalgo,  at  the  close  of  the  Mexican 
War,  a  large  tract  of  land,  now  embracing  many 
States  and  Territories,  described  by  boundaries, 
and  our  Government  agreed,  wherever  individu- 
als owned  lands  within  these  boundaries,  it  would 
issue  to  such  parties  a  patent.  Under  the  Mexi- 
ican  law  there  were  two  kinds  of  titles,  a  mineral 
title,  or  a  right  to  what  the  land  contained  under 
the  surface,  and  a  surface  title.  One  man  might 
own  one  title  and  another  man  the  other.  We 
have  but  one,  the  surface,  and  one  owning  that 
owns  all  above  and  below.  The  Barons  had  a 
mineral  title  to  what  they  called  the  Almaden 
mine,  and  had  made,  prior  to  the  decision,  im- 
mense improvements.  Justos  Larios  owned  the 
surface  title,  and  this  was  bought,  and  the  Quick- 
silver Mining  Company  was  organized  upon  this 
title.  In  1863  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  decided  that  the  Baron  title  was  a  forgery. 
The  quicksilver  claim  of  Justos  Larios  had  not 
been  heard,  and  this  left  this  property  of  immense 
value  belonging  either  to  the  Government  or  to 
the  quicksilver  company.  A  contract  was  made 
between  the  Government  and  the  quicksilver 
compan}',  by  which  a  possession  might  be  taken, 
which  should  be  joint  as  between  the  Government 
and  said  mining  companj-,  and  Mr.  Swett  was 
appointed  by  President  Lincoln  to  go  to  California 
and  acquire  this  joint  possession,  it  being  under- 
stood that  he  would  offer  the  Barons  one  million 
dollars  for  their  improvements.  It  was  also  a  con- 
dition of  this  agreement  that  the  proceeds  of  the 
mine  should  be  deposited  in  the  mint  at  San  Fran- 
cisco until  the  termination  of  the  litigation  between 
the  Government  and  the  Quicksilver  Mining  Com- 
pany. He  went  to"  California,  arriving  there 
May  19,  1863,  and  leaving  September  14,  having, 
by  aid  of  the  courts  and  negotiations,  secured  the 
possession  of  the  mine.  Although  Mr.  Swett 
maintained  a  large  office  at  Chicago,  he,  occasion- 
ally, at  home  and  abroad,  defended  persons  from 
criminal  accusations,  when  the  defense  presented 
something  attractive.  In  the  vindication  of  honor, 
or  if,  upon  the  common  frailty  of  the  race,  an  act 
was  done,  he  was  a  most  accomplished  and  effect- 
ive advocate  for  the  accused.  He  dealt,  like  a 


12 


LEONARD  SWETT. 


mental  philosopher,  with  the  purposes  of  the 
mind  of  the  accused,  and  revealed  to  the  compre- 
hension of  the  court  and  jury  the  mysterious  in- 
fluences which  produced  the  act  of  the  party. 
He  tried  the  will,  purpose  and  intent,  and  not  the 
mere  physical  act  upon  which  the  charge  was 
founded.  His  mind  delighted  in  the  beautiful 
philosophy  of  the  law;  he  dealt  with  its  spirit,  not 
with  its  letter.  In  this  manner,  in  thirty-six 
years,  he  defended  twenty  men  for  murder,  en- 
tirely clearing  eighteen  and  two  escaping  with 
light  punishment  in  the  penitentiary. 

He  was  called  out  of  the  city  in  criminal  cases 
from  Hartford,  Connecticut,  to  defend  the  officers 
of  the  Charter  Oak  Life  Insurance  Company  for 
conspiracy;  to  Denver,  where,  with  Hon.  Thomas 
Patterson,  he  defended  Stickney,  who  shot  a  man 
in  a  fit  of  jealousy,  killing  also  a  young  and  at- 
tractive woman;  and  to  Yankton,  where  he  de- 
fended Wintermute  for  the  killing  of  McCook. 

His  style  in  a  trial  was  simply  the  abnegation 
of  every  consideration  except  winning  that  case. 
To  this  he  sacrificed  everything.  His  style  of 
speaking  was  earnest  and  convincing.  He  was 
the  Chicago  counsel  for  the  Union  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  Company,  of  Maine,  and  distinguished 
himself  by  gaining  a  suit  for  that  company  against 
the  Chicago  University,  which  had  become  fa- 
mous in  the  legal  reports  for  its  knotty  problems 
of  law  and  equity. 

On  the  2ist  of  June,  1888,  he  made  the  nom- 
inating speech  for  Walter  Q.  Gresham  for  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Swett's  address 
was  an  independent  utterance,  touching  in  an 
extremely  effective  manner  the  salient  qualities 
of  the  individual  eulogized,  and  also  those  points 
in  his  public  career  which  "had  brought  him  so 
prominently  before  the  people  as  a  possible  presi- 
dential candidate. 

In  private  life  Mr.  Swett  was  a  man  of  social 
disposition  and  strong  attachments.  He  was  a 
pleasant  companion  and  a  warm  and  steadfast 
friend,  and  was  generous  almost  to  a  fault.  His 
nature  was  kind,  genial  and  sympathetic,  and  his 
social  intercourse  was  enlivened  by  so  many  gen- 
erous and  endearing  qualities,  that  it  won  for  him 
the  affectionate  regard  of  those  who  knew  him 


intimately  to  an  extraordinary  degree.  In  person 
he  was  imposing;  six  feet  two  inches  in  height, 
and  weighing,  when  in  health,  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  pounds  or  more.  He  possessed  a 
strong  face,  with  heavy,  bushy,  black  eyebrows, 
over-hanging  deep-set  brown  eyes,  sparkling  and 
brilliant,  but  kindly  withal.  An  expansive,  in- 
tellectual forehead  betokened  his  strength  of 
character.  His  voice  was  extremely  rich  and 
musical,  and  always  pleasant  to  listen  to. 

The  Chicago  Bar,  by  Frank  B.  Wilkie,  said  of 
him  the  following: 

"  As  a  speaker  he  had  few  or  no  superiors  at 
the  bar.  He  required  scarcely  any  preparation  to 
make  a  speech  on  any  subject.  He  saw  a  case 
clearly,  and  had  the  faculty  of  presenting  it  with 
equal  clearness.  He  had  that  tendency  toward 
amplification  found  in  all  true  orators,  and  by 
whose  aid  he  presented  a  single  point  in  so  many 
salient  aspects,  that  it  became  as  apparent  as  sun- 
light to  his  auditory.  This  ability  to  not  only 
clearly  present  a  point,  but  to  restate  it  and  reit- 
erate it  under  a  slightly  changed  form  up  to  a 
boundary  where  it  becomes  thoroughly  under- 
stood, and  yet,  which  is  not  carried  beyond  into 
the  region  of  verbosity  and  tiresome  and  useless 
reiteration,  is  one  of  a  high  order,  and  it  is  one 
which  Mr.  Swett  seemed  to  possess  to  perfection. 
Its  due  and  judicious  exercise  requires  an  accur- 
ate knowledge  of  the  men  whom  it  is  employed 
upon,  and  the  precise  ideas  and  illustrations  which 
are  demanded  by  their  comprehension.  Mr.  Swett 
had  all  these  qualities,  and  the  additional  one  of 
being  an  excellent  logician  and  an  admirable 
manager,  who  thus  not  only  knew  what  should 
be  presented,  but  the  very  best  form  in  which  the 
presentation  should  be  made. 

"Possibly  the  not  least  remarkable  feature  of 
his  oratorical  power  was  his  ability  to  employ 
pathos.  Herein,  when  occasion  required,  he  rose 
to  a  most  effective  level.  He  was  both  rhetorical 
and  natural  in  this  direction,  the  former  being  to 
some  extent  a  sequence  to  the  latter,  in  that  he 
felt  what  he  said,  and  therein,  as  usually  happens, 
was  eloquent.  He  was  exceedingly  happy  in  the 
use  of  this  powerful  element.  When  in  this  mood 
he  smote  the  rock  of  men's  hidden  emotions,  and 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


F.  FRANK  F.  HENNING 


F.  F.   HENNING. 


obediently  as  in  the  case  of  Moses,  the  waters 
gushed  forth  in  response  to  the  summons.  From 
the  possession  of  this  subtle  power  to  touch  ef- 
fectively men's  emotional  natures,  Mr.  Swett  had 
what  the  world  would  suspect  from  seeing  him, 
and  that  was  a  powerful  element  of  poetry  in  his 
character.  This  was  true;  and  its  existence  was 
not  only  the  source  of  his  power  to  touch  the 
hearts  of  others,  but  it  refined  his  nature  and 
gave  him  a  chivalry  that  exhibited  itself  in  a  lofty 
regard  for  women,  an  integrity  in  business  mat- 


ters that  could  not  be  disturbed,  and  a  kindly  con- 
sideration that  leavened  all  his  intercourse  with 
others.  In  fine,  the  poetical  quality,  while  it  in- 
troduced no  element  of  effeminacy  in  his  char- 
acter, while  it  did  not  detract  from  his  masculine 
vigor  or  interfere  with  his  comprehensive  ability, 
softened  his  naturally  rugged  make-up,  and  gave 
him  an  efficient  refinement. ' '  Leonard  Swett  was 
one  of  nature's  noblemen,  and  worthy  to  be  re- 
membered as  Abraham  Lincoln's  most  trusted 
friend. 


FRANK  F.  HENNING. 


f~RANK  F.  HENNING,  President  of  the 
rft  German-American  Hospital,  of  Chicago, 
I  has  been  connected  with  business  interests 
and  philanthropic  institutions  in  that  city  for  a 
third  of  a  century.  He  was  born  May  3,  1840, 
in  the  city  of  Gransee,  Germany,  and  is  the 
eldest  son  of  Frederick  and  Henriette  (Kanow) 
Henning.  The  family  is  of  Swiss  descent,  the  an- 
cestors having  left  Switzerland  about  1780,  on 
account  of  religious  persecutions. 

Frederick  Henning  and  his  wife  were  natives 
of  the  same  part  of  Germany  as  their  son,  Frank 
F.  He  was  by  trade  a  harness-maker,  but  later 
cultivated  a  farm  and,  about  1848,  decided  to 
emigrate  to  America,  but  as  his  father  objected, 
he  went  into  the  country  and  bought  a  farm, 
which  he  conducted  until  he  came  to  the  United 
States.  In  1855,  the  parents,  with  six  children, 
sailed  from  Bremen  on  the  sailing  ship  '  'Othien, ' ' 
and  five  weeks  later  landed  at  New  York.  They 
came  to  Chicago,  and  after  remaining  a  week,  re- 
moved to  Port  Washington,  Wisconsin. 

They  finally  settled  about  six  miles  from  Mani- 
towoc,  Wisconsin,  where  Frederick  Henning 
bought  one  hundred  sixty  acres  of  timber  land, 
which  he  cleared,  and  cultivated  several  years. 
He  is  now  living  retired  in  Manitowoc.  Of  his 
ten  children  six  were  born  in  the  Fatherland  and 
four  in  Wisconsin.  Only  five  of  these  are  now 


living,  namely:  Frank  F. ,  the  eldest;  Paulina, 
now  Mrs.  Schroeder;  Henrietta,  wife  of  George 
Bodmer,  of  Chicago;  Emma  and  Matilda.  The 
mother  died  in  1893,  aged  eighty-four  years,  and 
the  father  has  reached  the  age  of  eighty-six 
years. 

Frank  F.  Henning  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm  and  educated  in  the  common  schools  of  his 
native  city.  In  1859  he  left  home,  with  only  one 
dollar  in  his  pocket  to  make  his  own  way  in  the 
world.  He  worked  at  loading  a  cargo  on  a 
vessel  at  Monitowoc  and  unloading  it  at  Chicago, 
to  pay  his  passage  to  the  latter  city.  From  there 
he  walked  to  Morris,  Illinois,  a  distance  of  sixty 
miles,  where  he  found  employment  on  a  farm  at 
eight  dollars  a  month.  Here  he  attended  school 
during  the  winter  of  1859-1860.  July  28,  1861, 
he  enlisted  at  Aurora,  for  three  years,  in  the 
Union  Army,  and  was  mustered  September  i2th 
of  that  year,  in  the  Thirty-sixth  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  Company  D.  His  regiment  was 
assigned  to  the  Western  Division,  and  saw  hard 
service  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  and  he  par- 
ticipated in  all  the  engagements  where  his  regi- 
ment acted.  Mr.  Henning's  first  engagement 
was  at  Pea  Ridge,  and  he  was  wounded  at  the 
battle  of  Stone  River  in  the  foot,  head  and  right 
hip.  He  was  taken,  more  dead  than  alive,  to 
the  field  hospital,  and  after  the  wounds  were 


F.  F.  HENNING. 


dressed,  he  was  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Nashville. 
From  here  he  was  sent  to'  Cincinnati,  and  was 
discharged  in  July,  1863,  for  disability. 

Upon  his  discharge  he  returned  to  his  home  in 
Wisconsin,  where  he  remained  until  the  early 
spring  of  1864,  and  since  that  time  has  been  a 
resident  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  He  found  em- 
ployment with  Lohn  &  Koenig,  for  a  time,  in 
gluing  chairs;  then  as  salesman  and  bookkeeper, 
and  in  1867  he  bought  a  quarter  interest  in  the 
business,  the  firm  then  becoming  Koenig,  Hen- 
ning  &  Gamer.  Their  business  was  located  at 
Nos.  48  and  50  Fifth  Avenue,  where  the  fire  of 
1871  wiped  them  out,  and  left  them  with  a  debt 
of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  which  was  the 
amount  of  insurance  they  carried,  but  they  were 
able  to  obtain  only  six  thousand  dollars  therefrom. 

Immediately  after  the  fire  the  firm  built  a 
furniture  factory,  and  in  a  year  and  a-halfpaid- 
their  liabilities.  Mr.  Henning  remained  a  mem- 
ber of  this  firm  until  the  spring  of  1881 .  About 
1878  a  German  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion was  organized,  of  which  Mr.  Henning  be- 
came president;  its  members  visited  hospitals, 
jails  and  poorhouses.  Being  of  a  sympathetic 
nature,  Mr.  Henning  became  interested  in  the 
sufferings  of  humanity  and  their  alleviation,  and 
decided  to  devote  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  philan- 
thropic work.  He  had  acquired  a  comfortable 
competence,  and  when  he  retired  from  manu- 
facturing, in  December,  1883,  he  secured  the  in- 
corporation of  the  German  Hospital,  and  in  1884 
it  was  opened  in  a  building  owned  by  Mr.  Hen- 
ning. Most  of  the  funds  for  the  foundation  of 
this  institution  were  raised  by  Mr.  Henning,  who 
was  its  president.  It  was  located  at  No.  242 
Lincoln  Avenue,  where  he  donated  two  years' 
rent.  The  present  site  of  this  hospital  was  pur- 
chased in  1886,  Mr.  Henning  advancing  three 
thousand  dollars  for  the  first  payment,  and  a  year 
later  nine  thousand  dollars  for  building  purposes. 
Its  generous  benefactor  was  president  until  1896, 
when  he  resigned  and  withdrew,  on  account  of 
differences  of  opinion  among  some  of  the  directors 
and  physicians. 

The  hospital  had  accumulated  property  worth 
sixty  thousand  dollars,  with  an  endowment  fund 


of  twenty-one  thousand  dollars,  and  for  thirteen 
years  Mr.  Henning  had  devoted  his  time  and 
energy  to  it,  with  no  compensation  in  money. 
In  1886  he  organized  a  deaconess'  society  for  the 
purpose  of  procuring  trained  nurses,  and  failing 
to  get  enough  in  this  way,  they  branched  out  and 
erected  a  large  building  for  a  nurses'  training 
school,  which  is  now  used  as  the  German-Ameri- 
can Hospital.  Nurses  have  received  two  years' 
training  when  they  graduate  from  this  institution, 
and  about  fifty  nurses  have  been  graduated. 
Thus  this  institution  is  not  only  a  hospital,  but  a 
training  school  for  nurses.  The  noble  founder 
cared  not  for  honor  or  glory  to  himself  in  this 
good  work,  but  found  his  compensation  in  the 
lives  made  happier  and  better,  and  the  benefit  of 
his  fellow-creatures  from  the  results  of  his  time 
and  study. 

In  1893  Mr.  Henning  was  one  of  the  prime 
movers  in  organizing  the  Bethesda  Industrial 
Home,  at  Morton  Grove,  Cook  County,  Illinois, 
for  the  aged,  infirm  and  helpless.  In  1894,  a 
printing  office  was  established  at  the  home  to 
assist  in  defraying  the  expenses.  This  has 
proved  a  success,  and  there  are  now  two  monthly 
papers  issued  from  it.  Mr.  Henning  has  ever 
since  been  connected  with  its  management. 
Though  he  is  a  firm  supporter  of  Republican 
principles,  he  could  never  be  induced  to  accept 
office  for  himself. 

He  has  been  twice  married.  June  28,  1866,  he 
wedded  Miss  Dorothy  Gamus,  a  native  of  Han- 
over, Germany,  and  they  had  six  children,  of 
whom  three  are  living,  namely:  Frank,  Arthur, 
and  Oswald.  The  mother  died  in  1881.  Febru- 
ary 28,  1883,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Emily  Buerstatte,  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Maria  (Meister)  Buerstatte.  She  was  born  in 
Manitowoc,  Wisconsin.  They  have  three  chil- 
dren, Meta,  Laura,  and  Walter.  Mr.  Henning 
has  a  wide  circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances, 
and  is  known  for  his  good  works  in  all  parts  of 
the  great  metropolis.  His  example  is  worthy  of 
study  and  emulation,  and  he  is  honored  and 
admired  by  all.  He  has  been  connected  with  the 
Chicago  Avenue  Church  (Moody's)  a  number  of 
years. 


HERMANN  RENDTORFF. 


HERMANN  RENDTORFF. 


HERMANN  RENDTORFF,   an   enterprising 
German-American  citizen,  has  been  identi- 
fied with  Chicago  for  over  thirty  years.    He 
was  born  August  6,    1843,  in  Sauk   City,  Sauk 
County,  Wisconsin,  being  a  son  of  Edmund  and 
Henrietta   (Graepel)    Rendtorff,  both   of  whom 
were  natives  of  Hamburg,  Germany. 

Edmund  Rendtorff  came  to  the  United  States 
in  1838.  He  was  highly  educated  in  his  native 
tongue,  as  well  as  in  three  other  languages,  and 
was  employed  as  correspondent  and  general  office 
man.  On  coming  to  this  country  he  worked  on  a 
farm  in  Illinois  for  a  short  time,  and  then  went 
to  Wisconsin.  He  was  among  the  first  settlers 
of  Sauk  City,  and  for  some  time  was  employed 
as  clerk  on  a  steamboat  on  the  Rock  River.  He 
made  a  pre-emption  claim  to  government  land  in 
Sauk  County,  and  was  able  to  buy  eighty  acres  of 
it  when  it  came  into  market.  His  education  and 
ability  fitted  him  for  activity  in  the  management 
of  public  affairs,  and  he  soon  became  prominent 
in  the  county,  being  its  first  treasurer. 

He  had  been  engaged  to  Miss  Graepel  before 
leaving  Germany.  In  1842. she  came  to  America, 
and  upon  her  arrival  in  New  York  they  were 
married  and  settled  upon  his  land,  where  he  con- 
tinued farming  for  seven  years.  In  1847  he  went 
to  St.  Louis  as  bookkeeper  for  Childs  &  Com- 
.  pany,  wholesale  grocery  dealers  in  that  city.  At 
the  end  of  six  years  he  returned  to  Sauk  City  and 
conducted  a  grocery  store  there  for  a  period  of 
twenty-five  years.  Mrs.  Rendtorff  died  in  1889, 
at  the  age  of  seventy  years,  and  her  husband  sur- 
vived until  1892,  reaching  the  good  age  of  sev- 
enty-six years.  All  of  their  six  children  grew  to 
maturity,  the  eldest  being  him  whose  name  heads 
this  article.  The  second,  J.  Christian  Rendtorff, 
resides  on  North  Avenue,  in  Chicago.  Susanna 
is  the  wife  of  F.  A.  Oswald,  of  the  same  city. 


Johanna  is  the  next  in  order  of  birth.  Emma, 
Mrs.  Theodore  Krueger,  is  also  a  resident  of 
Chicago;  and  Richard  O.  is  deceased. 

Hermann  Rendtorff  had  but  limited  opportuni- 
ties for  education.  He  was  reared  on  the  farm 
and  attended  school  only  during  the  winter 
months.  He  remained  with  his  parents  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  and  might  have 
continued  longer  but  for  the  outbreak  of  hos- 
tilities between  the  North  and  the  South  in  1861. 
He  was  filled  with  patriotic  love  for  the  land  of 
his  birth,  and  on  the  I4th  of  September,  1861, 
having  just  completed  the  eighteenth  year  of  his 
age,  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  Company  D,  Ninth 
Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  bore  an  active 
part  in  all  the  engagements  in  which  his  regi- 
ment participated,  and  was  wounded  in  the  right 
thigh  by  a  bullet  at  the  battle  of  Newtonia,  Mis- 
souri, in  September,  1863.  He  spent  three  months 
in  hospitals  at  Fort  Scott  and  Fort  Leaven  worth, 
Kansas,  and  still  carries  in  his  flesh  the  bullet 
which  caused  his  injury.  On  his  recovery  he 
rejoined  his  regiment,  with  which  he  continued 
until  honorably  discharged  at  the  close  of  his 
period  of  enlistment,  at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin, 
December  4,  1864. 

He  returned  to  his  native  place  and  remained 
until  February  20,  1865,  on  which  date  he  became 
a  resident  of  Chicago.  He  entered  the  employ  of 
Ressing,  Inderrieden  &  Company,  wholesale  and 
retail  grocers,  with  whom  he  remained  two  years. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  he  entered  into  partner- 
ship with  G.  E.  Roscher,  in  a  retail  grocery 
store  at  No.  206  North  Clark  Street,  and  two 
years  later  sold  out  to  his  partner. 

He  now  entered  the  hardware  establishment 
of  his  brother:in-law,  Mr.  Oswald,  at  Nos. 
139  and  141  Milwaukee  Avenue,  and  rapidly 
mastered  the  business.  At  the  end  of  one  year  he 


i6 


PETER  JACKSON. 


formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Oswald,  and  they 
opened  a  store  on  the  corner  of  Lake  and  Halsted 
Streets,  under  the  firm  name  of  Rendtorff  & 
Oswald.  This  connection  lasted  only  a  few 
years,  and  Mr.  Rendtorff  removed  to  the  North 
Side  and  established  an  independent  business  on 
North  Avenue.  Two  years  later  he  purchased 
property  on  the  corner  of  North  Avenue  and 
Mohawk  Street,  consisting  of  four  lots  and  build- 
ings, whither  he  removed  his  stock  and  contin- 
ued business.  In  1 880  he  added  the  manufacture 
of  stove- boards,  which  he  carried  on  in  connec- 
tion with  his  hardware  store.  In  the  year  1883 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother,  J. 
Christian  Rendtorff,  and  they  opened  two  stores, 
one  being  at  No.  154  North  Avenue,  and  the 
other  at  No.  700  Lincoln  Avenue.  Their  brother, 
Richard  Otto,  had  charge  of  the  former,  and 
after  his  death  they  sold  the  Lincoln  Avenue 
store. 

In  1883  Mr.  Rendtorff  felt  that  he  had  earned 
a  vacation,  and  sailed  for  Europe  in  that  year, 
spending  thirteen  months  in  visiting  England, 
Ireland,  France,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Austria, 
Holland,  Italy  and  Germany.  On  his  return  he 
opened  a  jobbing  house  in  stoves,  at  No.  16  Lake 
Street,  which  he  conducted  until  1896,  and  then 
sold  out.  In  1894,  when  Mr.  Rendtorff  began 
building  the  present  block  at  the  corner  of  North 
Avenue  and  Mohawk  Street,  the  stock  was 
removed  to  No.  1 54  North  Avenue,  now  conducted 


by  his  brother,  J.  Christian,  who  owns  it,  the 
partnership  having  been  dissolved  by  mutual  con- 
sent in  1896. 

Mr.  Rendtorff  has  continued  the  manufacture 
of  stove-boards  since  he  first  established  it,  and 
is  now  extensively  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
a  patent  milk -pail  with  a  detachable  strainer,  and 
a  patent  split-lock  stove-pipe  elbow.  At  present 
he  is  giving  all  his  attention  to  his  manufacturing 
interests,  which  are  rapidly  growing  under  his 
prudent  and  energetic  management.  Thirty-five 
men  are  employed  in  this  business,  and  the 
products  are  shipped  to  nearly  every  state  in  the 
Union.  His  long  business  career  in  Chicago  has 
made  him  a  wide  acquaintance,  and  firmly  estab- 
lished his  reputation  as  an  upright  and  fair  deal- 
ing business  man. 

September  8,  1875,  Mr.  Rendtorff  was  married 
in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  to  Miss  Ida  Stuetze,  a 
native  of  that  city.  Though  not  connected  with 
any  religious  organization,  Mr.  Rendtorff  is  a 
supporter  of  all  good  works,  and  feels  a  keen  in- 
terest in  the  moral,  social  and  material  welfare  of 
the  community  in  which  he  resides.  His  first  pres- 
idential vote  was  cast  in  Little  Rock,  Arkansas, 
in  1864,  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  he  has  since 
supported  the  candidates  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  is  a  member  of  Hancock  Post,  No.  560, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  is  highly 
esteemed  by  all  classes  of  citizens  because  of  his 
genial  manner  and  manly  worth. 


PETER  JACKSON. 


POSTER  JACKSON,  who  is  an  old  settler  iii 
LX  Chicago,  having  lived  here  since  1870,  was 
|*3*  born  in  September,  1852,  in  County  Carlow, 
Ireland,  and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Mary 
(Wynne)  Jackson,  natives  of  that  country.  He 
received  his  early  education  in  his  native  land, 


and  improved  his  opportunities  for  advancement 
in  that  country,  but  he  was  an  ambitious  youth 
and  not  satisfied  with  his  prospects  there,  so  de- 
cided to  come  to  the  new  world. 

Previous  to  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  emi- 
grated  to  the  United  States,  coming  direct    to 


T.  L.  KRAMER. 


the  "City  by  the  Lake,"  which  has  since  been 
his  residence.  His  brother  James  came  to  Chi- 
cago and  remained  a  short  time,  and  another 
brother,  William  J. ,  emigrated  later,  and  located 
in  New  York  City,  where  he  still  resides.  He 
was  formerly  employed  as  a  buyer  by  A.  T. 
Stewart. 

Peter  Jackson  realized  the  advantage  of  contin- 
uing at  one  trade  through  life,  and  accordingly 
satisfied  himself  of  his  abilities  for  his  life  work 
before  beginning  it.  He  decided  to  enter  the 
employ  of  a  railroad  corporation,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  begin  with  a  small  salary  and  a  place 
at  the  bottom  round  of  the  ladder.  By  his  care- 
ful study  and  attention  to  details,  and  his  perse- 
verance, he  was  able  to  advance  to  the  responsi- 


ble position  of  conductor,  which  position  he  held 
for  about  eight  years.  He  is  now  a  stationary 
engineer,  and  has  the  confidence  and  esteem  of 
his  associates  and  fellow-citizens. 

December  31,  1874,  Mr.  Jackson  married  Mary 
Josephine  Kilcran,  a  daughter  of  Frank  Kilcran, 
whose  biography  may  be  found  on  another  page 
of  this  book.  They  had  eight  children,  six  of 
whom  are  living,  namely:  William,  Mary,  Sarah, 
Jane,  Frank  and  Ellen.  Mr.  Jackson,  as  well  as 
his  parents  and  relatives  in  Ireland,  are  members 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  is  a  true  and  loyal 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  takes  an  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  country.  In  national  politi- 
cal matters  he  is  a  Republican,  but  is  independ- 
ent in  local  politics. 


THEODORE  L,   KRAMER. 


'HEODORE  LALUCK  KRAMER,  a  veter- 
an of  the  Civil  War,  was  born  December  9, 
1846,  in  Towanda,  Bradford  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  is  of  German  descent.  His  grand- 
father, Abram  Kramer,  left  Germany  on  account 
of  political  trouble  and  his  property  was  confis- 
cated by  the  German  Government. 

Albert  M.  Kramer,  father  of  Theodore,  was 
born  in  Luzerne  County,  Pennsylvania,  about 
1822,  and  was  a  machinist  for  many  years  in 
Towanda.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  in 
Ulster,  in  the  same  State.  His  wife,  Carolina 
Long,  was  a  native  of  Fairmont,  Luzerne  County, 
in  that  State,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Abram  Long, 
a  farmer.  She  died  about  the  year  1850,  in  To- 
wanda. 

Their  son,  Theodore  L.  Kramer,  attended  the 
public  schools  of  Towanda  until  he  reached  the 
age  of  fourteen  years,  when  he  began  work  as  an 
iron  moulder.  Before  the  completion  of  his  six- 
teenth year  he  enlisted,  September  i,  1862,  in  a 


militia  regiment  called  to  oppose  the  invasion  of 
Maryland  by  General  Lee  in  that  month.  He 
served  thirty  days  at  this  time,  and  again  for  a 
like  period  in  the  following  year,  when  Pennsyl- 
vania was  invaded. 

In  December,  1863,  he  joined  the  One  Hundred 
Fifty-second  Pennsylvania  Heavy  Artillery, which 
was  stationed  at  [Fortress  Monroe.  On  the 
ist  of  February  following,  the  One  Hundred 
Eighty-eighth  Pennsylvania  Infantry  was  formed 
from  volunteers  from  the  One  Hundred  Fifty- 
second  Artillery,  and  Mr.  Kramer  was  among 
these,  and  was  assigned  to  Company  G.  The 
regiment  became  a  part  of  the  Eighteenth  Corps, 
under  Gen.  "Baldy"  Smith,  in  the  Army  of 
the  James.  The  Tenth  and  Eighteenth  Corps 
were  subsequently  consolidated  and  made  the 
Twenty-fourth  Corps.  Mr.  Kramer  was  dis- 
charged, with  his  company  and  regiment,  Decem- 
ber 14,  1865,  at  City  Point,  Virginia. 

During  his  service  he  participated  in  the  follow- 


i8 


T.  L.   KRAMER. 


ing  battles  and  skirmishes:  Gettysburg,  in  Penn- 
sylvania; Swift  Creek  and  Proctor's  Creek,  Dru- 
ry's  Bluff,  Petersburg,  Deep  Bottom,  Cold  Har- 
bor, Assault  of  Petersburg,  June  18,  1864,  Mine 
Explosion,  July  30,  1864,  Chapin's  Farm  and 
Assault  of  Fort  Harrison,  Sailor's  Creek  and 
Appomattox  Court  House,  where  Lee  surren- 
dered, in  Virginia. 

In  the  assault  on  Fort  Harrison  at  Chapin's 
Farm,  September  28,  1864,  Mr.  Kramer  distin- 
guished himself  in  a  manner  which  won  the  ap- 
plause of  all  who  witnessed  his  action,  including 
several  field  officers,  and  gained  the  thanks  of 
Congress,  whose  approval  was  made  apparent  by 
conferring  upon  him  a  beautiful  bronze  medal. 
The  assaulting  column,  commanded  by  Gen.  E. 
O.  C.  Ord,  was  obliged  to  march  one  and  one- 
fourth  miles  in  the  face  of  a  heavy  artillery  fire, 
and  the  colors  of  the  One  Hundred  Eighty-eighth 
went  down  five  times.  On  the  fifth  fall,  young 
Kramer  ran  forward,  seized  the  flag  and  carried  it 
to  the  fort,  where  he  turned  it  over  to  one  of  the 
regular  color  guard.  When  the  fort  was  reached 
Kramer  was  the  first  to  mount  the  wall,  and 
seized  the  standard  of  a  Texas  infantry  regiment, 
which  formed  a  part  of  the  garrison .  He  was  at 
once  made  the  target  of  every  rifle  within  the  fort 
which  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon  him,  and 
four  bullets  pierced  his  blouse.  On  looking 
around  he  discovered  that  not  a  single  comrade 
had  followed  his  lead,  and  he  at  once  threw  him- 
self down  and,  taking  the  captured  flag  along, 
rolled  back  into  the  moat  surrounding  the  fort, 
which  was  at  the  time  dry  and  afforded  shelter  to 
the  Union  troops,  as  the  guns  could  not  be  trained 
low  enough  to  molest  them. 

In  a  few  moments  they  made  a  united  attack 
upon  the  fort,  during  which  Private  Kramer  cap- 
tured a  lieutenant-colonel.  The  latter  fired  one 
cartridge  point  blank  at  his  captor,  but  missed, 
and  before  he  could  again  raise  the  hammer  of 
his  pistol  Kramer's  musket  was  pressed  against 
his  breast  and  he  surrendered.  For  these  brave 
acts,  which  were  witnessed  by  General  Ord,  Kra- 
mer was  recommended  for  gallantry  to  the  War 
Department,  and  received  the  "Medal  of  Honor" 
with  a  letter  of  transmittal,  as  follows  ; 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
ADJUTANT  GENERAI/S  OFFICE, 

Washington,  March  29,  1865. 


Sir.— 


Herewith  I  enclose  the  Medal  of  Honor,  which 
has  been  awarded  you  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
under  the  Resolutions  of  Congress,  approved  July 
12,  1862,  "to  provide  for  the  presentation  of 
Medals  of  Honor  to  the  enlisted  men  of  the  army 
and  volunteer  forces  who  have  distinguished  or 
may  distinguish  themselves  in  battle  during  the 
present  rebellion." 

Please  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  it. 
Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND, 
Assistant  Adjutant  General. 
Private  Theo.  Kramer, 

Company  G,  i88th  Penna.  Vols. 

On  the  reverse  of  this  medal  is  inscribed: 

THE  CONGRESS 
to 

PRIVATE  THEODORE  KRAMER, 

Co.  G, 
1 88th  PENNA.  VOLS. 

On  the  evening  of  September  28,  1864,  follow- 
ing the  capture  of  Fort  Harrison,  Kramer  was 
one  of  the  party  of  one  hundred  men  sent  by 
General  Ord  to  occupy  a  redoubt  on  the  James 
River.  They  were  attacked  by  infantry  in  front, 
while  the  enemy's  gunboats  kept  up  a  fire  in  the 
rear,  from  the  river,  and  were  all  captured  except 
Kramer  and  one  other,  who  escaped  at  great  risk. 
Thus  was  completed  a  day  of  most  exciting  and 
important  events  in  the  career  of  Mr.  Kramer. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Kramer  came  to 
Chicago  and  was  employed  as  an  iron  moulder 
until  1 880,  when  he  was  appointed  a  letter  carrier, 
through  the  influence  of  Gen.  John  A.  Logan, 
and  has  continued  in  that  occupation  ever  since. 
He  is  a  member  of  George  H.  Thomas  Post,  No. 
5,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  in  politics 
has  always  been  a  Republican.  In  1875  he  was 


C.  T.  WHEELER. 


made  a  Mason  in  Kilwinnig  Lodge,  No.  311,  of 
Chicago,  and  in  1878  was  exalted  to  the  supreme 
degree  of  Royal  Arch  Masonry,  in  Sandwich 
Chapter,  No.  107,  of  Sandwich,  Illinois. 

In  January,  1875,  Mr.  Kramer  was  married  to 
Miss  Ida  E.  Vosburgh,  of  Chicago,  a  daughter  of 
Hiram  A.  Vosburgh,  a  painter  of  Janesville,  Wis- 


consin, where  she  was  born.  Her  mother  was 
Sabra  Doty,  a  member  of  a  family  prominent  in 
that  place.  Four  sons  and  three  daughters  have 
blessed  the  union,  namely:  Roy  M.,  Carlisle  L., 
Albert  J.,  Jessie  J.,  John  A.,  Clara  V.  and  Hazel 
L.  Mr.  Kramer  lives  at  No.  930  North  Hoyne 
Avenue  in  a  pleasant  home  of  his  own. 


CALVIN  T.  WHEELER. 


QALVIN  THATCHER  WHEELER.  Among 
I  C  the  old-time  merchants  and  bankers  of  Chi- 
\J  cago  who,  by  their  firmness  of  character  and 
honesty  of  purpose,  left  the  impress  of  integrity 
in  the  volumes  of  unwritten  history  of  our  great 
metropolis  and  reflected  the  beacon"  light  of  our 
commercial  stability  over  the  whole  world,  we 
must  count  him  whose  name  heads  this  article. 

Mr.  Wheeler  was  born  in  West  Galway,  New 
York,  and  is  a  son  of  Luther  and  Mary  (Belts) 
Wheeler.  His  grandfather,  Silas  Wheeler,  and 
two  brothers  went  from  Massachusetts  to  Fulton 
County,  New  York,  and  eventually  removed  to 
Steuben  County,  in  the  same  State,  where  a  town 
was  named  after  them.  They  were  known  by  the 
people  in  the  neighboring  section  for  their  thrift, 
honor  and  fidelity. 

Luther  Wheeler  was  by  trade  a  builder.  He 
was  a  good  citizen,  who  was  honored  and  respect- 
ed by  all  classes.  In  his  old  age,  he  and  his  wife 
removed  to  Amsterdam,  New  York,  and  here 
they  died  nearly  at  the  same  time,  both  at  about 
the  age  of  eighty  years.  Mrs.  Wheeler  was  a 
devout  Presbyterian,  being  an  active  member  of 
the  Church,  and  was  the  mother  of  five  sons  and 
three  daughters.  Her  father,  Isaiah  Belts,  was 
a  lieutenant  in  the  Revolutionary  army. 

Calvin  T.  Wheeler  received  his  primary  educa- 
lion  in  Ihe  common  schools  of  New  York  and  Il- 


linois. He  left  New  York  al  Ihe  age  of  len  years, 
in  Ihe  company  of  his  uncle,  Dr.  J.  T.  Belts,  who 
practiced  his  profession  in  Kaskaskia,  Illinois, 
where  he  sellled  in  1818,  being  one  of  Ihe  pioneer 
physicians  of  the  Slate.  He  hoped  to  make  a 
physician  of  Calvin  T.  Wheeler,  but  even  al  that 
early  age  his  nephew  had  a  tasle  for  active  busi- 
ness life,  and  refused  his  uncle's  offer  to  give  him 
a  college  education.  Instead,  he  entered  his  un- 
cle's store  as  a  clerk.  While  al  Kaskaskia  he 
altended  school,  and  profited  by  the  instruction  of 
Professor  Loomis,  a  famous  scholar  and  an  honored 
man.  Kaskaskia  was  at  that  time  the  social  cen- 
ter of  Ihe  State,  and  many  of  the  most  prominent 
men  in  Illinois  were  located  there.  His  associa- 
tions among  Ihe  people  of  Ihis  town  exerted  a 
life-long  influence  on  Ihe  career  of  Mr.  Wheeler, 
and  his  memory  to-day  is  replete  with  pleasant 
recollections  of  his  early  life  in  Ihe  capital  of 
Illinois. 

In  the  flood  of  1844  the  waters  of  the  Kaskas- 
kia and  Mississippi  Rivers  rose  lo  such  a  height 
thai  Ihe  nuns,  teachers  and  pupils  of  the  Convent 
of  the  Sacred  Heart,  built  by  Pierre  Menard,  had 
lo  be  rescued  in  boats  and  removed  to  Saint  Louis, 
where  the  convent  now  flourishes.  Six  months 
previous  to  the  flood  Mr.  Wheeler  had  removed 
to  Pekin,  below  Peoria,  Illinois,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  business.  From  there  he  removed  to 


2O 


J.  A.  ERICKSON. 


Saint  Louis,  where  he  secured  a  position  as 
clerk  in  the  banking  house  of  Clark  &  Milton- 
berger. 

In  1850  he  took  a  trip  to  California,  going  to 
New  Orleans,  and  continuing  the  journey  on  a 
large  steamboat  called  the  '  'Georgia, ' '  which  was, 
according  to  custom  in  those  days,  commanded 
by  a  naval  officer,  to  Chagres,  Central  America. 
The  passengers  were  taken  up  the  Chagres 
River  in  canoes  to  the  head  of  navigation.  From 
there  they  made  their  way  over  the  mountains  to 
the  Pacific  coast,  where  they  took  a  sailing  vessel 
at  Panama,  bound  for  San  Francisco.  The 
journey  lasted  sixty  days,  and  when  Mr.  Wheeler 
arrived  at  the  Golden  Gate  he  at  once  set  out  for 
the  gold  mines,  by  way  of  Sacramento.  He  en- 
gaged in  mining,  and  for  a  time  was  successful. 
Then  he  sold  out  his  interest  and  returned  to  Saint 
Louis,  where  T.  J.  S.  Flint  made  him  a  proposi- 
tion to  come  to  Chicago  and  open  a  commission 
office  under  the  name  of  Flint  &  Wheeler.  He 
did  so,  and  the  office  was  located  near  the  Wells 


Street  bridge,  their  grain  elevators  being  situated 
on  the  South  Branch  of  the  Chicago  River,  where 
the  Rock  Island  elevators  now  stand. 

Mr.  Wheeler  continued  in  the  commission  bus- 
iness until  he  engaged  in  banking,  in  connection 
with  the  firm  of  Chapin,  Wheeler  &  Company, 
which  was  located  on  the  corner  of  Lake  and 
LaSalle  Streets.  After  two  years  they  transferred 
their  interests  to  W.  F.  Coolbaugh  &  Company. 
This  was  just  previous  to  the  war,  when  the  so- 
called  stump-tailed  money  was  in  circulation. 

During  the  war  Mr.  Wheeler  re-entered  the 
grain  commission  trade.  When  the  Union  Na- 
tional Bank  was  organized,  he  was  chosen  First 
Vice-President,  and  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Will- 
aim  F.  Coolbaugh  he  was  elected  president  of 
the  bank.  He  continued  in  that  capacity  nearly 
four  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  resigned 
and  organized  the  Continental  National  Bank. 
He  was  president  of  this  five  years,  and  then  re- 
tired from  business  cares,  at  the  close  of  a  useful 
and  influential  career. 


JOHN  A.  ERICKSON. 


(JOHN  ALFRED  ERICKSON,  a  contractor 
I  and  builder,  who  resides  in  South  Chicago, 
C/  was  born  December  8,  1844,  near  Gutten- 
burg,  Sweden,  and  is  a  son  of  Eric  Peterson  and 
Ella  (Johnson)  Peterson.  He  received  his  edu- 
cation in  his  native  country,  and  when  he  was 
old  enough,  found  employment  at  farm  labor  in 
the  region  near  his  home.  He  was  thus  engaged 
until  1870,  when  he  married  and  settled  in  Lind- 
holmen,  near  Guttenburg,  where  he  became  a 
carpenter  in  a  ship-yard.  He  remained  here 
from  that  time  until  1881,  and  learned  all  the  de- 
tails of  ship  building,  being  able  to  construct  an 
entire  vessel.  He  then  emigrated  to  America 
and  settled  in  South  Chicago. 


On  his  arrival  in  this  city  he  found  employ- 
ment as  a  carpenter,  and  because  of  his  ability 
and  training  he  has  followed  this  trade  most  suc- 
cessfully. He  soon  engaged  in  contracting,  and 
has  erected  many  buildings  in  South  Chicago,  the 
first  one  being  a  residence  for  John  Danielson,  a 
clothier,  at  Hoegswis,  Illinois. 

He  was  married  October  30,  1870,  to  Miss 
Louisa  Larson,  who  is  now  visiting  her  relatives 
and  friends  in  Sweden.  They  have  one  child, 
Charles  Erickson.  While  Mr.  Erickson  has 
learned  to  love  the  country  of  his  adoption,  he 
still  remembers  the  friends  and  associations  of  his 
native  country,  and  in  1894  he  visited  the  scenes 
of  his  boyhood,  where  his  father,  aged  eighty- 


THOMAS  CARBINE. 


21 


five  years,  yet  resides.     He  is  a  member  of  the 
Swedish  Lutheran  Church. 

On  coming  to  South  Chicago,  Mr.  Erickson 
bought  a  lot  at  No.  8944  Houston  Avenue,  and 
built  a  small  house,  where  he  resided  until  1894, 
and  then  erected  a  three-story  brick  building,  at 
a  cost  of  seven  thousand  dollars.  He  has  kept 
his  place  in  good  repair,  and  has  the  finest  prop- 
erty in  the  neighborhood. 


Mr.  Erickson  has  reached  his  present  prosper- 
ity through  his  tireless  energy  and  careful  study 
of  all  work  going  on  in  his  sight.  When  in  the 
ship-yard  at  Guttenburg,  he  formed  the  habit  of 
learning  the  details  of  all  that  came  under  his 
observation,  and  has  always  improved  his  other 
opportunities  in  the  same  way.  He  has  thus  won 
the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  patrons  and  as- 
sociates. 


THOMAS  CARBINE. 


"HOMAS  CARBINE,  an  inventor,  who  re- 
sides in  Chicago,  was  born  October  22,  1819, 
in  Manchester,  England.  The  family  were 
well  and  favorably  known  in  that  country  for 
many  generations,  some  being  in  the  army,  and 
some  being  merchants.  The  grandfather  of 
Thomas  Carbine,  James  Carbine,  was  a  native  of 
England,  and  went  to  Jamaica  on  commercial 
business,  and  there  made  his  home  thereafter.  He 
married  there,  and  reared  a  large  family  of  chil- 
dren, one  son  being  lost  on  the  "Royal  George." 

His  son  James  became  a  soldier,  and  for  forty- 
one  years  was  an  officer  in  the  British  Army.  He 
was  an  aide  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  at  Water- 
loo and  other  battles.  He  was  near  the  Duke 
when  he  gave  the  famous  order,  "Advance  the 
guards,"  in  a  calm  voice,  and  later  when  he 
uttered  the  world-famed  words,  "Would  to  God 
that  night  or  Bluecher  would  come,"  He  often 
told  the  history  of  battles  in  which  he  had  par- 
ticipated to  his  children,  and  Thomas  Carbine, 
whose  name  heads  this  article,  can  relate  them  in 
a  most  interesting  manner.  Captain  Carbine  was 
retired  on  full  pay,  whereupon  he  bought  a  fine 
black  charger  which  he  rode  for  twenty-one 
years,  and  the  noble  animal  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty  years. 

Captain  Carbine  was  married  in   Manchester, 


England,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  nearly 
eighty  years.  His  wife  had  been  a  teacher  in  a 
private  seminary.  She  was  the  mother  of  ten 
sons  and  died  in  Manchester,  aged  seventy- 
six  years.  Thomas  Carbine  was  the  only  one  of 
the  children  to  come  to  America. 

Thomas  Carbine  was  educated  in  Manchester, 
and  learned  the  trade  of  carpenter,  and  being 
skillful  as  a  mechanic  he  became  an  expert  mill- 
wright in  America,  where  he  constructed  some  im- 
portant work  in  this  line.  He  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1840,  being  six  weeks  on  the 
journey.  He  located  in  Utica,  Oneida  County, 
New  York,  which  was  then  only  a  country 
village,  and  remained  there  twelve  years.  He 
came  to  Chicago  in  1853,  and  in  1856  sold  his 
home  in  Utica  and  removed  his  family  to  Chicago. 
Here  he  followed  the  bent  of  his  inventive  genius, 
and  took  care  of  his  real-estate  interests,  having 
interested  himself  in  property  in  the  city. 

While  in  Utica  Mr.  Carbine  was  able  to  render 
some  valuable  assistance  to  the  New  York  Central 
Railroad  Company,  which  paid  him  generously, 
and  has  since  given  him  free  transportation.  He 
used  the  money  received  to  purchase  a  lot  and 
build  his  residence.  Mr.  Carbine  invented  a 
machine  for  winding  balls  of  yarn  without  a 
bobbin,  for  which  he  received  a  royalty  of  five 


22 


A.  H.  PERKINS. 


thousand  dollars,  which  he  judiciously  invested 
in  real  estate  in  1855.  This  formed  the  nucleus 
of  the  prosperity  which  enabled  him  to  retire 
from  the  cares  of  business  life,  and  spend  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  in  peace  and  comfort.  He 
also  invented  a  process  by  which  kerosene  oil  is 
converted  into  a  gas  which  may  be  used  for  heat- 
ing purposes.  The  latter  invention  he  never 
patented,  and  humanity  will  receive  the  free  gift 
of  his  labors  in  this  way. 

Mr.  Carbine  was  married  in  Manchester, 
England,  August  5,  1838,  to  Miss  Sarah  Brad- 
bury, daughter  of  John  and  Frances  Bradbury, 
natives  of  England.  She  was  born  January  3, 
1819,  in  the  city  where  the  marriage  took  place. 
The  two  children  now  living  are:  Mary  F.  C. 
and  Charlotte  E.  P.  Mary  is  the  wife  of 


Frederich  Bluhm,  and  Charlotte  of  James  New- 
brun.  The  latter  has  three  children,  namely: 
Sadie,  wife  of  Edward  E.  Reading;  Arthur  C. 
and  James  C.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carbine  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

For  thirty-six  years  the  former  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
and  he  is  also  connected  with  the  Independent 
Order  of  Recceabites,  an  order  of  total  abstinence. 
In  his  political  views  he  is  independent,  and  is  a 
good  example  of  Chicago's  substantial  citizens. 
In  1888  he  and  his  wife  celebrated  their  golden 
wedding,  and  received  a  gold  medal  from  the 
German  Old  Settlers'  Society  for  being  the  oldest 
non-German  couple  on  the  picnic  ground,  their 
combined  ages  amounting  to  one  hundred  fifty- 
seven  years. 


AMOS  H.  PERKINS. 


Gl  MOS  HENRY  PERKINS  was  born  in  Nor- 
J  I  wich,  Connecticut,  July  26,  1836,  and  was 
/  I  one  of  five  children,  three  boys  and  two 
girls.  He  was  the  son  of  Isaac  and  Nancy  N. 
(Allen)  Perkins,  and  a  direct  descendant  of 
Miles  Standish  on  his  mother's  side.  Isaac 
Perkins  was  a  carpenter  and  builder,  but  died 
when  Amos  was  but  ten  years  old. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  learned  his 
father's  trade,  but  followed  it  for  only  a  short 
time.  He  was  educated  in  his  native  place,  and 
at  the  age  of  twenty  came  to  Chicago,  and  soon 
afterward  began  taking  contracts  for  paving,  lay- 
ing sidewalks  and  roofing.  Mr.  Perkins  was  a 
man  of  more  than  average  intelligence,  and 
became  a  shrewd,  careful  and  successful  business 
man.  He  was  one  of  the  contractors  who  con- 
structed La  Salle  Street  tunnel.  He  continued 
to  be  a  large  contractor  in  cedar  blocks,  asphalt 
pavements  and  Portland  cement  walks,  having 


had  contracts  for  this  in  most  of  the  large  cities 
in  the  country.  During  the  war  he  was  a  heavy 
dealer  in  tar,  and  at  one  time  controlled  nearly 
all  of  that  product  manufactured  in  the  United 
States. 

Mr.  Perkins  was  married  July  20,  1874,  to 
Miss  May,  daughter  of  John  and  .Mary  (De  For- 
est) Tristram,  of  Norwalk,  Connecticut.  They 
had  four  children,  Emery  B.,  Lorenzo  B.,  Mrs. 
Nellie  M.  Harris  and  Mrs.  Jennie  C.  Brown,  the 
latter  being  deceased. 

Mr.  Perkins  attended  Dr.  Hillis'  church  at 
Central  Music  Hall,  and  he  was  an  exemplary 
citizen  and  a  good  man.  In  his  sphere  he  con- 
tributed in  no  small  degree  toward  making  Chi- 
cago the  western  metropolis  of  the  United  States. 
He  was  widely  known  in  the  West,  East  and 
South,  and  was  beloved  by  all  who  came  within 
reach  of  his  magnetic  and  benevolent  influence. 
He  was  the  originator  of  the  Western  Paving 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


DR.  JOHN  O.  HUGHES 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


J.  O.  HUGHES. 


Supply  Company,  and  although  V.  W.  Foster 
was  its  president,  he  was  its  practical  head  and 
manager.  - 

He  was  a  member  of  Covenant  Lodge,  No.  526, 
Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  of 
Corinthian  Chapter,  No.  69,  Royal  Arch  Masons. 
In  politics  he  was  a  Republican.  He  died  sud- 
denly, of  apoplexy,  at  the  age  of  sixty-one 
years,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  vice- 
president  of  the  Western  Paving  Supply  Com- 
pany. He  had  the  universal  respect  of  all 
representative  elements  of  the  city.  Mrs.  Perkins 
is  an  intellectual  and  accomplished  woman  and 


made  for  her  husband  the  home  which  he  prized 
so  dearly,  and  which  by  her  management  always 
remained  to  him  a  haven  of  rest  and  comfort, 
where  he  ever  found  recreation  from  the  cares  of 
his  ever-increasing  business,  and  where  he  loved 
to  entertain  the  friends  who  knew  him  best  and 
loved  him  most.  His  was  a  most  active  and 
useful  life,  and  although  called  away  seemingly 
before  his  time,  he  accomplished  much  more  than 
others  do  in  a  longer  space  of  time,  and,  best  of 
all,  leaves  to  his  posterity  and  friends  an  untar- 
nished name  that  will  be  remembered  by  future 
generations. 


JOHN  O.  HUGHES. 


HOHN  OWEN  HUGHES,  M.  D.,  who  has  an 
I  extensive  practice  in  Norwood  Park  and 
G/  vicinity,  was  born  November  12,  1838,  in 
New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  and  is  the  second 
child  of  Owen  and  Catherine  Hughes.  Owen 
Hughes  was  for  many  years  superintendent  of  a 
coal  yard  in  that  place,  where  he  and  his  wife 
died.  They  were  the  parents  of  five  children, 
only  two  of  whom,  John  O.  and  Catherine,  came 
to  the  West.  •  The  others  are:  Kirkpatrick,  who 
died  in  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey;  Catherine,  a 
resident  of  Chicago;  James,  who  has  charge  of  the 
packing  room  of  a  rubber  factory  in  New  Bruns- 
wick, New  Jersey;  and  Frank,  superintendent  of 
construction  of  boats  in  the  Government^employ. 
John  Owen  Hughes  became  an  orphan  at  an 
early  age,  and  in  his  youth  had  very  little  educa- 
tion, being  obliged  to  begin  the  battle  of  life  when 
only  a  boy.  His  ambition  was  not  satisfied  by 
the  employment  he  was  able  to  find,  and  he 
wished  for  greater  attainments  than  his  limited 
opportunities  for  improvement  had  given  him. 
He  spent  his  leisure  hours  in  study,  and  was  thus 
able  to  obtain  a  teacher's  certificate.  He  came 


to  Chicago  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and  taught  in 
several  parts  of  Illinois,  occupying  his  spare  mo- 
ments with  the  study  of  medicine.  Thus  his 
youth  was  spent  in  a  struggle  for  advancement, 
and  he  formed  habits  of  thought  and  application 
that  have  been  retained  in  his  after  life. 

In  1862  Mr.  Hughes  enlisted  in  the  One  Hun- 
dred Third  Illinois  Volunteers,  Company  D,  join- 
ing the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps.  This  was  the 
corps  commanded  by  General  Sherman,  and  with 
him  Mr.  Hughes  continued  until  the  close  of  the 
struggle.  He  was  present  in  many  important 
engagements,  among  them  the  Atlanta  Campaign 
and  the  March  to  the  Sea  and  through  the  Caro- 
linas.  After  Mr.  Hughes  had  been  with  the 
army  six  months,  he  was  placed  in  the  medical 
department,  where  he  remained,  doing  surgical 
work  on  the  battlefield,  such  as  dressing  wounds 
temporarily,  and  preparing  men  for  the  operating 
board. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Hughes  entered 
Rush  Medical  College,  and  graduated  in  1868, 
since  which  time  he  has  practiced  his  profession. 
In  1873  he  located  in  Norwood  Park,  which  has 


F.  W.    PARKER. 


since  been  his  place  of  residence.  He  acquired  a 
large  practice  there  and  in  neighboring  villages, 
which  has  been  principally  attended  to  at  his 
office  for  several  years,  and  built  a  handsome 
residence  in  1882. 

May  12,  1868,  he  married  Mary  V.  Hartough, 
a  native  of  Fairview,  Fulton  County,  Illinois, 
and  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Catherine  (Vander- 
veer)  Hartough,  both  of  whom  are  natives  of 
New  Jersey.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hughes  had  four 


children,  namely:  Frank,  who  was  drowned  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  years;  Kate  Hazeltine,  who  resides 
with  her  parents;  Martha  Lilian,  who  died  when 
six  years  old;  and  Edwin,  who  lives  at  home. 
Mr.  Hughes  is  a  man  of  progressive  ideas,  of 
broad  intellect,  and  feels  a  warm  interest  in  the 
public  welfare.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Reformed  Church  of  Norwood  Park,  and  a  valiant 
supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party. 


FRANCIS  W.  PARKER. 


r~RANCIS  WAYLAND  PARKER,  who  car- 
fri  ried  the  Cook  County  Normal  School  to  a 
|  '  high  degree  of  usefulness  and  is  known 
among  educators  all  over  the  United  States  and 
in  many  parts  of  Europe,  is  still  a  student  and  is 
active  in  promoting  the  cause  of  primary  educa- 
tion. Colonel  Parker  disclaims  utterly  all  pre- 
tensions to  having  found  any  new  methods  or 
principles  of  education.  His  only  claim  has 
been  and  is  that  he  is  trying  himself  to  study 
the  great  subject  of  education  in  its  applica- 
tion in  the  common  schools,  and  to  lead  other 
teachers  to  study  this  great  subject.  He  has  a 
firm  and  unalterable  faith  in  the  common  school 
system;  he  believes  that  the  common  schools  will 
be  brought  to  a  point  of  efficiency  equal  to  the 
demands  of  this  great  Republic;  that  the  salva- 
tion and  perpetuity  of  the  Republic  depend  upon 
the  proper  education  of  the  children. 

Francis  W.  Parker  was  born  October  9,  1837, 
in  the  village  of  Piscataquog,  Town  of  Bedford, 
New  Hampshire,  which  has  since  been  swallowed 
up  in  the  neighboring  city  of  Manchester. 
Col.  John  Goff,  one  of  the  ancestors  of  the 
subject  of  this  notice,  was  the  first  settler  on  the 
present  site  of  Manchester,  and  several  local 
names  still  preserve  his  memory.  His  son, 


Maj.  John  Goff,  was  an  officer  of  the  Revolution- 
ary army,  and  was  the  great-great-grandfather  of 
Colonel  Parker.  Colonel  John  Goff  was  a  famous 
hunter,  was  an  officer  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg, 
and  active  in  the  French  and  Indian  war.  Being 
too  old  to  participate  actively  in  the  Revolution- 
ary struggle,  he  yet  acted  an  important  part  in 
training  Generals  Sullivan  and  John  Stark  in 
military  tactics  and  preparing  them  for  the  duties 
which  they  so  well  performed.  The  family  of 
Goff  is  supposed  to  be  closely  allied  to  that  of 
Goff  the  regicide,  made  famous  by  the  pen  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott. 

William  Parker,  grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  a  drummer  under  Gen.  John  Stark 
at  Bunker  Hill,  and  served  through  the  Revolu- 
tion as  a  soldier.  He  was  founder  of  the  village 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Piscataquog,  called 
Squog  by  the  people,  where  excellent  rafting  and 
harbor  privileges  were  found  for  the  navigators  of 
the  river  Merrimac. 

Three  ancestors  of  Colonel  Parker,  a  Rand,  a 
Goff  and  a  Parker,  were  buried  on  Copp's  Hill, 
the  graveyard  of  the  Old  North  Church  in  Bos- 
ton. All  were  members  of  Cotton  Mather's 
church.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Jonathan 
Rand,  was  the  first  recorded  teacher  at  Old  Der- 


F.  W.  PARKER. 


ry field,  now  known  as  the  city  of  Manchester. 
Ministers  and  teachers  were  numerous  among  the 
ancestors  of  Colonel  Parker.  His  mother,  Milly 
Rand,  was  a  teacher,  said  to  practice  original 
methods  with  great  success.  Her  grandfather 
was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  a  classmate 
of  John  Hancock,  and  many  years  librarian  at 
Harvard.  John,  brother  of  Milly  Rand,  was  a 
famous  portrait  painter  and  inventor  of  the  me- 
tallic tube,  now  in  general  use,  for  holding  paints 
and  oils. 

Robert  Parker,  son  of  William,  was  a  cabinet- 
maker, noted  in  the  section  where  he  lived  for 
his  excellent  work.  He  was  an  ardent  adherent 
of  the  Baptist  faith,  and  named  his  son  in  honor 
of  the  famous  Dr.  Francis  Wayland,  president  of 
Brown  University.  He  died  when  this  son  was 
but  six  years  of  age. 

The  latter  attended  the  school  of  his  native  vil- 
lagfe  when  he  was  three  years  old,  having  pre- 
viously learned  to  read,  and  entered  the  local 
academy  at  the  age  of  seven.  When  eight  years 
old  he  read  in  Porter's  Rhetorical  Reader,  had 
been  through  Colburn's  Arithmetic,  and  was 
taken  from  school  and  bound  out  to  William 
Moore  of  Goffstown.  He  spent  five  years  upon  a 
farm,  being  privileged  to  attend  school  only  eight 
or  nine  weeks  in  the  winter,  but  considers  this 
one  of  the  most  fortunate  periods  in  his  primary 
training.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  years  he  left 
the  farm  and  entered  the  academy  at  Mount 
Vernon,  New  Hampshire.  Here  he  worked  his 
way  along  by  sawing  wood  and  performing 
various  sorts  of  manual  labor.  With  the  addi- 
tional money  earned  on  farms  in  summer  he  was 
enabled  to  pay  his  expenses  at  school  in  winter, 
and  this  hard  experience  served  to  develop  the 
most  sturdy  habits  of  self-reliance  and  industry. 

When  he  was  sixteen  years  old  he  attended 
Hopkinton  Academy,  and  in  the  winter  of  1854-55 
he  taught  school  at  Corser  Hill,  now  called  Web- 
ster, New  Hampshire.  At  a  salary  of  fifteen  dol- 
lars per  month,  he  presided  over  a  school  includ- 
ing seventy-five  pupils,  many  of  them  older  than 
himself.  The  following  winter  he  taught  school 
in  Auburn,  New  Hampshire,  and  such  was  his 
success  that  he  was  employed  several  successive 


winters  in  that  town.  His  first  winter's  salary 
was  eighteen  dollars  a  month,  and  this  included 
board  on  the  old-fashioned  system  of  "boarding 
'round." 

By  continuing  his  plan  of  farm  labor  in  sum- 
mer, teaching  and  attending  school,  he  came,  at 
the  attainment  of  his  majority,  to  the  charge  of 
the  village  school  in  Hinsdale,  New  Hampshire, 
and  was  subsequently  at  the  head  of  the  grammar 
school  of  his  native  village. 

In  1858  he  went  to  Carrollton,  Green  County, 
Illinois,  where,  with  one  assistant,  in  one  room, 
he  superintended  the  instruction  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  pupils,  ranging  in  age  from 
twelve  to  twenty-five  years.  Without  striking  a 
blow  he  continued  to  manage  this  school  two 
years,  where  two  of  his  predecessors  had  been 
driven  out  by  the  insubordination  of  the  pupils. 

True  to  his  inherited  martial  instincts,  young 
Parker  sought  to  enter  the  service  of  his  country 
immediately  upon  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  in 
the  Civil  War,  which  occurred  while  he  was  at 
Carrollton.  Being  unable  to  secure  admission 
to  an  Illinois  regiment,  he  returned  to  his  native 
state  and  at  once  entered  the  Fourth  New  Hamp- 
shire Regiment  as  a  private.  Before  the  regiment 
was  mustered  he  was  elected  first  lieutenant  of 
Company  E,  and  in  the  following  winter  was 
made  captain.  The  first  three  years  of  the  war 
were  spent  by  this  command  at  various  points 
along  the  Atlantic  Coast,  in  Florida,  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina,  participating  in  the  long  siege  of 
Charleston. 

Early  in  1864  the  regiment  was  placed  in  the 
command  of  General  Butler  at  Bermuda  Hun- 
dred, and  Colonel  Parker  was  in  several  great 
battles  during  the  long  campaign  of  1864.  At 
Drury's  Bluff  he  lost  twenty-eight  of  his  forty- 
two  men.  The  regiment  was  under  General 
Grant  at  Cold  Harbor,  and  took  part  in  the  siege 
of  Petersburg.  In  the  Crater  fight  the  Fourth 
New  Hampshire  lost  fifty  men,  and  immediately 
thereafter  Captain  Parker  was  placed  in  com- 
mand. August  16,  1864,  at  Deep  Bottom,  he 
was  suddenly  called  to  the  command  of  a  brigade, 
and  was  severely  wounded  in  the  chin  and  neck 
while  engaged  in  repelling  a  second  charge  of  the 


26 


F.  W.  PARKER. 


enemy.  For  many  weeks  he  lay  in  the  hospital, 
suffering  from  a  crushed  windpipe.  In  the  spring 
of  this  year  his  regiment  numbered  a  full  one 
thousand  men,  and  only  forty  could  be  mustered 
at  the  last  charge  in  the  fall. 

In  October,  1864,  he  was  able  to  leave  the 
hospital  and  go  home  to  recuperate.  He  was 
active  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  that  year, 
and  in  December  was  married  to  Miss  Phene  E. 
Hall,  of  Bennington,  New  Hampshire.  Having 
been  promoted  to  lieutenant-colonel,  he  joined  his 
regiment  after  the  battle  of  Fort  Fisher,  succeed- 
ing Colonel  Bell,  who  fell  in  the  first  attack  upon 
the  fort.  He  marched  with  General  Scofield 
across  North  Carolina  to  meet  Sherman.  Soon 
after  the  junction  of  forces  was  made  at  Cox's 
Bridge,  Colonel  Parker  was  made  a  prisoner  and 
taken  to  Greensburg,  North  Carolina,  where  he 
first  learned  of  the  failure  of  armed  rebellion, 
through  the  surrender  of  General  Lee.  For  his 
bravery  at  Deep  Bottom  he  was  made  a  brevet- 
colonel. 

Colonel  Parker  was  mustered  out  with  his 
command  in  August,  1865,  and  immediately  took 
the  position  of  principal  of  the  grammar  school  at 
Manchester,  New  Hampshire,  which  he  held 
three  years,  at  a  salary  of  eleven  hundred  dollars 
per  year.  Despite  his  aversion  he  was  drawn 
into  politics,  and  determined  to  move  in  order  to 
avoid  his  mistaken  friends,  for  he  felt  sure  he 
could  not  succeed  in  politics  and  teaching  at  the 
same  time.  He  felt  that  teaching  was  his  mission, 
aud  proceeded  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  where  he  was 
engaged  as  a  teacher.  Here  he  began  to  put  in 
practice  some  of  his  ideas  of  reform  in  education, 
and,  in  spite  of  opposition  from  parents  and 
teachers,  was  sustained  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. In  1871  he  took  the  position  of  assistant 
superintendent  of  the  schools  of  Minneapolis, 
Minnesota.  During  this  year  his  wife  died,  and 
he  resigned  his  position  and  went  to  Europe  to 
study  the  science  of  education. 

He  spent  two  and  one-half  y ears  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Berlin,  Germany,  and  also  took  a  course 
of  two  years  in  philosophy  under  a  private  tutor. 
During  his  vacations  he  visited  the  schools  and 
art  galleries  of  the  continent  and  made  a  study  of 


European  geography  and  history,  and  returned 
to  America  in  1875.  His  trip  abroad  was  under- 
taken largely  to  satisfy  himself  whether  his  ideas 
were  in  conformity  with  those  of  the  great 
thinkers  of  the  world,  and  he  came  back  fully 
confirmed  in  his  theories. 

In  April,  1875,  he  was  made  superintendent  of 
the  city  schools  of  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  which 
were  then  in  charge  of  a  board,  including  John 
Quincy  Adams,  Charles  Francis  Adams  and 
James  H.  Slade.  The  board  gave  him  full 
authority  and  co-operated  with  him  in  his  labors 
of  re-organization.  Much  opposition  was  en- 
countered on  the  part  of  teachers,  and  the  con- 
troversy attracted  thirty  thousand  visitors  to  ob- 
serve the  workings  of  the  schools  of  Quincy 
during  the  three  years  Colonel  Parker  was  in 
charge.  In  1880  he  was  made  one  of  the  super- 
visors of  schools  in  Boston,  where  he  again  met 
opposition  from  teachers  and  principals,  but  he 
was  re-elected.  He  was  offered  the  superintend- 
ency  of  schools  at  Philadelphia,  but  refused  this 
to  accept  the  position  of  principal  of  the  Cook 
County  Normal  School. 

Here  was  opportunity  to  exercise  his  talent  for 
training  teachers,  and  here  he  could  get  near  to 
the  children,  whom  he  wished  to  reach  and  bene- 
fit. He  entered  upon  his  duties  January  i,  1883, 
and  met  once  more  the  antagonism  of  teachers 
and  conservative  citizens.  But  results  soon  began 
to  demonstrate  to  these  the  wisdom  of  his  scien- 
tific theories,  and  he  was  heartily  sustained  by 
the  school  board,  and  the  institution  was  placed 
in  successful  operation  in  spite  of  politicians  and 
other  enemies  to  progress. 

Colonel  Parker  is  the  author  of  "Talks  on 
Teaching, ' '  '  'Practical  Teacher, ' '  '  'How  to  Study 
Geography,"  "Outlines  in  Geography,"  tract 
on  "Spelling,"  and  "Talks  on  Pedagogics. "  He 
has  visited  every  state  in  the  Union,  and  lectured 
before  institutes  and  conventions  in  most  of  them. 
A  few  of  his  lectures  may  be  here  mentioned: 
'  'The  Child  and  Nature, ' '  '  'The  Child  and  Man , ' ' 
"Artist  or  Artisan — Which?"  "Home  and 
School,"  "The  Ideal  School,"  "Education  and 
Democracy."  He  is  also  the  editor  of  a  unique 
publication  called  the  "Cook  County  Normal 


COL.  VICTOR  GERARDIN. 


27 


School  Envelope,"  which  shows  the  development 
of  concentration  in  the  Cook  County  Normal 
School,  month  by  month. 

In  December,  1882,  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  M. 
Frank  Stuart,  the  first  assistant  in  the  Boston 
School  of  Oratory.  Mrs.  Parker  is  a  leading  ex- 
ponent of  the  Delsarte  system  of  expression,  and 
is  a  faithful  coadjutor  of  her  husband  in  his  noble 
plans  for  benefiting  the  human  race.  Their 


home  on  Honore  Street,  Englewood,  bears  many 
evidences  of  her  artistic  taste  in  architecture  and 
furnishings.  Its  library  contains  over  four  thous- 
and volumes,  including  many  in  the  Norwegian, 
French,  Dutch,  German,  Italian  and  Indian 
languages,  which  the  Colonel  reads  readily. 
The  lawns  and  extensive  garden  furnish  him 
with  physical  exercise,  by  way  of  rest  from  his 
mental  and  literary  labors. 


COL.  VICTOR  GERARDIN. 


EOL.  VICTOR  GERARDIN,  known  in  Chi- 
cago as  the  "Father  of  the  French,"  was 
born  February  17,  1832,  in  Baccarat,  France, 
where  his  father,  Joseph  Gerardin,  was  a  farmer. 
The  father  of  the  latter,  who  bore  the  same  name, 
followed  the  same  avocation  in  the  same  locality. 
The  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  Agatha 
Math,  was  a  native  of  the  same  place,  and,  like 
her  husband,  was  a  scion  of  a  family  that  has  re- 
sided there  since  the  eleventh  century.  Joseph 
Gerardin,  junior,  served  under  the  great  Napo- 
leon during  the  last  two  years  of  his  campaigning 
in  Europe. 

Victor  Gerardin  was  the  thirteenth  child  of  his 
parents  and  was  deprived  of  his  mother  by  death 
when  he  was  but  three  years  old.  For  six  years, 
until  he  was  twelve  years  of  age,  he  attended  the 
village  school  and  then  came  to  America  with  a 
sister  who  was  married.  He  arrived  in  New 
York  on  the  ist  of  April,  1844,  and  went  to 
work  the  next  day  in  a  glass  factory,  where  he 
continued  one  year.  He  then  entered  into  an 
apprenticeship  at  the  hatter's  trade,  which  he 
continued  until  he  attained  his  majority.  During 
his  early  apprenticeship  his  salary  was  not  suffi- 
cient for  his  maintenance,  and  he  supported  him- 
self by  selling  papers  and  blacking  boots  in  New 
York  City.  He  did  not  neglect  at  the  same  time  to 
improve  his  mind,  and  rapidly  gained  a  mastery 
of  the  English  language. 


In  1854  he  came  to  Chicago  and  engaged  in 
business  with  a  partner,  the  firm  being  known  as 
Grosset  &  Gerardin.  The  senior  partner  died  in 
1877,  and  Mr.  Gerardin  has  continued  the  busi- 
ness of  hatter  alone  ever  since.  He  was  the  first 
in  Chicago  to  engage  in  the  manufacture  of  silk 
hats,  and  is  now  the  oldest  artisan  in  that  line  in 
the  city.  In  the  Great  Fire  of  1871  all  his  real 
and  personal  property  went  up  in  smoke.  He 
continued  business,  however,  opening  first  in  the 
house  of  a  friend  within  ten  days  after  the  fire; 
and  eventually  paid  in  full  every  dollar  of  claims 
against  him.  His  first  place  of  business  was  on 
South  Water  Street,  where  he  continued  three 
years,  and  afterwards  remained  on  La  Salle  Street 
between  Randolph  and  Lake  Streets,  until  the 
fire.  For  one  year  thereafter  he  was  located  on 
Canal  Street,  and  has  continued  ever  since  at  his 
present  location  on  Clark  Street,  near  Monroe. 
He  was  an  extensive  manufacturer,  and  previous 
to  the  panic  of  1873  turned  out  enough  hats  to 
supply  the  present  trade  of  the  Northwest. 

Mr.  Gerardin  has  ever  been  active  in  promoting 
social  and  benevolent  labors  and  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  since 
he  was  old  enough  to  be  eligible,  having  been 
initiated  in  Sincerite  Lodge  No.  233,  of  New  York 
City,  on  the  day  he  became  of  age.  In  Chicago 
he  was  for  many  years  a  member  of  Union  Lodge 
No.  9,  and  left  that  to  become  a  charter  member 


28 


J.  M.  KENNEDY. 


of  Rochambeau  Lodge  No.  532,  the  only  lodge  in 
Chicago  working  in  the  French  language,  of 
which  he  was  the  principal  organizer.  This  is 
one  of  the  six  lodges  in  the  United  States  work- 
ing in  that  language,  and  was  instituted  Novem- 
ber 12,  1873. 

From  the  ist  of  March,  1859,  Mr.  Gerardin  or- 
ganized the  French  Mutual  Society  (Societe  Fran- 
caise  de  Secours  Mutuels)  and  was  its  first  presi- 
dent, filling  that  position  for  twelve  consecutive 
terms.  In  1861  he  organized  the  Societe  de 
Bienifaisance,  of  which  he  was  president  at 
the  time  of  the  fire  in  1871.  After  that  calam- 
ity this  society  distributed  fifteen  thousand  francs 
to  the  sufferers.  In  1886  Mr.  Gerardin  or- 
ganzed  the  Cercle  Francais,  of  Chicago.  All 
these  societies  are  still  in  existence  except 
the  benevolent  society,  which  was  merged  in 
the  others  when  it  had  accomplished  its  pur- 
pose, after  the  fire.  One  of  Mr.  Gerardin's 
most  highly  prized  treasures  is  an  autograph  let- 
ter from  the  wife  of  Marshal  McMahon,  who  was 
president  of  the  French  relief  society,  acknowl- 
edging the  receipt  of  funds  sent  from  Chicago  for 
the  relief  of  the  French  flood  sufferers,  while 
McMahon  was  president  of  the  French  Republic. 

While  a  resident  of  New  York  City  Mr.  Ger- 
ardin served  from  1852  until  1854  as  a  volunteer 
fireman  with  Engine  Company  No.  1 1 .  He  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois, 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  since  1877. 


In  religious  faith  he  adheres  to  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church.  He  was  a  Republican  up  to  the 
Cleveland-Elaine  campaign  of  1884,  since  which 
time  he  has  adhered  to  the  Democratic  party. 
October  18,  1876,  he  was  commissioned  colonel  of 
the  "Hayes  &  Wheeler  Minute  Men  of  '76,"  on 
the  staff  of  Gen.  John  McArthur.  During  the 
Civil  War  he  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  ad- 
ministration, and  an  intense  patriot.  During  the 
World's  Fair  he  had  charge  of  the  Parisian  Hat- 
ters' Exhibit,  and  had  previously  served  as  a 
member  of  the  committee  of  one  hundred,  ap- 
pointed by  Mayor  Cregier.  to  secure  the  location 
of  that  exhibit  in  Chicago. 

He  re-visited  France  in  1864,  and  again  during 
the  Franco-Prussian  War,  and  on  the  last  trip 
made  a  tour  of  England  and  Ireland.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1859,  he  was  married  to  Marion,  eldest 
daughter  of  John  Magee,  of  Belfast,  Ireland  (for 
genealogy,  see  biography  of  Charles  D.  Magee, 
in  this  volume).  Five  of  the  nine  children  of 
Mr.  Gerardin  are  now  deceased.  The  names  of 
all  in  order  of  birth,  are:  Minnie,  Rea,  Agatha, 
Eliza,  Victor,  Joseph,  Walter,  Emile  and  Esther. 
The  third,  sixth  and  seventh  died  within  a  period 
of  two  weeks,  in  the  year  1875,  of  diphtheria,  and 
are  buried  in  Graceland  Cemetery.  Eliza  died  in 
1867,  and  Emile  in  1884.  Mr.  Gerardin  has 
lived  for  the  last  fourteen  years  in  his  present 
residence,  which  is  located  at  No.  1128  North 
Halsted  Street. 


JOHN  M.    KENNEDY. 


QOHN  MCMILLAN  KENNEDY,  for  many 

I  years  a  business  man  of  Chicago,  now  living 
O  in  retirement  at  Oak  Park,  was  born  in  the 
Parish  of  Colmonell,  Ayrshire,  Scotland,  Feb- 
ruary 26,  1815.  His  parents  were  Alexander 
Kennedy  and  Elizabeth  McMillan.  The  former 


was  a  farmer,  a  tenant  on  the  family  estate  which 
was  inherited  by  his  eldest  brother.  He  was 
born  April  7,  1772,  and  died  December  14,  1871, 
thus  lacking  only  four  months  of  being  one  hun- 
dred years  old.  He  was  the  father  of  twelve 
children,  of  whom  the  following  is  the  record: 


J.  M.  KENNEDY. 


29 


Margaret  is  the  widow  of  Rev.  Andrew  Mc- 
Dowell and  resides  at  Stirling,  Scotland;  David 
inherited  the  family  estate,  which  consists  of  one 
thousand  five  hundred  acres,  and  also  the  title  of 
Laird  of  Craig;  John  M.  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Anthony  M.  was  a  merchant  and  planter 
in  Camden,  South  Carolina,  where  he  died  De- 
cember 17,  1892;  Sarah  is  the  widow  of  George 
McAdam  and  resides  in  Rickton,  Scotland;  Robert 
was  a  merchant  in  Camden,  South  Carolina, 
where  he  died  in  1896;  Mary  became  the  wife  of 
David  Denholm,  and  died  in  Chicago  in  1854; 
Alexander  died  in  1852,  in  England;  Elizabeth 
died  in  Scotland  in  1861;  Agnes,  wife  of  David 
Thorburn,  resides  at  Newton  Stewart,  Scotland; 
Jane  died  at  the  age  of  twelve  years;  and  James 
died  at  his  native  place,  aged  twenty-one  years. 
John  M.  Kennedy  received  a  common-school 
education  in  Scotland,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
years,  in  company  with  his  younger  brother, 
Anthony,  sailed  from  Greenock,  Scotland,  Oc- 
tober 10,  1830,  in  the  good  ship  "Rogers  Stewart" 
for  America.  After  a  voyage  of  fifty  days  they 
arrived  at  Savannah,  Georgia,  and  proceeded  by 
steamer  to  Augusta,  in  the  same  State,  and 
thence  by  stage  to  Camden,  South  Carolina. 
There  they  joined  a  cousin,  a  merchant,  who 
gave  them  employment  as  clerks.  The  elder 
brother  remained  until  March  24,  1834,  when, 
in  company  with  Frederick  Witherspoon,  he 
made  the  journey  to  Fox  River,  Illinois,  on 
horseback,  a  distance  of  one  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  miles.  On  Big  and  Little 
Rock  Creeks,  in  what  is  now  Kendall  County, 
they  located  farms,  and  there  Mr.  Kennedy  car- 
ried on  farming  until  November,  1848.  At  that 
date  he  removed  to  Chicago,  and  from  1849  to 
1852  was  engaged  in  the  lumber  business.  From 
1852  to  1857  he  did  a  commission  business,  which 
proved  very  successful,  but  his  accumulations 
were  swept  away  in  the  panic  of  1857.  During 
the  terms  of  John  Wentworth  and  John  C. 
Haines  as  mayors  of  Chicago,  from  1857  to  1860, 
he  served  as  chief  of  police  with  much  credit, 
and  was  urged  to  serve  longer,  but  refused.  For 
the  next  five  years  he  was  employed  by  Howe  & 
Robbins,  grain  dealers,  and  from  1865  to  1878 


dealt  in  lime  as  city  salesman.  In  the  last-named 
year  he  accepted  the  position  of  weigh-master  on 
the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad,  which  he  held 
until  1887,  when  advancing  years  compelled  him 
to  resign.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  living  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  period  of  rest  and  recreation 
to  which  his  long  years  of  usefulness  so  eminently 
entitle  him.  In  1890  he  built  the  pleasant  cot- 
tage he  now  occupies  at  Oak  Park,  which  has 
since  been  his  home. 

Mr.  Kennedy  is  one  of  the  few  men  living  who 
have  witnessed  the  entire  growth  of  Chicago  as  a 
city.  On  his  first  visit  to  that  place  he  con- 
sidered it  a  very  undesirable  place  to  live,  but  later 
made  it  his  home,  wishing  to  secure  skilled 
medical  care  for  his  wife,  who  was  then  an  invalid. 
He  was  afterwards  induced  to  remain  in  order  to 
gain  educational  advantages  for  his  children.  His 
reminiscences  of  early  Chicago  are  very  interest- 
ing. Though  he  has  passed  his  eighty-second 
birthday  anniversary,  his  memory  is  excellent, 
and  he  recalls  the  events  of  his  youth  and  early 
manhood  quite  as  clearly  as  those  of  more  recent 
occurrence.  In  earlier  years  he  was  opposed  to 
the  extension  of  slavery,  and  was  successively  a 
Whig  and  a  Republican.  He  cast  his  first 
vote  for  President  in  1836,  and  has  therefore 
voted  in  sixteen  presidential  elections.  In  re- 
ligious views  he  has  been  a  lifelong  Baptist,  and 
united  with  the  Tabernacle  Church  of  Chicago  in 
1851.  He  was  a  member  of  this  church  forty 
years,  though  it  was  afterwards  named  the 
Second  Baptist  Church.  For  ten  years  he  served 
as  deacon  in  this  organization.  Since  1891  he 
has  been  connected  with  the  First  Baptist  Church 
of  Oak  Park, 

March  30,  1837,  Mr.  Kennedy  was  married  to 
Eliza  Ann  Rogers,  a  native  of  Camden,  South 
Carolina,  and  a  daughter  of  Alexander  and  Mary 
(Kelso)  Rogers.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rogers  were  both 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  the  former  of  Irish  and 
the  latter  of  Scotch  descent.  Seven  children 
were  born  of  this  union,  as  follows:  Mary,  now 
the  widow  of  Samuel  Ludington,  resides  with  her 
father;  Elizabeth,  who  was  for  thirty-eight  years 
a  teacher  in  Chicago,  but  now  retired,  also  re- 
sides with  her  father;  Alexander  is  in  the  insur- 


HENRY  WINKELMAN. 


ance  business  in  Chicago;  Anthony  is  chief  grain 
inspector  of  Boston,  Massachusetts;  John,  James 
and  Walter  died  in  childhood.  Mrs.  Kennedy 
died  in  1851.  The  subject  of  this  notice  was 
married  a  second  time  October  20,  1852,  to  Rosetta 
E.  Hamilton,  a  daughter  of  David  and  Jerusha 
(Hulet)  Hamilton.  Mrs.  Kennedy  was  born 
near  Aurora,  Erie  County,  New  York.  Her 
parents  removed  to  Illinois  in  1838.  Seven  chil- 
dren were  born  of  this  marriage,  as  follows: 
David,  who  is  a  member  of  the  real-estate  firm  of 
Kennedy  &  Ballard  of  Chicago,  and  resides  at 


Oak  Park;  William  E.,  a  railroad  man  on  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad;  Hulbert,  Ellen  Eliza, 
Albert  and  Charles  died  in  infancy;  Robert  B.  is 
employed  with  his  brother  in  Oak  Park,  where 
he  resides.  The  mother  departed  this  life  Jan- 
uary 23,  1892.  Mr.  Kennedy  is  blessed  by 
twenty-seven  grandchildren  and  eight  great- 
grandchildren. He  has  also  cared  for  two  orphan 
nieces,  Mary  L-  Goff,  now  the  widow  of  John  J. 
Kott,  and  Agnes  D.  Kennedy,  now  Mrs.  Frank 
M.  Crittenden,  both  of  whom  reside  in  the  city 
of  Chicago. 


HENRY  WINKELMAN. 


HENRY  WINKELMAN  was  born  January 
3,  1847,  in  Tedinghausen,  Braunschweig, 
Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and  Eliza- 
beth (Klueber)  Winkelman,  neither  of  whom 
ever  came  to  America.  John  Winkelman,  brother 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  came  to  America 
in  1861  and  settled  in  Baltimore,  Maryland.  His 
sympathies  were  on  the  side  of  the  South  in  the 
great  civil  strife,  and  he  enlisted  in  the  Confed- 
erate army,  and  was  killed  during  the  war.  Mary 
Winkelman,  his  sister,  came  to  America  in  1863, 
and  afterwards  married  Henry  Kassens.  She  and 
her  husband  reside  at  Colehour.  Henry  Win- 
kelman served  in  the  cavalry  service  of  Germany. 
He  came  to  America  in  1875,  and  in  1878  went 
to  South  Chicago,  where  he  now  resides. 

Henry  Winkelman  received  all  his  education 
in  his  native  country,  where  he  remained  until 
he  was  nearly  twenty  years  old.  The  example 
of  his  older  brother  and  his  sister  gave  him  the 
desire  to  come  to  this  country,  and  when  he  was 
able  to  do  so,  he  emigrated.  He  reached  New 
York  in  July,  1866,  and  located  in  Brooklyn, 
where  he  remained  until  1 88 1,  being  employed 


by  a  grocer  until  1872,  when  he  engaged  in  busi- 
ness for  himself,  conducting  a  meat  market. 

In  1881  Mr.  Wiukelnian  came  to  South  Chi- 
cago and  opened  a  meat  market  at  No.  10026 
Ewing  Avenue.  Later  he  bought  some  property 
a  few  doors  away  and  moved  his  business,  and  in 
1884  he  bought  property  at  No.  9801  Ewing 
Avenue.  He  moved  his  business  to  this  place, 
where  he  has  conducted  it  since  that  time,  and  in 
1895  he  built  the  comfortable  brick  flat  which  he 
occupies. 

In  1872  Mr.  Winkelman  married  his  first  wife, 
Margaret  Kolenberg,  of  Germany,  but  she  died 
when  they  had  been  married  less  than  two  years. 
They  had  one  child,  who  died  when  an  infant. 
In  1876  he  married  his  second  wife,  Miss  Annie 
Kleemeyer. 

Mr.  Winkelman  has  become  well  acquainted 
with  the  customs  of  his  adopted  country,  whose 
interest  he  has  at  heart.  In  politics  he  does  not 
follow  party  lines  and  prejudices,  but  votes  for 
the  man  rather  than  for  the  party.  He  is  a  suc- 
cessful business  man  and  enjoys  the  respect  of  his 
friends  and  neighbors. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


HENRY  C.  FRICKK 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


H.  C.  FRICKE. 


HENRY  C    FRICKE. 


HENRY  CHRISTIAN  FRICKE,  a  vener- 
able pioneer  of  Chicago,  was  born  August  i, 
1815,  in  Springe,  Hanover,  Germany.  His 
parents  were  Gottlieb  and  Mary  (Ohm)  Fricke, 
also  natives  of  Springe,  which  is  an  ideal  town, 
surrounded  by  mountains  and  having  its  own 
municipal  government.  The  ancestry  of  Mr. 
Fricke  dates  back  many  centuries,  its  members 
having  lived  in  the  quaint  little  town  of  Springe, 
where  they  held  positions  of  responsibility  and 
led  upright  and  useful  lives,  and  were  educated 
according  to  the  opportunities  of  their  times. 

Mr.  Fricke's  grandfather  was  a  man  of  affairs, 
and  occupied  and  tilled  an  estate  of  two  thousand 
acres,  for  which  he  paid  a  yearly  rental  of  two 
thousand  German  thalers  to  the  King  of  Hano- 
ver. He  was  well  educated,  was  a  brainy  man, 
of  good  executive  ability,  and  reared  a  large  fam- 
ily in  the  good  customs  of  the  country.  His  son, 
Gottlieb,  succeeded  to  the  homestead,  and  gradu- 
ally paid  off  the  other  heirs.  He  was  industrious 
and  frugal,  and  reared  a  family  of  ten  children, 
two  of  whom,  Henry  C.  Fricke  and  the  youngest 
daughter.  Louise  Tamcke,  now  reside  in  Chicago. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  the  educa- 
tion afforded  by  his  native  town,  and,  being  fond 
of  study,  made  the  best  of  his  opportunities.  He 
was  gifted  with  excellent  musical  faculties,  and 
was  wont  to  associate  with  the  best  elements  of 
society  there,  in  the  study  of  his  favorite  art.  He 
became  an  expert  performer  on  the  spinnet,  an 
instrument  which  was  superseded  by  the  piano, 
and  he  was  among  the  musical  leaders  of  the  place. 

When  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  select 
a  vocation  in  life,  he  decided  to  become  an  ac- 


countant. He  was  elected  to  the  office  of  city 
treasurer  for  life,  and  was  subsequently  elected 
burgomaster  of  Springe,  but  the  Government  re- 
fused to  confirm  this,  because  of  his  free  expres- 
sion of  liberal  views  during  the  stormy  days  of 
1848.  He  was  too  democratic  for  happy  life  un- 
der a  monarchy,  and  by  this  oppressive  act  Han- 
over lost  a  good  citizen,  while  the  United  States 
was  thereby  a  gainer.  Although  the  ties  which 
bound  him  to  his  native  land  were  strong,  he  de- 
termined to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  new  world. 

May  8,  1853,  he  left  Springe  and  arrived  in 
Chicago  July  24  of  the  same  year.  In  the  fol- 
lowing November  his  wife,  Fredericka  (born  Ho- 
bein),  followed  with  their  five  children.  He  soon 
found  employment  as  bookkeeper  in  a  small  shop 
on  La  Salle  Street,  near  the  present  south  entrance 
to  the  tunnel.  The  cholera  attacked  his  employ- 
ers, Braunhold  &  Sonne,  and  the  care  of  the  en- 
tire business  fell  upon  Mr.  Fricke  for  a  time. 
Soon  after,  through  the  friendship  of  George 
Schneider,  the  well-known  ex-banker,  he  received 
the  appointment  of  delivery  clerk  in  the  foreign 
mail  department  of  the  postoffice,  a  position  for 
which  his  education  and  previous  business  expe- 
rience especially  fitted  him.  George  B.  Arm- 
strong, who  has  left  the  impression  of  his  genius 
on  the  mail  service  of  the  United  States  and  the 
world,  never  to  be  effaced,  was  then  assistant 
postmaster,  and  became  a  warm  friend  of  Mr. 
Fricke. 

The  latter  served  faithfully  in  the  postoffice 
seven  years,  and  then  entered  into  a  partnership 
with  Dr.  Julius  Lubarsch,  taking  a  one-third  in- 
terest in  the  business  of  Dr.  Lubarsch.  Mr. 


32 


G.  W.  WIEDHOF. 


Fricke  became  business  manager  and  conducted 
matters  satisfactorily  to  all  concerned  from  Feb- 
ruary, 1861,  to  January  2,  1872,  when  he  bought 
out  the  interest  of  Dr.  Lubarsch,  and  subsequently 
acquired  the  one-third  interest  of  Dr.  Louis  Coni- 
itti,  who  had  superintended  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  business.  The  latter  interest  was 
conferred  upon  Mr.  Fricke's  son,  Dr.  Gustav  H. 
Fricke,  who  had  just  completed  his  medical  edu- 
cation at  Rush  Medical  College. 

In  1882  Mr.  Fricke  was  seized  with  writer's 
paralysis,  and  turned  over  the  entire  management 
of  business  to  his  son.  In  July  of  that  year  he 
set  out  for  a  trip  to  Europe,  accompanied  by  his 
daughter,  Augusta,  who  much  enjoyed  the  visit 
to  her  father's  native  home.  It  was  a  memorable 
trip  for  both. 

In  1870  Mr.  Fricke  moved  on  fifty  acres  of 
land  in  Maine  Township,  one  mile  west  of  Park 
Ridge.  He  gradually  improved  it  until  it  became 
a  park  farm,  and  was  a  happy  gathering  place  for 
his  children  and  grandchildren.  In  course  of 
time  he  invested  in  city  real  estate,  including  a 
valuable  property  on  Clark  Street,  near  Goethe, 


and  three  houses  on  Superior  Street.  Since  No- 
vember 5,  1896,  he  has  lived  in  one  of  these,  and 
has  made  a  charming  miniature  garden  in  the 
rear,  where  he  enjoys  a  well-earned  rest  from  the 
toils  of  a  long  and  busy  life.  He  is  well  known 
to  a  large  number  of  Chicagoans  as  an  industri- 
ous, kind-hearted  man,  who  loves  to  entertain 
his  friends  and  relatives,  and  is  a  most  excellent 
type  of  the  thrifty  German-American  citizen. 

Mr.  Fricke  was  married  February  17,  1839,  in 
Springe,  to  Miss  Fredericka  Hobein,  who  was  a 
woman  of  fine  qualities,  and  proved  a  worthy 
helpmeet  to  her  husband.  She  died  November  3, 
1895,  and  was  buried  in  Graceland  Cemetery. 
After  her  death  Mr.  Fricke's  youngest  sister  cared 
for  his  household  until  his  return  from  the  farm 
to  the  city.  His  children  are  named  in  order  of 
birth:  Mary,  Mrs.  Oscar  Margraff";  Emma,  wife 
of  George  Wittbold,  whose  biography  will  be 
found  in  this  volume;  Sophia,  Mrs.  Adolph  Gar- 
the;  Dr.  Gustav  H.  Fricke;  and  Augusta,  wife 
of  George  Garland.  Besides  these  five  children, 
Mr.  Fricke  is  proud  of  twenty -four  grandchildren 
and  seven  great-grandchildren. 


GEORGE  W.  WIEDHOF. 


JO)EORGE    WHITTINGTON    WIEDHOF 

I—  was  born  December  25,  1874,  at  No.  1402 
vj  Dunning  Street,  Chicago,  and  is  the  son  of 
Alfred  H.  and  Bertha  A.  Wiedhof.  His  great- 
grandfather was  a  general  under  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte, and  was  of  Polish  birth.  He  had  previous- 
ly served  in  the  Russian  army,  but  at  the  begin- 
ning of  trouble  between  Russia  and  Poland  he 
took  sides  with  his  native  country,  and  later 
went  to  France  and  served  until  the  downfall  and 
exile  of  the  Emperor.  He  shared  the  troubles 
of  Napoleon,  and  when  he  was  sent  to  St.  Helena, 


Mr.  Wiedhof  and  his  wife, who  was  a  Spanish  lady, 
were  on  board  the  ship,  called  "Bellerophon." 
It  was  on  this  journey  that  their  son,  grandfather 
of  George  W.  Wiedhof,  was  born.  Mr.  Wied- 
hof returned  to  Europe  later,  settling  in  Eng- 
land, which  country  the  family  adopted  until 
A.  H.  Wiedhof  emigrated  to  America  in  1854. 
He  is  a  contractor  and  builder,  and  still  resides 
in  Chicago,  being  now  sixty  years  old,  and  a  hale 
and  stalwart  man. 

George  W.  Wiedhof  received  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools  of  the  North  Side  in 


G.  H.  BALL. 


33 


Chicago,  and  later  graduated  from  the  Lake  View 
High  School.  His  education  was  completed  by 
a  course  in  dentistry  at  the  Northwestern  Univer- 
sity, and  previous  to  his  graduation  he  assisted 
some  of  the  most  prominent  dentists  in  the  city. 
When  only  twenty-one  3~ears  of  age,  he  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  profession,  and  has  a  rapid- 
ly growing  practice.  His  best  efforts  are  in  crown 
and  bridge  work  and  in  gold  filling,  in  which 
line  he  has  made  a  good  reputation.  Dr.  Wiedhof 
was  formerly  a  member  of  various  military  com- 


panies, but  of  late  years  has  been  too  busily  en- 
gaged in  his  business  to  retain  his  interest  in  them. 
In  political  affairs  Dr.  Wiedhof  has  very  liberal 
views,  and  he  always  takes  great  interest  in  ben- 
efiting his  fellow-men.  He  is  connected  with 
several  social  societies,  in  all  of  which  he  is  a 
genial  and  influential  member.  He  is  one  of  the 
rising  business  men  of  the  city,  but  has  many 
outside  interests,  and  keeps  informed  on  all  sub- 
jects, which  enables  him  to  be  a  brilliant  conver- 
sationalist and  a  genial  companion. 


GODFREY  H.  BALL, 


Y  HO  WITT  BALL,  a  prominent 
business  man  of  Chicago,  identified  in  many 
ways  with  its  commercial  and  social  inter- 
ests, is  descended  from  an  old  family  prominent 
in  the  military  affairs  of  Great  Britain.  He  was 
born  February  15,  1853,  in  the  city  of  Melbourne, 
Australia,  being  the  son  of  Capt.  George  Pal- 
mer Ball  of  the  British  army. 

The  latter  was  in  the  East  India  service,  and 
for  meritorious  conduct  was  made  a  captain  at 
the  early  age  of  twenty-three  years,  and  served 
all  through  the  terrible  Indian  mutiny.  His 
wife,  Isabella  Ball,  was  a  daughter  of  Col. 
Robert  Hazelwood,  who  served  in  India  under  Sir 
Arthur  Wellesley,  afterwards  Du'ke  of  Welling- 
ton. While  in  India,  Colonel  Hazelwood  was 
stationed  most  of  the  time  at  Madras  (where  Mrs. 
Ball  was  born),  but  saw  some  very  hard  fighting 
during  the  mutiny.  When  Captain  Ball  retired 
from  the  service,  he  went  with  his  family  to  live 
in  Australia.  One  of  his  sons,  Albert  T.  Ball, 
who  settled  in  that  country,  was  killed  with  his 
wife,  in  a  terrible  railroad  accident,  which  oc- 
curred at  MacKay,  June  14,  1897. 

When  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  four  years 
of  age  his  parents  went  to  England,  and  after 


residing  one  year  in  Liverpool,  came  to  America. 
In  1858  they  settled  on  a  farm  in  Smithtown, 
Long  Island,  forty-three  miles  from  Brooklyn. 
The  father  was  a  highly  educated  man,  a  graduate 
of  Dublin  University,  and  from  him  the  son  re- 
ceived his  primary  education.  During  his  youth 
he  worked  on  his  father's  farm  and  spent  con- 
siderable time  in  hunting  and  fishing.  In  the 
year  1863  the  family  moved  to  Brooklyn  and  he 
completed  his  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
that  city. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  years  he  entered  the  em- 
ploy of  Jabez  A.  Bostwick,  of  New  York,  after- 
ward well  known  as  one  of  the  leading  spirits  of 
the  Standard  Oil  Trust,  and  continued  in  his 
service  two  or  three  years.  He  next  spent  one 
year  in  the  service  of  a  man  named  Warner,  in 
the  custom-house  business,  at  New  York.  His 
next  engagement  was  in  the  capacity  of  private 
secretary  to  Walter  Brown,  of  the  firm  of  Walter 
Brown  &  Son,  at  that  time  one  of  the  largest 
wool  merchants  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Ball  was  now  convinced  that  his  business 
experience  qualified  him  for  advancement,  and 
seeing  little  opportunity  in,  a  house  where  so 
many  preceded  him,  he  replied  to  an  advertise- 


34 


S.  V.  R.  BRUNDAGE. 


merit,  through  which,  upon  the  strong  recom- 
mendation of  Mr.  Brown,  he  secured  a  position 
with  Gardner  G.  Yvelin,  founder  of  the  establish- 
ment of  which  Mr.  Ball  is  now  the  managing 
partner  in  Chicago.  The  firm  was  known  for 
some  time  as  Yvelin  &  Smith,  and  after  the 
death  of  the  founder  it  became  Smith  &  Vander- 
beck,  which  was  in  turn  succeeded  by  the  present 
firm  of  James  P.  Smith  &  Company;  the  parent 
house,  situated  at  Nos.  90  to  94  Hudson  Street, 
New  York,  has  been  established  since  1831.  Mr. 
Ball  has  been  twenty-five  years  connected  with 
this  house,  and  since  December,  1880,  when  he 
located  in  Chicago,  he  has  been  manager  of  its 
business  here.  He  has  traveled  extensively,  and 
during  a  period  of  eleven  years  visited  every  large 
city  in  America  many  times. 

In  June,  1886,  Mr.  Ball  was  married  to  Mary 
Clement   Harriot,   a  native  of  Covington,    Ken- 


tucky, and  scion  of  a  very  old  and  loyal  family  of 
that  State.  Mr.  Ball's  family  includes  a  son  and 
daughter,  namely:  James  Percival,  and  Louise 
Harriot,  aged,  respectively,  ten  and  five  and  one- 
half  years. 

The  family  is  very  comfortably  settled  at  No. 
4028  Lake  Avenue.  Mr.  Ball  was  brought  up 
in  the  Episcopal  Church,  to  which  he  still  ad- 
heres. He  is  entirely  independent  of  political 
parties,  having  no  faith  in  any  organization,  but 
is  a  good  citizen,  and  casts  his  vote  and  influence 
where  he  believes  they  will  result  in  the  greatest 
good  to  the  community.  He  is  a  true  sportsman, 
with  happy  recollections  of  his  youthful  days,  and 
enjoys  an  outing  in  fishing  or  the  chase  as  much 
as  ever.  His  genial  and  affable  manners  continue 
to  make  and  retain  friendships,  and  the  success 
of  the  firm  of  which  he  is  manager  proves  him  an 
intelligent,  clear-headed  business  man. 


STEPHEN  V.  R.  BRUNDAGE. 


TEPHEN  VAN  RANSALAR  BRUND- 
AGE, a  prominent  citizen  of  the  West  Side 
in  Chicago,  now  deceased,  was  a  scion  of  the 
sturdy  Scotch  blood  which  has  been  widely  influ- 
ential in  developing  the  best  material  and 
moral  interests  of  the  United  States.  Mr. 
Brundage  was  born  December  25,  1839,  in 
Barry  County,  Michigan,  being  the  eldest  child 
of  Alonzo  and  Diadama  (Dean)  Brundage,  both 
of  whom  were  natives  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

George  Brundage,  father  of  Alonzo  Brundage, 
was  born  in  Scotland,  and  passed  most  of  his  life 
on  a  farm  near  Oswego,  New  York.  He  was 
well  known  in  that  section  of  the  State,  and 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  representative  citizens. 
He  adhered  to  the  principles  of  government  ad- 
vocated by  the  Whigs,  and  was  repeatedly  chosen 
by  his  fellow-citizens  to  represent  them  in  posi- 


tions of  responsibility.  Beside  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  he  reared  the  following  children:  Alon- 
zo, George,  Genoa,  Frederick  and  Emma. 

Stephen  V.  Brundage  was  educated  in  his 
native  State,  and  acquired  the  trade  of  blacksmith. 
Although  he  never  served  a  regular  apprentice- 
ship, he  had  a  natural  aptitude  for  mechanics, 
and  became  a  highly  skilled  artisan  in  iron. 
After  coming  to  Chicago,  in  1867,  he  was  sixteen 
years  foreman  of  the  blacksmith  shops  of  the  Chi- 
cago, Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad.  He  re- 
linquished this  position  to  engage  in  business  on 
his  own  account. 

In  1876  he  established  himself  in  a  blacksmith 
shop  on  West  Twenty-second  Street,  where  he 
was  assisted  only  by  his  eldest  son.  From  this 
small  beginning  was  built  up  a  very  successful 
business  in  the  production  of  high-grade  wagons 


OCTAVE  CHAPLEAU. 


35 


and  carriages,  and  the  factory  now  employs  twenty 
men,  continuing  to  turn  out  only  first-class 
goods,  such  as  are  sought  by  people  preferring 
quality  to  cheapness.  This  growth  was  not  sud- 
den, and  was  the  result  of  the  industry,  prudence 
and  upright  character  of  the  founder.  Two  of  his 
sons,  the  first  and  third,  became  interested  in  the 
establishment,  and  are  continuing  on  the  lines 
laid  down  by  their  father. 

Mr.  Brundage  was  married  January  15,  1862, 
at  Newark,  Illinois,  to  Miss  Maratta  Hollenback, 
daughter  of  Wesley  and  Catherine  (Rarich) 
Hollenback,  who  were  among  the  pioneer  set- 
tlers of  northern  Illinois.  They  resided  in  Ken- 
dall County  during  the  Blackhawk  War,  and 
were  among  those  warned  by  Chief  Shabbona  in 
time  to  escape  the  fury  of  the  Indian  warriors. 
They  passed  away  at  their  home  in  Newark,  Illi- 
nois. The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brundage 
are:  Nelson  Alonzo,  Charlotte  Louise  (wife  of  G. 
G.  Shauer),  Edwin  Wesley,  Frederick  Leroy  and 


Stephen  Walter,  the  last-named  being  a  member 
of  the  dental  profession  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Brundage  passed  from  earth  May  23,  1895, 
as  the  result  of  paralysis.  He  was  widely  known 
as  a  splendid  mechanic,  and  a  true  friend  and 
good  companion.  He  was  for  many  years  a  regu- 
lar attendant  of  worship  at  Saint  Paul's  Methodist 
Church,  and  was  a  most  just  and  upright  man. 
He  was  identified  with  the  Masonic  order,  hold- 
ing membership  in  Pleiades  Lodge,  No.  478, 
Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  most  of 
the  members  of  his  family  are  connected  with 
the  order,  either  in  the  Blue  or  Eastern  Star 
Lodges.  Mr.  Brundage  was  very  successful  as  a 
business  man,  being  far-sighted  and  conservative 
in  management.  He  had  a  horror  of  debt,  and 
had  clear  title  to  all  property  which  he  acquired. 
Among  his  possessions  were  a  farm  in  Dakota, 
the  shops  where  he  conducted  business  and  a 
substantial,  four-story  flat  building,  in  which  he 
made  his  home. 


OCTAVE  CHAPLEAU. 


0CTAVE  CHAPLEAU  was  born  February 
27,  1834,  in  Saint  Rose,  Canada,  and  was 
the  son  of  a  farmer  at  that  place.  His  early 
education  was  obtained  in  his  native  town,  and 
when  he  was  old  enough  he  began  the  study  of 
the  stone-cutter's  trade.  Hoping  to  better  his 
condition,  he  removed  to  Chicago,  in  1866,  and 
found  ready  employment  at  his  trade. 

In  1880  he  removed  to  South  Chicago,  and  en- 
tered the  service  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Company  in 
building  a  mill,  where  he  was  employed  four 
years.  He  resolved  to  enter  business  in  his  own 
name,  and  accordingly  bought  ground  and  run 
a  stone  yard  on  Harbor  Avenue.  He  was  very 
successful  and  remained  there  until  his  death. 

August    5,    1866,  he   married   Celina    Hebert, 


daughter  of  Frank  and  Elizabeth  (Seymore) 
Hebert.  She  was  born  February  16,  1841 ,  in  Saint 
John,  Canada.  Mr.  Chapleau  was  a  member  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  In  politics  he  took 
an  active  part,  and  was  a  Republican  in  senti- 
ment. He  bought  a  lot  at  No.  8902  Superior 
Avenue,  and  in  1882  built  the  house  which  is 
now  occupied  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anton  Gleitsman. 
He  died  May  26,  1893,  and  was  mourned  by  a 
large  circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances. 

Anton  Gleitsman  was  born  July  12,  1852,  near 
Milwaukee.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Ger- 
many, but  are  old  settlers  in  Wisconsin,  having 
emigrated  several  years  before  Anton  Gleitsman 
was  born.  He  received  his  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Wisconsin,  and  at  an  early  age 


GEORGE  DUNLAP. 


began  to  learn  a  trade.  He  became  an  engineer 
in  a  blast  furnace.  He  came  to  Chicago  in  1882, 
and  since  that  time  has  been  employed  in  a  mill. 
May  22,  1895,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Mrs.  Chapleau,  the  widow  of  Octave  Chapleau. 


Roman  Catholic  Church.  They  are  highly  es- 
teemed socially  and  have  many  friends.  The 
former  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
and  in  his  political  views  is  convinced  of  the  jus- 
tice of  the  principles  advanced  by  the  Republican 


Mr.  Gleitsman  and  wife  are  communicants  of  the     party,  and  is  one  of  its  firmest  supporters. 


GEORGE  DUNLAP. 


/2JEORGE  DUNLAP  was  born  November  2, 
|_  1825,  in  Lorraine,  Jefferson  County,  New 
V.J  York.  He  is  a  son  of  William  I.  and  Mar- 
garet P.  (Lane)  Dunlap,  both  born  in  Cherry 
Valley,  New  York.  John  Dunlap,  father  of  Will- 
iam I.  Dunlap,  was  a  captain  of  volunteers  in 
the  Revolutionary  War  from  Cherry  Valley,  and 
his  wife  escaped  the  great  massacre  at  that  place 
by  taking  refuge  in  the  fort.  He  was  seven  years 
in  the  service.  His  father  was  from  the  north  of 
Ireland,  and  the  family  is  of  Scotch  descent.  He 
came  to  Cherry  Valley,  New  York,  where,  with 
two  brothers,  he  had  a  right  of  a  township  of 
land.  The  two  brothers  were  lost  at  sea,  with 
the  papers  showing  the  claim  to  the  land,  and  the 
lawyer  employed  to  settle  the  affair  took  all  the 
land  excepting  two  hundred  acres.  John  was 
born  on  this  farm  and  spent  his  life  there.  His 
wife  was  a  Miss  Campbell,  and  they  have  five 
children,  namely:  William  I.;  Livingston,  a  doc- 
tor, who  practiced  in  Indianapolis  until  his  death; 
Robert,  who  died  in  Milwaukee;  Hannah,  Mrs. 
Walrad,  of  Cherry  Valley,  deceased;  and  Eliza- 
beth, who  died  in  young  womanhood. 

William  I.  Dunlap  served  as  a  volunteer  in  the 
War  of  1812.  He  removed  to  Jefferson  County, 
New  York,  in  1822,  and  in  1836  he  came  to  Ill- 
inois, settling  first  in  Mendota,  and  later,  in  1840, 
in  Leyden,  which  latter  place  was  his  residence 
many  years.  He  died  in  1856,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
nine  years.  His  wife  died  in  1865,  at  the  age  of 


seventy-seven  years.  She  was  born  in  Elizabeth- 
town,  New  Jersey,  and  removed  to  Cherry  Val- 
ley with  her  parents  when  she  was  a  child.  Her 
father  was  of  Dutch  descent,  and  her  mother  of 
English  origin.  William  I.  and  Margaret  Dun- 
lap  had  ten  children,  of  whom  the  following  is 
the  account:  John,  who  was  a  tanner  and  cur- 
rier of  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin,  died  when  forty 
years  old.  Ann  Eliza,  deceased,  married  Oren 
Hotchkiss  and  lived  at  Champaign.  Matthias  L. , 
who  died  in  1875,  was  a  horticulturist  and  a  writ- 
er on  kindred  subjects  in  the  Chicago  Tribune,  his 
column  being  "The  Farm  and  Garden;"  he  lived 
in  Leyden,  where  he  started  an  extensive  fruit 
farm,  and  subsequently  removed  to  Champaign, 
Illinois;  his  son,  Henry,  is  a  member  of  the 
present  state  senate.  Menzo  is  a  farmer,  whose 
home  is  in  Sevoy,  Illinois;  Sally,  deceased,  mar- 
ried James  H.  Kinyon,  of  Champaign;  William 
is  a  retired  wheelwright,  and  resides  at  Irving, 
Lane  County,  Oregon;  Robert,  a  dealer  in  agri- 
cultural implements,  lives  in  Iowa  City,  Iowa; 
George  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Charlotte, 
deceased,  married  Erastus  Bailey,  of  Wheeling, 
Illinois;  and  James  Hamill  died  when  twenty- 
two  years  old. 

George  Dnnlap  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Lewis  County,  New  York,  when  seven  years  old, 
and  there  he  attended  the  common  schools.  He 
came  to  Chicago  in  1836,  arriving  on  his  eleventh 
birthday,  and  subsequently  attended  school  in 


Z.  M.  HALL. 


37 


Troy  Grove,  La  Salle  County,  Illinois.  Later  he 
attended  a  select  school  in  Ottawa  a  few  months. 
In  1840  he  came  to  Leyden,  then  called  Dunlap's 
Prairie,  in  honor  of  M.  L.  Dunlap,  his  brother, 
who  surveyed  much  of  the  land  in  that  vicinity, 
and  was  a  prominent  man,  being  a  member  of 
the  state  legislature  one  term.  George  Dunlap 
pre-empted  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  Gov- 
ernment land,  and  when  it  was  put  upon  the  mar- 
ket bought  it.  He  lived  on  this  farm,  carrying 
on  general  farming  until  1864,  when  he  sold  it. 
He  was  deputy  sheriff  six  months,  and  then  be- 
came assistant  United  States  assessor,  which  posi- 
tion he  held  eleven  years,  resigning  to  take  his 
seat  in  the  twenty-ninth  general  assembly.  He 
then  engaged  in  the  real-estate  business,  uniting 
with  L.  J.  Swift  in  the  firm  of  Dunlap  &  Swift. 
In  1884  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  cares  of 
the  business,  which  had  become  one  of  the  most 
successful  on  the  West  Side,  on  account  of  failing 
health.  He  subsequently  removed  to  Santa  Cruz, 
California,  where  he  has  ever  since  spent  the 
winter  months. 

In  i8"69  he  bought  the  first  lots  and  built  the 


first  house  in  the  village  of  Norwood,  where  he 
had  his  residence  until  1884.  In  1896  he  built 
the  pleasant  home  he  now  occupies.  January  27, 
1851,  he  married  Almeda  Pierce,  of  Sandy  Creek, 
Oswego  County,  New  York.  She  is  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Hannah  (Ballou)  Pierce,  the  latter 
of  French  ancestry,  and  both  natives  of  Rhode 
Island.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dunlap  became  the  par- 
ents of  six  children:  De  Clermont  is  a  civil  en- 
gineer, and  resides  in  Chicago;  Hetty  S.,  who  is 
a  school  teacher,  lives  with  her  parents;  Clifton 
F.  is  a  printer  of  Chicago;  Alice  S.  resides  at 
home;  Jessie  D.  married  Percy  V.  Castle,  a  law- 
yer, who  resides  in  Austin;  and  Mira  died  in 
1894. 

Mr.  Dunlap  has  held  many  local  offices.  He 
served  four  years  as  supervisor  of  Leyden,  five 
years  as  justice  of  the  peace,  and  was  school  di- 
rector twenty-three  years.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Masonic  order,  having  at  present  a  demit 
from  Santa  Cruz  Lodge,  Santa  Cruz,  California. 
He  is  a  well-read  man,  an  intelligent  citizen,  and 
one  who  takes  an  interest  in  the  affairs  and  im- 
provements of  the  generation  in  which  he  lives. 


ZEBULON  M.  HALL. 


£7KBULON  MONTGOMERY  HALL  is  a 
I.  descendant  of  an  old  colonial  family  who 
/~)  emigrated  from  Coventry,  England,  in  1630, 
and  settled  in  Boston,  Massachusetts.  The  pro- 
genitor of  the  family  in  America  was  John  Hall, 
the  father  of  nine  children.  Of  these  Gersham 
Hall  was  the  ancestor  of  the  subject  of  this  biog- 
raphy. He  received  the  best  collegiate  education 
that  could  be  obtained  in  New  England  at  that 
time,  and  later  took  a  part  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  proving  himself  a  brave  officer.  He  was  a 
man  of  great  firmness  of  religious  conviction,  and 
his  Bible  is  yet  in  possession  of  the  family  as  one 
of  its  dearest  treasures. 


His  son,  Gersham,  also  received  a  liberal  edu- 
cation and  resided  in  Boston.  He  died  near  Ball- 
ston  Springs,  New  York.  His  wife's  father,  was 
also  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution.  His  grandson, 
Loammi,  married  Miss  Sarah  Duell,  a  daughter 
of  Benjamin  and  Sybil  (Putney)  Duell,  who  were 
of  the  Quaker  faith.  Loammi  Hall  and  his  wife 
resided  in  Perry,  Genesee  County,  New  York, 
where  they  were  highly  respected  and  wealthy 
farmers.  For  a  time  they  kept  a  hotel,  which 
was  a  landmark  in  the  county.  The  family  were 
blessed  with  long  lives,  and  most  of  them  lived 
to  be  more  than  seventy  years  of  age.  Loammi 
Hall  and  his  wife  died  when  they  were  compar- 


Z.  M.   HALL. 


atively  young,  in  Genesee  County.  Their  chil- 
dren were:  Minerva,  Jabesh,  Loammi  and  Zebu- 
Ion  M.  Minerva  married  Walter  Purdy,  and  is 
the  only  one  living.  Jabesh  removed  to  Wiscon- 
sin, where  he  accumulated  considerable  property, 
and  where  he  died.  To  secure  this  property  for 
its  rightful  owners,  Zebulon,  though  only  a  boy 
of  sixteen  years,  undertook  the  long  journey  to 
Wisconsin,  and  was  successful. 

Soon  after  this,  in  1836,  the  subject  of  this 
notice  came  to  Chicago,  and  eventually  became 
one  of  the  city's  most  influential  citizens.  He 
became  employed  in  the  grain  elevator  business 
by  Charles  Walker,  and  was  for  years  a  confiden- 
tial employe.  When  he  had  learned  the  details  of 
the  business,  he  engaged  in  it  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility and  became  very  successful.  His  brother, 
Loammi,  became  his  partner  and  they  engaged 
in  the  wholesale  grocery  trade,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Hall  Brothers,  but  the  city  life  and  close 
confinement  did  not  suit  Loammi,  who  withdrew 
and  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  in  which  he 
prospered.  Mr.  Hall  next  took  for  a  partner 
Charles  Harding,  and  the  well-known  firm  of 
Harding  &  Hall  was  formed,  which  conducted  a 
lucrative  wholesale  ship  chandlery  business  for 
many  years.  Mr.  Hall  at  all  times  assumed  the 
more  active  part  in  the  conduct  of  business,  and 
his  management  was  characterized  by  such  tact  and 
ability  that  Mr.  Harding  was  enabled  to  withdraw 
from  the  firm,  which  was  continued  by  Z.  M.  Hall 
&  Company  until  1875,  when  Mr.  Hall  withdrew, 
in  order  to  recuperate  his  health.  For  this  pur- 
pose he  went  to  Jackson  County,  Oregon.  His 
active  mind  could  not  rest,  however,  and  he  was 
not  entirely  idle,  but  while  there  became  interested 
in  the  stock  business.  After  spending  three  years 
in  Oregon,  he  returned  to  Chicago,  where  he 
resided  until  his  death,  which  took  place  in  Sep- 
tember, 1894,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years. 

Mr. '  Hall  was  married  in  Chicago,  to  Miss 
Kezzie  Frost,  a  foster-daughter  of  Capt.  A.  W. 
Rosman,  commander  of  the  steamer  "Atlanta,"  of 
the  Goodrich  line.  He  is  one  of  the  most  noted 
captains  on  the  lakes,  having  begun  life  on  the 
water  at  the  early  age  of  seven  years.  At  the 
age  of  seventeen  years  he  became  a  captain,  and 


for  fifty  years  sailed  the  lakes,  without  having 
any  serious  accident.  He  was  a  grandson  of 
Coonrod  Rosman,  who  settled  in  Canada  about 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  whose 
descendants  removed  from  Canada  to  Pennsyl- 
vania. Captain  Rosman  was  a  son  of  Abraham 
and  Rachel  (Jones)  Rosman,  the  former  a  soldier 
of  the  War  of  1812,  and  the  latter  a  descendant 
of  the  world- renowned  Paul  Jones.  Captain  Ros- 
man had  two  children,  Charles  A.  and  Eva,  the 
latter  the  wife  of  Frank  Hamilton.  The  former 
received  a  gold  medal  from  the  government  for 
saving  life  on  Lake  Michigan.  The  exposure 
incident  to  this  brave  deed  brought  on  con- 
sumption, from  which  his  death  resulted. 

The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Z.  M.  Hall  were: 
Francis  Montgomery,  Edgar  Albert,  Harry  Vic- 
tor, Sadie  Beatrice  and  Bessie  Eugenia.  The 
oldest  son  was  drowned  from  the  steamer  "Ver- 
non,"  and  left  a  wife  and  three  children.  Edgar 
A.  is  connected  with  the  Hanchette  Paper  Com- 
pany; Harry  V.  is  living  in  Arizona;  Sadie  B.  is 
the  wife  of  Lloyd  James  Smith;  and  Bessie  E.  is 
Mrs.  A.  G.  Morely. 

Mr.  Hall  was  a  Mason,  and  was  one  of  the 
liberal  supporters  of  the  New  England  Congre- 
gational Church,  being  one  of  its  first  members. 
In  politics  he  was  a  strong  Republican.  To  all 
enterprises  which  would  assist  in  bettering  the 
lives  and  condition  of  the  human  family,  he  gave 
his  sympathy  and  aid.  Though  he  was  liberal  to 
a  fault,  he  accumulated  a  property,  and  had  he 
been  more  selfish,  the  history  of  Chicago  would 
have  recorded  another  millionaire.  He  lived  a 
life  of  noble  impulse,  and  all  that  could  be  said 
of  his  inner  life  would  reflect  to  his  credit  and  in- 
tegrity. 

During  the  Great  Fire  he  telegraphed  to  Indian- 
apolis for  a  fire  engine,  which  was  placed  on  a 
raft  in  the  river,  near  his  building,  adjacent  to  the 
Randolph  Street  bridge,  and  thus  it  was  saved, 
being  the  only  one  rescued  in  the  center  of  the 
city.  It  was  a  five-story  grocery  store.  After 
the  fire  he  helped  feed  the  public,  and  was  pro- 
tected by  a  company  of  soldiers,  sent  to  him  by 
Gen.  Philip  A.  Sheridan.  They  formed  a 
double  line,  and  he  was  thus  able  to  distribute 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


JOSEPH  H.  ERNST 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


J.  H.  ERNST. 


39 


alike  to  rich  and  poor,  which  he  did  without  any 
compensation.  He  did  not  take  advantage  of 
the  helplessness  of  his  fellow-creatures,  and  try 
to  raise  the  value  of  his  goods,  but  by  his  gener- 


osity suffered  a  loss  that  weakened  his  business, 
and  this,  with  the  panic  of  1873,  caused  him 
much  embarrassment,  but  he  continued  it  until 
the  year  1875. 


JOSEPH   H.  ERNST. 


(JOSEPH  HENRY  ERNST.  Germany  has 
I  contributed  to  Chicago  and  Cook  County  a 
Q)  large  percentage  of  their  inhabitants.  Many 
of  these  have  achieved  success  in  various  business 
pursuits,  while  some  have  won  distinction  in  the 
different  professions,  and  others  have  risen  to 
prominence  in  public  affairs,  and  their  names 
have  become  as  familiar  as  household  words. 
Among  this  vast  number  probably  no  one  is 
more  widely  known  or  more  highly  respected 
than  the  gentleman  whose  name  stands  at  the 
head  of  this  article.  For  more  than  forty  years 
he  has  been  a  resident  of  the  city,  much  of  the 
time  occupying  official  positions,  and  in  public 
and  private  life  every  duty  has  been  honestly  dis- 
charged and  every  trust  held  sacred. 

Mr.  Ernst  was  born  February  24,  1838,  on  the 
River  Rhine,  in  Germany,  near  Bingen,  made 
famous  by  an  English  authoress  in  the  beautiful 
poem,  "Bingen  on  the  Rhine."  He  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Barbara  (Meyer)  Ernst,  natives  of  that 
place.  John  and  Barbara  Ernst  became  the  par- 
ents of  four  children,  namely:  Joseph  H.,  of 
whom  this  sketch  is  written;  Adam,  deceased; 
Catherine,  widow  of  Mr.  Hausman,  of  Chicago; 
and  John,  also  deceased.  The  father  died  in 
1877,  and  the  mother  preceded  him  eight  years, 
passing  away  June  4,  1869. 

Joseph  Ernst  received  his  early  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  country,  and 
spent  one  year  at  the  mason's  trade.  In  1854  ne 
sailed  in  the  sailing-vessel  "St.  Nicholas"  from 
Havre,  France,  to  New  York,  the  voyage  lasting 


forty-eight  days.  On  landing  he  came  to  Chicago, 
going  to  Buffalo  by  way  of  the  Hudson  River  and 
Erie  Canal,  and  the  remainder  of  the  way  by  rail. 
Two  years  later,  the  family,  consisting  of  his 
parents  and  two  brothers  and  a  sister,  emigrated 
to  the  United  States,  and  located  in  Chicago. 
Joseph  H.  Ernst  lived  with  his  aunt,  whose 
brother,  Joseph  Meyer,  came  to  Chicago  in  1845, 
and  was  widely  known  as  the  sexton  and  super- 
intendent of  the  old  Chicago  City  Cemetery  from 
1847  until  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
December  1 6,  1864.  Joseph  became  his  assistant, 
and  helped  to  keep  the  records  of  that  time. 
While  thus  engaged  he  attended  the  old  Franklin 
School  two  years,  and  graduated  in  1856.  The 
next  two  years  he  attended  Sloan's  Commercial 
and  Law  College,  from  which  he  graduated  in 
1858. 

In  1864  Mr.  Ernst  opened  a  grocery  store  on 
North  Wells  Street,  at  No.  581,  which  he  con- 
ducted two  years.  He  was  then  appointed  j?y 
the  mayor  as  superintendent  of  the  vacation  of 
that  part  of  the  old  city  cemetery  known  as  the 
Milliman  tract.  This  work  occupied  two  years 
and  the  city  council  then  passed  an  ordinance  to 
vacate  the  remainder  of  the  cemetery,  which  is 
now  included  in  Lincoln  Park,  appointing  Mr. 
Ernst  to  superintend  the  work.  He  was  fre- 
quently consulted  by  the  Lincoln  Park  Commis- 
sioners during  the  early  part  of  their  work  and  fur- 
nished them  with  much  valuable  information,  be- 
ing of  great  assistance  to  them.  At  the  time  of  the 
Great  Fire  the  city  cemetery  records  were  des- 


HENRY  LAWRENCE. 


troyed.  Mr.  Ernst  was  clerk  in  the  comptroller's 
office,  in  charge  of  exchange  of  city  cemetery  lots, 
also  city  taxes  and  city  real  estate,  and  remained 
in  this  office  until  May,  1882. 

In  1874  he  engaged  in  the  real-estate  and  loan 
business  in  partnership  with  Mathias  Schmitz, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Ernst  &  Schmitz,  at  No. 
271  East  North  Avenue,  and  in  this  venture  he 
has  ever  since  been  successfully  engaged.  Since 
1874  Mr.  Ernst  has  been  secretary  of  the  German 
Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company,  of  North  Chi- 
cago, being  elected  annually  by  a  general  meet- 
ing of  all  the  members. 

Mr.  Ernst  was  elected  alderman  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Ward  in  1886,  on  the  Democratic  ticket, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1888  in  the  present  Twenty- 
first  Ward.  At  the  next  election  he  declined  a 
re-nomination.  In  1892  his  friends  prevailed 
upon  him  to  accept  a  nomination  as  an  independ- 
ent candidate,  and  he  was  elected,  receiving  near- 
ly as  many  votes  as  both  the  other  candidates. 
He  has  always  discharged  his  public  and  private 


duties  most  faithfully,  and  was  urged  to  accept  a 
nomination  for  city  treasurer,  but  declined.  He 
is  one  of  the  directors  of  the  German  Catholic 
Orphans'  Asylum  of  High  Ridge. 

September  20,  1860,  Mr.  Ernst  married  Miss 
Katharine  Schutz,  a  native  of  Germany,  who 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1853,  and  reached 
Chicago  in  1854.  They  have  had  eight  children,  of 
whom  the  six  following  are  living:  Anna,  wife  of 
William  H.  Weckler,  residing  on  the  corner  of 
Wolfram  and  May  Streets,  Chicago;  Adolph 
Charles,  who  is  employed  in  his  father's  office; 
Andrew  Joseph,  also  with  his  father;  William 
Gregor,  an  attorney;  Katharine  Isabella;  and 
Mary  Angelica.  Mr.  Ernst  and  his  family  are 
members  of  Saint  Michael's  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Mr.  Ernst  has  resided  on  the  North  Side 
ever  since  he  came  to  the  city,  in  the  vicinity  of 
what  is  now  Lincoln  Park,  and  since  1873  his 
home  has  been  at  the  corner  of  Eugenie  Street 
and  Cleveland  Avenue,  where  he  had  a  beautiful 
residence  erected  in  1892. 


HENRY  LAWRENCE. 


HENRY  LAWRENCE,  D.  D.  S.,  for  many 
years  connected  with  the  business  interests 
of  Chicago,  and  one  of  the  most  valuable 
citizens  of  that  city,  was  born  November  1 1 ,  1823, 
in  the  city  of  London,  England.  He  was  a  son 
of  John  Lawrence,  for  many  years  a  resident  of 
New  York  City.  He  received  his  primary  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  London,  where  he 
proved  himself  an  apt  and  willing  student.  After 
coining  to  America,  in  1859,  he  took  up  the  study 
of  dentistry  with  a  prominent  dentist  of  Philadel- 
phia, where  he  graduated,  winning  the  esteem 
and  admiration  of  his  teacher.  He  then  removed 
to  Louisiana,  and  practiced  his  profession  for  a 
short  time,  and  then  went  to  Yazoo,  Mississippi, 


where  he  remained  until  1863,  and  then  removed 
to  New  Orleans.  He  remained  in  the  latter  city 
until  July,  1877,  obtaining  a  profitable  and  lucra- 
tive practice.  Most  of  his  patrons  were  among  the 
Creoles  or  old  white  settlers  of  that  historic  town, 
and  thus  he  was  enabled  to  save  a  comfortable 
fortune.  His  winters  were  spent  in  the  North 
during  this  time,  and  he  was  especially  attracted 
by  Chicago,  it  then  being  a  rapidly  growing  city, 
whose  energetic  citizens  especially  appealed  to  his 
regard. 

Mr.  Lawrence  always  enjoyed  the  comforts  of 
life,  though  he  was  industrious  and  frugal.  He 
never  ceased  studying,  and  was  a  student  of  rare  ap- 
plication, being  the  inventor  of  several  dental  in- 


JOSEPH  JUNK. 


strunients,  and  often  making  his  own  tools.  He 
was  an  ingenius  craftsman,  and  frequently  assisted 
his  fellow.-dentists  in  some  difficult  operation  or 
in  the  invention  of  some  useful  instrument.  One 
of  his  inventions  which  has  won  fame  for  him  is 
a  water  motor,  thus  doing  away  with  foot  power. 
He  was  a  member  of  Chicago  and  New  Orleans 
dental  societies,  being  an  honored  guest  at  the 
meetings  of  these  societies  held  in  the  homes  of 
the  members,  as  was  then  the  custom. 

Mr.  Lawrence  was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  always  adhered  to  that 
denomination,  attending  its  services,  although  he 
liked  other  preachers  very  much,  especially  Dr. 
Thomas,  whom  he  always  delighted  to  hear.  He 
was  not  connected  with  any  secrect  society,  pre- 


ferring rather  a  quiet  home  life.  He  was  very 
companionable  and  had  great  sympathy  with 
all  his  fellow-men  and  women,  being  the  happy 
possessor  of  a  large  number  of  friends  and  ac- 
quaintances. He  exercised  charity  to  all  de- 
serving poor,  not  being  ostentatious  in  all  this, 
but  believed  in  following  the  dictates  of  his  heart 
only,-  and  not  seeking  the  approval  of  his  friends. 
He  neyer,  in  any  way,  catered  to  the  good-will  of 
the  masses.  His  every  action  was  prompted  by 
duty  as  he  saw  it,  and  thus  in  him  is  seen  an  ex- 
ample of  an  upright  and  honest  man,  true  to  his 
friends  and  principles.  He  died,  in  Chicago 
on  the  6th  of  March,  1891,  lamented  by  hosts  of 
those  who  had  learned  to  know  him  and  call  him 
friend. 


JOSEPH  JUNK. 


(1OSEPH  JUNK  was  born  January  15,  1841, 
I  at  Salmrohr,  near  Trier,  Germany.  He  was 
G/  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Margaret  Junk,  natives 
of  the  same  place.  The  former  was  a  teacher 
there,  and  a  scholarly  man,  who  was  esteemed 
and  honored  by  all  in  the  community.  He  lived 
to  be  over  eighty  years  of  age,  and  died  in  his 
native  town.  They  had  one  son  and  five  daugh- 
ters. Two  of  the  latter  were  Sisters  of  St.  Charles 
and  well  known  as  nurses  during  the  wars.  One 
of  them,  Margaret,  was  known  as  Sister  Eu- 
phrasia,  and  was  Mother  Superior  of  the  convent 
at  Mettlach,  the  town  where  the  famous  German 
pottery  is  made.  The  owner  of  the  manufactory 
built  the  convent.  Her  sister,  Anna,  was  also  in 
the  convent,  known  as  Sister  Anastasia.  Both 
of  them  are  now  deceased.  The  other  three 
daughters  are  married,  and  live  in  Germany. 
The  father  of  Joseph  Junk,  senior,  was  burgo- 


master of  Salmrohr,  and  was  killed  by  robbers, 
who  mistook  him  for  another  man,  for  whom  they 
were  lying  in  wait. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  educated  in  Ger- 
man}', and  came  to  America  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
seven  years.  After  landing  at  New  York,  he 
came  directly  to  Chicago,  where  he  learned  his 
trade  with  his  old  neighbor  and  countryman, 
Peter  Schoenhoff,  one  of  the  early  brewers  of  this 
city.  He  was  afterward  associated  for  several 
years  with  Huck's  Malt  House. 

May  18,  1871,  he  married  Miss  Magdalena, 
daughter  of  Hubert  and  Elizabeth  (Thormann) 
Hagemann,  well-known  residents  of  Chicago,  who 
came  here  in  1853.  They  formerly  had  a  grocery 
on  the  West  Side.  In  1895  they  celebrated  their 
golden  wedding.  Of  their  nine  children,  only 
Magdalena  now  survives. 

Mr.  Junk  embarked  in  the  brewing  business  in 


J.  H.  RAAP. 


1884,  on  the  corner  of  Thirty-seventh  and  Hal- 
sted  Streets.  In  this  he  had  a  valuable  assistant 
in  his  wife,  who  became  familiar  with  the  details 
of  the  business.  They  were  but  fairly  started 
when  he  died,  February  23,  1887.  At  that  time 
they  manufactured  about  nine  thousand  barrels 
of  beer  annually.  The  estate  was  involved  in 
debt  for  half  its  value,  but  with  commendable 
zeal  Mrs,  Junk  continued  the  business,  and  so 
well  did  she  manage  it  that  from  time  to  time  she 
was  able  to  increase  it,  until  at  the  present  time 
the  brewery  yields  eighty  thousand  barrels  of 
beer  annually,  all  of  which  finds  a  market  in 
Chicago.  Mrs.  Junk  deserves  great  credit  for 
her  work,  especially  when  we  remember  that  she 
was  then  the  mother  of  six  small  children.  The 
names  of  the  children  are  as  follows:  Joseph  P., 
Edward  H.,  Mary  E.,  Rose  Anna,  Aloysius  and 
Mary  Magdalena.  Religiously  the  family  are 
members  of  the  Saint  Augustine  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 

The  two  eldest  sons  are  associated  in  business 
with  their  mother,  and  the  eldest,  though  but 


thirteen  years  old  at  the  death  of  his  father,  was 
of  great  assistance  to  his  mother,  devoting  his 
whole  time  and  energy  to  the  business.  The 
eldest  daughter,  Miss  Mary  E.  Junk,  is  fast  be- 
coming well  known  as  a  musician,  excelling  es- 
pecially on  the  harp,  to  which  instrument  she  has 
devoted  many  years  of  hard  study. 

The  successful  life  of  Mrs.  Junk  is  well  calcu- 
lated to  interest  her  descendants  as  well  as  the 
citizens  of  Chicago,  who  are  ever  ready  to  honor 
and  give  due  credit  to  those  who  assist  in  build- 
ing up  the  city's  manufacturing  interests,  thus 
adding  wealth  and  comforts  to  many  homes. 

In  1890  Mrs.  Junk  built  a  handsome  home,  in 
spacious  grounds,  on  Garfield  Boulevard,  which 
her  aged  parents  share  with  her  and  which  very 
nearly  represents  the  ideal  home,  where  rest  and 
comfort  await  those  wearied  with  the  business  of 
the  day.  Not  only  does  Mrs.  Junk  possess  energy 
and  business  capacity,  which  all  must  admire, 
but  in  addition  to  these  she  possesses  those  quali- 
ties of  mind  and  heart  which  make  her  a  good 
mother  and  a  true  woman . 


JOHN  H.  RAAP. 


(JOHN  HENRY  RAAP  was  born  August  i, 
1840,  in  L,udingworth,  Hanover,  Germany, 
(*)  and  was  a  son  of  Ernst  and  Catharina  M. 
(Cords)  Raap,  both  natives  of  that  place.  In 
1854  the  family  removed  to  America,  settling  in 
Chicago,  where  Mr.  Raap  bought  a  house  of  three 
rooms  on  Cornell  Street,  near  Ashland  Avenue. 
They  had  two  children,  namely:  John  Henry 
Raap,  whose  name  stands  at  the  head  of  this  arti- 
cle; and  Mrs.  Minnie  Dilcherd,  who  resides  at 
No.  67  Cornelia  Street,  in  Chicago.  The  parents 
were  thrifty  and  economical,  and  they  won  the 
respect  of  the  community.  They  died  at  their 
home  on  Cornell  Street. 


John  Henry  Raap  received  most  of  his  educa- 
tion in  his  native  country,  which  he  supplement- 
ed by  subsequent  reading  and  observation.  He 
was  confirmed  in  the  German  Lutheran  Church, 
and  of  this  faith  he  remained  an  adherent.  He 
was  a  bright,  intelligent  boy  when  he  came  to 
America  and  soon  learned  to  speak  the  English 
language  fluently.  He  possessed  those  qualities 
that  insure  success  in  the  business  world.  On  his 
arrival  in  Chicago  he  became  employed  in  a  brick 
yard,  and,  realizing  the  advantages  of  a  better  edu- 
cation than  he  then  possessed,  he  attended  a  night 
school,  and  there  he  studied  diligently  to  prepare 
himself  for  the  business  career  that  was  after- 


C.  D.  MAGEE. 


43 


wards  his.  He  had  indomitable  courage  and  per- 
severance and  he  saw  the  hopeful  side  of  life. 

Mr.  Raap's  first  business  venture  was  a  grocery 
store,  on  the  corner  of  Pratt  and  Milwaukee  Av- 
enues, which  he  conducted  only  a  short  time. 
He  then  removed  to  Dunkel's  Grove,  where  he 
had  a  general  store  two  years  and  then  sold  out 
to  return  to  the  city,  engaging  in  the  flour 
and  feed  trade  at  Nos.  572-74  Milwaukee  Avenue 
in  a  small  building  which  was  gradually  merged 
into  a  wholesale  liquor  house.  In  1870  he  built 
the  large  building  occupied  by  the  business  at  the 
present  time.  He  gradually  extended  his  trade 
until  he  ranked  among  the  foremost  and  most 
successful  German  business  men  in  the  city. 

As  would  be  expected,  Mr.  Raap  was  connect- 
ed with  many  social  orders  and  societies,  among 
which  are  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
the  Sons  of  Hermann,  the  Central  Turner  Society, 
the  Teutonia  Maennerchor  and  the  Chicago  Re- 
bekah  Society.  In  political  opinions  he  was  a 


Republican,  and  he  had  much  influence  in  polit- 
ical affairs,  but  he  never  held  any  office.  He 
passed  away  April  23,  1897. 

Mr.  Raap  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife 
was  Sophia  Sohle,  a  native  of  Germany,  now  de- 
ceased. May  i,  1873,  he  married  Miss  Helena 
Hannah  Gilow,  a  daughter  of  Fritz  and  Mary 
(Wagner)  Gilow,  natives  of  Grim,  Prussia.  She 
proved  to  be  in  every  way  a  worthy  helpmate, 
and  was  of  invaluable  assistance  to  her  husband, 
being  as  ambitious  and  enterprising  as  he.  She 
was  ever  willing  to  lead,  and  she  conducted  the 
home  and  helped  in  the  business  of  her  husband. 
She  is  a  true  type  of  the  German- American  house- 
wife, always  alert  and  willing  to  further  her  hus- 
band's interests.  She  survives  her  husband,  and 
is  the  mother  of  five  children,  now  living,  namely: 
John  Henry,  junior,  Tillie  L,.,  Robert  R.,  Ernst 
E.  and  Pearl  Frances.  The  two  older  sons  con- 
tinue to  carry  on  the  business  which  was  left  by 
their  father. 


CHARLES  D.  MAGEE. 


0  HARLES  DAVIDSON  MAGEE,   who  has 

1  (     been   connected   with   the   iron  industry  of 
\J   Chicago  for  many  years,   was  born  October 
3,  1846,  in  the  beautiful  city  of  Belfast,  Ireland. 
His  parents    were  John   and   Elizabeth   (Croft) 
Magee,  both  natives  of  that  country.     The  fam- 
ily emigrated  to  America  in    1855  and  settled  in 
the  growing   city  of  Chicago,  which    was  then 
just  beginning  to  give  evidence  of  future  great- 
ness.    There   the  elder  Magee  engaged  in   the 
iron,   steam  and  gasfitting  business,    which    he 
had  learned   and  conducted  before   leaving  Ire- 
land, and  continued  it  successfully  until  his  death, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years,  October  27,  1878. 


Charles  D.  Magee  spent  his  early  boyhood  in 
his  native  city  and  there  attended  school.  He 
was  but  nine  years  of  age  when  the  family  set- 
tled in  Chicago,  and  in  the  public  schools  of  that 
city  he  completed  his  education.  He  then  en- 
gaged in  business  with  his  father  and  spent 
twenty  years  in  steam  and  gasfitting,  thus  se- 
curing a  thorough  and  practical  knowledge  of  all 
the  details  of  that  trade  and  gaining  a  wide  and 
varied  experience,  which  has  been  of  great  use  to 
him  in  his  later  business  connections.  Having 
shown  an  aptitude  for  trade  and  having  gained  a 
large  acquaintance  among  business  men,  he 
readil}7  secured  a  position  as  traveling  represen- 


44 


AUGUST  DRESEL. 


tative  of  the  Corundum  Wheel  Company,  and 
since  that  time  he  has  served  the  interests  of 
many  of  the  most  prominent  iron  firms  in  the 
United  States,  to  the  advantage  and  satisfaction 
of  all  parties.  At  present  he  is  interested  in  the 
Automatic  Acetylene  Gas  Company  and  is  de- 
voting his  energies  to  the  promotion  of  that  en- 
terprise. 

Mr.  Magee  was  married  in  1865  to  Miss  Mary 
D.  Williams,  who  was  bom  June  29,  1845,  in 
Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  and  is  a  daughter  of  R.  G. 
and  Sophronia  D.  Williams,  both  natives  of  New 
York.  Mrs.  Williams  died  December  19,  1896. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Magee  are  the  parents  of  three 
children,  John  E.,  Albert  M.  and  Charles  D., 
aged  thirty,  twenty-six  and  nineteen  years,  re- 
spectively. 

The  subject  of  this  notice  is  a  valued  and  in- 
fluential member  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  worshiping  at  the  church  on  Halsted 
Street,  near  Fullerton  Avenue.  He  is  prominent 


in  the  Masonic  order,  and  in  1894  organized  the 
Order  of  the  White  Shrine  of  Jerusalem,  for  which 
he  wrote  the  ritual  This  order  bears  the  same 
relation  to  the  adopted  rites  of  Masonry  that  the 
Order  of  Knights  Templar  does  to  the  main  body 
of  Masonry.  The  order  was  incorporated  by  Mr. 
Magee  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  October  3,  1895, 
and  the  Supreme  Shrine  was  then  organized  with 
headquarters  at  Chicago,  Mr.  Magee  being 
elected  Supreme  Chancellor  for  a  term  of  three 
years.  Later  the  headquarters  were  removed  to 
Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  where  they  are  still 
located.  Membership  in  the  order  is  limited  to 
Master  Masons  and  their  wives,  mothers,  sisters, 
daughters  and  widows.  It  is  rapidly  growing  in 
numbers,  having  extended  itself  into  three  States, 
Minnesota,  Michigan  and  Illinois.  Mr.  Magee 
is  a  conservative  in  politics.  He  is  a  most  genial 
and  affable  gentleman,  ever  ready  to  give  help 
and  advice  to  those  who  ask  it,  and  is  considered 
one  of  Chicago's  most  energetic  business  men. 


AUGUST  DRESEL 


GJ1  UGUST  DRESEL,  for  many  years  identi- 
J  I  fied  with  the  business  life  of  Chicago,  has 
/  I  been  engaged  in  his  present  occupation  of 
florist  since  1866.  He  began  business  at  No. 
656  Clybourn  Avenue,  and  continued  there  until 
about  1888,  when  he  sold  out  to  Samuel  J. 
Pearce.  He  then  established  himself  at  his  pres- 
ent place  of  business,  near  the  corner  of  Western 
and  Belmont  Avenues,  where  he  has  about  one 
and  one-half  acres  of  ground  under  glass.  His 
principal  products  are  roses  and  plants  for  spring 


planting.  He  also  raises  palms  and  several 
varieties  of  flowers  for  cutting,  selling  the  bulk  of 
his  product  to  dealers. 

Mr.  Dresel  was  born  October  9,  1838,  in  Hoi- 
stein,  Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and  Anna 
Dresel,  both  natives  of  the  same  province.  The 
son  was  educated  in  his  native  land,  where  he 
went  through  a  long  and  thorough  course  of 
training  in  landscape  gardening,  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  all  kinds  of  pi  ants  produced  for  market. 
He  continued  in  this  occupation  until  his  removal 


L.  J.  SMITH. 


45 


to  the  United  States.  In  June,  1865,  he  left  the 
Fatherland,  taking  passage  on  a  steamship  which 
sailed  from  Hamburg  bound  for  New  York.  He 
landed  in  the  last-named  city  in  the  latter  part  of 
July,  and  proceeded  thence  to  LaFayette,  Indiana, 
where  he  remained  but  a  short  time,  removing  to 
Jasper  County,  in  the  same  State. 

In  March,  1866,  he  had  saved  enough  from  his 
earnings  as  a  farm  laborer  in  Indiana  to  pur- 
chase a  horse,  and  he  rode  the  animal  to  Chi- 
cago. After  his  arrival  he  soon  found  employ- 
ment in  the  old  Sheffield  Avenue  nursery  of  Mar- 
tin Lewis.  During  that  season  he  worked  at 
various  occupations,  and  in  the  following  spring 
he  purchased  from  Mr.  Lewis  the  floral  depart- 
ment of  his  nursery,  and  began  business  for  him- 
self. The  beginning  was  small,  but  he  was  in- 
dustrious and  attentive  to  the  wants  of  his  cus- 
tomers, working  early  and  late  to  build  up  his 
fortunes.  In  a  short  time  he  was  enabled  to 
purchase  the  greenhouses  which  he  occupied,  and 


he  has  ever  since  continued  to  conduct  the  busi- 
ness with  gratifying  success.  For  six  years  he 
was  also  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  brick, 
being  a  stockholder  of  the  Northwestern  Brick 
Company  while  it  existed. 

He  has  usually  supported  the  Democratic  party 
in  matters  of  political  principle,  but  is  not  a 
strong  partisan,  and  is  wholly  independent  in 
considering  local  affairs.  The  candidate  who 
seems  to  him  best  qualified  and  most  willing  to 
carry  out  the  wishes  of  his  constituents  is  certain 
to  receive  his  support,  regardless  of  party  dicta- 
tions. 

December  20,  1866,  Mr.  Dresel  was  married  to 
Miss  Mary  Kj-ersgaard,  a  native  of  Denmark. 
Two  of  their  children  died  in  childhood,  and 
there  are  five  living,  namely:  Claussin,  Sophia, 
August,  Henry  and  Louis.  The  family  is  identi- 
fied with  the  Lutheran  Church  and  bears  its 
share  in  the  social  life  of  the  community,  where 
it  is  held  in  the  highest  respect. 


LLOYD  J.  SMITH. 


I  LOYD  JAMES  SMITH,  one  of  the  most 
It  active  and  earnest  of  our  business  men,  is 
l_^  a  descendant  of  old  Russian  and  English 
families,  and  is  a  native  of  Wheeler,  Indiana. 
His  grandfather,  Peter  Smith,  was  born  in  Eng- 
land, and  was  a  brother  of  Sir  Harry  Smith, 
a  noted  officer  of  the  British  army,  who  fought  in 
the  American  Revolution. 

Peter  Smith's  son,  James  P.  Smith,  who  was 
born  and  educated  in  London,  came  to  the  United 
States  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  and  was  for 
thirty  years  the  manager  of  the  Central  Elevators 
of  Chicago.  He  married  Helen  Christopher, 
daughter  of  a  high  official  in  the  Russian  govern- 
ment, who  left  his  native  country  because  of  the 
jealousy  of  other  officials,  and  left  his  property 
in  Russia. 


Lloyd  James  Smith  is  one  of  their  children. 
He  was  educated  in  a  Chicago  high  school  and 
the  Metropolitan  Business  College.  His  first  em- 
ployment was  with  the  Northwestern  National 
Bank,  as  messenger,  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
years.  After  thus  spending  two  years,  he  re- 
moved to  Idaho,  and  in  that  state  and  in  Oregon, 
spent  two  years  in  charge  of  a  cattle  ranch. 
After  this  he  was  a  broker  for  the  Central  Elevator 
Company,  and  the  Munger-Wheeler  Company. 

In  1889  he  became  general  manager  of  the 
Santa  Fe  Elevator  and  Dock  Company,  and  the 
Chicago  Elevator  Company,  and  is  now  the  sec- 
retary and  treasurer  of  the  Santa  Fe  Company. 
Since  1890  Mr.  Smith  has  been  a  director  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  and  his  office  continues  until 
1900.  He  is  chairman  of  the  executive  commit- 


46 


A.  H.  BUSSE. 


tee,  and  has  served  on  all  important  commitees  of 
the  directory.  He  has  always  represented  the 
elevator  interests  in  any  controversies. 

Mr.  Smith  has  been  chairman  of  the  Cook 
County  Republican  Central  Committee,  and  served 
two  years  as  its  vice-president.  For  five  years 
he  was  the  vice-president  of  the  Marquette  Club, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Athletic  Club. 
In  political  principle  he  is  a  Republican,  and 


takes  great  interest  in  national  and  local  af- 
fairs. He  has  attained  high  rank  in  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  affiliates  with  Medinah  Temple  of 
the  Mystic  Shrine. 

October  15,  1890,  he  married  Miss  Sadie  B. 
Hall,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  one  child, 
Lloyda  Kezzie  Smith,  born  October  4,  1891. 
Mrs.  Smith  is  a  daughter  of  Z.  M.  Hall,  whose 
biography  appears  in  this  work. 


AUGUST  H.  BUSSE. 


GlUGUST  HUBERT  BUSSE  was  born  No- 
I  I  vember  10,  1867,  in  a  house  which  stood  on 
/  I  an  alley  between  Commercial  and  Houston 
Avenues  and  Ninety-second  and  Ninety-third 
Streets.  This  house  was  subsequently  moved  to 
No.  9205  Commercial  Avenue,  where  it  still 
stands.  August  H.  Busse  is  a  son  of  August 
and  Caroline  (Albert)  Busse.  He  received  his 
education  in  the  common  schools  of  Chicago,  part 
of  the  time  attending  the  Bowen  School.  At  the 
age  of  fourteen  years  he  was  obliged  to  leave  his 
studies  to  attend  to  the  more  serious  duties  of  life. 
He  was  first  employed  in  the  planing  mill  of 
Crandall,  Fisher  &  Company,  now  belonging  to 
Kratzer  &  Fisher.  After  spending  a  year  with  this 
firm,  he  was  employed  a  year  in  the  drug  store 
of  Arnold  &  Merrill,  and  then  became  engaged 
in  carpenter  work  for  Otto  Schoening,  with  whom 
he  remained  about  one  year. 

May  9,  1885,  Mr.  Busse  entered  the  service  of 
the  City  Fire  Department,  as  a  driver  at  first, 
and  truckman  afterwards.  In  a  fire  which  oc- 
curred in  December,  1888,  his  left  hand  was  in- 
jured, the  small  bones  in  his  left  knee  were 
broken,  and  he  received  an  injury  in  his  side,  so 
that  he  was  compelled  to  remain  at  home  six 


months.  The  fire  which  caused  him  so  much 
suffering  was  on  Mackinaw  Avenue,  between 
Eighty-fifth  and  Eighty-sixth  Streets. 

Upon  his  recovery  from  injuries  received  while 
in  the  fire  department,  Mr.  Busse  resolved  to  find 
other  employment,  and  accordingly,  on  May  23, 
1889,  he  joined  the  police  force  as  patrolman, 
and  for  the  past  two  years  has  been  employed  as 
messenger  in  the  South  Chicago  Station.  In  his 
business  life  he  has  attended  strictly  to  the  duties 
of  his  position,  and  has  always  shown  a  disposi- 
tion to  rise  in  station.  While  serving  at  a  large 
fire  May  8,  1897,  Mr.  Busse  took  a  severe  cold, 
which  brought  on  hemorrhage  of  the  left  lung, 
and  incapacitated  him  from  active  duty  for  many 
months. 

Mr.  Busse  was  married  April  2,  1890,  to  Miss 
Catherine,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Catherine 
Leiendecker.  They  are  the  parents  of  the  fol- 
lowing children:  Joseph,  Frederick  William  and 
George  Augustus.  Mr.  Busse  and  his  family  are 
communicants  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  he  is  connected  with  the  Policemen's  Be- 
nevolent Association.  He  is  a  man  of  genial  and 
pleasant  manner,  and  has  many  firm  friends,  by 
whom  his  merits  and  character  are  appreciated. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

riMIVERSITY  OP  ILLINOIS 


JOEL  ELLIS. 


47 


JOEL  ELLIS. 


ELLIS,  for  nearly  fifty  years  an  active 

I  citizen  and  useful  business  man  of  ChicagO) 
G/  was  descended  from  the  old  Puritan  stock 
which  has  done  so  much  in  developing  the  men- 
tal, moral  and  material  interests  of  the  United 
States.  The  energy,  fortitude  and  stern  moral 
character  which  characterized  the  founders  of  the 
New  England  colonies  is  still  observed  in  many 
of  their  descendants,  and  these  attributes  were 
possessed  by  Joel  Ellis  in  a  marked  degree. 

His  first  ancestor  of  whom  any  record  is  now 
to  be  found  was  Barzillai  Ellis,  born  June  9, 1747, 
presumably  in  Massachusetts,  and  of  English 
blood.  March  6,  1773,  he  married  Sarah  Tobey, 
who  was  born  June  5,  1755,  no  doubt  in  the 
same  State  and  of  similar  ancestry.  They  resid- 
ed in  Conway,  Franklin  County,  Massachusetts, 
whence  they  moved,  about  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  to  Chautauqua  County,  New  York. 
Here  Barzillai  Ellis  died  in  1827.  His  youngest 
son,  Samuel  Ellis,  died  in  Chicago  in  1856.  The 
other  children  were  Barzillai,  Asa,  Freeman,  Ben- 
jamin, Joel  and  Elnathan. 

The  children  of  Benjamin  Ellis  were  Parmtlia, 
Eleanor,  Jane,  Stephen,  Mason,  Datus,  Joel  (the 
subject  of  this  sketch)  and  Ensign.  His  wife 
was  Sophia  Birch,  a  native  of  Connecticut.  Ben- 
jamin Ellis  died  in  Fredonia,  New  York,  in  1855. 
He  was  a  farmer,  and  cleared  up  land  in  the  prim- 
eval forest,  which  consumed  the  best  years  of  his 
life  and  required  the  assistance  of  his  children, 
who  had  little  opportunity  to  attend  school. 

Joel  Ellis  was  born  in  Fredonia,  Chautauqua 
County,  New  York,  May  25,  1818.  As  above 
indicated,  his  early  years  were  devoted  to  the  toil 


which  usually  befell  farmers'  sons  in  those  days, 
and  he  attended  school  but  very  little.  Schools 
were  far  apart  and  held  sessions  of  only  three 
months  per  year,  in  winter,  when  attendance  on 
the  part  of  many  children  was  almost  impossible. 
However,  Joel  Ellis  was  blessed  by  nature  with  a 
sound  mind  and  body,  and  his  clear  judgment 
and  active  industry  made  him  a  successful  busi- 
ness man  and  good  citizen. 

When,  in  1838,  he  set  out  for  the  West, 
whither  an  uncle  (Samuel  Ellis,  before  mentioned) 
had  preceded  him,  he  was  an  energetic  and  self- 
reliant  young  man  of  twenty  years,  full  of  cour- 
age and  hopefulness  and  the  ardor  and  ambition  of 
a  strong  nature.  Arriving  in  the  autumn, he  found 
the  young  city  of  Chicago  suffering  from  the  com- 
mercial and  industrial  stagnation  which  followed 
the  financial  panic  of  1837,  and  his  search  for 
employment  was  a  vain  one.  The  only  offer  which 
he  received  was  from  his  uncle,  who  was  engaged 
in  farming  some  miles  from  the  then  city,  but  on 
ground  now  built  up  with  thousands  of  the  finest 
homes  in  Chicago,  along  Ellis,  Greenwood  and 
other  avenues  of  the  South  Side.  He  continued 
in  farm  labor  with  his  uncle  for  two  years,  much 
of  which  time  was  occupied  in  chopping  wood 
from  the  timber  which  then  covered  this  region, 
and  which  must  be  cleared  away  to  make  room 
for  a  tillable  farm. 

From  1840  to  1858  he  was  associated  with 
Archibald  Clybourn,  an  active  business  man  of 
Chicago  (see  biography  elsewhere  in  this  work), 
and  became  thorough!}-  conversant  with  the  meat 
business,  which  was  one  of  Mr.  Clybourn's  chief 
enterprises.  It  was  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Cly- 


48 


JOEL  ELLIS. 


bourn  that  he  met  the  lady  who  became  his  wife 
in  1844.  This  was  Miss  Susan  Galloway,  a  sis- 
ter of  Mrs.  Clybourn  and  daughter  of  James 
and  Sally  (McClenthan)  Galloway,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania birth  and  Scotch  ancestry.  Her  grand- 
father, Samuel  Galloway,  was  a  native  of  Scot- 
land, whose  wife  was  of  Pennsylvania-German 
descent.  They  were  among  the  earliest  settlers 
on  the  Susquehanna  River,  and  Samuel  Galloway 
was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  Army.  Mrs. 
Ellis  was  taken  by  her  parents,  when  a  small 
child,  to  Sandusky,  Ohio,  and  thence  the  fam- 
ily came  to  Chicago,  arriving  on  the  gth  of 
November,  1826.  They  left  Sandusky  on  the 
ist  of  October,  in  a  sailing-vessel,  and  were 
wrecked  south  of  Mackinaw,  but  were  rescued  by 
another  vessel,  which  brought  them  to  Chicago. 

James  Galloway  had  visited  Illinois  in  the  fall 
of  1824,  and  was  very  much  charmed  with  the 
country'  about  the  Grand  Rapids  of  the  Illinois 
River  (now  known  as  Marseilles),  where  he  bought 
a  claim.  He  spent  the  winter  of  1826-27  in 
Chicago  with  his  family,  and  settled  on  this  claim 
in  the  following  spring,  and  continued  to  reside 
there  the  balance  of  his  life.  His  wife  died  in 
1830, and  he  subsequently  married  Matilda  Stipes, 
of  Virginia.  In  character  Mr.  Galloway  was  a 
fit  representative  of  his  sturdy  Scotch  ancestry, 
and  was  well  fitted  for  pioneering  in  those  early 
days,  when  means  of  travel  and  communication 
were  difficult,  and  the  dwellers  in  the  wilderness 
were  compelled  to  forego  many  comforts  and 
social  advantages,  besides  braving  the  enmity  of 
their  savage  neighbors. 

Of  the  five  children  of  James  and  Sally  Gallo- 
way, Mrs.  Clybourn  is  the  eldest.  The  second, 
Jane,  wife  of  Washington  Holloway,  died  in  1894. 
John  died  in  Missouri.  Susan  is  Mrs.  Ellis. 
George,  born  April  12,  1828,  at  Marseilles,  is  now 
deceased.  Of  the  second  marriage,  Archibald 
and  Marshall  are  the  only  surviving  offspring. 
The  former  now  shares  a  part  of  the  original  farm 
at  Marseilles  with  George's  widow.  The  latter 
resides  in  Chicago. 

On  leaving  the  employ  of  Mr.  Clybourn,  Mr. 
Ellis  engaged  in  the  retail  meat  business  on  his 
own  account,  and  furnished  supplies  to  many  of 


the  leading  hotels  and  to  vessels  entering  Chicago 
Harbor.  In  1865  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
Thomas  Armour  and  began  an  extensive  whole- 
sale business  in  meats  and  provisions,  which 
grew  beyond  his  fondest  dreams  of  success.  In 
fifteen  years  he  amassed  a  comfortable  fortune, 
which  was  largely  invested  in  improved  real  es- 
tate in  the  city.  As  the  care  of  his  property  ab- 
sorbed much  of  his  time,  he  decided  to  retire  from 
active  business,  and,  in  the  spring  of  1871,  he  pur- 
chased twenty  acres  in  the  town  of  Jefferson  (now 
a  part  of  the  city  of  Chicago),  on  which  he  built 
a  handsome  suburban  home,  in  which  he  hoped 
to  pass  the  balance  of  his  days  in  well-earned  rest 
from  the  arduous  labors  which  had  occupied  his 
earlier  years.  Scarcely  was  he  settled  in  his  new 
home  when  the  great  fire  of  October,  1871,  rob- 
bed him  of  all  his  buildings  save  the  home  at  Jef- 
ferson, just  completed.  Without  any  repining, 
he  set  to  work  at  once  to  repair  the  losses.  It 
was  his  custom  to  rise  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing and  drive  into  the  city  to  begin  business. 
There  were  no  rapid-transit  systems  then  to  move 
suburban  residents  quickly  from  and  to  their 
homes,  and  he  took  means  which  would  appall  any 
but  such  stout  natures  as  his  to  rebuild  his  fort- 
unes. In  this  he  was  moderately  successful,  and 
when  a  cancer  caused  his  death  at  his  home  in 
Jefferson,  October  29,  1886,  he  left  his  family 
comfortably  provided  for. 

A  quiet,  unassuming  man,  he  gave  little  atten- 
tion to  public  affairs,  though  he  took  the  interest 
in  local  and  national  progress  which  every  true 
American  must  feel,  and  discharged  his  duty  as 
it  appeared  to  him  by  supporting  the  Republican 
party  after  it  came  into  existence,  having  former- 
ly affiliated  with  the  Whigs.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  was  an  active  sup- 
porter of  the  Universalist  Church,  being  among 
the  organizers  of  St.  Paul's  congregation,  whose 
pastor,  Rev.  W.  E.  Manly,  performed  the  cere- 
mony which  made  him  the  head  of  a  family.  Be- 
sides his  widow,  he  left  three  children,  namely: 
Lucretia,  now  the  widow  of  George  W.  Pinney, 
residing  in  Chicago;  Winfield,  of  Highland  Park, 
Illinois;  and  Mary  Josephine,  Mrs.  Algernon  S. 
Osgood,  of  Chicago. 


WILLIAM   LEE. 


49 


WILLIAM   LEE. 


{DQILLIAM  LEE,  a  leading  citizen  of  Pull- 
\  A  I  man,  was  born  at  Rochester,  New  York, 
YY  June  14,  1851.  He  is  a  son  of  Rev.  Henry 
Washington  Lee  and  Lydia  Mason  Morton. 
Rev.  H.  W.  Lee  was  a  native  of  Hamden,  Con- 
necticut. He  entered  the  Episcopal  ministry  at 
an  early  age,  and  filled  pastorates  of  several 
years  each  at  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  and 
Rochester,  New  York.  In  1854  he  was  made 
the  first  regular  Bishop  of  Iowa,  and  filled  that 
position  during  the  balance  of  his  life,  his  resi- 
dence being  at  Davenport,  where  his  death  oc- 
curred in  1874,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine  years. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  distinguished 
men  of  that  faith  in  the  United  States  during  his 
time,  and  greatly  advanced  the  prosperity  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  West. 

The  Lee  family  is  of  English  lineage.  Col. 
Roswell  Lee,  the  father  of  Rev.  H.  W.  Lee, 
served  in  the  regular  army  of  the  United  States 
for  many  years.  He  participated  in  the  War  of 
1812,  and  subsequently  had  charge  of  the  United 
States  Armory  at  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  for 
a  considerable  period  of  time.  He  was  very 
prominent  in  the  Masonic  order,  and  a  lodge  of 
that  fraternity  at  Springfield  was  named  in  his 
honor. 

Mrs.  Lydia  M.  Lee,  who  is  now  living  at  Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty- 
four  years,  was  born  at  Taunton,  Massachusetts. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  ex-Governor  Marcus  Mor- 
ton, of  that  State.  The  latter  was  of  English  de- 
scent, and  served  for  many  years  as  Chief  Justice 
of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  previous  to  his 
election  as  Governor. 

William  Lee,  whose  name  heads  this  article, 
spent  most  of  his  boyhood  in  Davenport.  In 


1864  he  entered  Hamden  Military  Academy,  at 
Hamden,  Connecticut,  taking  a  two-years  course 
at  that  institution.  He  subsequently  became  a 
student  at  Racine  College,  Racine,  Wisconsin, 
but  upon  completing  the  junior  year,  in  1870,  he 
went  to  Griswold  College  at  Davenport,  Iowa,  an 
institution  of  which  his  father  had  been  the 
founder.  The  following  year  he  graduated,  re- 
ceiving the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  He  then 
became  connected  with  the  engineer  corps  of  the 
Burlington  &  Missouri  River  Railroad,  and  spent 
about  one  year  about  Kearney,  Nebraska,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  laying  off  the  line  of  that 
road,  then  in  course  of  construction.  Being  de- 
termined to  perfect  himself  in  this  profession,  he 
took  a  special  course  in  engineering  at  Lawrence 
Scientific  School,  Harvard  University. 

In  1873  he  located  at  Chicago  and  engaged  in 
general  surveying,  but  the  next  year  went  to 
Salt  Lake  City,  and  occupied  the  next  two  sea- 
sons in  surveying  and  mining.  Four  years  more 
were  spent  in  general  engineering  work  at  San 
Francisco.  Returning  to  Illinois  in  1880,  he  was 
employed  as  assistant  engineer  in  platting  the 
town  of  Pullman.  Three  years  later  he  entered 
the  service  of  the  United  States  Government,  on 
a  survey  of  the  Hennepin  Canal,  and  also  as- 
sisted in  surveying  the  Illinois  and  Calumet 
Rivers.  He  was  subsequently  connected  with 
the  Public  Works  department  of  the  village  of 
Hyde  Park,  and  upon  the  annexation  of  that  ter- 
ritory to  the  city  of  Chicago,  in  1889,  he  con- 
tinued for  one  year  in  the  engineering  depart- 
ment of  the  city.  In  the  summer  of  1890  he  took 
charge  of  platting  the  town  of  Harvey.  Two  years 
were  occupied  in  laying  off  this  village,  together 
with  its  drainage  and  water- works  systems.  Since 


Z.  A.  NEFF. 


that  time  he  has  done  most  of  the  surveying  and 
engineering  work  for  the  villages  of  North  Har- 
vey, Dolton,  Riverdale,  Homewood,  Matteson 
and  other  places.  During  this  time  he  has  also 
done  most  of  the  work  in  this  line  for  the  Pull- 
man Land  Association  and  Pullman's  Palace  Car 
Company.  His  reputation  for  accurate  and  reli- 
able workmanship  causes  his  services  to  be  re- 
peatedly sought  wherever  he  is  known. 

In  October,  1873,  Mr.  Lee  was  united  in  matri- 
mony to  Miss  Anna  Cleo  Everett,  daughter  of 
William  H.  Everett,  of  Davenport,  Iowa.  Mrs. 
Lee  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  and 
her  death  occurred  at  Chicago  June  25,  1884,  at 


the  age  of  thirty-five  years.  She  left  a  son  and  a 
daughter,  named,  'respectively,  Henry  W.  and 
Mabel.  Mr.  Lee  was  again  married,  November 
15,  1888,  to  Florence  Isabel  Ferguson,  daughter 
of  William  and  Anna  W.  Ferguson,  of  Cincin- 
nati. Two  children  have  been  born  of  this  union, 
namely,  Alice  Ferguson  and  Lydia  Morton.  The 
family  moves  in  the  best  social  circles  and  enjoys 
the  good- will  of  all  its  acquaintances.  Mr.  Lee 
is  a  member  of  the  Western  Society  of  Civil  En- 
gineers. A  Republican  in  political  sentiment, 
he  takes  a  patriotic  interest  in  all  important  pub- 
lic affairs,  but  never  seeks  the  political  patronage 
of  his  fellow-citizens. 


ZACHARIAH  A.  NEFF. 


G7ACHARIAH  ADDISON  NEFF,  a  resident 
I.  of  Cook  County  for  the  past  thirty  years, 
I^J  and  a  public  official  during  the  greater  part 
of  that  time,  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  born 
April  21,  1834,  at  Blairsville,  Indiana  County, 
in  that  State.  His  father,  Amos  Neff,  was  born 
in  Virginia,  probably  at  West  Point,  and  was  a 
son  of  John  Neff.  It  is  supposed  that  members 
of  the  Neff  family  came  to  America  from  Alsace- 
Lorraine,  and  settled  simultaneously  in  Virginia, 
Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  in  each  of  which 
States  their  posterity  have  been  numerous  for 
many  generations.  Amos  Neff  died  when  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  about  seven  years  old. 
Elizabeth  Brewer,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Amos  Neff  and  mother  of  Z.  A.  Neff,  was  born 
in  Huntingdon  County,  Pennsylvania.  Her  fa- 
ther, whose  Christian  name  is  supposed  to  have 
been  Andrew  or  John  Andrew,  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  army,  and  received  a  grant  of  six 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  Wisconsin  from  the  Gov- 
ernment in  recognition  of  his  services.  While  a 
young  man  he  was  captured  by  Indians  and  held 
a  prisoner  seven  years.  At  the  time  of  his  death 


he  lacked  less  than  five  months  of  completing  his 
one-hundredth  year.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Neff, 
was  born  before  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  and  was  a  strong  and  industrious  wo- 
man. She  died  at  the  early  age  of  fifty-seven,  in 
1856.  Beside  the  son  whose  name  heads  this 
article,  she  had  a  daughter,  Martha  A.,  who  is 
now  the  widow  of  James  Amesbaugh,  residing  at 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Z.  A.  Neff  grew  to  manhood  at  Blairsville, 
Pennsylvania,  and  received  the  full  benefit  of  the 
public  schools.  He  learned  the  tinner's  trade,  and 
during  the  Civil  War  had  charge  of  the  tin,  cop- 
per and  sheet-iron  department  of  the  Government 
railroad  shops  at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  serving 
in  that  capacity  throughout  the  war.  The  mili- 
tary railroad  system  was  organized  by  the  noted 
Andrew  Carnegie,  who  brought  to  the  scene  of 
action  a  number  of  workmen,  including  Mr. 
Neff.  These  works  grew  to  immense  propor- 
tions before  the  close  of  the  war. 

After  peace  came,  Mr.  Neff  came  to  Chicago 
and  opened  a  tin  shop,  to  which  was  soon  added 
a  stock  of  general  hardware,  and  he  did  much 


W.  J.    KEMPER. 


jobbing  and  railroad  work.  In  the  spring  of 
1872  he  sold  out  and  removed  to  Dolton,  where 
he  opened  a  hardware  business  and  continued  it 
about  twenty  years.  He  was  appointed  Post- 
master at  Dolton  by  President  Garfield,  and  re- 
appointed  by  President  Harrison,  serving  in  all 
about  ten  years.  He  is  at  present  Clerk  of  the 
Village  of  Dolton,  and  since  1891  has  been  a 
County  Constable,  the  duties  of  that  office  oc- 
cupying most  of  his  time.  During  the  time  when 
not  otherwise  occupied,  he  does  considerable  col- 
lecting for  Chicago  houses,  and  on  all  occasions 
has  shown  himself  to  be  a  reliable,  industrious  and 
capable  business  man. 

He  was  married  April  n,  1872,  to  Miss  Sarah 
S.  Harter,  who  was  born  in  Delaware,  Ohio,  and 
came  to  Illinois  with  her  parents  in  1843,  theirs 
being  the  second  family  to  locate  on  the  site  of 
the  present  village  of  Dolton.  Mrs.  Neffis  the 
only  child  of  John  Harter  and  his  second  wife, 


Elizabeth,  whose  maiden  name  was  Rheem.  Her 
father  had  six  other  children,  all  of  whom  are  or 
have  been  well-known  citizens  of  Dolton.  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Harter  sprang  from  a  distinguished  fam- 
ily in  Pennsylvania.  She  was  a  native  of  Rox- 
bury,  Cumberland  County,  Pennsylvania,  and 
died  at  Dolton  in  August,  1843.  She  was  first 
married  to  William  Grearson.  The  only  son  of 
this  union,  George  W.  Grearson,  was  killed  by 
the  explosion  of  a  tug  in  the  Chicago  harbor  in 
1863. 

Mr.  Neff  aided  in  the  organization  of  a  lodge  of 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  at  Dolton, 
which  has  since  surrendered  its  charter.  He  has 
always  been  a  Republican  in  his  political  allegi- 
ance, and  has  voted  for  every  presidential  candi- 
date of  that  party  since  attaining  his  majority, 
including  John  C.  Fremont  in  1856.  He  has 
always  been  a  public-spirited  and  useful  citizen, 
and  enjoys  the  respect  of  all  his  associates. 


WILLIAM  J.  KEMPER. 


fDGjlLLIAM  JOHN  KEMPER,  one  of  theold- 
\A/  es*  residents  °f  Chicago,  who  gained  a 
V  Y  competence  here  by  his  characteristic  Ger- 
man industry,  frugality  and  integrity,  was  born 
on  the  2d  of  February,  1816,  in  the  Province  of 
Osnabrueck,  Hanover,  Germany.  His  parents 
were  Juergen  Bernhardt  and  Katharine  (Schuster) 
Kemper.  The  latter  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-two 
years  in  Germany.  The  father  came  to  America 
in  1840,  and  settled  in  Chicago,  where  he  died 
twelve  years  later. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  his  primary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Germany. 
From  fourteen  to  eighteen  years  of  age  he  worked 
as  a  farm  laborer  for  one  employer.  On  reach- 
ing his  majority  he  put  into  execution  his  pre- 
viously conceived  determination  to  seek  his  fort- 


une in  the  new  and  free  world  beyond  the  seas. 
He  landed  in  New  York  in  1836,  and  found  em- 
ployment, in  company  with  his  brother,  John 
Kemper,  in  a  tannery  in  Sullivan  County,  New 
York. 

May  14,  1837,  he  settled  in  Chicago.  His  first 
employment  here  was  in  the  capacity  of  cook, 
serving  the  people  engaged  in  developing  a  Gov- 
ernment harbor  in  the  Chicago  River.  For  sev- 
eral years  subsequently  he  was  employed  by  the 
lale  John  Wentworth  and  others.  His  next  em- 
ployment was  in  the  milk  business  with  Lill  & 
Diversey,  who  were  established  at  the  foot  of 
Chicago  Avenue.  In  1843  he  engaged  in  the 
milk  and  vegetable  business  on  his  own  account, 
and  continued  this  for  twenty-one  years,  or  until 
he  retired  in  1864.  By  his  honesty  and  strict 


W.  J.   McELDOWNEY. 


attention  to  business  he  gained  favor  in  the  eyes 
of  the  public,  and  was  known  and  respected 
throughout  the  northern  part  of  the  city. 

In  1848  Mr.  Kemper  bought  the  block  of 
ground  bounded  by  Orchard  and  Larrabee  Streets 
and  Fullerton  and  Belden  Avenues.  This  ground 
has  appreciated  immensely  in  value  since  then, 
and  it  has  been  gradually  sold  off,  except  a  plot 
at  the  corner  of  Orchard  Street  and  Fullerton 
Avenue,  one  hundred  and  thirty  by  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  feet  in  dimensions,  where  Mr. 
Kemper  has  his  home,  in  the  midst  of  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  residence  districts  in  the  city. 
The  great  fire  of  1871  destroyed  two  large  houses 
which  he  owned  at  the  corner  of  Wells  and  Hill 
Streets. 

On  the  i  gth  of  July,  1843,  in  Chicago,  Mr.  Kem- 
per was  married  to  Miss  Katharine  Toenigen, 
a  native  of  the  Province  of  Otersberg,  Hanover, 
Germany.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Nicholas  and 
Mary  (Gerken)  Toenigen.  Mrs.  Kemper  is  the 
second  of  two  daughters  born  to  her  parents;  she 
was  robbed  of  her  mother  by  death  at  the  age  of 
eleven  years.  She  came  to  America  with  her 


sister,  Mrs.  Henry  Knopp,  in  1842.  Nine  chil- 
dren have  been  given  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kemper, 
namely:  Anna  Marie,  Katharine,  John,  Louise, 
Christina,  Margaret,  William  Henry,  Edward 
Hermann  and  Richard  George.  The  eldest  and 
second  sons  are  now  deceased.  The  second 
daughter  is  the  wife  of  F.  Kruse;  the  next  mar- 
ried Frank  Pfunder;  the  fourth  is  Mrs.  William 
Ermeling;  and  the  fifth  is  the  wife  of  Charles 
Baltz.  The  surviving  sons  married  respectively 
Stella  and  Anna  Sourwine.  All  are  happily  set- 
tled in  business  and  social  life  in  Chicago.  Anna 
Marie  has  devoted  her  life  to  her  parents,  and  is 
the  stay  and  comfort  of  their  old  age.  One  of 
the  most  joyful  events  in  the  history  of  the  fam- 
ily was  the  celebration,  in  1893,  of  the  golden 
wedding  anniversary  of  the  parents,  who  are  still 
in  the  enjoyment  of  good  health,  and  have  dwelt 
for  forty-five  years  in  the  same  place.  They  are 
associated  with  the  Evangelical  Association,  be- 
ing identified  with  the  Wisconsin  Street  Church. 
Mr.  Kemper  voted  for  the  elder  Harrison,  and 
has  supported  the  Whig  or  Republican  ticket 
ever  since. 


WILLIAM  J.  McELDOWNEY. 


JOHN  McELDOWNEY,  Pres- 
identofthe  Bank  of  Chicago  Heights,  a 
son  of  John  McEldowney ,  whose  biography 
appears  in  these  pages,  have  inherited  many  of 
the  qualities  which  made  his  father  a  leading  and 
influential  citizen.  He  is  honest,  straightfor- 
ward and  friendly,  and  keeps  in  view  the  welfare 
of  his  fellows  and  of  the  community.  He  was 
born  June  30,  1843,  in  Bloom,  and  spent  his  boy- 
hood on  his  father's  farm  in  his  native  town.  In 
childhood,  and  in  the  intervals  of  farm  labor  in 


later  years,  he  attended  the  common  school  of  the 
neighborhood,  and  finished  his  studies  at  Lake 
Forest  Academy. 

Soon  after  the  completion  of  his  nineteenth  year, 
in  October,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  his  country's  serv- 
ice in  the  suppression  of  rebellion.  He  became 
a  member  of  Company  M,  Fourteenth  Regiment 
of  Illinois  Cavalry,  under  Colonel  Capron.  He 
served  nine  months  in  Kentucky,  and  was  dis- 
charged at  the  end  of  that  time,  with  the  rank  of 
sergeant. 


C.   D.   HEWS,   A.  M.,  M.  D. 


53 


On  his  return  to  Bloom  in  1863,  Mr.  McEl- 
dowuey  entered  the  store  of  James  Hunter  in  the 
village,  and  continued  in  his  service  until  the 
spring  of  1868.  He  then  purchased  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  which  he  subsequent- 
ly increased  to  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
Bloom  Township;  this  he  retained  and  tilled  until 
1892,  when  he  sold  a  quarter-section  to  the  Chi- 
cago Heights  Land  Association.  The  remaining 
one  hundred  acres,  adjoining  the  village,  he  still 
retains. 

Upon  the  organization  of  the  Bank  of  Chicago 
Heights,  January  i,  1893,  in  which  he  was  in- 
strumental, Mr.  McEldowney  was  elected  its  pres- 
ident and  has  filled  that  position  since.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Chicago 
Heights,  of  which  he  is  treasurer  and  a  member 
of  the  board  of  trustees.  He  has  always  taken 
an  intelligent  interest  in  the  conduct  of  local 


affairs,  and  has  often  been  selected  to  act  in  their 
administration.  He  has  been  Supervisor  several 
years,  and  has  also  been  Town  Treasurer.  He 
is  a  steadfast  Republican  in  general  political  prin- 
ciple. 

He  was  married  October  22,1866,  to  Miss  Mary 
H.  McQueen,  a  native  of  Elgin,  Illinois,  daugh- 
ter of  George  and  Margaret  (McCormick)  Mc- 
Queen, both  natives  of  Scotland.  Five  children 
complete  the  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McEldown- 
ey, namely:  John  Howard,  commercial  editor 
of  the  Chicago  Tribune;  George  I.,  book-keeper 
of  the  Chicago  Heights  Bank;  Annie,  William 
Frank  and  Ralph.  As  the  result  of  his  industry, 
prudence  and  sagacity,  Mr.  McEldowney  is  now 
at  the  head  of  one  of  the  soundest  and  most  suc- 
cessful business  institutions  of  the  community, 
and  enjoys  the  respect  and  friendship  of  his 
fellow-citizens. 


CHARLES  D.  HEWS,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 


(TJHARLES  DEANEHEWS,  A.  M.,  M.  D., 
I  (  the  first  medical  practitioner  at  Roseland, 
\J  was  born  at  La  Porte,  Indiana,  April  5, 
1846.  His  parents,  Dr.  Richard  B.  Hews  and 
Jane  Elizabeth  Spaulding,  were  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  became  early  settlers  in  northern 
Indiana.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Bursten  Hews, 
was  an  Englishman,  who  crossed  the  ocean  and 
located  in  the  Keystone  State  about  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century.  He  kept  an  inn  at  Can- 
ton Corners,  in  Bradford  County.  His  wife  was 
an  offspring  of  the  famous  Clendenning  family 
of  Scotland.  She  was  a  lady  of  extraordinary 
physical  vigor,  and  a  devout  adherent  of  the 
Baptist  faith.  She  was  accustomed  to  walk  twen- 
ty miles  and  back  regularly  each  Sabbath  (proba- 


bly to  Towanda)  to  reach  the  nearest  point  at 
which  she  could  enjoy  the  close  communion  of 
that  sect.  Even  in  old  age  she  persistently  de- 
clined the  services  of  a  carriage  in  going  to  church. 
She  died  at  La  Porte,  Indiana,  at  the  venerable 
age  of  ninety-six  years. 

Dr.  R.  B.  Hews  studied  medicine  at  Phila- 
delphia, and  became  a  practitioner  of  the  "Thom- 
sonian"  school.  About  1830  he  removed  to  La 
Porte,  making  the  journey  with  a  horse  and 
sleigh,  accompanied  by  his  wife.  He  practiced 
there  several  years  and  also  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile business,  opening  the  first  store  in  the 
place,  and  bringing  his  goods  from  Detroit  by 
team.  In  addition  to  these  pursuits,  he  oper- 
ated extensively  in  real  estate  upon  the  present 


54 


C.  D.  HEWS,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 


site  of  Joliet,  Illinois,  and  other  Western  cities. 
The  ground  now  occupied  by  the  Union  Depot 
at  Kansas  City  was  purchased  by  him  before  any 
one  had  dreamed  of  a  railroad  at  that  point.  His 
death  occurred  at  L,a  Porte  in  1892,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six  years.  Mrs.  Jane  E.  Hews  is  still  liv- 
ing at  the  last-named  place,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
six  years.  Her  father,  Charles  Spaulding,  was 
also  of  English  lineage.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  R.  B. 
Hews  were  the  parents  of  nine  children,  two  of 
whom  died  in  infancy.  Robert  is  a  resident  of 
Oakland,  California,  where  he  is  Commissioner 
of  Public  Works.  William,  a  prominent  business 
man  of  Kansas  City,  is  a  veteran  of  the  Forty- 
eighth  Indiana  Volunteers.  James  died  in  1895, 
in  Chicago,  while  Assistant  Auditor  of  the  Wis- 
consin Central  Railroad.  Charles  D.  is  the  next 
in  order  of  birth.  Mary  J.  is  the  wife  of  George 
H.  Serviss,  a  banker  of  New  Carlisle,  Indiana. 
Elizabeth  died  in  1884,  at  L,a  Porte,  Indiana, 
where  Kittie,  the  youngest,  now  resides. 

Dr.  C.  D.  Hews  evidently  inherits  the  vigor- 
ous constitution  and  tendency  to  longevity  which 
distinguished  his  progenitors.  He  received  a 
liberal  education,  first  taking  a  course  at  Hills- 
dale  College,  Hillsdale,  Michigan,  from  which  he 
received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  In  1864 
he  became  a  student  at  the  Chicago  University, 
and  later  attended  the  University  of  Michigan  at 
Ann  Arbor,  graduating  from  that  famous  in- 
stitution in  1869,  with  the  title  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine. He  had  previously  practiced  about  one 
year  at  Marengo,  Illinois,  with  Dr.  Green,  one  of 
the  oldest  surgeons  in  the  State. 

Soon  after  leaving  Ann  Arbor  he  located  at 
Roseland,  where  he  has  ever  since  been  engaged 
in  the  active  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery. 
When  he  came  to  this  place  the  nearest  physicians 
were  at  Blue  Island  and  Hyde  Park,  and  his 
practice  extended  for  miles  through  the  surround- 
ing country.  Though  his  field  of  usefulness  has 
been  curtailed  geographically,  if  measured  by  the 
number  of  patients  treated  it  has  been  constantly 
increasing,  and  his  popularity  has  been  well 
merited.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Chicago  and 
Illinois  Medical  Societies. 

During  Sherman's  Atlanta  campaign,  in  1864, 


Dr.  Hews  enlisted  under  the  call  for  three  hundred 
thousand  troops  for  one  hundred  days'  service,  and 
was  enrolled  in  Company  B,  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-eighth  Indiana  Infantry.  He  served  un- 
der General  Milroy,  and  accompanied  the  expedi- 
tion as  far  as  Atlanta.  He  took  part  in  a  num- 
ber of  skirmishes  with  Texas  rangers,  and  other 
guerrilla  bands.  While  encamped  at  Tantallon , 
Tennessee,  his  company,  while  on  a  foraging  ex- 
pedition a  few  miles  from  camp,  was  surprised 
and  captured  by  a  Confederate  force  under  Gen- 
eral Forrest,  who  was  on  the  way  to  destroy  Elk 
River  Bridge,  on  the  Nashville  &  Chattanooga 
Railroad.  Not  wishing  to  be  encumbered  by 
prisoners,  the  enemy  were  content  with  confiscat- 
ing all  the  clothing,  money  and  other  valuables 
of  the  Union  men,  who  were  obliged  to  work 
their  way  back  to  camp  as  best  they  could,  and 
were  afterward  jeered  by  their  comrades  on  ac- 
count of  their  scanty  toilet.  In  common  with  the 
other  volunteers  who  responded  to  that  call,  the 
Doctor  received  a  certificate  of  thanks,  which  was 
signed  by  President  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Stan- 
ton  ;  this  he  still  cherishes  among  his  most  valued 
relics. 

The  Doctor  was  married  in  1876,  and  has  one 
daughter,  Carrie  Hews,  now  a  student  at  Loretto 
Academy,  Loretto,  Kentucky.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Masonic  order,  and  has  always  been  a 
Democrat  in  political  sentiments.  He  served  two 
terms  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  village  of  Hyde  Park  (now  the  Thirty-fourth 
Ward  of  the  city  of  Chicago) .  He  has  always 
been  interested  in  promoting  public  works,  and 
was  instrumental  in  securing  the  first  appropria- 
tion for  the  improvement  of  Michigan  Avenue 
through  the  village  of  Roseland,  and  in  straight- 
ening that  thoroughfare  from  Roseland  to  the 
Calumet  River.  Though  his  professional  services 
are  in  almost  constant  demand,  he  finds  time  to 
keep  well  informed  on  the  leading  public  ques- 
tions of  the  day,  and  displays  independent  judg- 
ment in  forming  and  expressing  his  opinion.  He 
keeps  thoroughly  abreast  of  the  times  on  all  pro- 
fessional and  scientific  subjects,  and  his  library 
and  instrumental  appliances  embrace  all  the  latest 
and  best  productions  in  those  fields. 


G.  H.  PETERMAN. 


55 


GEORGE  H.  PETERMAN. 


HENRY  PETERMAN  is  one  of 
l_  the  oldest  and  most  faithful  employes  of 
vU  Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company.  His  youth 
was  spent  upon  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  River, 
and  his  lineage  has  been  traced  from  some  of  the 
early  pioneers  of  the  valley  of  that  historic  stream, 
a  region  famous  for  the  production  of  men  of 
sterling  character  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  to 
principle.  His  parents  were  John  Foster  Peter- 
man  and  Pamelia  Rosina  Grosh. 

John  F.  Peterman  was  a  son  of  G.  W.  Peter- 
man,  a  veteran  of  the  War  of  1 8 1 2 .  He  probably 
enlisted  from  Virginia,  but  was  later  found  in 
Mercersburgh,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  native 
of  Martinsburgh,  Virginia,  and  his  mother's 
maiden  name  was  Lingefelder.  Her  family  at 
one  time  owned  a  tract  of  land  in  the  city  of 
Washington,  including  the  site  of  some  of  the 
United  States  Government  buildings.  G.  W. 
Peterman  died  January  21,  1845,  aged  fifty-seven 
years.  His  wife,  Mary  Catherine  Tabler,  died 
February  20,  1859,  a'  the  age  of  sixty-three. 
She  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  of  German  descent. 

John  F.  Peterman  was  born  at  Mercersburgh, 
Pennsylvania,  and  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-four 
years,  December  16,  1872,  in  Cumberland,  Mary- 
land. He  was  a  carpenter  contractor  by  oc- 
cupation. Mrs.  P.  R.  Peterman  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  Grosh  and  Prudence  M.  L,eggett. 
Henry  Grosh 's  grandparents  came  from  Bavaria 
before  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  located  at 
Graceham,  Maryland.  Frederick,  the  father  of 
Henry  Grosh,  was  born  there  about  1775. 
Frederick  Grosh' s  mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Smith, 
was  captured  by  Indians  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  was  held  a  captive  seven  years, 


and  died  soon  after  her  release.  Henry  Grosh 
was  a  baker  and  confectioner  at  Williamsport, 
Maryland,  and  also  practiced  the  Thomsonian 
system  of  medicine.  He  died  there  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven  years.  Mrs.  Peterman  is  the  eld- 
est of  his  twelve  children,  and  is  now  living  at 
Pullman,  aged  seventy-four  years.  Her  mother's 
people  were  of  English  lineage,  and  conspicuous 
for  their  longevity.  The  family  was  founded  in 
the  United  States  by  two  brothers,  one  of  whom 
reached  the  great  age  of  one  hundred  and  twelve 
years. 

George  H.  Peterman  was  born  at  Cumberland, 
Maryland,  November  10,  1846.  He  was  there- 
fore less  than  sixteen  years  of  age  when  the  ani- 
mosities which  had  long  agitated  the  people  of 
the  two  great  sections  of  the  country  culminated 
in  civil  war.  Cumberland  was  destined  to  see 
much  of  the  ravages  of  the  strife.  The  majority 
of  its  people  sympathized  with  the  Confederate 
cause,  and  those  inclined  to  be  loyal  to  the  Gov- 
ernment hesitated  about  taking  any  decisive 
action. 

Young  Peterman  was  enthusiastic  in  the  Union 
cause,  and  taking  up  a  collection  among  those  of 
his  schoolmates  who  were  patriotically  inclined, 
purchased  a  few  yards  of  bunting,  which  his 
mother  sewed  into  a  flag.  This  was  raised  on 
the  public  square  and  carefully  guarded  by  the 
boys  to  prevent  its  destruction,  which  had  been 
threatened.  This  was  the  first  United  States 
flag  raised  in  the  town  after  the  beginning  of 
hostilities.  Young  Peterman  watched  the  progress 
of  the  war  with  impatience  for  two  years,  then 
enlisted,  April  n,  1863,  in  Company  H,  Third 
Maryland  Potomac  Home  Brigade.  He  was 


JOSEPH  CALDWELL. 


mustered  out  May  29,  1865,  having  served  in 
the  Middle  Department,  under  Gen.  Lew  Wal- 
lace. Just  previous  to  the  battle  of  Monocacy, 
he  received  a  bayonet  wound  in  the  groin,  but 
continued  on  duty  regularly.  He  took  part  in 
the  battle  of  Monocacy,  in  Sheridan's  entire 
campaign  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  in 
other  minor  engagements,  and  was  with  the  regi- 
ment constantly  except  when  on  detached  duty. 
After  the  war  Mr.  Peterman  became  a  house  car- 
penter at  Cumberland,  and  thence  removed  to 
Newark,  Ohio. 

In  June,  1881,  he  came  to  Pullman,  where  he 
at  once  began  work  for  the  Pullman  Company. 
He  worked  at  house-building  for  a  year  or  two, 
and  then  entered  the  car-shops.  For  the  past 
twelve  years  he  has  been  continuously  employed 
in  the  trimming  department,  a  fact  which  testifies 
to  his  skill  and  reliability. 

He  was  married  September  27,  1892,  to  Miss 
Delilah  V.  Clem,  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  daugh- 


ter of  William  S.  and  Julia  Ann  (Favorite)  Clem. 
William  S.  Clem  was  a  miller  by  trade,  and  when 
the  war  began  he  was  employed  at  Culpeper 
Courthouse,  Virginia.  Though  he  sympathized 
with  the  Confederate  cause,  he  took  no  part  in 
the  struggle,  but  during  the  disorder  which  pre- 
vailed there  he  was  murdered.  His  wife  died  in 
1852,  soon  after  which  event  Mrs.  Peterman  went 
to  live  with  her  grandfather,  George  Favorite, 
at  Mechanicstown  (now  Thurmont),  Maryland, 
where  most  of  her  childhood  was  passed.  She  was 
reared  in  the  Baptist  faith,  and  her  husband  in 
that  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mr.  Peterman  is 
a  member  of  J.  B.  Wyman  Post  No.  521,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  at  Pullman,  and  of  Cum- 
berland Lodge  No.  60,  Knights  of  Pythias,  at 
Cumberland,  Maryland.  A  stanch  Republican 
from  boyhood,  in  the  fall  of  1893  he  helped  to 
organize  the  Pullman  McKinley  Club,  the  first  in 
the  United  States.  It  now  has  over  seven  hun- 
dred members. 


JOSEPH  CALDWELL. 


(JOSEPH  CALDWELL,  a  prosperous  mer- 
I  chant  of  Chicago  Heights,  represents  one  of 
G/  the  oldest  families  of  the  southern  part  of 
Cook  County.  He  was  born  October  22,  1847, 
in  the  township  where  he  resides,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Mary  Jane  (Caldwell)  Caldwell.  John 
Caldwell  was  a  native  of  Glasgow,  Scotland.  His 
father,  Hugh  Caldwell,  died  during  his  child- 
hood, and  he  lived  with  his  grandfather,  a  farmer 
and  milk  dealer,  in  Kilbarton.  Peter,  a  brother 
of  John  Caldwell,  became  an  extensive  mason 
contractor  at  Glasgow,  Larges  and  Paisley.  He 
fitted  the  system  of  gas  lights  for  the  streets  of 
Larges  and  built  a  wall  around  the  cemetery 
there.  He  died  on  the  first  night  that  the  streets 
were  lighted  by  gas,  and  his  body  was  the  first 
interred  in  the  cemetery. 


John  Caldwell  came  to  America  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  years  and  landed  at  Montreal,  Canada, 
June  i,  1833.  About  a  year  later  he  went  to 
Detroit,  Michigan,  and  for  the  next  ten  years  he 
was  employed  most  of  the  time  in  driving  the 
stage  on  the  Tuttle  Brothers'  line  from  Detroit  to 
Chicago.  Four  and  six  horses  were  driven  to 
each  coach,  and  besides  carrying  the  mail  a  thriv- 
ing business  was  done  in  the  transportation  of 
passengers.  The  only  competitor  of  this  line  was 
that  of  Frink  &  Walker,  and  frequent  races  were 
indulged  in  by  the  drivers  of  rival  stages,  who 
were  always  ambitious  to  be  the  first  to  arrive  at 
each  point  with  their  loads  of  human  freight. 
Though  there  was  an  occasional  breakdown  or 
capsizal,  and  more  zeal  than  prudence  was  some- 
time displayed  by  the  drivers,  everyone  enjoyed 


JOSEPH  CALDWELL. 


57 


the  sport.  Mr.  Caldwell  was  always  fond  of  re- 
lating reminiscences  of  those  pioneer  days. 

Mr.  Caldwell  was  subsequently  employed  in  a 
grain  elevator  at  Michigan  City,  Indiana,  and 
drove  a  team  about  one  year  between  Chicago 
and  Joliet,  hauling  supplies  for  contractors  on  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal.  At  one  time  his 
buffalo  robe  was  stolen  by  some  of  the  workmen 
on  the  canal,  many  of  whom  were  desperate  char- 
acters. He  searched  about  until  he  found  it,  con- 
cealed under  the  bunk  where  they  slept.  Find- 
ing themselves  detected,  they  threatened  to  take 
his  life,  but  were  restored  to  good  humor  by  a 
treat  of  liquor,  and  Mr.  Caldwell  was  ever  after 
one  of  the  most  popular  men  on  the  road. 

In  1844  he  pre-empted  a  farm  in  Bloom  Town- 
ship, and  the  following  year  added  to  this  by  the 
purchase  of  eighty  acres  from  the  Government  at 
one  and  one-fourth  dollars  per  acre.  He  then 
built  a  cabin  and  began  cultivating  his  farm,  to 
which  additions  were  made  from  time  to  time, 
his  present  homestead  being  purchased  in  1856. 
He  became  the  owner  of  more  than  half  a  section 
in  all,  and  lived  thereon  continuously  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  August  26,  1886,  his  age 
at  that  time  being  more  than  seventy-two  years. 
He  was  a  thrifty  farmer  and  an  earnest  Christian. 
Soon  after  locating  in  Bloom,  he  became  one  of 
the  prime  movers  in  organizing  a  Presbyterian 
Church  at  the  present  location  of  Chicago 
Heights,  and  he  served  as  an  Elder  of  this  so- 
ciety for  many  years.  Later  he  united  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Homewood,  in  which  he 
was  an  Elder  the  balance  of  his  life. 

On  Christmas  Day  of  the  year  1844,  Mr.  Cald- 
well was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Jane,  daughter  of 
Joseph  Caldwell,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Bloom  Township,  who  located  there  in  1838  and 
purchased  four  hundred  acres  of  land  from  the 
United  States  Government.  Mrs.  Caldwell  sur- 
vives, at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years,  residing 
on  the  homestead  farm,  a  part  of  which  has  never 
changed  hands  since  pre-empted  by  her  husband. 
She  was  born  at  Belmalone,  County  Tyrone,  Ire- 
land, and  came  to  America  with  her  parents  in 
1826.  The  family  lived  at  Lennoxville,  Canada, 
and  continued  to  reside  there  until  their  removal  to 


Cook  County,  in  1838.  While  en  route  by  way 
of  the  Erie  Canal,  Mrs.  Caldwell  saw  a  train  of 
cars  for  the  first  time  in  her  life.  Her  father 
died  in  Bloom,  April  29,  1860,  aged  seventy- 
seven  years.  His  wife,  Dorothy  (Jack),  survived 
until  February  22,  1872,  reaching  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-three  years.  The  following  is  a 
record  of  their  offspring:  James  died  November  i, 
1864.  Rosanna,  Mrs.  John  Little,  born  October 
i,  1817,  died  March  2,  1883.  Archibald,  born 
June  13,  1820,  died  November  18,  1892.  Mary 
J.,  Mrs.  John  Caldwell,  was  born  Augusts,  1822. 
Thomas,  born  September  i,  1826,  died  June  16, 
1881.  Eliza,  wife  of  William  Caskey,  born  De- 
cember 7,  1828,  died  February  21,  1854.  Martha, 
born  October  15,  1829,  is  the  widow  of  James  Orr, 
residing  at  Harvey,  Illinois.  Dorothy,  born 
June  to,  1831,  is  the  wife  of  James  Brisbane,  of 
New  Lenox,  Illinois. 

Mrs.  Caldwell  is  quite  active  in  mind  and  body, 
and  exhibits  her  remarkable  memory  of  events 
and  dates.  She  often  recalls  the  time  when  the 
prairie  surrounding  her  home  was  almost  unin- 
habited, and  the  groves  which  now  dot  the  land- 
scape consisted  of  mere  shrubs.  None  of  the 
streams  had  been  bridged  when  she  came  to  this 
county,  and  travelers  were  obliged  to  make  long 
detours  to  avoid  those  which  were  too  deep  to  be 
forded.  She  had  been  the  mother  of  eleven  chil- 
dren, five  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  A  record  of 
the  others  is  as  follows:  Julia  was  born  October  1 1 , 
1845;  Joseph  was  born  October  22,  1847;  Maria, 
Mrs.  H.  M.  Goodell,  residing  at  Titusville, 
Florida,  was  born  October  23,  1855;  James  was 
born  June  21,  1857;  John,  born  October  10,  1859, 
died  June  28,  1878;  Edward,  born  June  26,  1861, 
is  now  in  business  in  New  York  City. 

Joseph  Caldwell,  whose  name  heads  this  article, 
grew  to  manhood  on  his  father's  farm,  which  he 
helped  to  cultivate  and  improve,  attending  the 
public  schools  of  the  district  in  the  intervals  of 
this  labor.  He  spent  two  years  at  Lake  Forest 
University ,  and  then  returned  to  the  farm.  He  was 
married  March  26,  1874,  to  Catherine  R.,  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  Wallace,  of  whom  further  mention 
is  made  in  this  volume  in  the  biography  of  E.  A. 
Wallace.  Mrs.  Caldwell  was  born  in  the  town- 


DR.  j.  MCLEAN. 


ship  in  which  she  resides,  and  has  presented  her 
husband  with  six  children,  namely:  Clara  Jane, 
Anna  Maria,  Martha  Janett,  Mertie  Lorena, 
John  and  Jesse. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Caldwell  took 
charge  of  the  farm  of  his  father-in-law,  which  he 
continued  to  operate  until  1890,  maintaining  an 
extensive  dairy.  In  the  last-named  year  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-one  acres  of  this  land  were  sold  to 
the  Chicago  Heights  Land  Association,  constitut- 
ing the  first  ground  subdivided  by  that  corpora- 
tion. Mr.  Caldwell  then  purchased  a  general 
merchandise  store  in  the  village,  where  he  has 


since  been  continuously  engaged  in  trade.  He  is 
a  progressive,  public-  spirited  and  reliable  citizen, 
and  has  often  been  called  upon  to  fill  positions  of 
trust  by  his  fellow-townsmen.  He  has  been  a 
School  Director  for  the  past  twelve  years,  and 
School  Treasurer  of  the  township  eight  years. 
He  is  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education  at  the 
present  time,  and  was  thirteen  years  Treasurer  of 
the  Union  Detective  Association.  He  has  been  a 
steadfast  Republican,  and  from  early  life  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  was  sixteen 
years  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Union  Sun- 
day-school Association. 


DR.  J.   McLEAN. 


0R.  JOHN  McLEAN  is  the  able  surgeon  em- 
ployed by  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Com- 
pany to  attend  any  of  its  employes  who  may 
be  accidentally  hurt  while  in  pursuit  of  its  duties. 
He  is  also  engaged  in  a  general  practice  of  medi- 
cine and  surgery  at  Pullman,  and  during  his 
residence  of  fifteen  years  in  that  beautiful  suburb 
has  come  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  ex- 
emplary and  useful  citizens  in  the  town.  He  is 
remotely  descended  from  the  celebrated  clan  Mc- 
Lean of  Scotland,  which  includes  among  its  poster- 
ity many  noted  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

John  McLean,  great-grandfather  of  the  Doctor, 
was  born  near  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  where 
he  grew  to  manhood  and  married.  About  1750 
he  removed  to  Greensboro,  North  Carolina,  and 
built  a  house  of  cedar  logs  there,  which  is  still 
occupied  by  some  of  his  descendants.  One  of  his 
sons,  Joseph  McLean,  served  in  the  Continental 
army. 

Robert  McLean,  another  son  of  John  McLean, 
was  born  at  Guilford  Courthouse,  North  Carolina, 
in  1763.  He  was  a  pioneer  of  Illinois,  going  to 
Franklin  County  in  1818.  He  erected  a  log 
house  there,  and  returned  to  his  native  State, 


whence  he  brought  his  family  the  next  spring. 
His  wife  was  Jean  Akin,  a  native  of  North  Caro- 
lina, of  Scotch  descent.  Two  of  her  brothers 
were  volunteers  in  the  American  army  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Guilford  Courthouse. 

James  Akin  McLean,  son  of  Robert  and  Jean 
McLean,  was  born  March  25,  1809,  in  Guilford 
County,  North  Carolina.  He  became  an  ex- 
tensive farmer  and  stockman  of  Franklin  County, 
Illinois.  During  the  Black  Hawk  War  he  served 
under  Captain  Ewing,  in  Colonel  De  Ment's  regi- 
ment, and  took  part  in  the  engagement  at  Kel- 
logg's  Grove.  While  on  this  expedition  he  visited 
Fort  Dearborn,  where  he  met  General  Scott.  J. 
A.  McLean's  wife,  Lydia  Smith,  was  born  near 
Macon,  Georgia,  and  was  the  daughter  of  James 
Smith,  a  native  of  the  same  State,  who  became  a 
resident  of  Illinois  in  1820.  The  Smith  family 
was  of  English  ancestry. 

Dr.  John  McLean,  son  of  James  Akin  and 
Lydia  McLean,  was  born  in  Franklin  County, 
Illinois,  October  7,  1837.  His  early  life  was 
spent  on  a  farm,  working  during  the  summer  and 
autumn,  and  attending  school  about  three  months 
each  winter.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  began  the 


F.  B.   MOORE,  M.  D.,  B.  S. 


59 


study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Francis 
Ronalds,  then  residing  in  Benton,  Illinois.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1 860-61  he  attended  the  St. 
Louis  Medical  College. 

In  the  following  July  he  enlisted,  and  on  the 
loth  of  August  he  was  mustered  in  the  Fortieth 
Regiment,  Illinois  Infantry.  On  the  I4th  of  the 
following  November  he  was  commissioned  Second 
Lieutenant  of  Company  A  of  this  regiment.  He 
was  present  at  the  capture  of  Paducah  and  took 
part  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  where  he  received 
a  serious  wound,  April  6,  1862,  necessitating 
the  amputation  of  his  left  foot.  The  regiment 
was  highly  complimented  by  the  commander, 
General  Sherman,  for  holding  its  ground  under 
the  enemy's  fire  after  its  supply  of  cartridges  was 
exhausted. 

September  23,  1862,  he  resigned  his  commis- 
sion, but  afterwards  volunteered  his  services  as  a 
surgeon  to  accompany  an  expedition  sent  by  the 
Sanitary  Commission  from  Chicago.  They  pro- 
ceeded by  steamboat  to  Vicksburg  and  picked  up 
a  load  of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  which  they 
brought  up  the  river.  He  then  entered  Rush 
Medical  College  at  Chicago,  from  which  he  grad- 


uated in  1863.  In  June  of  that  year  he  located 
at  Duquoin,  Illinois,  where  he  practiced  medi- 
cine and  surgery  until  October,  1881.  At  this 
date  he  accepted  the  position  of  surgeon  of  the 
Pullman  Palace  Car  Company  and  removed  to 
his  present  residence. 

Dr.  McLean  was  married  in  1870  to  Eugenie 
Paris,  daughter  of  David  and  Elizabeth  Paris,  of 
Bloomington,  Illinois.  They  have  one  son,  Guy 
Marshall  McLean,  a  practicing  physician  of  La 
Porte,  Indiana. 

The  Doctor  is  associated  with  numerous  fra- 
ternal and  benevolent  organizations,  as  well  as 
professional  societies,  including  the  American 
Medical  Association,  the  Academy  of  Railroad 
Surgeons,  the  Royal  Arcanum,  Independent  Or- 
der of  Odd  Fellows,  Knights  of  Pythias;  J.  B. 
Wyman  Post,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and 
Illinois  Commandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion.  A 
life-long  Republican,  he  takes  little  interest  in 
local  political  strife,  but  entertains  well-defined 
views  of  the  leading  political  questions  of  the  day. 
A  man  of  self-reliance  and  much  force  of  char- 
acter, he  exerts  a  powerful  and  beneficent  influ- 
ence in  the  community. 


FLOYD  B.  MOORE,  M.  D.,  B.  S. 


f~LOYD  BROWN  MOORE,  M.  D.,  B.  S.,  fills 
r3  a  prominent  position  in  the  professional  and 
I  f  social  circles  of  Pullman,  Roseland  and 
other  southern  suburbs  of  Chicago.  He  was 
born  December  13,  1866,  at  Brockville,  Canada, 
and  his  parents,  Abner  Daniel  and  Betsey  Jane 
(Brown)  Moore,  were  natives  of  the  same  locality. 
Abner  D.  Moore  is  a  son  of  Frederick  Moore, 
whose  parents  came  from  Ireland  and  settled  in 
Canada  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  cent- 
ury. Frederick  Moore  is  still  living  on  a  farm 
at  Brockville,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-four 
years.  Abner  D.  Moore  has  been  a  speculator  in 


grain  and  live  stock  nearly  all  his  life.  In  1867 
he  went  to  Portage,  Wisconsin,  and  removed 
thence,  two  years  later,  to  Fort  Dodge,  Iowa.  He 
subsequently  moved  to  Manson,  in  the  same 
State,  and  is  now  living,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five 
years,  in  Brockville,  Canada.  His  wife,  Betsey 
J.  Moore,  died  in  Manson,  Iowa,  in  1889.  Her 
parents  were  natives  of  Canada,  of  English  lineage. 
Dr.  F.  B.  Moore  graduated  from  the  High 
School  of  Manson,  Iowa,  after  which  he  entered 
the  Northern  Indiana  Normal  School  at  Val- 
paraiso, Indiana.  After  spending  two  years  upon 
the  scientific  course  of  that  institution,  he  grad- 


6o 


LOUIS  OSWALD. 


uated,  in  1886,  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Science.  He  then  entered  the  Chicago  Medical 
College  (now  Northwestern  University  Medical 
School),  and  in  April,  1889,  received  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  that  college. 

He  immediately  entered  upon  the  practice  of 
medicine  at  Pullman,  where  he  has  since  re- 
mained, with  gratifying  and  pecuniary  success. 
In  the  spring  of  1896  he  built  a  modern  brick 
residence  at  Roseland,  in  which  he  maintains  an 
office,  as  well  as  at  Pullman.  He  follows  the 
general  practice  of  both  medicine  and  surgery, 
and  has  been  enabled  by  his  success  to  invest  to 
some  extent  in  suburban  real  estate,  which  he 
improves  from  time  to  time,  and  thus  adds  to  the 
general  prosperity  of  the  community. 

Dr.  Moore  was  married  in  November,  1891,  to 
Miss  Mattie  Alice  Rolston,  of  Kensington,  daugh- 
ter of  John  M.  Rolston,  a  well-known  undertaker  of 
Chicago,  now  deceased.  Dr.  Moore  is  identified 


with  numerous  social,  fraternal  and  beneficial 
orders,  in  most  of  which  he  fills  the  position  of 
examinimg  surgeon.  These  include  Prosperity 
Lodge,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows; 
Palace  Lodge,  Pullman  Chapter  and  Calumet 
Commandery,  of  the  Masonic  order;  Calumet 
Lodge,  Knights  of  Pythias;  Pullman  Council, 
National  Union;  Royal  Council,  Royal  League; 
Pullman  Tribe  of  Ben  Hur,  and  the  South  Side 
Physicians'  Club.  He  has  been  health  officer 
of  the  South  Side  district  for  several  months,  and 
is  now  public  vaccinator. 

He  is  local  examining  physician  for  a  number 
of  the  leading  life  insurance  companies  of  the 
United  States,  and  is  a  useful  and  influential  citi- 
zen, of  whom  any  community  might  well  be 
proud.  He  amply  merits  the  prosperity  and 
popularity  which  he  enjoys.  Politically  he  is 
independent,  putting  the  man  above  party,  and 
patriotism  above  politics. 


LOUIS  OSWALD 


I  GUIS  OSWALD,  one  of  the  leading  mer- 
I  C  chants  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  county, 
\  J  is  a  finely  educated  representative  of  a  good 
German  family.  He  was  born  in  one  of  the 
beautiful  villages  which  border  the  Rhine  River, 
namely,  Saint  Guarshausen,  Province  of  Hesse- 
Darmstadt,  Nassau,  March  7,  1836.  His  grand- 
father, Henry  Oswald,  was  a  farmer,  who  owned 
an  estate  in  Westerfeld,  Germany,  and  his  father, 
also  named  Henry,  was  for  nearly  fifty  years 
demanenrath  of  the  Duke  of  Nassau,  having 
charge  of  the  extensive  estates  of  that  nobleman. 
He  was  but  three  years  younger  than  the  present 
century,  and  died  in  June,  1879,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six  years.  His  wife,  Carolina  Zink,  died 
in  April,  1847,  at  the  age  of  forty- six  years.  She 
was  the  daughter  of  Rev.  William  Zink,  a  min- 


ister of  the  Evangelical    Church,  for  many  years 
pastor  at  Homburg  for  der  Hoche. 

Louis  Oswald  attended  the  gymnasium  at 
Wiesbaden,  studying  pharmacy  and  chemistry, 
and  graduating  in  these  branches  at  the  early  age 
of  seventeen  years.  Immediately  after  this  he 
came  to  America,  and  remained  several  months  in 
New  York  City,  where  he  found  employment  in 
a  drug  store.  In  April,  1854,  he  came  to  Chicago, 
and  entered  the  drug  store  of  Dr.  Philip  Mathie, 
on  State  Street,  between  Adams  and  Monroe. 
This  store  was  then  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city, 
and  Mr.  Oswald  boarded  in  a  house  on  the  pres- 
ent site  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific 
station.  The  cholera  raged  through  the  first 
season  of  his  residence  here,  and  the  young  emi- 
grant had  ample  opportunity  to  observe  its  effects. 


G.  VAN  DER  SYDE. 


61 


The  drug  store  in  which  he  was  employed  was  in 
a  hotel  building,  in  which  more  than  forty  people 
died  of  this  terrible  scourge  during  the  season. 

In  1856  Mr.  Oswald  went  to  Homewood,  and 
accepted  a  position  in  a  general  store  kept  by 
Herbert  &  Zimmer,  with  whom  he  remained 
eighteen  months.  He  then  entered  a  branch  store 
there,  operated  by  Charles  Robinson,  of  Blue  Is- 
land, which  was  later  conducted  by  Robinson, 
Hastings  &  Company.  In  1859  he  removed  to 
Bloom  (now  Chicago  Heights),  which  village 
then  contained  two  stores,  a  blacksmith  shop, 
wagon  shop  and  paint  shop. 

After  working  as  a  clerk  one  year  in  the  gen- 
eral merchandise  store  of  James  Hunter,  he  be- 
came a  partner  in  the  firm  of  S.  B.  Eakin  &  Com- 
pany, which  conducted  a  similar  establishment. 
In  1865  he  bought  out  the  interest  of  Mr.  Eakin, 
and  has  ever  since  conducted  the  business  alone. 
He  was  Postmaster  from  1865  to  1893,  a  period 
of  twenty-eight  years,  and  in  1876  his  original 
store  building  was  greatly  enlarged.  For  many 
years  he  bought  and  shipped  grain  from  this 
station,  which  was  originally  established  by  the 
Michigan  Central  Railroad  Company,  on  account 
of  his  business. 


Mr.  Oswald  was  married  May  2,  1861,  to  Miss 
Mary,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Barbara  (Sauter) 
Claus.  Jacob  Claus,  who  was  an  engineer,  lost 
his  life  by  drowning  in  the  Chicago  Harbor.  Bar- 
bara Sauter  came  in  1832  (then  a  young  girl)  to 
Chicago,  in  company  with  the  family  of  John  H. 
Kinzie,  on  the  first  steamer  which  landed  here. 
Mrs.  Oswald  was  born  in  Michigan  City,  Indiana, 
and  died  December  6,  1888,  aged  forty  years. 
Five  of  her  seven  children  are  living,  the  others 
having  died  in  childhood.  Dr.  Julius  W.  Oswald, 
the  eldest,  is  a  surgeon  in  the  Alexian  Brothers' 
Hospital  in  Chicago.  Otto  A.  is  a  clerk  in  his 
father's  store.  Frederick  C.  is  a  student  in  the 
Chicago  Art  Institute,  and  Cora  B.  and  Florence 
B.  remain  with  their  father.  Mr.  Oswald  has 
just  reason  to  be  proud  of  his  children  (all  of 
whom  are  finely  educated)  and  of  his  business 
record.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Evangelical 
Church  in  youth,  but  is  not  now  connected  with 
any  society.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote 
for  Gen.  John  C.  Fremont,  and  has  voted  for 
every  Presidential  candidate  since.  He  was  Col- 
lector of  Bloom  Township  in  1863,  and  takes  a 
warm  interest  in  public  schools,  serving  for  many 
years  as  School  Trustee  and  Director  of  his  district. 


GORIS  VAN  DER  SYDE. 


SORIS  VAN  DER  SYDE  is  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  at  Roseland,   and   has  been  largely 
instrumental   in  promoting  the  growth  and 
development  of  that  thriving  suburb.     His  par- 
ents were  Leonard  and  Line   (Steanberg)  Van 
derSyde,  who,  with  their  family,  joined  the  party 
which  originally    settled    at   this  place  in   1849. 
The  father,  who  had  been  a  butcher  in  the  Fa- 
therland, became  the  owner  of  ten  acres  of  land 
on  the  west  side  of  what  is  now  Michigan  Ave- 


nue. He  carried  on  the  business  of  a  market- 
gardener  until  the  growth  of  the  town  necessitated 
the  subdivision  of  his  land  for  building  purposes. 
Some  of  the  principal  residences  and  business 
blocks  of  the  village  now  stand  upon  this  site. 
His  death  occurred  October  8,  1875,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years.  His  wife,  who  was  born  in 
the  same  year  as  her  husband,  survived  until 
February  24,  1877.  Their  children  are  Goris, 
subject  proper  of  this  notice;  Line,  widow  of 


62 


G.  VAN  DER  SYDE. 


Peter  Dalenberg,  of  Roseland;  Agnes,  Mrs.  John 
Ton,  of  the  same  place;  and  Nellie,  Mrs.  John 
Prince,  now  deceased. 

Goris  Van  der  Syde  was  born  at  Numansdorp, 
Province  of  South  Holland,  December  13,  1827. 
He  was  educated  in  his  native  town,  and  after 
coming  to  this  country  attended  an  English 
school  one  winter.  He  has  always  been  an  ex- 
tensive reader,  and  speaks  and  writes  the  English 
language  accurately.  When  the  family  located 
here,  deer,  wolves  and  other  wild  game  roamed 
over  the. prairie  about  their  home.  Having  been 
reared  in  a  thickly  populated  country,  the  young- 
er members  of  the  family  were  at  first  afraid  to 
wander  far  from  the  house,  but  soon  became  ac- 
customed to  their  new  surroundings.  He  engaged 
in  the  meat  business  at  first,  but  a  few  years  later, 
in  1852,  opened  the  first  store  in  the  town,  and 
continued  in  mercantile  business  until  1880,  when 
he  retired  from  active  pursuits,  being  succeeded 
by  his  son,  who  now  conducts  one  of  the  leading 
stores  in  Roseland.  For  several  years  after  Mr. 
Van  der  Syde  came  here  there  were  but  two 
houses  on  Halsted  Street  between  his  place  and 
Twelfth  Street,  that  being  the  road  which  he 
usually  traveled  with  his  ox-team  to  bring  his 
goods  from  the  city.  At  first  their  postoffice 
was  at  Chicago,  but  after  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  was  built  to  Kensington  an  office  was 
established  at  that  place,  known  as  Calumet 
Junction.  In  1861  this  office  was  removed  to 
Roseland,  and  named  Hope,  that  name  being  aft- 
erwards changed  to  Roseland.  Mr.  Van  der  Syde 
was  appointed  the  first  Postmaster  at  this  place, 
and  held  the  office  continuously  for  twenty-five 
years,  through  successive  changes  in  the  national 
administration. 

Realizing  that  there  was  a  great  future  for  in- 
vestors in  real  estate,  about  1860  Mr.  Van  derSyde 
bought  eighty  acres,  in  company  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Mr.  Dalenberg,  the  price  of  the  tract  be- 
ing eleven  hundred  dollars.  This  they  afterwards 
divided,  each  taking  forty  acres.  Soon  after  pur- 
chasing land  here,  Mr.  Van  der  Syde  planted  a 
great  many  shade  trees,  finding  recreation  from 
his  indoor  pursuits  in  this  manner.  These  shade 
trees  are  now  the  pride  and  ornament  of  the  town, 


and  have  greatly  enhanced  the  value  of  his  prop- 
erty. Mr.  Van  der  Syde  subsequently  sold  thirty- 
three  acres  of  his  property  for  $66,000,  and  the 
whole  has  been  subdivided  and  mostly  built  up 
with  residences  and  business  blocks,  all  being 
now  included  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  He  has  in- 
vested quite  extensively  in  farming  lands  in  New- 
ton County,  Indiana,  where  he  devotes  consider- 
able attention  to  planting  vineyards  and  the  culti- 
vation of  various  kinds  of  fruits.  He  helped  to 
organize  the  Pullman  Loan  and  Savings  Bank, 
and  was  one  of  the  first  Directors  of  this  flourish- 
ing and  solid  institution,  an  office  which  he  still 
holds. 

In  December,  1856,  Mr.  Van  der  Syde  was  mar- 
ried to  Engeltje  De  Young,  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Geertje  (DeVreis)  De  Young,  of  South  Hol- 
land, Cook  County,  Illinois.  Her  father  died  in 
1893,  aged  nearly  ninety  years,  and  her  mother 
in  1878,  at  the  age  of  nearly  eighty  years.  Mrs. 
Van  der  Syde  was  born  in  Puersen,  South  Hol- 
land, and  came  to  America  with  her  parents  in 
1848.  Of  the  six  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Van 
der  Syde  who  reached  mature  years,  three  are  now 
living:  Leonard,  a  prominent  merchant  of  Rose- 
land;  Henry,  who  is  a  farmer  of  Newton  County, 
Indiana,  and  George,  who  is  still  at  home  with  his 
parents.  Those  deceased  are  Mary,  Harry  and 
Nellie,  the  last  named  being  the  wife  of  George 
McCutcheon. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Van  der  Syde  are  connected  with 
the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  at  Roseland.  A 
Republican  in  politics,  the  former  served  as  Col- 
lector of  Calumet  Township  for  two  terms,  and 
was  for  one  term  Town  Clerk.  When  he  occupied 
the  former  position  the  whole  tax-roll  of  the 
township,  which  then  included  South  Chicago, 
was  contained  in  a  small  volume  which  he  car- 
ried in  a  hand  satchel.  His  duties  as  one  of  the 
township  officials  during  the  great  Civil  War  re- 
quired him  to  assist  in  the  expenditure  of  the 
bounty  raised  by  the  township  to  induce  volun- 
teers to  enter  the  service  and  fill  its  quota  of 
troops.  His  public  duties  have  always  been  dis- 
charged in  a  faithful  and  capable  manner,  and  he 
enjoys  the  friendship  and  good-will  of  all  his  fel- 
low-citizens. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


ALBERT  J.  LAMMORIS 


A.  J.  LAMMORIS. 


ALBERT  J.  LAMMORIS. 


G|  LBERT  JACOB  LAMMORIS,  whose  career 
LJ  strikingly  illustrates  the  truth  of  the  modem 
/ I  saying  that  "Nothing  succeeds  like  suc- 
cess," was  one  of  the  self-made  men  of  our  times. 
He  belonged  to  a  class  of  young  men  who, 
though  poor,  find  in  metropolitan  life  the  in- 
centives which  superinduce  the  highest  and  best 
efforts  of  which  men  are  capable;  to  master  the 
disadvantages  that  are  supposed  to  hinder  their 
progress  when  opposed  by  rich  and  powerful 
rivals.  The  indomitable  energy  which  char- 
acterized Mr.  Lammoris  was  of  a  sort  not  to  be 
balked  by  the  inconveniences  of  poverty,  and 
his  career  was  a  model  one,  in  every  way  worthy 
of  emulation. 

Although  of  foreign  birth,  he  became,  when 
yet  a  boy,  thoroughly  imbued  with  American 
ideas,  and  throughout  his  life  he  was  actuated 
by  that  spirit  of  "push"  which  is  distinctively 
characteristic  of  Americans.  He  was  born  in 
Gripskerk,  one  of  the  seven  provinces  of  Gron- 
ingen,  Holland,  April  25,  1858,  a  son  of  Jacob  and 
Johanna  (De  Vries)  Lammoris,  who  came  to 
America  in  1864  and  settled  in  Grand  Haven, 
Michigan.  Two  years  later  they  came  to  Chi- 
cago, young  Albert  being  then  eight  years  old. 
His  parents  were  too  poor  to  furnish  him  the 
essentials  necessary  to  attendance  on  the  public 
schools.  As  a  boy  he  was  naturally  bright  and 
active,  having  the  faculty  of  adaptation,  and 
could  apply  himself  vigorously  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  purpose.  But  he  lacked  opportunities, 


and  it  was  his  misfortune  to  be  deprived  of  the 
wholesome  influence  of  home  training. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  years  he  was  admitted 
to  the  Industrial  Home  for  Boys  at  Lansing, 
Michigan,  where  he  remained  one  year.  The 
influence  of  this  institution  was  of  the  greatest 
benefit  to  him,  and  there  he  laid  the  foundation 
for  a  career  which,  though  brief,  has  been 
paralleled  in  but  few  instances.  In  1872  he  re- 
turned to  Chicago,  being  then  less  than  fifteen 
years  of  age,  practically  without  a  home  and  des- 
titute of  means.  However,  he  was  not  dis- 
couraged by  these  disadvantages,  but  resolutely 
set  about  overcoming  them,  and  for  several  years 
was  variously  employed.  He  had  a  natural 
aptitude  for  mechanics,  and,  acquiring  a  few 
tools,  he  established  himself  in  the  chair-repair- 
ing business.  This  he  followed  a  few  years, 
achieving  sufficient  success  to  enable  him,  with 
his  scanty  savings,  to  open  a  small  furniture  store, 
on  the  West  Side,  in  1881.  In  this  venture  he 
prospered,  each  year  adding  to  the  success 
which  had  begun  to  brighten  his  life. 

His  circumstances  warranting  so  important 
and  necessary  a  step,  April  13,  1882,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  L.  Sherman, 
a  young  lady  of  talent  and  pleasing  culture. 
Subsequently  he  opened  another  store  in  the  same 
line  of  business,  and  successfully  conducted  both 
establishments  until  1893,  when  he  disposed  of 
them.  He  had  ample  means  now,  and  what, 
perhaps,  is  still  better,  an  invaluable  practical  ex- 


64 


A.  J.  LAMMORIS. 


perience,  which  enabled  him  to  execute  a  long 
cherished  plan — that  of  establishing  cheap  lodg- 
ing houses  for  the  unfortunate  poor  of  Chicago. 
His  own  early  privations  and  battles  with  poverty 
had  given  him  an  insight  into  the  needs  of  the 
poor,  and  to  the  betterment  of  their  condition 
he  now  proposed  to  devote  his  time,  talents  and 
means. 

His  plan  was  to  furnish  lodgings  at  the  lowest 
price  consistent  with  cleanliness,  the  minimum 
rates  to  be  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents  per  day. 
The  "Liberty  House"  was  the  first  of  the  kind  he 
erected,  and  it  proved  so  successful  that  he  im- 
mediately secured  a  large  building  on  Clinton 
Street,  now  known  as  the  "Friendship  House," 
which  he  fitted  up  according  to  plans  of  his  own. 
It  is  a  mammoth  house,  having  seven  hundred 
twenty-five  rooms,  with  baths,  laundry,  fire 
escapes,  in  short,  modernly  equipped  throughout. 
From  its  opening  the  "Friendship"  had  a  large 
patronage,  and  it  continued  to  be  deservedly 
popular.  Subsequently  Mr.  Lammoris  became 
connected  with  the  "Arcade"  and  "Norwood," 
both  houses  similar  in  character  but  smaller.  To 
the  conduct  of  these  hostelries  he  gave  his  per- 
sonal attention,  it  being  to  him  as  much  a  labor 
of  love  as  of  profit.  It  was  his  custom  to  give  a 
dinner  to  the  poor  every  Thanksgiving  Day, 
feeding  on  some  occasions  eighteen  hundred 
homeless  men,  at  a  cost  of  more  than  one  thou- 
sand dollars.  To  the  general  relief  fund  of  the 
charitable  societies  he  was  a  regular  and  gener- 
ous contributor,  and  his  donations  to  the  boys  of 
the  Industrial  Home  were  made  semi-annually — 
on  July,  fourth  and  at  Christmas.  To  this  in- 
stitution he  was  affectionately  attached,  always 
speaking  of  it  as  "my  home,"  and  yearly  he 
visited  it. 

In  all  his  charitable  works  he  was  unostenta- 
tious, always  giving  freely  of  his  means  and  in  a 
way  to  attract  as  little  attention  as  possible.  Be- 
cause of  his  philanthropical  works  he  was  often 
spoken  of  in  the  public  prints  as  "The  best  friend 
the  homeless  poor  of  Chicago  ever  had . "  In  all 
his  habits  Mr.  Lammoris  was  decidedly  tem- 
perate. Excesses  of  any  kind  were  abhorrent  to 
him,  yet  neither  was  he  a  purist  of  the  extreme 


type.  He  knew  the  weaknesses  of  human  nature, 
was  always  humanely  human  and  his  great, 
sympathetic  heart  went  out  in  brotherly  feel- 
ing to  those  unfortunates  who  had  become 
slaves  to  the  vices  of  appetite  and  passion. 

He  was  fond  of  travel,  and  in  company  with 
his  wife,  made  five  trips  abroad,  visiting  the 
Paris  and  Vienna  expositions,  as  well  as  nearly 
all  the  historic  places  of  continental  Europe  and 
Great  Britain .  But  it  was  in  the  public  institutions 
for  the  poor  and  unfortunate  of  foreign  lands  that 
his  greatest  interest  centered.  As  many  of  these 
as  he  could  reach  received  his  carefel  scrutiny, 
that  he  might  thereby  be  profited  by  this  obser- 
vation when  he  came  to  develop  certain  plans 
which  he  had  under  deliberation  pertaining  to 
philanthropic  work  which  he  hoped  to  carry  out 
in  the  future. 

Mr.  Lammoris  was  a  domestic  man  in  the 
broadest  sense  of  the  term.  To  his  family  he 
was  devoted.  The  noble  impulses  of  the  man 
are  illustrated  by  the  following  incident:  On 
his  way  home  one  night,  he  observed  a  little  girl, 
about  seven  years  old,  on  the  street,  alone  and 
crying.  She  could  give  no  intelligent  account  of 
herself.  Pressing  the  waif  to  his  bosom,  he  car- 
ried her  to  his  home,  and  subsequently  legally 
adopted  her,  giving  her  the  name  of  Mabel  S. 

He  was  an  active  participant  in  political  affairs, 
in  principle  a  Republican,  but  in  no  sense  was  he 
an  office-seeker,  the  preferment  of  official  place 
having  no  allurements  for  him.  His  death  was 
both  untimely  and  unexpected.  From  his  youth 
he  had  been  blessed  with  good  health.  For  some 
months  previous  to  his  demise  he  had  labored  be- 
yond the  point  of  human  endurance,  and  being 
subjected  to  exposure  as  well,  he  took  cold, 
which  terminated  in  pneumonia,  and  after  five 
days  of  suffering  he  passed  to  his  reward  April 
2,  1895. 

John  Sherman,  father  of  Mrs.  Lammoris,  was 
born  in  England,  where  the  years  of  his  boy- 
hood were  passed.  His  opportunities  for  ob- 
taining an  education  were  of  the  best.  His  par- 
ents desired  that  he  should  enter  the  ministry, 
and  to  that  end  he  was  prepared  in  that  old  and 
famously  historic  seat  of  learning,  Trinity  Col- 


CAPT.  BARTHOLOMEW  QUIRK. 


lege,  Dublin.  But  the  life  of  a  clergyman  was 
not  to  his  liking,  and  in  consequence  thereof  he 
ran  away  from  home  and  came  to  America,  land- 
ing in  New  York  a  short  time  previous  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  Mexican  War.  At  the  first  call 
for  troops  he  enlisted  and  was  assigned  to  duty 
in  the  marine  service  and  actively  participated 
in  the  movements  of  that  department  during  the 
war.  He  received  several  wounds  in  action, 
none  of  which  was  of  a  disabling  character. 

In  New  York  City,  in  1853,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Louisa  Philips.     In   1865   he  came  to  Chi- 


cago, where  he  lived  permanently  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  March  7,  1890,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-one  years.  Many  years  of  his  life  were 
devoted  to  travel,  and  he  visited  most  parts  of 
the  inhabited,  civilized  globe.  He  possessed  a 
genial,  sunny  nature,  which  made  him  a  great 
socral  favorite,  and  he  was  deservedly  popular 
with  those  who  justly  appreciate  refinement  and 
courtly  grace.  Mrs.  Sherman  is  a  descendant  of 
an  old  New  York  family,  a  lady  of  many  pleas- 
ing qualities.  She  resides  with  Mrs.  Lammoris, 
her  only  surviving  child. 


CAPT.  BARTHOLOMEW  QUIRK. 


EAPT.      BARTHOLOMEW     QUIRK     was 
born  in    March,    1836,   in  Castle   Gregory, 
County  Kerry,  Ireland.     His  ancestors  were 
tillers  of  the  soil.    His  parents,  Francis  and  Ellen 
(Lynch)   Quirk,    were  natives  of  the  same  town 
where  he  was  born — a  beautiful  site  overlooking 
the  Bay  of  Tralee  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean.     Fur- 
ther mention  of  his  ancestors  will  be  found  in  the 
biography  of  James  Quirk,  in  this  work. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  his  educa- 
tion in  Chicago,  pursuing  the  primary  course  in 
the  first  public  school  of  the  city — the  old  Dear- 
born School.  He  served  an  apprenticeship  at  the 
trade  of  carpenter,  which  occupied  his  time  and 
attention  for  many  years.  With  all  of  his  broth- 
ers he  served  in  the  Volunteer  Fire  Department 
of  early  Chicago,  and  was  a  member  of  Red 
Jacket  Company  No.  4.  He  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Shields  Guards,  named  after 
General  and  United  States  Senator  Shields, 
of  Mexican  War  fame.  About  ninety-five  per 
cent,  of  this  organization,  of  which  Captain  Quirk 
was  one  of  the  most  active  promoters,  entered  the 
Union  army  and  did  valiant  service  in  preserving 
the  country  as  a  whole,  being  a  part  of  the  Twen- 


ty-third Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  under  the 
famous  Col.  J.  A.  Mulligan.  Although  the 
quota  of  the  State  had  been  filled,  by  the  personal 
solicitation  of  Colonel  Mulligan,  President  Lincoln 
was  induced  to  accept  the  services  of  the  regiment, 
whose  memory  has  been  perpetuated  in  the  one 
famous  song,  ' '  The  Mulligan  Guards. ' ' 

In  the  mean  time  it  had  proceeded  to  Missouri 
and  participated  as  an  independent  organization 
in  the  Battle  of  Lexington,  where  most  of  the 
regiment  was  captured  by  General  Price.  They 
were  exchanged  in  the  winter  of  1861-62,  and  the 
regiment  was  reorganized  and  proceeded  to  Har- 
per's Ferry,  in  May,  1862,  and  joined  the  cavalry 
forces  of  General  Sheridan,  with  whom  they  par- 
ticipated in  many  active  engagements.  Colonel 
Mulligan  was  killed  near  Winchester,  Virginia. 
The  regiment  subsequently  campaigned  through- 
out the  war  under  different  commanders  and 
became  very  much  reduced  in  numbers,  so  that 
several  of  the  companies  were  consolidated. 

Captain  Quirk  entered  the  service  as  a  second 
lieutenant,  and  resigned  in  February,  1865,  hav- 
ing served  over  three  years.  After  the  war  he 
returned  to  Chicago  and  continued  building 


66 


CHRISTOPHER   REICH. 


operations,  in  connection  with  which  he  invested 
in  real  estate  and  improved  property,  and  was 
quite  successful.  His  first  presidential  vote  was 
cast  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  he  has  ever  since 
been  a  warm  adherent  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  took  a  great  interest  in  the  struggles  of  Ire- 
land against  British  oppression,  and  was  one  of 
the  warmest  supporters  of  the  Fenian  movement. 


Captain  Quirk  served  as  a  member  of  the  City 
Council  two  terms,  and  was  several  years  a  dep- 
uty sheriff  of  Cook  County.  With  his  wife  and 
family  he  adheres  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
In  1857  he  was  married  to  Miss  Jane  McCarthy, 
and  they  have  three  children:  Mary  E.,  Helena 
J.  and  Francis  I.  The  second  daughter  is  the 
wife  of  Lawrence  J.  Reed,  of  Chicago. 


CHRISTOPHER  REICH. 


CHRISTOPHER  REICH,  now  living  a  re- 
1 1  tired  life  in  Ravenswood,  is  a  native  of 
\J  Chicago,  where  his  parents,  Michael  and 
Mary  Ann  (Tillman)  Reich,  were  early  settlers. 
Michael  Reich  was  born  in  1813,  in  Lorraine, 
France,  and  received  his  education  in  his  native 
place,  remaining  with  his  parents  until  he  was 
of  age,  and  assisting  his  father,  who  was  a  dealer 
in  tobacco.  He  served  the  term  then  required  in 
the  French  army,  which  was  seven  years.  About 
1840  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  sailing 
from  Havre  and  landing  at  New  York.  He 
came  directly  to  Chicago,  but  soon  removed  to 
Saginaw,  Michigan,  where  he  found  employment 
in  a  saw-mill,  and  received  his  remuneration  in 
the  product  of  the  same.  He  remained  two 
years,  then  sent  for  his  wife  and  two  children, 
and  located  in  Chicago,  living  for  a  short  time  on 
Harrison  Street,  and  then  on  State  Street.  He 
bought  twenty-seven  acres  of  land  on  the  South 
Side,  and  ten  acres  on  the  North  Side,  and  en- 
gaged in  gardening.  He  cultivated  this  land  for 
several  years,  and  was  very  successful  in  this 
venture.  He  was  married  in  his  native  country, 
and  his  two  eldest  sons  were  born  there,  four 
others  being  born  in  Chicago. 

His  children  were:  Michael,  who  was  drowned 
in  Lake  Michigan,  while  on  the  pleasure  boat 
"Lady  Elgin;"  Mary  and  Jacob,  deceased;  Chris- 


topher, the  subject  of  this  notice;  Caroline,  wife 
of  Peter  Franzen,  of  Englewood;  and  Peter,  of 
Lake  Station,  Indiana.  In  1857  the  family  re- 
turned to  France,  with  the  exception  of  the  two 
eldest  sons.  Mr.  Reich  had  sold  part  of  his  prop- 
erty in  Chicago,  but  in  1860  he  returned  to  that 
city  and  resumed  gardening.  He  again  visited 
France  in  1865,  to  look  after  some  property  he 
had  purchased  during  his  former  visit,  and  he 
remained  two  years,  after  which  he  again  re- 
turned to  Chicago,  and  engaged  in  gardening. 
He  was  always  thrifty  in  the  management  of  his 
affairs,  and  accumulated  a  competence.  He  took 
an  interest  in  public  concerns,  but  never  held  an 
office,  and  supported  the  Democratic  party.  He 
and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Mrs.  Reich  died  October  28,  1889,  and 
Mr.  Reich  passed  away  January  i,  1893. 

Christopher  Reich  was  born  March  13,  1844, 
receiving  his  primary  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  Chicago,  and  later  attending  school  two 
years  in  France.  He  remained  with  his  parents 
until  he  grew  to  manhood,  assisting  his  father  in 
the  care  of  his  garden  until  he  was  twenty-two 
years  of  age.  When  his  parents  went  to  France 
the  second  time,  he  and  his  brother  Peter  re- 
moved to  Calumet,  where  they  bought  twenty- 
five  acres  of  land,  which  they  cultivated.  The 
health  of  Christopher  failed,  and  he  sold  his 


HENRY  KARNATZ. 


67 


share  of  land  to  his  brother,  and  traveled  in 
Europe,  learning  the  art  of  photography  while 
there. 

January  3,  1867,  he  married  Miss  Mary  A. 
Kerber,  a  native  of  Chicago,  and  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Floradiue  Kerber.  Her  parents  were 
natives  of  Baden-Baden,  Germany,  and  were 
early  settlers  of  Chicago.  In  1868  Mr.  Reich 
opened  a  dry-goods  store  on  the  corner  of  Larra- 
bee  and  Center  Streets,  which  he  conducted 
successfully  until  he  lost  his  stock  and  building 
in  the  Great  Fire  of  1871.  He  rebuilt,  and  again 
engaged  in  business,  which  he  continued  until 
1875,  when  he  removed  to  Dyer,  Lake  County, 
Indiana,  and  kept  a  general  store  two  years. 
He  then  removed  to  Crown  Point,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  same  business,  and  five  years  later 
he  returned  to  Chicago,  and  opened  a  store  on 
Larrabee  Street,  opposite  Wisconsin  Street,  which 
he  conducted  two  years.  He  removed  to  Engle- 
wood,  where  he  was  proprietor  of  a  store  two 
years,  and  then  retired  from  business  on  account 
of  the  death  of  his  wife,  which  occurred  April  12, 
1891. 

Mr.  Reich  spent  a  year  in  Milwaukee,  to  rest 
and  regain  his  health,  which  was  then  poor. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reich  were  the  parents  of  ten 
children,  only  five  of  whom  are  now  living.  Their 


names  are:  John  C.,  Margaret,  Christopher,  Jo- 
sephine and  Edward.  In  August,  1895,  Mr. 
Reich  married  Miss  Catherine  Leis,  a  native  of 
Chicago,  and  daughter  of  Jacob  Leis.  In  politics, 
Mr.  Reich  favors  the  Democratic  party.  He  and 
his  wife  are  communicants  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church,  being  identified  with  the  parish  of 
Our  Lady  of  Lourdes.  Mr.  Reich  is  an  honored 
and  respected  citizen  of  Ravenswood,  and  takes 
an  active  interest  in  the  welfare  of  that  suburb, 
and  also  of  his  native  city. 

Michael  Reich,  the  eldest  son  of  Michael 
Reich,  was  born  in  1834,  in  Lorraine,  France, 
and  came  to  Chicago  with  the  family  in  1842. 
He  followed  gardening  all  his  life.  In  1860  he 
married,  and  about  three  months  later  he  was 
prevailed  upon  by  friends  to  go  on  an  excursion 
to  Milwaukee.  This  was  on  the  fatal  eighth  day 
of  September,  1860,  when  the  pleasure  steamer, 
"Lady  Elgin,"  collided  with  another  boat,  off 
Gross  Point,  and  nearly  all  the  passengers  were 
lost.  Mr.  Reich  was  among  those  who  perished. 
He  was  a  man  who  took  quite  an  interest  .in 
public  affairs,  and  was  for  some  years  a  member 
of  the  Volunteer  Fire  Department  of  the  city, 
being  a  member  of  Company  No.  7  when  first 
organized,  and  later  of  No.  10.  He  was  well 
known  and  highly  respected. 


HENRY  KARNATZ. 


HENRY  KARNATZ  was  born  December  13, 
1 86 1,   in    Mecklenburg-Schvverin,    and  is  a 
son  of  Joachim  and  Mary  (Deitlow)  Karnatz, 
both  of  whom  were  born   in  the  same  locality. 
His  father  was  a  laborer,  and  in    1867  he  moved 
to  America  with  his  family,   starting  from  Ham- 
burg, and  coining  to   Chicago  by   way   of   New 


York.  In  April,  1868,  he  came  to  Jefferson  and 
rented  forty-one  and  one-half  acres,  where  he 
carried  on  gardening.  The  land  is  near  what  is 
now  Forest  Glen,  and  in  1877  he  was  able  to  buy 
it  for  six  thousand  dollars.  It  then  contained 
but  a  few  buildings,  and  he  subsequently  added 
good  ones.  Later,  he  bought  thirteen  and  three- 


68 


E.  S.  OSGOOD. 


fourths  acres.  He  had  six  children,  three  of 
whom  died  in  Germany.  The  remaining  three 
are:  John,  who  resides  on  the  home  farm  and 
owns  a  blacksmith  shop  near  Bowmanville; 
Charles,  who  resides  on  a  part  of  his  father's 
farm;  and  Henry,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Joachim  Karnatz  died  June  8,  1897,  after  an  ill- 
ness of  only  two  days,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven 
years,  nine  months  and  thirteen  days.  His  wife 
survives  him,  having  reached  the  age  of  seventy- 
fonr  years.  Both  were  members  of  the  Evangel- 
ical Lutheran  Church,  being  connected  with  Saint 
John's  Church  of  Mayfair. 

Henry  Karnatz  attended  the  public  school,  and 
also  the  Lutheran  School  of  Niles,  then  called 
Dutchman's  Point.  He  left  school  at  the  age  of 
thirteen  years.  He  has  since  worked  with  his 


father  on  the  farm,  and  at  present  he  manages 
the  part  of  it  connected  with  the  old  home.  He 
learned  the  painter's  trade,  and  has  a  shop,  where 
he  does  work  for  his  brother,  and  sometimes  for 
others. 

March  19,  1888,  Henry  Karnatz  married 
Amelia  Sell,  who  was  born  in  Pomerania,  and  is 
a  daughter  of  Charles  and  Minnie  (Schroeder) 
Sell.  Charles  Sell  died  in  1897,  in  Leyden 
Township,  where  his  widow  still  lives.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Karnatz  have  four  children,  namely:  Min- 
nie, Henry,  John  and  Annie.  Mr.  Karnatz  is  a 
member  of  the  same  church  as  his  parents,  name- 
ly the  Evangelical  Lutheran.  He  is  of  the  same 
political  principle  as  his  father,  and  supports  the 
Republican  party.  He  is  a  public-spirited  and 
intelligent  citizen,  and  enjoys  the  respect  of  all. 


EDWIN  S.  OSGOOD. 


|"~  DWIN  SEW  ALL  OSGOOD,  a  well-known 
JO  citizen  of  Austin,  was  boni  November  21, 
I  1842,  in  Moulmein,  in  the  British  East 
Indies.  He  is  the  son  of  Rev.  Sewall  Mason  and 
Sarah  Maria  (Willsey)  Osgood.  The  Osgoods 
are  an  old  English  family,  three  of  whom  came  to 
America  in  1635,  and  settled  in  Massachusetts. 
They  were  William,  Christopher  and  John,  and 
from  Christopher  is  descended  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Emery  Osgood,  the  father  of  Rev.  Sewall 
M.  Osgood,  was  a  Baptist  clergyman,  whose  field 
of  labor  was  in  western  New  York.  Sewall  M. 
Osgood  was  born  in  New  York  and  there  learned 
the  printer's  trade.  He  conducted  a  local  news- 
paper at  Jefferson,  New  York,  a  number  of  years. 
In  1836  he  went  to  the  East  Indies,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union, 
and  he  printed  the  first  bible  ever  printed  in  the 
Burmese  language.  While  he  was  there  he  was 
ordained  a  minister,  and  he  continued  in  the 


missionary  work  until  his  death,  in  Chicago,  in 
1875,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  His  wife, 
Sarah  M.  Osgood,  was  born  in  Tioga  County, 
New  York,  and  was  of  Dutch  descent.  She  died 
in  1849,  at  about  forty  years  of  age. 

Edwin  S.  Osgood  was  four  years  old  when  his 
parents  returned  to  the  United  States  from  India. 
He  was  educated  in  the  common  schools  and  in  a 
high  school  in  Philadelphia.  In  1860  he  came 
to  Chicago,  and  soon  after — August  29,  1862— 
he  enlisted  in  the  Chicago  Mercantile  Battery,  and 
served  to  the  close  of  the  war.  He  took  part 
in  the  Vicksburg  campaign,  and  was  later  in 
Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Mobile,  Alabama.  He 
participated  in  Banks'  Red  River  expedition,  after 
which  he  was  detailed  in  the  paymaster's  depart- 
ment, and  he  served  in  that  capacity  until  the 
close  of  the  war. 

After  the  war  he  returned  to  Chicago  and  en- 
gaged in  business  with  a  building  contractor,  and 


JOHN  VAN  NATTA. 


69 


later  he  was  employed  as  solicitor  and  bookkeeper 
for  the  Terra  Cotta  Company.  After  this  he 
was  with  H.  C.  &  C.  Durand,  wholesale  grocers. 
In  1880  he  engaged' in  the  manufacturing  busi- 
ness for  himself,  and  since  1893  has  been  in  the 
business  of  engraving  and  electrotj  ping.  He  is 
now  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Osgood  &  Company, 
engravers,  the  firm  comprising  Mr.  Osgood  and 
his  son,  Frederick  S.  Osgood. 

In  1868  Mr.  Osgood  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Elizabeth  A.,  daughter  of  Timothy  M.  and 
Elizabeth  (Covington)  Bryan,  of  Philadelphia. 
Timothy  Matlack  Bryan  was  a  grandson  of 
Timothy  Matlack,  a  soldier  Quaker,  whose  picture 
hangs  in  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia,  in 
memory  of  his  services  to  the  country  during  the 
Revolution.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  S.  Osgood  have 
five  children  living,  namely:  Helen,  Mrs.  Henry 
Husted,  of  Austin;  William  P.,  a  student  in  the 
Chicago  University ;  Frederick  S.,  of  the  firm  of 


Osgood  &  Company;  Edwin  H.  and  Elizabeth 
M.  All  the  members  of  the  family  are  con- 
nected with  the  Baptist  Church  of  Austin,  which 
village  has  been  their  home  since  1871.  The 
family  furnished  four  of  the  thirteen  constituent 
members  of  the  First  Baptist  Society,  and  Mr. 
Osgood  has  since  been  an  officer  of  the  church, 
being  at  present  superintendent  of  its  Sunday- 
school. 

Mr.  Osgood  is  a  member  of  Kilpatrick  Post, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  at  Austin.  He 
has  always  been  a  Republican  in  his  political 
views.  He  was  two  years  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  town  of  Cicero,  and  three 
years  one  of  the  school  trustees.  He  is  con- 
nected with  all  reforms  in  Austin,  and  interested 
in  improvements,  and  though  his  business  is  in 
the  city,  his  interest  is  chiefly  in  his  home,  and 
he  is  a  valuable  member  of  society  in  his  com- 
munity. 


JOHN  VAN  NATTA. 


(lOHN  VAN  NATTA  was  one  of  the  worthy 
I  pioneers  of  Cook  County,  and  numbered 
Q)  among  his  friends  most  of  the  early  settlers 
of  northeastern  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  Dutch- 
ess  County,  New  York,  February  25,  1796,  and 
was  the  son  of  James  Van  Natta,  both  of  the  lat- 
ter's  parents  being  natives  of  Holland.  John 
Van  Natta  lived  at  several  different  points  in 
New  York,  part  of  the  time  in  Geneseoand  Steu- 
ben  Counties,  and  part  of  the  time  in  Chautauqua 
County,  where  he  was  married.  In  1832  he  re- 
moved to  Cass  County,  Michigan,  and  settled  at 
Adamsville.  As  everyone  in  that  region,  includ- 
ing his  own  family,  was  suffering  from  fever  and 
ague,  he  determined  to  seek  a  more  salubrious 
climate,  and  accordingly,  soon  after  the  Black- 
hawk  War,  he  took  a  trip  to  Illinois,  and  was  so 


well  suited  with  the  country  that,  in  1834,  he  re- 
moved his  family  to  this  State,  coming  with  a 
team  and  wagon.  He  landed  in  Chicago  June 
15,  and  stopped  a  few  days  at  the  Sauganash 
hotel,  but  decided  to  make  his  home  on  higher 
ground  further  west,  so  he  continued  his  journey 
to  Naperville.  He  made  his  home  for  a  few  years 
at  Big  Woods,  in  DuPage  Count}'.  As  he  pos- 
sessed one  of  the  few  horse  teams  in  the  county, 
he  found  it  profitable  to  spend  considerable  of  his 
time  in  freighting  goods  from  Chicago  and  De- 
troit. He  was  employed  by  many  of  the  emi- 
grants who  arrived  in  Chicago  during  the  next 
few  years,  to  transport  their  families  and  effects 
to  points  in  the  interior  of  the  State,  and  many  of 
the  acquaintances  formed  in  this  manner  were 
continued  through  life. 


P.  J.  MAGINNIS. 


Later  he  moved  to  Kane  County,  and  in  1841 
he  located  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Des  Plaines 
River,  where  he  lived  many  years,  and  owned  two 
hundred  acres  of  timber  and  prairie  land,  situated 
on  both  sides  of  the  river. 

His  later  years  were  spent  in  Chicago,  where 
he  lived  some  time  in  retirement  from  business 
cares.  He  was  always  distinguished  for  his  gen- 
erosity to  those  of  his  neighbors  who  might  be  in 
want  or  trouble,  and  many  a  settler  who  arrived 
upon  the  prairies  of  Illinois  a  few  years  later  than 
he  did  was  supplied  with  seed  and  provisions, 
free  of  charge,  by  Mr.  Van  Natta. 

In  1821  he  was  married  to  Miss  Polly  Farns- 
worth,  in  Chautauqua  County,  New  York.  She 
was  a  native  of  Vermont,  born  in  1803.  They 
had  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  namely:  Ira,  de- 
ceased; Harvey,  of  Trenton,  Missouri;  William, 
of  McHenry  County,  Illinois;  Mary,  now  Mrs. 


Lovett;  Henry,  of  Littleton,  Colorado;  Maria  L., 
who  married  George  Hatchings,  and  died  in 
Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa;  Charles,  of  this  city;  and 
James,  a  resident  of  Cragiri,  Cook  County.  Mrs. 
Polly  Van  Natta  died  in  Leyden  Township,  Cook 
County,  Illinois,  September  12,  1851.  She  wasa 
devout  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Later  Mr. 
Van  Natta  was  married  to  Mrs.  Sarah  (Davidson) 
Fish,  whose  death  occurred  in  Chicago  a  few 
years  previous  to  that  of  Mr.  Van  Natta. 

In  early  life  the  latter  was  identified  with  the 
Baptist  Church,  but  after  his  second  marriage  he 
united  with  the  Methodist  Church.  He  was  al- 
ways distinguished  for  his  uniform  uprightness  of 
character  and  his  social,  kindly  disposition,  which 
will  cause  him  to  belong  remembered  by  all  who 
knew  him.  He  died  near  Berryville,  McHenry 
County,  Illinois,  in  June,  1885,  in  the  ninetieth 
year  of  his  age. 


PATRICK  J.  MAGINNIS. 


f"\ATRICK  JOHN  MAGINNIS,  a  self-made 
LX  business  man  of  Chicago  and  a  valiant  soldier 
[$  of  the  Civil  War,  was  a  native  of  Ireland, 
born  March  6,  1842,  in  the  town  of  Newry. 
His  father,  John  Maginnis,  who  was  a  stone 
mason,  came  to  America  when  the  son  was  an 
infant.  He  found  employment  at  first  on  Staten 
Island,  New  York,  whence  he  proceeded  to  Chi- 
cago and  finally  engaged  in  the  grocery  business 
here.  When  Patrick  was  about  eight  years  old 
he  was  brought  to  Chicago  by  his  mother,  who 
soon  after  died  of  cholera. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  early  left  largely 
to  his  own  resources,  and  rapidly  developed  in- 
dependence of  character.  He  was  largely  self- 
educated,  and  worked  his  own  way  to  success  in 
life  by  the  exercise  of  industry,  guided  by  his 
natural  talents  and  prudence.  He  acted  as  clerk 


in  his  father's  store  until  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War,  when  he  immediately  offered  his  serv- 
ices in  behalf  of  his  adopted  country.  He  was 
then  only  nineteen  years  old,  and  was  twice  re- 
jected on  account  of  his  youth,  but  was  finally 
accepted,  June  15,  1861,  as  a  member  of  the  sub- 
sequently famed  Mulligan  Guards.  This  com- 
pany was  mustered  into  the  service  as  Company 
I,  Twenty- third.  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers. 
It  was  a  fighting  company  and  saw  hard  service, 
in  which  Mr.  Maginnis  bore  his  full  share.  He 
was  discharged  because  of  sickness  at  Lexington, 
Missouri,  having  risen  to  the  rank  of  sergeant. 

After  the  war  he  went  to  Ireland  to  aid  in  the 
Fenian  movement  in  the  cause  of  Irish  freedom. 
He  was  almost  immediately  seized  by  the  British 
authorities,  and  spent  eight  months  in  an  Irish 
jail.  He  was  released  near  the  close  of  the  year 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


DR.  A.  R.  SOMMERVILLE 


A.  R.  SOMMERVILLE,   M.  D. 


1865,  and  returned  to  Chicago,  bringing  with 
him  his  only  sister,  Mary  Maginnis,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Thomas  Boyle,  Mr.  Maginnis'  sub- 
sequent partner  in  business.  She  died  in  Chi- 
cago March  17,  1891.  •  For  a  time  Mr.  Maginnis 
was  employed  in  a  cooperage  establishment,  and 
then  engaged  in  the  grocery  business.  He  met 
with  success,  and  finally  established  himself  in 
the  ice  business  after  the  Great  Fire  of  1871.  At 
first  he  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Maginnis  & 
Boyle;  subsequently  the  enterprise  passed  into  the 
hands  of  an  incorporated  company,  known  as  the 
Lincoln  Ice  Company,  which  still  continues,  in 
which  Mr.  Maginnis  held  a  controlling  interest, 
and  of  which  he  was  president  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  September  6,  1893. 

October  20,  1874,  Mr.  Maginnis  married  Miss 


Nellie,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Welsh) 
Whitty,  natives  of  Ireland.  The  parents  died 
in  that  country,  and  Mrs.  Maginnis  came  to 
America  in  1865.  She  was  thirteen  years  old 
when,  in  company  with  her  brother,  Nicholas, 
aged  twenty  years,  she  came  to  America.  She 
is  a  lady  of  much  business  acumen,  and  has  taken 
her  husband's  place  in  the  management  of  af- 
fairs with  great  success.  The  establishment  is 
conducted  on  a  large  scale,  and  now  employs 
eighty  teams  and  nearly  two  hundred  men.  The 
children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Maginnis,  who  are  re- 
ceiving the  advantages  of  the  best  educational 
and  social  connections,  are  named  in  order  of 
birth:  Mary  A.,  John  F.,  Thomas  B.,  Edward 
A.,  Charles  P.,  Helen,  Robert  E.  and  George 
Washington. 


AGNES  R.  SOMMERVILLE,  M.  D. 


Gl  GNES  ROBENA  SOMMERVILLE,  M.  D., 
L_l  a  prominent  physician  of  Chicago,  was  born 
|  I  July  12,  1842,  in  Troy,  New  York,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Jessie  (Armstrong)  Som-- 
merville.  Her  father  died  in  1896,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-five  years,  and  her  mother  is  also  deceased. 
They  were  the  parents  of  twelve  children,  six 
daughters  and  the  same  number  of  sons. 

Agnes  R.  Som  merville  received  her  early  edu- 
cation in  her  native  town,  and  graduated  from 
the  Willard  Seminary,  one  of  the  best  schools  of 
Eastern  New  York.  In  1869  she  was  afflicted  by 
a  very  severe  attack  of  muscular  rheumatism, 
and  after  having  tried  a  great  variety  of  medi- 
cines and  treatments,  finally  decided  to  try  the 
electrical  cure.  The  science  was  then  in  its 
infancy,  but  has  since  advanced  to  a  well-recog- 
nized place  in  the  healing  of  diseases.  She  re- 


ceived the  electric  bath  treatment,  which  com- 
pletely cured  her.  She  was  so  grateful  to  the 
science  for  its  benefits  to  her  that  she  began  the 
study  of  it  at  once,  and  has  won  great  success 
with  the  "new  dry  bath"  cure.  Dr.  Sommerville 
stands  at  the  head  of  her  profession,  and  is  the 
only  lady  in  Chicago  who  is  a  graduate  of  elec- 
tric therapeutics. 

In  1859  Miss  Sommerville  came  to  the  city  of 
Chicago  to  visit  some  friends,  and  while  here, 
she  met  John  Sommerville,  whom  she  married  in 
1860,  and  has  ever  since  resided  in  the  great 
metropolis.  She  is  the  mother  of  two  daughters, 
both  of  whom  are  married.  They  are:  Effie,  Mrs. 
John  Clark  Aubrey,  and  Jessie,  Mrs.  William 
Donely. 

Dr.  A.  R.  Sommerville  has  not  only  followed 
the  teachings  of  others,  but  has  also  made  inde- 


T.  G.  SPRINGER. 


pendent  research  iu  her  profession.  She  is  the 
patentee  of  several  electrical  instruments,  which 
have  proved  a  boon  to  the  students  of  electricity 
as  applied  to  the  cure  of  disease.  She  enjoys  a 


of  offices  located  in  McVicker's  Theater  Building, 
on  Madison  Street.  Combined  with  her  great 
business  ability,  and  her  love  for  her  profession, 
she  has  a  truly  womanly  character,  and  is  honored 


large  and  lucrative  practice,  and  occupies  a  suite     and  esteemed  by  all  who  know  her. 


THEODORE  G.  SPRINGER. 


'HEODORE  GREEN  SPRINGER.  Among 

the  truly  representative  men  in  the  great 
metropolis  of  the  Great  West  are  many 
whose  reputations  have  passed  beyond  the  con- 
fines of  the  American  continent,  and  whose  names 
are  also  enrolled  in  the  scientific  annals  of  the 
European  continent  for  giving  the  world  new 
ideas  in  science,  which  have  given  to  humanity 
greater  comfort,  thus  benefiting  the  human  race 
at  large.  Among  those  names  should  be  men- 
tioned the  subject  of  this  sketch,  whose  unselfish 
life  and  devotion  to  science  entitle  him  to  a  place 
in  this  volume. 

He  was  born  February  i,  1832,  in  Bellevernon, 
Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  is  a  de- 
scendant of  a  family  distinguished  in  Europe. 
His  great-grandfather,  Michael  Springer,  born  in 
Stockholm,  in  1727, when  a  young  man  entered  the 
service  of  King  George  of  England  and  fought 
under  the  banner  of  his  royal  master.  As  a  re- 
ward for  services  rendered,  he  received  a  grant  of 
land  in  the  American  colonies,  consisting  of  a 
tract  of  land  two  days'  journey  north  and  east  of 
Fort  Duquesne,  now  Pittsburg.  The  land  com- 
prised five  hundred  fifty-seven  acres,  and  was  situ- 
ated in  what  is  now  Westmoreland  Count}'.  A 
part  of  the  original  homestead  is  still  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  descendants  of  the  family.  Benjamin 
Franklin's  name  appears  on  the  parchment  which 
conveyed  the  land  to  Michael  Springer.  He  im- 
proved the  land  and  reared  a  large  family.  His 
son  James  was  born  in  Westmoreland,  and  be- 


r 

/ 

,eame  a  thrifty  manager  of  the  patrimonial  estate. 
He  was  a  pioneer  in  developing  the  coal  mines  of 
southwestern  Pennsylvania,  and  shipped  its  prod- 
uct by  flatboats  down  the  Monongahela  River  to 
Pittsburg.  He  was  a  sturdy  Democrat  in  political 
matters  and  affiliated  with  the  Baptist  Church, 
but  later  his  descendants  became  members  of  the 
Christian  Church.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
six  years.  His  wife,  Sally  Smith,  was  a  native  of 
Westmoreland  County,  and  a  daughter  of  Bar- 
tholomew Smith,  a  brave  soldier  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, whose  death  occurred  while  General  La 
Fayette  was  making  his  second  visit  to  America, 
and  the  military  funeral  services  at  the  old  Reho- 
both  Cemetery  were  made  more  impressive  by  the 
General's  attendance.  Mrs.  Sally  Springer  was 
fifty-five  years  old  when  she  died.  She  was  the 
mother  of  the  following  children:  Martina,  Theo- 
dore, Sophia,  Anselmo,  Caroline  and  Everill. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  Theodore  G. 
Springer,  received  the  benefits  of  the  schools  of 
his  county,  but  the  ambitious  boy  was  not  satis- 
fied with  the  meager  information  they  were  then 
able  to  give.  He  qualified  himself  for  a  collegiate 
course,  and  in  time  entered  Hiram  College,  which 
at  that  time  was  a  shining  light  among  educa- 
tional centers  in  Ohio.  Here  he  improved  his 
time,  and  laid  the  foundations  for  future  years  of 
study  and  research.  He  was  a  classmate  of  the 
lamented  president,  James  A.  Garfield,  and  from 
their  acquaintance  here  sprang  a  friendship  which 
lasted  through  life.  After  graduating,  life  on  the 


S.  B.  HAGGARD. 


73 


old  homestead  became  monotonous  to  the  enter- 
prising young  man  and  he  resolved  to  go  West. 
He  did  not  come  empty-handed,  but  was  able  to 
buy  up  large  tracts  of  land  and  land  warrants  in 
Boone  and  Jasper  Counties,  and  managed  his  es- 
tate with  varying  success. 

His  mind  was  ever  active  amid  his  rural  sur- 
roundings, and  he  invented  several  things  of  great 
utility  to  farmers,  among  them  being  a  wagon 
brake,  which  is  yet  used  quite  extensively.  He 
also  invented  a  process  for  distilling  water,  and  at 
about  the  same  time  a  process  for  manufacturing 
an  illuminating  gas  in  hotels  and  farmhouses, 
which  was  the  most  successful  of  all  his  inven- 
tions, and  which  subsequently  engaged  all  his 
attention.  He  took  out  forty  or  more  patents, 
covering  many  useful  inventions.  The  most 
noted  is  his  invention  ofsetteline  gas.  Mr.  Pres- 
ton, the  director  of  the  United  States  mint  in 
Washington,  was  one  of  his  two  partners,  and 
they  succeeded  in  getting  out  a  first-class  patent. 
Later  this  was  sold  to  the  old  Setteline  Gas  Syn- 
dicate, which  made  a  fortune  from  the  manu- 
facture. 

In  the  interest  of  his  inventions,  and  especially 
gas,  Mr.  Springer  traveled  extensively  in  Europe, 
where  he  was  treated  with  great  respect  by  the 
great  scientists  of  the  Old  World,  who  recognized 
in  him  a  genius.  His  water-gas  invention,  and 


its  introduction,  took  him  to  France,  Spain,  Ger- 
many, Belgium  and  England.  In  the  latter 
country  he  spent  two  and  one-half  years,  mostly  in 
London,  and  was  compelled  to  return  to  America 
on  account  of  the  state  of  his  health,  as  he  was 
suffering  from  Bright's  Disease,  from  which  he 
finally  died. 

Mr.  Springer  was  a  man  of  great  determination 
and  force  of  character.  His  perceptive  and  in- 
ventive faculties  were  developed  to  a  remarkable 
degree,  which  enabled  him  to  remember  the  prac- 
tical part  of  life  while  studying  his  inventions, 
and  he  left  to  his  family  a  competency  which  will 
always  surround  them  with  the  comforts  of  this 
world.  He  was  always  mindful  of  the  welfare  of 
his  loved  ones,  which  he  showed  in  numerous 
ways. 

Mr.  Springer  was  connected  with  the  Masonic 
order,  but  was  not  a  club  or  lodge  man,  as  his 
home  was  his  place  of  rest  and  recreation.  His 
wife  was  a  worthy  companion  of  such  a  man.  His 
portrait  shows  all  that  distinguishes  the  inventor 
and  builder.  Among  his  companions  and 
fellow-men  Mr.  Springer  stood  for  all  that  is  rep- 
resented by  honor,  true  manhood  and  integrity. 
His  good  name  and  his  life-work  are  a  rich  legacy 
to  coming  generations,  who  will  revere  his  mem- 
ory. He  is  survived  by  his  wife  and  daughter, 
Mrs.  C.  W.  Doton,  both  of  Chicago. 


SAMUEL  B.  HAGGARD. 


(7JAMUEL  BALDWIN  HAGGARD,  one  of 
^\  the  surviving  pioneers  of  Cook  County,  is 
)£/  now  living  in  retirement  at  Austin,  and  re- 
lates many  interesting  historical  reminiscences  of 
Chicago  and  other  places.  He  was  born  near 
Winchester,  Kentucky,  Novembers,  1814,  and 
is  a  son  of  Dawson  Haggard  and  Charity  Bald- 
win. The  great-grandfather  of  Dawson  Hag- 


gard was  a  Welshman  by  birth,  but  came  from 
England  to  Virginia.  His  grandson,  David,  the 
father  of  Dawson,  was  born  near  Charlottesville, 
in  that  State.  He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade  and 
assisted  in  the  construction  of  Thomas  Jefferson's 
magnificent  mansion  at  Monticello, which  was,  no 
doubt,  the  finest  residence  in  America  at  that  time. 
David  Haggard  and  his  twin  brother,  Bartlett, 


74 


S.  B.  HAGGARD. 


who  could  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  each 
other,  served  alter tiately"  in  the  Continental  army 
under  one  enlistment  for  several  years,  and  the  for- 
mer was  present  at  the  surrender  of  Lord  Corn- 
wallis.  David  Haggard  afterwards  removed  with 
his  family  to  Kentucky.  They  were  accompanied 
by  several  other  Virginia  families,  including  the 
Breckenridges  and  Marshalls,  and  the  journey 
was  made  by  floating  down  the  Kanawha  and 
Ohio  Rivers  as  far  as  Maysville,  Kentucky, 
whence  they  went  overland  to  Clark  County. 
Owing  to  the  hostility  of  the  Indians,  they  were 
obliged  at  times  to  take  refuge  in  a  fort  at  Boones- 
boro.  David  Haggard  lived  in  Clark  County 
until  1823,  when  he  removed  to  Christian  County, 
and  in  1836  he  located  in  Bloomington,  Illinois, 
where  his  death  occurred  seven  years  later,  at  the 
age  of  eighty  years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Nancy  Dawson,  survived  until  ninety 
years  of  age,  passing  away  at  Cerulean  Springs, 
in  Trigg  County,  Kentucky. 

Dawson  Haggard  became  a  farmer  and  also  a 
carpenter.  He  lived  in  Clark  County  until  about 
1817,  when  he  removed  to  Christian  County, 
whence  a  few  years  later  he  removed  to  Trigg 
County,  in  the  same  State.  His  death  occurred 
there  in  1829,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  years.  He 
was  a  licensed  preacher  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
and  occasionally  held  services.  After  the  death 
of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Charity  Haggard  removed 
to  Indiana,  and  from  there  in  1841  removed  to 
Bloomington,  Illinois,  where  she  died  about  eight 
years  later.  Her  seven  children  are  all  living  in 
Illinois,  the  youngest  nearly  seventy  years  of 
age.  Their  names  and  residences  are  as  follows: 
Samuel  B.,  Austin;  Nancy,  widow  of  Hiram 
Morris,  Bloomington;  David  Dawson,  of  the  same 
place;  Mary  Jane,  widow  of  John  Shrock,  Chi- 
cago; Sarah  Elizabeth,  of  the  same  city;  John 
William,  Bloomington;  and  Julia  Ann,  widow  of 
John  L.  Matthews,  Chicago.  The  two  last-named 
are  twins. 

Samuel  .B.  Haggard  attended  the  frontier 
schools  of  Kentucky, in  which  State  he  also  learned 
the  trade  of  carpenter.  In  1835  he  became  a 
resident  of  Bloomington,  Illinois,  where  he  fol- 
lowed his  trade  until  the  fall  of  1843,  when  he 


removed  to  Chicago.  He  brought  his  family 
with  a  horse  and  buggy  and  paid  one  dollar  per 
day  for  a  man  and  team  to  bring  his  effects  to 
this  city,  being  several  days  on  the  road  and 
camping  out  one  night  at  Wolf  Grove,  five  miles 
from  the  nearest  house.  He  secured  employ- 
ment in  the  iron  foundry  of  Scoville  &  Gates, 
where  he  had  charge  of  the  woodwork  for  sev- 
eral years.  In  the  fall  of  1847  ne  entered  the 
employ  of  McCormick  &  Gray,  who  had  just 
completed  a  factory  building  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Chicago  River  east  of  Rush  Street  bridge. 
He  superintended  the  erection  of  the  machinery 
in  this  establishment  and  was  superintendent  ot 
the  works  until  1850.  Five  hundred  reapers 
were  built  the  first  season,  after  which  Mr.  Gray 
retired  and  the  firm  became  McCormick,  Ogden 
&  Company.  Upon  severing  his  connection  with 
this  concern,  Mr.  Haggard  began  the  manufact- 
ure of  chain  pumps  at  No.  224  Randolph  Street. 
He  continued  in  that  location  until  1866,  when  he 
removed  to  the  West  Side  and  added  a  stock  of 
hardware.  He  carried  on  this  enterprise  for  ten 
years  longer,  when  he  permanently  retired  from 
active  business.  Since  1873  he  has  made  his 
home  in  Austin,  and  is  now  one  of  the  oldest 
residents  of  that  suburb.  For  many  years  he  en- 
joyed the  acquaintance  of  the  leading  business 
men  of  Chicago,  most  of  whom  he  has  survived. 
In  May,  1837,  Mr.  Haggard  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  Mason,  daughter  of  George  and  Elizabeth 
(Howser)  Mason,  of  Bloomington,  Illinois.  Mrs. 
Haggard  was  born  at  Nicholasville,  Jessamine 
County,  Kentucky,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  Church  from  childhood.  She  departed 
this  life  in  1889,  at  the  age  of  seventy -three  years. 
The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haggard  was  blessed 
with  seven  children,  of  whom  the  following  is  the 
record:  Belle,  widow  of  William  Rucker,  resides 
at  Austin;  Winfield  Scott  is  a  citizen  of  Chicago; 
Martha  Jane  is  the  wife  of  Albert  Wicker,  of 
Franklin  Grove,  Illinois;  John  David  is  a  well- 
known  citizen  of  Austin;  Mary  Frances,  Mrs.  S. 
S.  Gould,  lives  in  Oak  Park,  Illinois;  Edith  is 
the  wife  of  E.  W.  Marble,  of  Austin,  at  which 
place  Charity  Elizabeth  died  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
four  years.  In  1887  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haggard  cele- 


FRANK   KUHN. 


75 


brated  their  golden  wedding,  which  was  attended 
by  all  their  children  and  grandchildren,  as  well  as 
by  all  of  Mr.  Haggard's  brothers  and  sisters. 

For  thirty  years  past  Mr.  Haggard  has  been 
connected  with  the  Baptist  Church,  and  his 
career  has  been  in  all  respects  well  worth)'  the 
emulation  of  posterity.  Though  in  the  eighty- 
third  year  of  his  age,  he  is  still  quite  vigorous 
and  his  mind  is  clear  and  active.  He  distinctly 
remembers  events  which  occurred  when  he  was 
but  three  and  one-half  years  old,  and  is  likewise 
well  posted  on  current  events.  He  has  always 


kept  well  informed  on  public  affairs  and  remem- 
bers the  presidential  election  of  1824,  at  which 
J.  Q.  Adams  was  elected  by  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, the  opposing  candidates  being  Henry 
Clay,  Andrew  Jackson  and  William  H.  Crawford. 
He  cast  his  first  presidential  ballot  in  1836  for 
William  Henry  Harrison  and  has  voted  for  every 
Whig  and  Republican  candidate  for  that  office 
since  that  time.  He  has  affiliated  with  few  social 
organizations,  but  is  a  member  of  the  old  Tippe- 
canoe  Club  of  Chicago,  and  is  held  in  the  highest 
regard  by  his  contemporaries. 


FRANK  KUHN. 


|~~RANK  KUHN.  Among  the  German  citi- 
r^  zens  of  Chicago,  who,  by  their  world-re- 
I  nowned  thrift  and  economy  accumulated 
wealth,  was  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  He  was 
born  February  27,  1827,  in  Elsass,  then  in  France, 
but  now  a  part  of  Germany.  He  came  to  Amer- 
ica when  quite  a  young  man,  in  a  sailing-vessel 
which  anchored  at  the  port  of-  New  Orleans,  be- 
ing thirteen  weeks  on  the  voyage.  He  soon  af- 
ter left  New  Orleans  on  account  of  the  yellow 
fever  and  went  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  where  he  re- 
mained one  year. 

In  1853  he  came  to  Chicago,  where  he  worked 
two  years  at  the  cabinet-maker's  trade,  which  he 
had  learned  from  his  father,  who  was  a  skilled 
mechanic.  He  then,  in  company  with  Peter 
Schmidt,  established  a  retail  store  for  the  dispens- 
ing of  beverages,  on  Kinzie  Street,  which  was  a 
resort  for  the  early  inhabitants  of  the  West  Side. 
After  two  years  he  moved  to  the  corner  of  Mil- 
waukee Avenue  and  Des  Plaines  Street,  where 
he  was,  until  1859,  a  landmark.  At  this  time 
he  removed  to  the  corner  of  Milwaukee  Avenue 
and  Erie  Street,  and  here  conducted  business  for 


almost  eight  years,  when  he  removed  to  Kuhn's 
Park,  which  pleasure  resort  he  built  up  and  im- 
proved and  conducted  for  five  or  six  years. 

He  was  married  August  10,  1859,  to  Miss 
Katharine  Otzel,  a  native  of  Kur-Hessen,  Ger- 
many. They  had  eight  children,  four  of  whom 
are  now  living,  namely:  Frank  C. ;  Emma,  wife 
of  John  Spenger;  Adolph  A.,  and  Annie,  wife  of 
Herman  Bartells,  a  bookkeeper  for  thirteen  years 
in  the  Hide  and  Leather  National  Bank  in  Chi- 
cago, where  he  enjoys  the  confidence  and  respect 
of  all  its  officers  and  employes.  Another  son 
lived  to  the  age  of  thirty  years  and  was  married 
to  Miss  Ida  Koch,  whose  father  was  an  old  and 
respected  citizen  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Kuhn  died  May  31,  1890,  in  Chicago,  of 
poison,  administered  in  some  unknown  way  to 
his  entire  family,  though  he  was  the  only  one  who 
died  from  its  effects.  His  large  property  is  still 
in  possession  of  his  widow,  who,  as  a  good  Ger- 
man wife  often  does,  assisted  greatly  in  its  ac- 
cumulation. Mr.  Kuhn  also  left  a  good  name, 
and  is  remembered  as  an  upright  citizen,  honest 
and  true  to  every  obligation. 


76 


CAPT.  DANIEL  QUIRK. 


CAPT.  DANIEL  QUIRK. 


OAPT.  DANIEL  QUIRK,  whose  life  came 
I  (  to  an  end  as  the  result  of  his  exposure  to 
\J  the  hardships  of  war,  was  a  native  of  County 
Kerry,  Ireland,  born  about  1826.  His  parents, 
Francis  and  Eleanor  (Lynch)  Quirk,  came  to 
Chicago  when  Daniel  was  ten  years  old,  and 
lived  for  several  years  on  the  North  Side.  Later 
they  removed  to  Woodstock,  McHenry  County, 
Illinois,  where  they  passed  the  balance  of  their 
days. 

Daniel  Quirk  attended  the  first  free  school  in 
Chicago,  located  near  the  present  site  of  Mc- 
Vicker's  theatre.  While  yet  a  boy  he  was  em- 
ployed in  a  book  and  news  store  kept  by  John 
McNally,  where  John  R.  Walsh,  now  president 
of  the  Chicago  National  Bank,  was  a  fellow- 
clerk.  The  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  found  him 
here.  He  had  joined  a  militia  company  known 
as  the  Shields  Guards.  April  15,  1861,  this 
company  enlisted  in  the  Twenty-third  Regular 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  in  July  of  the 
same  year  the  regiment  was  sent  to  the  front  in 
Missouri.  Daniel  Quirk  was  elected  captain  of 
Company  K,  and  served  in  that  capacity;  but 
the  period  of  enlistment  of  the  men  was  short, 
and  he  re-enlisted  and  went  to  Virginia,  where 
he  was  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Within  a 
few  days  after  entering  field  service,  in  July, 
1861,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  General  Early's 
command.  He  was  quickly  exchanged,  and  im- 
mediately re-entered  the  service,  as  before  re- 
lated. In  all  his  campaigns  he  was  accompanied 
by  his  faithful  wife,  who  shared  the  hardships 
and  chances  of  war.  She  was  also  taken  prisoner 
by  the  rebels,  who  treated  her  with  great  courtesy. 
After  one  week's  detention  she  was  released  by 
the  chivalrous  rebel,  General  Early.  Among  their 


fellow-prisoners  were  Mrs.  Dr.  John  Taylor,  of 
Chicago,  and  Nathan  Goff,  afterward  a  member 
of  President  Garfield's  cabinet. 

On  Sunday,  July  4,  1854,  Mr.  Quirk  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Margaret,  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Margaret  (O'Connor)  Moore,  the  latter  a  native 
of  Sligo,  Ireland.  The  former  was  a  native  of 
Dublin,  and  a  relative  of  Thomas  Moore,  the 
poet.  The  Moore  family  came  to  America  in 
1837,  and  for  some  years  the  father  kept  a  grocery 
store  in  Albany,  New  York.  In  1847  they  came 
to  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Quirk  was  born  March  15,  1834,  in 
Dublin.  She  showed  the  most  heroic  devotion 
through  hard  campaigns,  and  many  sick  and 
wounded  bear  testimony  to  her  skill  as  a  nurse, 
and  kindness  of  heart.  For  some  time  before 
leaving  the  service,  Captain  Quirk  was  ill,  and 
the  faithful  nursing  of  his  wife  saved  his  life  for 
many  years,  though  he  was  forced  to  resign  on 
account  of  his  inability  to  perform  military  duty. 
After  having  served  over  three  years,  in  July, 
1864,  he  reluctantly  abandoned  military  scenes 
and  returned  to  Chicago.  He  never  entirely 
recovered  from  the  effects  of  his  military  priva- 
tions, although  his  partially  disabled  limb  did 
not  prevent  him  from  volunteering  for  active 
duty  in  Ireland,  when  James  Stephens  proposed 
to  fight  there  in  1865.  Like  many  another  pa- 
triotic Irish- American,  Captain  Quirk  discovered 
that  Mr.  Stephens  had  miscalculated  his  military 
resources,  and  when  the  Irish  people's  office  was 
seized,  and  most  of  the  leaders  arrested,  he  was 
compelled  to  escape  by  way  of  England;  in  this 
expedition  he  was  also  accompanied  by  his  faith- 
ful wife.  But  Captain  Quirk  remained  as  enthu- 
siastic as  ever — Ireland  was  never  absent  from 


C.  M.  LEONARD. 


77 


his  thoughts,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether,  during 
his  periods  of  comparative  health,  he  was  ever 
absent  from  any  gathering  having  for  its  object 
the  advancement  of  the  Irish  cause. 

The  Great  Fire  of  1871  burned  Captain  Quirk 
out  of  house  and  home.  He  set  to  work  again 
with  energy  to  regain  a  competency,  and  in  this 
he  was  moderately  successful.  Although  an 
invalid  he  responded  promptly  to  his  country's 
call  when  the  Haymarket  riot  called  out  the 
Second  Regiment.  He  commanded  Company  E 
in  person  till  quiet  was  restored.  The  Govern- 
ment, mindful  to  some  extent,  at  least,  of  his 
services  to  the  Union,  gave  him  a  post  office 
clerkship,  which  he  retained  till  two  years  before 
his  death.  In  1880,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
he  went  to  Europe  in  the  hope  of  recovering  his 
lost  vigor,  but  in  vain,  and  the  end  came  at  his 
home  on  Superior  Street,  July  29,  1882.  At  the 
present  writing  Mrs.  Quirk  has  resided  a  period 
of  forty-four  years  in  this  house,  where,  sur- 
rounded by  many  of  life's  blessings,  she  is  still 
devoted  to  the  memory  of  her  brave  husband. 

Captain  Quirk  was  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  and  of  Holy  Name  Church. 
He  and  his  good  wife  adopted  and  reared  a 


daughter,  Leonora  M.  Quirk,  who  is  now  the  wife 
of  Nicholas  Neary,  of  Chicago.  From  early 
youth  Mrs.  Neary  has  been  devoted  to  art,  of 
which  she  is  a  critical  judge,  and  her  home  is 
adorned  with  some  of  the  choicest  gems  of  paint- 
ing and  kindred  arts.  She  is  a  painter  of  no 
mean  ability,  and  excels  especially  in  portrait 
work. 

The  appended  document  is  self-explanatory: 
HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  REGIMENT. 

May  13,  1877. 

Capt.  Daniel  Quirk, 

Commanding  Co.  E. 

Sir: — The  Board  of  Officers  unanimously  press 
you  to  withdraw  the  letter  of  resignation  lately 
addressed  to  the  Colonel  commanding. 

They  are  of  one  mind  that  your  withdrawal  at 
this  juncture  would  be  a  disastrous  blow  to  Com- 
pany E,  and  a  calamity  to  the  entire  regiment. 
Your  conspicuous  zeal  in  the  organization  and 
maintenance  of  the  regiment,  and  the  fidelity 
with  which  you  have  promoted  its  best  interests 
and  welfare,  are  appreciated  by  every  member  of 
the  command  and  all  would  deplore  your  with- 
drawal. 

We  therefore  earnestly  urge  you  to  still  stand 
by  the  colors  of  the  Second  and  maintain  the  in- 
tegrity of  Company  E. 
Signed  JOSEPH  T..TORRENCE,  COL. 


CHESTER  M,  LEONARD. 


CHESTER  MARSHALL  LEONARD,  an 
1 1  honored  veteran  of  the  late  Civil  War,  was 
U  born  in  1845,  in  Granville,  Washington 
County,  New  York,  and  is  a  son  of  Elijah  D. 
and  Matilda  (Harrington)  Leonard,  natives  of 
that  State.  Mrs.  Matilda  Leonard  died  in  1865, 
and  her  husband  survived  her  until  1896,  when 
he  passed  away,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years. 


When  Chester  M.  Leonard  was  seven  years  of 
age  his  parents  moved  to  the  West,  locating  in 
Kenosha  County,  Wisconsin,  where  they  were 
among  the  earliest  settlers.  They  shared  the 
hard  life  of  the  pioneer,  and  were  deprived  of 
many  advantages.  The  schools  of  that  section 
were  then  very  poor,  but  Chester  M.  Leonard 
received  a  fair  education,  and  he  has  supple- 


JOHN  BUCHANAN. 


merited  it  with  observation  and  experience 
throughout  his  life,  having  always  striven  for 
improvement  and  advancement.  His  early  life 
was  spent  with  his  parents  on  the  farm,  and 
when  he  was  a  young  man  he  found  employ- 
ment in  the  Kenosha  Carriage  Works,  where  he 
remained  until  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War. 

In  1 86 1  he  enlisted  at  Ripon,  Wisconsin,  in 
the  First  Wisconsin  Cavalry,  and  served  under 
General  Sherman  at  the  battles  of  Stone  River, 
Chickamauga,  Altoona,  Atlanta  and  many  others. 

He  married  Miss  Lydia  A.  Burdock,  a  native 
of  Trenton,  New  York,  in  Racine,  Wis.,  in  1866, 
and  they  became  the  parents  of  five  boys,  namely: 
Arthur  Lee,  William  H.,  Adelbert  Ellsworth, 
Herbert  and  Clarence. 

Since  the  war  Mr.  Leonard  has  been  engaged 


in  engineering,  which  trade  he  now  follows,  with 
especial  attention  to  mechanical  engineering,  in 
which  he  takes  great  interest.  From  a  boy  his 
tastes  have  been  in  the  direction  of  mechanical 
labor,  and  he  has  always  improved  every  oppor- 
tunity for  enlarging  his  knowledge  and  skill  in 
that  branch  of  work.  He  is  genial  and  friendly 
of  manner,  and  has  the  warm  friendship  of  a 
large  circle  of  acquaintances  and  associates.  He 
has  the  confidence  of  his  employers,  and  despite 
the  fact  that  he  has  lived  through  many  trying 
experiences  during  the  war,  he  is  as  capable  of 
doing  his  work  well  as  many  younger  men,  and 
is  always  found  at  the  post  of  duty  in  civil  life, 
as  he  was  in  military  service.  He  is  ever  ready 
to  favor  any  movement  calculated  to  promote 
human  progress  and  improvement. 


JOHN  BUCHANAN. 


3OHN  BUCHANAN,  a  citizen  of  South  Chi- 
cago, was  born  May  10,  1859,  in  Ireland,  and 
is  a  son  of  John  and  Mary  (Welsh)  Buchan- 
an, both  natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle.     His  par- 
ents lived  all  their  lives  in  their  native  country, 
but  John  was  such  an  ambitious  youth  that  he 
became  possessed  of  a  desire  to  try  his  fortunes  in 
the  New  World,  by  himself.     He  cherished  this 
ambition  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  and 
then  he  was  able  to  emigrate. 

John  Buchanan  arrived  in  New  York  in  1877, 
and  after  spending  a  short  time  in  that  city, 
removed  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  found  employ- 
ment at  various  occupations,  being  some  of  the 
time  with  the  firm  of  French  &  Richards.  Not 


being  very  well  satisfied  with  his  life  in  Phila- 
delphia, he  removed  to  Chicago  in  1881,  and  after 
a  few  years'  residence  there,  found  employ- 
ment with  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  where  he 
is  at  present  engaged. 

November  12,  1884,  Mr.  Buchanan  married 
Miss  Annie  Egan,  and  they  became  the  parents 
of  the  following  children:  Denis  Patrick  (de- 
ceased), Mamie,  John,  Robert  Emmett,  Frank  and 
Joseph  Stephen. 

Mr.  Buchanan  is  a  thoroughly  reliable  citizen, 
and  has  an  interest  and  pride  in  the  progress  of 
his  adopted  country.  He  and  his  family  are  com- 
municants of  Saint  Patrick's  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

HNIVERSITY  OP  ILLINOIS 


ELISHA  GRAY 


EUSHA  GRAY. 


79 


ELISHA  GRAY. 


QROF.  ELISHA  GRAY,  whose  inventive 
LX  genius  and  persevering  industry  have  played 
]3  no  inconspicuous  part  in  revolutionizing  the 
business  methods  of  the  modern  world,  bears  in 
his  veins  the  sturdy  and  vigorous  blood  of  some 
of  America's  founders.  His  grandfather,  John 
Gray,  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  and  was  a 
farmer  in  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  where 
he  died.  Mary  Moore,  wife  of  John  Gray,  was  a 
native  of  Delaware,  presumably  of  English  blood. 
She  survived  her  husband  and  moved,  with  her 
younger  children,  to  the  vicinity  of  Georgetown, 
Ohio,  and  afterward  to  Monroe  County,  in  the 
same  State,  where  she  died.  She  was  the  mother 
of  Thomas,  Elijah,  Elisha,  David,  John  and 
Samuel  Gray. 

David  Gray  was  an  Orthodox  Quaker;  a  quiet 
man,  of  noble  character,  and  beloved  by  all  who 
came  within  his  benign  influence.  He  was  a 
farmer,  and  lived  near  Barnesville,  Ohio,  whence 
he  moved  to  Monroe  County,  in  that  State,  where 
he  died,  in  1849,  in  the  prime  of  life,  at  the  age 
of  about  forty  years.  His  wife,  Christiana  Edg- 
erton,  was  a  native  of  Belmont  County,  Ohio, 
where  her  parents,  Richard  and  Mary  (Hall) 
Edgerton,  were  early  settlers.  Richard  Edgerton 
was  born  in  North  Carolina,  of  English  descent, 
and  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  The  family  was  noted  for  the  large  size 
of  its  members,  all  being  six  feet  or  more  in 
height.  They  were  also  brainy  people.  John 
Edgerton  was  a  noted  leader  of  the  "Hicksite" 
Quakers,  and  a  powerful  anti-slavery  agitator  in 
Ohio  and  Indiana.  His  brother,  Joseph  Edger- 
ton, was  the  leading  Orthodox  Quaker  of  his  day, 
and  a  great  preacher.  He  was  vigorous  to  the 


end  of  his  life,  which  came  after  he  had  attained 
the  age  of  eighty  years.  The  Halls  were  also  a 
vigorous  and  intelligent  people,  and  prominent 
among  the  Quakers. 

David  Gray  and  wife  were  well-read  and  intell- 
igent, and  engaged  in  teaching  in  early  life. 
Mrs.  Gray  was  liberally  educated  for  that  day  in 
Ohio,  and  her  influence  went  far  in  preparing  her 
son  for  the  prominent  part  he  was  destined  to 
take  in  the  development  of  modern  practical 
science.  She  survived  her  husband  many  years, 
reaching  the  venerable  age  of  seventy-eight,  and 
died  at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Sarah 
Cope,  in  New  Sharon,  Iowa. 

Elisha  Gray  was  born  near  Barnesville,  Bel- 
mont County,  Ohio,  August  2,  1835.  From  a 
recent  work,  entitled  "Prominent  Men  of  the 
Great  West,"  the  following  elegant  and  carefully 
prepared  account  of  Professor  Gray's  life  is  taken : 
"When  young  Gray  was  but  twelve  years  of 
age,  he  had  received  three  or  four  months  of  dis- 
trict schooling  and  the  usual  industrial  training 
given  to  farmers'  lads  of  his  age  and  condition  of 
life.  Over  forty  years  ago  his  father  died,  leav- 
ing Elisha  in  a  large  measure  dependent  upon  his 
own  resources  for  a  living.  When  fourteen  years 
of  age  he  apprenticed  himself  to  a  blacksmith, 
and  partly  mastered  that  trade,  but,  his  strength 
being  greatly  overtaxed,  he  was  forced  to  give  it 
up  and  joined  his  mother,  who  had  removed  to 
Brownsville,  Pennsylvania.  Here  he  entered  the 
employ  of  a  boat-builder,  serving  three  and  a- 
half  years'  apprenticeship,  learning  the  trade  of 
ship-joiner. 

"At  the  end  of  this  time  he  was  a  first-class 
mechanic   and   began   to   give    evidence   of    his 


8o 


ELISHA  GRAY. 


inventive  genius.  He  was  handicapped,  how. 
ever,  by  the  meagreness  of  his  education,  and 
was  little  more  than  able  to  experiment  with  the 
simplest  contrivances.  The  testimony  of  one 
who  knew  him  intimately  at  this  time  indicates 
that  he  had  a  consciousness  of  his  own  resources 
and  was  of  the  belief  that  Nature  had  destined 
him  to  accomplish  some  important  work  in  life. 
He  had  a  great  desire  to  acquire  that  funda- 
mental knowledge  which  would  open  for  him  the 
way  to  intelligent  research,  investigation  and 
ultimate  achievements. 

"While  working  as  an  apprentice,  he  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  Prof.  H.  S.  Bennett,  now 
of  Fisk  University,  then  a  student  at  Oberlin 
College,  Ohio,  from  whom  he  learned  that  at 
that  institution  exceptional  opportunities  were 
afforded  to  students  for  self-education;  and 
immediately  after  he  had  completed  his  term  of 
service  he  set  out  for  the  college,  with  barely 
enough  money  in  his  possession  to  carry  him  to 
his  destination.  He  arrived  in  Oberlin  in  the 
summer  of  1857,  at  once  going  to  work  as  a 
carpenter,  and  supported  himself  by  this  means 
during  a  five-years  course  of  study  in  the  college. 
As  a  student  he  gave  especial  attention  to  the 
physical  sciences,  in  which  he  was  exceptionally 
proficient,  his  ingenuity  being  strikingly  mani- 
fested from  time  to  time  in  the  construction  ot 
the  apparatus  used  in  the  classroom  experiments. 
His  cleverness  in  constructing  these  various 
appliances  made  him  a  conspicuous  character 
among  the  students.  While  pursuing  his  college 
course  he  was  not  fully  decided  as  to  what  pro- 
fession he  would  take  up,  and,  at  one  time,  he  is 
said  to  have  contemplated  entering  the  ministry, 
finally  deciding,  however,  not  to  do  so.  Perhaps 
the  course  of  his  life  was  decided  by  a  remark  of 
the  mother  of  the  young  lady  who  afterwards 
became  his  wife.  This  was  in  a  joking  spirit, 
to  the  effect  that  '  it  would  be  a  pity  to  spoil  a 
good  mechanic  to  make  a  poor  minister.'  In 
fact,  to  this  casual  remark  the  now  famous  in- 
ventor has  declared  himself  to  be,  in  great  meas- 
ure, indebted  for  what  he  has  since  accomplished. 
Truly,  the  worthy  lady  must  have  been  of  a 
sound  and  discriminating  judgment,  to  discover 


the  hidden  worth  of  the  young  man,  and  she, 
doubtless,  more  than  any  one  else,  in  his  earlier 
days,  fanned  the  latent  sparks  of  genius  into  the 
flame  which,  in  later  days,  revealed  to  his  brain 
the  contrivances  which  have  made  his  name 
famous,  and  which  have  proved  of  inestimable 
value  to  civilization. 

"From  1857  to  1861  the  Professor  devoted 
himself  to  unremitting  toil  and  study,  and  the 
result  was  that  his  naturally  delicate  constitution 
was  impaired  by  the  great  strain  upon  his  mental 
powers.  In  1861,  just  when  the  future  was 
brightening  with  the  promise  of  success,  and 
when  he  thought  his  days  of  struggling  were 
past,  he  was  stricken  with  an  illness  from  which 
he  did  not  recover  for  five  years.  After  his  mar- 
riage, in  1862,  to  Miss  Delia  M.  Sheppard,  of 
Oberlin,  and,  with  a  view  to  the  betterment  of 
his  health,  Mr.  Gray  devoted  himself  for  a  time 
to  farming  as  an  occupation.  This  experience 
was  disappointing,  both  in  its  financial  results 
and  in  its  effects  upon  his  health,  and  he  returned 
to  his  trade,  working  in  Trumbull  County,  Ohio, 
until  he  was  again  prostrated  by  a  serious  illness. 
Following  this,  came  two  or  three  years  of  strug- 
gle and  privation;  of  alternate  hope  and  disap- 
pointment, during  which  he  experimented  with 
various  mechanical  and  electrical  devices,  but 
was  prevented  by  his  straitened  circumstances 
from  making  any  headway  in  profitable  invention. 
Pressed  by  his  necessities,  he  was  once  or  twice 
on  the  point  of  giving  up  his  researches  and 
investigations  entirely  and  devoting  himself  to 
some  ordinary  bread-winning  industry;  but  he 
was  stimulated  by  his  faithful  and  devoted  wife 
and  her  mother,  both  of  whom  had  an  abiding 
faith  in  his  genius,  and  who  aided  him  in  his 
work  with  all  the  means  at  their  command,  and 
to  whose  influence  was  largely  due  the  fact  that 
he  continued  his  efforts  in  the  field  of  invention. 

"In  1867  a  more  prosperous  era  dawned  upon 
him,  with  the  invention  of  a  self-adjusting  tele- 
graph relay,  which,  although  it  proved  of  no 
practical  value,  furnished  the  opportunity  of  in- 
troducing him  to  the  late  Gen.  Anson  Stager,  of 
Cleveland,  then  General  Superintendent  of  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  who  at  once 


ELISHA   GRAY. 


Si 


became  interested  in  him  and  furnished  him  facil- 
ities for  experimenting  on  the  company's  lines. 
Professor  Gray  then  formed  a  co-partnership  with 
E.  M.  Barton,  of  Cleveland,  for  the  manufacture 
of  electrical  appliances,  during  which  time  he 
invented  the  dial  telegraph. 

"  In  1869  he  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he 
continued  the  manufacture  of  electrical  supplies, 
General  Stager  becoming  associated  with  him. 
Here  he  perfected  the  type-printing  telegraph,  the 
telegraphic  repeater,  the  telegraphic  switch,  the 
annunciator  and  many  other  inventions  which 
have  become  famous  within  the  short  space  of  a 
few  years.  About  1872  he  organized  the  West- 
ern Electrical  Manufacturing  Company,  which  is 
still  in  existence  and  is  said  to  be  the  largest 
establishment  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  In  1874 
he  retired  from  the  superintendency  of  the  elec- 
tric company  and  began  his  researches  in  teleph- 
ony, and  within  two  years  thereafter  gave  to 
the  world  that  marvelous  production  of  human 
genius,  the  speaking  telephone.  Noting  one  day, 
when  a  secondary  coil  was  connected  with  the 
zinc  lining  of  the  bath  tub,  dry  at  the  time,  that 
when  he  held  the  other  end  of  the  coil  in  his  left 
hand  and  rubbed  the  lining  of  the  tub  with  his 
right,  it  gave  rise  to  a  sound  that  had  the  same 
pitch  and  quality  as  that  of  the  vibrating  contact- 
breaker,  he  began  a  series  of  experiments,  which 
led  first  to  the  discovery  that  musical  tones  could 
be  transmitted  over  an  electrical  wire.  Fitting 
up  the  necessary  devices,  he  exhibited  this  inven- 
tion to  some  of  his  friends,  and  the  same  year 
went  abroad,  where  he  made  a  special  study  of 
acoustics  and  gave  further  exhibitions  of  the 
invention,  which  he  developed  into  the  harmonic, 
or  multiplex,  telegraph.  While  perfecting  this 
device,  in  1875,  the  idea  of  the  speaking  tele- 
phone suggested  itself,  and  in  1876  he  perfected 
this  invention  and  filed  his  caveat  in  the  Patent 
Office  at  Washington.  That  another  inventor 
succeeded  in  incorporating  into  his  own  applica- 
tion for  a  telegraph  patent  an  important  feature 
of  Professor  Gray's  invention,  and  that  the  latter 
was  thereby  deprived  of  the  benefits  which  he 
should  have  derived  therefrom,  is  the  practically 
unanimous  decision  of  many  well  informed  as  to 


the  merits  of  the  controversy  to  which  conflict- 
ing claims  gave  rise;  and  the  leading  scientists 
and  scientific  organizations  of  the  world,  accord- 
ing to  a  certain  periodical,  have  accredited  to  him 
the  honor  of  inventing  the  telephone.  In  recog- 
nition of  his  distinguished  achievements,  he  was 
made  a  Chevalier  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  at  the 
close  of  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878,  and  Amer- 
ican colleges  have  conferred  upon  him  the  degrees 
of  Doctor  of  Laws  and  Doctor  of  Science. 

"For  several  years  after  his  invention  of  the 
telephone  he  was  connected  with  the  Postal  Tel- 
egraph Company,  and  brought  the  lines  of  this" 
system  into  Chicago,  laying  them  underground. 
He  also  devised  a  general  underground  telegraph 
system  for  the  city,  and  then  turned  his  attention 
to  the  invention  of  the  'telautograph,'  a  device 
with  which  the  general  public  is  just  now  becom- 
ing familiar  through  the  public  accounts  of  its 
operation.  On  March  21,  1893,  the  first  exhibi- 
tions of  the  practical  and  successful  operation  of 
this  wonderful  instrument  were  given  simultane- 
ously in  New  York  and  Chicago,  and  on  the 
same  day  the  first  telautograph  messages  were 
passed  over  the  wires  from  Highland  Park  to 
Waukegan,  Illinois.  The  exhibitions  were  wit- 
nessed by  a  large  number  of  electrical  experts, 
scientists  and  representatives  of  the  press,  who 
were  unanimous  in  their  opinion  that  Professor 
Gray's  invention  is  destined  to  bring  about  a 
revolution  in  telegraphy. 

'  'One  of  the  beauties  of  electrical  science  is  the 
expressiveness  of  its  nomenclature,  and  among 
the  many  significant  names  given  to  electrical 
inventions  none  expresses  more  clearly  the  use 
and  purpose  of  the  instrument  to  which  it  is 
applied  than  the  term,  'telautograph.'  As  its 
name  signifies,  it  enables  a  person  sitting  at  one 
end  of  the  wire  to  write  a  message  or  a  letter 
which  is  reproduced  simultaneously  in  fac  simile 
at  the  other  end  of  the  wire.  It  is  an  agent 
which  takes  the  place  of  the  skilled  operator  and 
the  telegraphic  alphabet.  Any  one  who  can 
write  can  transmit  a  message  by  this  means,  and 
the  receiving  instrument  does  its  work  perfectly, 
without  the  aid  of  an  operator.  The  sender  of 
the  message  may  be  identified  by  fhe/ac  simile  of 


82 


EUSHA    GRAY. 


his  handwriting  which  reaches  the  recipient,  and 
pen-and-ink  portraits  of  persons  may  be  as 
readily  transmitted  from  one  point  to  another  as 
the  written  messages.  In  many  respects  the 
telautograph  promises  to  be  more  satisfactory  in 
its  practical  operations  than  the  telephone.  Com- 
munications can  be  carried  on  between  persons  at 
a  distance  from  each  other  with  absolute  secrecy, 
and  a  message  sent  to  a  person  in  his  absence 
from  his  place  of  business  will  be  tound  awaiting 
him  upon  his  return.  These  and  many  other 
advantages  which  the  telautograph  seems  to 
possess  warrant  the  prediction  that  in  the  not 
very  distant  future  telautography  will  supplant 
in  a  measure  both  telephony  and  telegraphy. 
The  transmitter  and  the  receiver  of  the  telauto- 
graph system  are  delicately  constructed  pieces  of 
mechanism,  each  contained  in  a  box  somewhat 
smaller  than  an  ordinary  typewriter  machine. 
The  two  machines  are  necessary  at  each  end  of  a 
wire,  and  stand  side  by  side.  In  transmitting  a 
message  an  ordinary  feed  lead  pencil  is  used.  At 
the  point  of  this  is  a  small  collar,  with  two  eyes 
in  its  rim.  To  each  of  these  eyes  a  fine  silk -cord 
is  attached,  running  off  at  right  angles  in  two 
directions.  Each  of  the  two  ends  of  this  cord  is 
carried  round  a  small  drum  supported  on  a  ver- 
tical shaft.  Under  the  drum,  and  attached  to 
the  same  shaft,  is  a  toothed  wheel  of  steel,  the 
teeth  of  which  are  so  arranged  that  when  either 
section  of  the  cord  winds  upon  or  off  its  drum,  a 
number  of  teeth  will  pass  a  given  point,  corres- 
ponding to  the  length  of  cord  so  wound  or  un- 
wound. For  instance,  if  the  point  of  the  pencil 
moves  in  the  direction  of  one  of  the  cords  a  dis- 
tance of  one  inch,  forty  of  the  teeth  will  pass  any 
certain  point.  Each  one  of  these  teeth  and  each 
space  represents  one  impulse  sent  upon  the  line, 
so  that  when  the  pencil  describes  a  motion  one 
inch  in  length,  eighty  electrical  impulses  are  sent 
upon  the  line.  The  receiving  instrument  is  prac- 
tically a  duplicate  of  the  transmitter,  the  motions 
of  which,  however,  are  controlled  by  electrical 
mechanism.  The  perfected  device  exhibited  by 
Professor  Gray,  and  now  in  operation,  is  the 
result  of  six  years  of  arduous  labor,  an  evolution 
to  which  the  crude  contrivance  used  in  his  earliest 


experiments  bears  little  resemblance.  The  man- 
ufacture of  the  instruments  will  be  carried  on  by 
the  Gray  Electric  Company,  a  corporation  having 
offices  in  New  York  and  Chicago  and  a  large 
manufacturing  establishment  just  outside  the 
limits  of  the  suburban  village  of  Highland  Park, 
Illinois,  of  which  place  Professor  Gray  has  been 
for  many  years  a  resident.  Here,  in  addition  to 
his  workshop  and  laboratory,  the  renowned 
inventor  has  a  beautiful  home,  and  his  domestic 
relations  are  of  the  ideal  kind. 

' '  The  title  by  which  Professor  Gray  has  been 
known  for  so  many  years  came  to  him  through 
his  connection  with  Oberlin  and  Ripon  (Wis- 
consin) Colleges  as  non-resident  lecturer  in 
physics,  and  his  general  appearance  is  that  of  the 
college  professor  or  the  profound  student.  He 
has  none  of  the  eccentricities  which  are  the  con- 
spicuous characteristics  of  some  of  the  great 
inventors  of  the  age,  and,  when  not  absorbed  in 
his  professional  work,  he  is  delightfully  genial 
and  companionable. 

"When  the  World's  Congress  of  Electricians 
assembled  in  the  new  Art  Institute  in  Chicago, 
on  the  2ist  of  August,  1893,  there  were  gathered 
the  most  noted  electricians  of  all  the  world.  The 
congress  was  divided  into  two  sections,  one  of 
which — termed  the  official  section — was  com- 
posed of  representatives  designated  by  the  vari- 
ous Governments  of  Europe  and  the  Americas, 
and  was  authorized  to  consider  and  pass  upon 
questions  relating  to  electrical  measurement, 
nomenclature  and  various  other  matters  of  import 
to  the  electrical  world.  To  the  other  section  ot 
the  congress  were  admitted  all  professional  elec- 
tricians who  came  properly  accredited,  and  they 
were  permitted  to  attend  the  sessions  and  partici- 
pate in  the  deliberations  of  the  congress,  although 
they  were  not  allowed  to  vote  on  the  technical 
questions  coming  before  it. 

'  'When  it  was  determined  that  the  convening 
of  international  congresses  of  various  kinds 
should  be  made  one  of  the  leading  features  ot 
the  Columbian  Exposition,  a  body,  which  became 
known  as  the  World's  Congress  Auxiliary  of  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition,  was  organized 
for  the  purpose  of  promoting  and  making  all 


B.  C.  MILLER. 


necessary  preparations  for  these  gatherings.  To 
Prof.  Elisha  Gray,  of  Chicago,  this  body  as- 
signed the  task  of  organizing  the  congress  of 
electricians,  and  placed  upon  him  the  responsi- 
bility of  formulating  the  plans  and  making  all 
initiatory  preparations  for  what  was,  unquestion- 
ably, the  most  important  and  interesting  conven- 
tion of  electricians  ever  held  in  this  or  any  other 
country.  While  the  Professor  called  to  his  assist- 
ance many  distinguished  members  of  his  profes- 
sion, by  virtue  of  his  official  position,  he  was  the 
central  and  most  attractive  figure  in  this  great 
movement. 

"Professor  Gray  is  a  member  of  the  Union 
League  Club  of  Chicago.  Politically,  he  is  a 
Republican.  He  has  traveled  extensively,  not 
only  in  this  country  but  throughout  Europe. 
He  is  now  in  his  sixty-first  year,  and  he  stands 
as  an  illustrious  example  of  the  general  rule,  for, 
although  not  yet  an  old  man,  he  is  one  of  the 
few  prominent  in  the  early  days  of  electrical 
development  who  maintained  their  prominence 
and  added  to  their  reputation  in  the  rapid  strides 
which  have  been  made  during  the  last  decade. 


But  few  of  the  early  workers  in  the  electrical 
sciences  have  maintained  their  prominence  in  the 
later  development.  This  is  undoubtedly  due  to 
the  lack  of  plasticity  which  is  usually  attributed 
to  maturer  years,  the  possession  of  which  in 
younger  men  often  gives  them  the  advantage  in 
the  rush  for  supremacy  in  new  adaptation  and 
under  ever-changing  conditions.  Where,  how- 
ever, this  plasticity  has  been  preserved  during 
maturer  years,  as  has  been  the  case  with  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  the  maturer  judgment  and 
riper  experience  which  those  years  have  enabled 
him  to  bring  to  bear  upon  the  newer  problems 
have  in  many  cases  resulted  in  inventions  and 
improvements  of  the  utmost  importance  to  man- 
kind and  the  cause  of  civilization.  Professor 
Gray  is  a  man  of  fine  personal  appearance,  pleas- 
ing address,  commanding  bearing,  and  a  man 
who  will  attract  attention  in  any  assembly,  and 
who,  on  account  of  his  great  electrical  skill  and 
general  scientific  attainments,  and  because  of  his 
pleasing  and  affable  manner,  has  won  for  him- 
self many  friends  and  admirers. ' ' 


DR.  BENJAMIN  C.  MILLER. 


0R.   BENJAMIN    COKE   MILLER,  one  of 
the   most   successful   physicians   and   most 
highly  respected  citizens  of  Chicago,  passed 
away  at  his  home  on   Everett  Avenue,  in   that 
city,  June  25,  1891.     He  was  descended  from  a 
long  line  of  American  ancestors,  who  were  dis- 
tinguished as  physicians  and  gentlemen. 

The  founder  of  the  family  in  this  country  was 
Adam  Miller,  who  was  born  near  Metz,  France 
(now  included  in  the  German  Empire),  and  from 


whom  the  subject  of  this  biography  was  a  de- 
scendant in  the  eighth  generation.  He  settled 
with  his  family  in  Frederick,  Maryland,  and  be- 
came a  large  planter.  He  was  noted  as  a  man 
of  wealth,  culture  and  refinement,  and  held  many 
slaves.  These  were  liberated  by  his  bequest  on 
his  death,  and  their  loss  at  that  time  almost  beg- 
gared his  heirs;  but  they  honored  his  behest. 
The  family  continued  to  reside  in  Maryland  for 
several  generations.  The  great-grandfather  of 


84 


B.  C.  MILLER. 


Dr.  Benjamin  C.  Miller  moved  to  Shelby ville, 
Kentucky,  where  his  son,  Dr.  Henry  Miller,  be- 
came an  extensive  planter.  The  latter  was  a 
tall  and  fine-appearing  man,  a  noted  physician 
and  a  man  of  affairs.  He  died  at  Shelbyville,  of 
old  age. 

Dr.  Jefferson  Miller,  son  of  the  last-named, 
was  bsrn  in  Gallatin  County,  Kentucky,  No- 
vember 29,  1807,  and  was  educated  in  Virginia. 
Through  over-confidence  in  his  friends,  he  lost 
much  of  his  property,  and  then  took  up  the  study 
of  medicine  with  Dr.  Clarke,  a  noted  physician 
of  his  native  State.  While  still  a  young  man,  he 
settled  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Rush- 
ville,  Indiana,  and  became  widely  known  for  his 
skill  in  the  healing  art.  He  united  with  the 
Methodist  Church  there  in  1839.  As  a  Chris- 
tian, he  was  liberal  to  all  churches.  As  a  citizen, 
he  was  public-spirited,  and  was  much  loved  and 
respected  by  all.  As  a  physician,  he  was  un- 
usually successful,  and  was  a  man  of  extraordin- 
ary worth  and  usefulness  in  all  relations  of  life. 
November  20,  1832,  he  married  Eliza  A.  Stand- 
ford,  of  Greencastle,  Indiana,  and  two  of  their 
children  grew  to  maturity,  namely:  Dr.  Benja- 
min C.  and  Henry  Miller,  the  latter  now  a  resi- 
dent of  Ladoga,  Indiana.  The  father  died  at 
that  place,  November  5,  1885,  and  his  wife  sur- 
vived him  about  five  and  one-half  years,  passing 
away  in  May,  1891. 

Benjamin  C.  Miller  was  born  April  30,  1846, 
in  Rushville,  Indiana,  and  went  with  his  parents 
early  in  life  to  Montgomery  County,  in  the  same 
State,  receiving  his  primary  education  at  Ladoga. 
In  the  spring  of  1862,  when  he  was  barely  six- 
teen years  of  age,  he  ran  away  from  school  at 
Battle  Ground,  Indiana,  and  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  the  Eleventh  Indiana  Cavalry,  then  in  camp 
at  Indianapolis,  preparatory  to  service  in  the 
Civil  War.  As  this  enlistment  was  made  with- 
out the  consent  of  his  father,  the  latter  was  en- 
abled to  claim  him,  which  he  did,  and  conducted 
the  ambitious  boy  back  to  school.  Before  the 
father  had  reached  home  on  the  return  from  this 
duty,  the  son  was  again  in  camp,  and  he  was 
this  time  permitted  to  have  his  way.  He  joined 
Company  K,  of  the  Eleventh  Cavalry,  of  which 


he  was  made  Sergeant,  and  participated  in  the 
service  of  that  organization  until  December  19, 
1863,  before  the  completion  of  his  eighteenth 
year,  when  he  was  mustered  out  as  a  First  Lieu- 
tenant. 

One  day  soon  after  this,  a  handsome  young  man, 
some  six  feet,  six  and  one-half  inches  in  height, 
bronzed  by  exposure  in  the  line  of  military  duty, 
and  dressed  in  the  handsome  uniform  of  a  Lieu- 
tenant, called  at  the  home  of  his  parents  in  La- 
doga. On  learning  the  number  of  his  regiment, 
they  plied  him  with  questions  about  Company  K, 
and  inquired  if  he  knew  young  Benjamin  Miller. 
He  replied  in  the  affirmative.  At  this  moment 
his  favorite  dog  came  into  the  room,  and,  upon 
being  spoken  to  by  his  young  master,  gave  the 
most  extravagant  expressions  of  joy,  bringing 
tears  to  the  eyes  of  Mrs.  Miller,  who  could  scarcely 
forgive  herself  for  failing  to  recognize  her  son 
until  after  this  faithful  animal  had  shown  her  his 
identity. 

Entering  Rush  Medical  College  of  Chicago, 
young  Miller  was  graduated  with  honor  on  the 
gth  of  February,  1869.  He  passed  the  competi- 
tive examination,  and  was  appointed  House  Phy- 
sician and  Surgeon  of  Cook  County  Hospital, 
serving  a  year  and  a-half.  He  was  then  made 
County  Physician,  in  which  capacity  he  served  two 
years.  He  was  immediately  made  Superintendent 
of  Public  Charities,  having  charge  of  the  County 
Hospital,  Insane  Asylum  and  Alms  House. 
After  filling  this  position  about  eighteen  months, 
he  was  appointed  Sanitary  Superintendent  of 
Chicago  by  Mayor  Medill,  and  was  continued  in 
that  office  by  Mayor  Colvin.  During  this  period 
he  was  very  useful  in  the  community  by  his  skill- 
ful management  of  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1873. 
In  1875  he  was  made  Surgeon,  with  the  rank  of 
Major,  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  A.  C.  Ducat,  Com- 
mander of  the  Illinois  National  Guard.  In  1876 
Dr.  Miller  resigned  the  position  of  Sanitary  Su- 
perintendent and  went  abroad.  He  spent  about 
a  year  in  studying  in  hospitals  at  Aberdeen  and 
Edinburgh,  Scotland,  and  London,  England. 
Returning  to  Chicago,  with  added  knowledge 
from  these  observations,  he  was  enabled  to  com- 
mand a  large  share  of  the  most  difficult  and  re- 


J.   M.   HANNAHS. 


munerative  medical  and  surgical  practice  of  the 
then  metropolitan  city.  In  1889  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  United  States  Government  a  Pen- 
sion Examiner,  and  continued  to  fulfill  the  duties 
of  this  position  until  his  death. 

December  24,  1872,  Dr.  Miller  was  married  to 
Miss  Etta  Barnet,  of  Chicago.  She,  with  one 
daughter,  survives  him.  The  latter,  Miss  Mary 
Etta  Miller,  is  a  bright  Chicago  girl.  She  is 
possessed  of  marked  literary  and  artistic  tastes, 
and  her  work  as  a  pen-and-ink  artist  has  attracted 
considerable  attention.  Mrs.  Miller  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  George  Barnet,  a  sketch  of  whose 


career  will  be  found  on  another  page  of  this 
work. 

Dr.  Miller's  character  was  summed  up  in  a 
few  heartfelt  and  well-chosen  words  by  his  con- 
temporary, Dr.  Pagne,  as  follows:  "A  man  of 
extraordinary  talent  and  attainments  was  Dr. 
Miller.  While  City  Physician,  he  inaugurated 
the  system  of  newsboys'  picnics  and  outings.  His 
friends  were  many,  by  reason  of  his  greatness  of 
heart.  Chicago  loses  a  good  citizen,  and  the  pro- 
fession an  able  member." 

The  last  sad  rites  over  his  remains  were  con- 
ducted by  South  Park  Masonic  Lodge,  and  his 
body  was  interred  in  Oakwoods  Cemetery. 


JAMES  M.  HANNAHS. 


flAMES  MONROE  HANNAHS,  one  of  the 
I  oldest  residents  of  Chicago,  having  come 
Q)  here  as  early  as  1836,  is  a  descendant  of  an 
old  and  influential  New  England  family,  which 
originated  in  Ireland,  the  family  name  having 
been  spelled  in  that  country  Hannah.  The 
great-grandfather  of  James  M.  Hannahs  was  the 
first  member  of  the  family  to  leave  his  native 
land  for  the  New  World.  He  settled  in  Litch- 
field,  Connecticut,  where  he  was  an  active  and 
influential  citizen,  and  later  became  a  zealous 
patriot.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the 
Revolution,  that  contest  with  the  Mother  Coun- 
try which  tried  the  mettle  of  her  sons  so  sorely, 
he  made  his  adopted  country's  cause  his  own, 
and  was  made  a  member  of  the  Committee  of 
Safety  formed  at  that  time. 

Daniel  Hannahs,  son  of  the  foregoing,  and  the 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  notice,  was  a 
soldier  in  the  War  of  1812.  He  was  wounded  at 


the  battle  of  Queenstown,  and  for  his  services 
enjoyed  a  pension  from  the  Government  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1842.  Leaving  Con- 
necticut, he  moved  with  his  family  to  central 
New  York,  settling  in  the  wilderness  near  the 
Mohawk  River.  Undaunted  in  courage,  and  of 
a  fine,  soldierly  physique,  he  was  well  fitted  by 
nature  for  the  Herculean  task  of  founding  a  home 
in  the  primeval  forests,  and  in  his  wife  he  found 
a  willing  helpmate.  The  latter  was  Elizabeth 
Gordon,  a  cousin  of  Lord  George  Gordon,  the 
hero  of  the  "Gordon  Riots"  of  1798,  for  his 
leadership  in  which  he  was  imprisoned  in  Lon- 
don and  tried  for  treason,  but  finally  acquitted. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  Hannahs  became  the 
parents  of  four  children,  all  sons:  Chauncey, 
Marvin,  William  and  Daniel.  Of  these,  Marvin 
removed  to  Albion,  Calhoun  County,  Michigan, 
in  1835,  and  became  one  of  the  leading  men  in 
that  locality,  and  in  later  years  his  son  George 


86 


J.   M.  HANNAHS. 


was  elected  State  Senator  from  Michigan.  Will- 
iam, another  son  of  Daniel  Hannahs,  became  a 
prosperous  woolen  merchant  of  New  York  City. 
His  son,  a  law  student,  immediately  after  his 
graduation  from  Yale  College,  raised  a  company 
of  cavalry  in  New  York  City,  in  the  first  month 
after  the  Civil  War  opened,  and  took  the  field. 
He  was  made  Captain  of  this  company,  but,  sad 
to  relate,  was  killed  in  Virginia,  in  May,  1861. 

Chauncey  Hannahs,  the  father  of  James  Mon- 
roe, was  born  in  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  in  the 
year  1791,  and  removed  with  his  parents  to  New 
York  State,  assisting  his  father  in  clearing 
up  his  farm.  In  later  years,  in  this  same  lo- 
cality, he  engaged  in  the  foundry  business.  In 
1835  he  removed  to  Wisconsin,  then  considered 
in  the  very  far  West,  and  located  on  Government 
land  in  Kenosha  County,  where  the  rest  of  his 
days  were  spent,  his  demise  occurring  in  1873, 
from  old  age.  While  living  in  New  York  State 
he  had  been  Captain  of  an  artillery  company, 
and  the  title  then  gained  he  ever  afterwards  bore. 
In  person  large  and  strong,  he  delighted  in  out- 
door pursuits,  and  the  pioneer  life  which  he 
chose  on  leaving  his  old  home  in  the  East  was 
one  well  suited  to  him  in  every  respect.  In  his 
early  life  he  had  been  an  ardent  Whig,  but  on 
the  formation  of  the  two  great  parties  of  Repub- 
licans and  Democrats,  he  allied  himself  with  the 
latter,  and  proved  an  equally  earnest  champion 
of  its  principles.  In  his  religious  leanings  he 
was  a  Presbyterian,  his  wife  being  of  the  same 
faith.  The  latter  was  born  in  the  year  1793,  in 
Oneida  County,  New  York,  a  daughter  of  Enos 
Nichols,  a  pioneer  of  that  county,  where  he  lived 
in  a  covered  wagon  until  he  could  erect  for  him- 
self a  house  in  the  wilderness.  He  later  became 
a  pioneer  of  Lake  County,  Illinois,  near  the  Wis- 
consin State  line,  and  his  family  thus  became 
neighbors  of  the  Hannahs  family. 

Mrs.  Chauncey  Hannahs  died  on  the  old  home- 
stead in  Keuosha  County  in  1882,  also  from  old 
age.  She  had  been  the  mother  of  seven  children, 
as  follows:  Mrs.  Ann  Doolittle,  William  H., 
James  M.,  Thomas  J.,  Francis  G.,  Frederick,  and 
Adeline,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years. 
A  strange  and  shocking  fatality  occurred  in  this 


family,  no  less  than  six  deaths  taking  place  with- 
in twenty-two  months,  three  children  dying  with- 
in three  days  of  each  other.  All  who  now  sur- 
vive are  James  M.  and  his  brother,  Francis  G. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  June  26, 
1821,  in  Herkimer  County,  New  York,  and  re- 
ceived a  common-school  education  in  a  little 
schoolfeouse  on  the  banks  of  the  historic  Mohawk 
River.  On  leaving  school  he  entered  his  father's 
foundry  to  learn  the  business,  and  after  coming 
to  Chicago  he  followed  the  trade  of  a  foundry- 
man  in  connection  with  a  partner,  the  firm  name 
being  Hannahs  &  James.  He  continued  thus  en- 
gaged until  he  entered  the  employ  of  Wahl 
Brothers,  manufacturers  of  glue,  with  whom  he 
remained  for  twenty-five  years,  during  part  of 
that  time  representing  the  firm  in  New  York 
City.  After  leaving  Wahl  Brothers  he  was  act- 
ively engaged  in  promoting  elevated  railroads  in 
Chicago,  on  a  new  principle. 

July  3,  1851,  in  Cook  County,  Illinois,  Mr. 
Hannahs  married  Miss  Matilda  Irish,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Perry  Irish,  and  a  native  of  Holley,  New 
York.  Several  children  were  born  of  this  mar- 
riage, but  all  died  in  infancy.  Mrs.  Hannahs 
died  September  19,  1885,  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Hannahs  has  been  for  over  forty  years  a 
consistent  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  In  re- 
gard to  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  having  been 
a  stanch  Abolitionist  previous  to  the  war.  He 
is  a  strong  believer  in  the  efficacy  of  free  silver, 
and  champions  his  cause  with  great  ardor.  While 
in  the  employ  of  Wahl  Brothers,  his  business  led 
him  to  travel  extensively  throughout  the  United 
States,  and  he  has  hosts  of  friends  up  and  down 
the  country,  as  well  as  in  Chicago.  Like  many 
other  Chicago  business  men,  he  was  at  one  time 
a  farmer  in  Cook  County,  but  he  yielded  to  the 
superior  attractions  of  city  life  and  sold  his  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  which  he  had  bought 
for  $3  per  acre.  He  has  many  reminiscences  of 
early  days  in  Illinois,  and  has  contributed  many 
interesting  articles  to  Chicago  newspapers,  de- 
scribing the  scenes  and  incidents  of  early  days 
in  this  locality,  and  noting  the  stupendous 
changes  wrought  in  the  face  of  the  country  since 
he  came  here,  a  pioneer  of  1836. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

HNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


JACOB  FORSYTH. 


JACOB  FORSYTH. 


(TACOB  FORSYTH.  In  every  community, 
I  no  matter  how  small,  the  intelligent  observer 
G/  will  find  men  who  have  risen  above  their 
fellows,  both  in  fame  and  fortune,  by  sheer  force 
of  character  and  the  ability  to  seize  fortune  at  the 
tide.  Though  to  the  casual  onlooker  there  often 
has  seemed  an  element  of  "luck"  in  the  chances 
of  prosperity  which  have  come  to  them,  a  closer 
observer  will  see  that  it  has  more  often  been  the 
fortunate  meeting  of  the  man  and  the  opportunity ; 
— the  opportunity  may,  perhaps,  have  occurred 
a  hundred  times  before,  but  the  man  who  should 
seize  it,  and  by  his  ability  and  energy  force  results 
from  it,  has  never  before  appeared. 

Jacob  Forsyth,  an  old  resident  of  Chicago,  and 
one  of  its  leading  citizens,  exemplifies  the  truth 
of  the  foregoing  in  a  marked  degree.  Born  in  the 
North  of  Ireland,  of  Scotch  descent,  he  possesses 
those  fortunate  characteristics  which  have  placed 
so  many  of  his  countrymen  on  the  highroad  to 
success — honesty,  ambition,  energy  and  resistless 
tenacity  of  purpose.  Overlooking  the  daily  dis- 
couragements, disappointments  and  hardships  of 
their  life,  they  keep  ever  before  them  the  high 
object  of  their  ambition;  and  if  failure  instead  of 
success  is  their  portion,  it  is  through  no  weaken- 
ing of  their  powers  by  self-indulgence  or  idle  re- 
pining. 

In  the  days  of  King  James  I.  of  England  there 
sprang  up  a  class  of  men  known  as  "under- 
takers," who,  in  consideration  of  certain  grants 
of  land,  undertook  to  locate  a  specified  number  of 
settlers  upon  the  vast  tracts  of  vacant  ground  in 
northern  Ireland.  It  was  at  this  time  that  a  great 
emigration  was  made  from  Scotland  to  this  region, 
and  gave  to  the  world  that  sturdy,  industrious 


and  highly  moral  class  of  people  called  Scotch- 
Irish.  Prior  to  the  siege  of  Londonderry,  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  northern  Ireland,  the  an- 
cestors of  Jacob  Forsyth  settled  in  what  is  now 
the  county  of  Londonderry.  They  were  a  rural 
people,  and,  as  near  as  can  be  learned  at  the 
present  time,  were  engaged  in  agriculture. 

To  John  Forsyth  and  his  wife,  Margaret  Cox, 
was  born  a  son,  whom  they  christened  Jacob.  The 
latter  married  Elizabeth  Haslette,  and  their  son 
John  was  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
John  Forsyth  married  Mary  Ann  Kerr,  a  native 
of  County  Londonderry,  who  was  the  daughter 
of  Alexander  Kerr  and  Anne  Osborne,  the  latter 
of  English  descent.  The  Kerrs  were  of  Scotch 
lineage,  and  very  early  in  Ireland.  The  parents 
of  Alexander  Kerr  were  Oliver  and  Elizabeth 
(Wilson)  Kerr. 

The  father  of  Mr.  Forsyth  was  an  intelligent 
farmer,  and  the  possessor  of  a  small  landed 
property.  Anxious  that  his  son  should  have  the 
'  'schooling' '  which  is  the  ambition  of  most  of  his 
countrymen,  he  sent  him  to  a  celebrated  private 
academy,  the  principal  of  which  was  a  famous 
Greek  and  Latin  scholar  and  a  renowned 
mathematician,  in  his  vicinity.  Possessing  the 
studious  inclination  and  the  quick  perceptions  of 
an  apt  scholar,  the  youth  profited  greatly  by  his 
attendance  here,  and  the  proficiency  he  ac- 
quired in  penmanship  gained  for  him  his  first 
position  in  America. 

Jacob  Forsyth  was  born  January  12,  1821,  at 
the  old  town  of  Limavady,  near  the  present  rail- 
road station  and  thriving  village  in  County  Lon- 
donderry, Ireland,  known  as  Newtown, Limavady. 
Filled  with  the  ambitious  spirit  which  builds 


88 


JACOB  FORSYTH. 


cities  and  develops  the  commercial  possibilities  of 
the  world,  he  set  out  for  the  United  States  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  years.  Settling  in  Pittsburg,  Penn- 
sylvania, he  there  first  found  employment  as 
copying  clerk  and  errand  boy  for  the  great  com- 
mission and  forwarding  house  of  Forsyth  &  Com- 
pany, a  member  of  which  firm  was  a  near  relative. 
The  firm  was  the  oldest  commission  house  in  the 
city,  and  owned  a  large  fleet  of  steamers,  running 
on  various  western  rivers.  In  those  days  the 
copying  book  had  not  been  invented,  and  all  let- 
ters had  to  be  copied  by  hand,  and  this  work  fell 
to  young  Forsyth.  By  the  interest  he  took  in 
his  work,  and  the  care  with  which  everything 
entrusted  to  him  to  do  was  performed,  he  soon 
won  his  way  into  the  confidence  of  his  employers, 
and  was  promoted  from  one  responsible  position 
to  another,  until  he  had  attained  that  of  head 
bookkeeper. 

Mr.  Forsyth  remained  with  Forsyth  &  Com- 
pany for  fifteen  years  altogether,  and  at  the  end 
of  that  time  his  abilities  had  become  so  well 
known  outside  of  the  concern  that  he  was  offered 
several  other  advantageous  positions.  Accepting 
one  of  these,  he  became  the  Through  Freight 
Agent  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  with  head- 
quarters in  Chicago,  and  by  this  means  became  a 
permanent  resident  of  this  city  in  1857.  After  a 
few  years'  service  in  this  capacity,  he  accepted 
the  position  of  General  Western  Agent  for  the  old 
"Erie"  Road. 

About  this  time,  his  business  giving  him  op- 
portunities for  observing  the  prevailing  real-es- 
tate conditions,  he  became  impressed  with  the 
excellent  opportunities  to  buy  land  cheaply ;  and 
with  a  premonition  of  the  growth  of  the  city,  and 
the  consequent  rise  in  land  values,  he  resigned 
his  position  and  began  to  invest  largely  in  real 
estate.  His  wife  had  inherited  a  large  amount 
of  land  in  Lake  County,  Indiana,  from  her  brother, 
George  W.  Clarke,  who  died  in  1866,  and  to  this 
Mr.  Forsyth  added  by  purchasing  the  holdings 
of  small  owners  in  the  vicinity,  until  he  had  ac- 
quired ten  thousand  acres,  a  large  estate  for  this 
land  of  comparatively  small  holdings.  He  had 
the  shrewdness  to  buy  this  so  as  to  form  one  im- 
mense tract,  arguing  that  one  large  tract  would 


possess  more  value  than  the  same  amount  in  scat- 
tered portions.  During  subsequent  years  he  ex- 
perienced much  annoyance  and  was  caused  many 
years'  litigation  in  his  efforts  to  expel  squatters 
from  the  tract.  They  were  very  numerous 
around  Lakes  George  and  Wolf  at  the  time,  and 
their  dislodgment  was  a  matter  of  much  difficulty. 
Mr.  Forsyth  was  in  litigation  for  five  years  before 
he  finally  obtained  redress,  and  during  this  time 
read  book  after  book  on  land  decisions  and  the 
question  of  riparian  rights,  on  which  he  is  now 
one  of  the  best-posted  men  in  the  country,  and 
able  to  give  information  to  many  an  intelligent 
attorney  in  that  line  of  practice. 

When,  finally,  a  decree  was  pronounced  in  his 
favor,  he  sold  eight  thousand  acres  of  his  land  to 
the  East  Chicago  Improvement  Company  for  one 
million  dollars,  one-third  of  which  sum  was  paid 
down.  The  company,  however,  failed  to  meet 
subsequent  payments,  and  as  a  compromise  the 
present  Canal  and  Improvement  Company  was 
formed  in  1887.  From  this  Mr.  Forsyth  ac- 
cepted as  reimbursement  part  cash,  a  large 
amount  of  bonds,  and  some  stock  in  the  company. 
In  1881  he  bought  another  large  tract  on  the 
lake  shore,  lying  directly  north  of  the  present 
site  of  East  Chicago,  and  in  1889  he  sold  a  por- 
tion of  this  to  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  and 
on  it  has  since  been  built  its  large  plant,  known 
as  Whiting.  The  limits  of  the  city  of  Chicago 
having  been  extended  to  the  Indiana  line,  across 
which  lies  Mr.  Forsyth's  land,  the  latter  has  been 
consequently  enhanced  in  value,  and  has  been 
greatly  benefited  thereby. 

AtUniontown,  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Forsyth  mar- 
ried Miss  Caroline  M.  Clarke,  daughter  of  Robert 
Clarke,  of  Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania,  who 
has  borne  her  husband  nine  children,  five  sons 
and  four  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  living. 
The  family  occupies  a  handsome,  comfortable 
house  on  Michigan  Avenue,  and  the  home  is  per- 
vaded by  an  air  of  taste  and  refinement  which 
is  not  always  an  element  in  the  homes  of  the  rich. 

In  politics  Mr.  Forsyth  is  a  Republican,  a 
stanch  advocate  of  his  party's  men  and  principles, 
though,  owing  to  the  stress  of  his  extensive  busi- 
ness interests,  he  has  never  found  it  convenient 


T.  T.    PROSSER. 


89 


to  take  an  active  part  in  political  affairs.  Had 
he  done  so,  and  brought  the  same  energy  and 
discernment  to  bear  that  he  has  displayed  in  the 
management  of  his  private  interests,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  he  would  have  made  his  mark  in  the  political 
world,  as  he  has  made  it  in  the  business  affairs  of 
his  adopted  city. 

In   appearance  Mr.    Forsyth  is  a  large,  well- 


proportioned  man,  with  a  kindly,  shrewd  face, 
the  true  index  of  a  man  who  has  lived  an  honest, 
helpful  and  kindly  life.  Though  bearing  the 
weight  of  seventy-five  years  and  the  responsi- 
bilities which  the  possession  of  great  wealth  al- 
ways brings,  he  is  elastic  in  mind  and  body,  and 
bids  fair  to  live  to  an  extreme  old  age. 


TREAT  T.  PROSSER. 


'REAT  T.  PROSSER.  There  are  few  tasks 
more  difficult  than  to  sketch  the  life  of  an 
inventor.  The  world  is  so  jealous  of  inno- 
vation and  improvement  upon  established  meth- 
ods, so  wedded  to  the  past,  and  withal  so  disin- 
clined to  recognize  the  brilliancy  of  more  prac- 
tical genius,  that  the  man  who  discovers  de- 
ficiencies in  practical  mechanics  and  supplies  them 
often  goes  to  his  grave  unrewarded,  even  by  the 
gratitude  of  the  world  he  has  benefited.  He 
hears  the  name  of  the  warrior,  of  the  statesman, 
of  the  poet,  even  of  the  politician,  in  every 
household  or  business  mart,  but  often  his  own,  if 
mentioned  at  all,  as  of  one  who  is  building  cas- 
tles in  the  air. 

But  gifted  innovators,  while  deeply  feeling  the 
lack  of  appreciation,  have  often  adopted  the  sen- 
timent of  Keplar,  who  said:  "My  work  is  done; 
it  can  well  wait  a  century  for  its  readers,  since 
God  waited  full  six  thousand  years  before  there 
came  a  man  capable  of  comprehending  and  admir- 
ing His  work."  Now  and  then,  however,  genius 
is  so  practical,  and  its  fruits  contrast  so  brilliantly 
with  what  has  preceded,  that  it  compels  almost 
instantaneous  recognition  and  homage,  and 
among  the  fortunate  possessors  of  the  latter  class 
was  the  subject  of  this  article,  the  late  Treat  T. 
Prosser. 


The  Prossers  are  of  Welsh  descent,  but  the 
Treats,  from  whom  Mr.  Prosser  was  descended 
on  the  maternal  side,  were  English.  The  first 
ancestors  of  the  former  family  to  come  to  America 
were  two  brothers,  who  came  from  Wales  some 
time  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  War,  in  which 
supreme  contest  two  of  their  descendants  partici- 
pated, and  one  met  his  death.  The  family  lived 
on  Prosser  Hill,  just  outside  of  Boston,  and  it 
was  in  the  Prosser  barn  that  the  members  of  the 
historic  Boston  "tea  party"  disguised  themselves 
as  Indians,  previous  to  throwing  the  tea  over- 
board into  Boston  Harbor.  Grandfather  John 
Prosser  was  one  of  the  two  members  of  the  family 
mentioned  previously  as  having  served  in  the 
struggle  with  the  Mother  Country.  He  married 
Bethia  Truesdale,  daughter  of  a  Connecticut  phy- 
sician, and  had  eight  sons  and  one  daughter. 

Of  these  children,  Potter  A.  Prosser,  the  father 
of  Treat  T.,  married  Eliza,  a  daughter  of  Timo- 
thy Treat,  whose  son,  a  physician,  became  famous 
through  the  services  he  rendered  during  the 
great  cholera  epidemic.  The  Treat  family  came 
from  Pitminster,  Somerset,  England.  Richard 
Treat  was  baptized  in  1584.  Among  the  prom- 
inent descendants  are  Gov.  Robert  Treat,  and 
Rev.  Samuel  Treat,  of  Pitminster.  The  father's 
birth  occurred  August  n,  1793,  and  the  mother 


go 


T.  T.  PROSSER. 


was  born  March  29,  1798.  Their  marriage  was 
solemnized  on  the  5th  of  November,  1818,  and 
of  their  union  were  born  five  children.  The 
mother,  a  woman  of  many  domestic  virtues  and 
lovable  traits  of  character,  died  at  the  compara- 
tively early  age  of  fifty-five  years,  but  the  father 
lived  to  the  great  age  of  ninety-six. 

Treat  T.  Prosser  was  born  in  the  little  town  of 
Avon,  New  York,  January  22,  1827.  His  youth 
and  early  manhood  were  passed  in  his  native 
State,  and  his  early  education  was  received  in  its 
common  schools.  After  reaching  his  majority  he 
attended  the  academy  at  West  Avon,  feeling  the 
need  of  a  more  thorough  school  training  before 
starting  out  to  earn  his  own  way  in  life.  Always 
handy  in  the  use  of  tools,  at  the  early  age  of 
fourteen  he  had  been  engaged  at  the  trade  of  a 
millwright,  in  which  he  soon  became  a  proficient 
workman.  But  while  his  hands  were  busily 
engaged  at  this  work,  his  thoughts  were  wander- 
ing out  upon  the  whole  broad  domain  of  mechan- 
ical science,  and  his  studies  at  the  academy  were 
for  the  purpose  of  fitting  himself  for  the  career  to 
which  all  his  talents  and  his  inclinations  urged 
him. 

From  the  young  millwright  developed  an 
inventor  of  agricultural  implements  of  great 
value;  of  a  superior  system  of  machinery  for  the 
manufacture  of  bolts;  of  universally  recognized 
improvements  upon  steam  engines;  of  a  practical 
and  widely  used  machine  for  pegging  boots;  of 
coal  machinery;  of  the  Prosser  Cylinder  Car,  and 
of  many  other  mechanical  devices,  which  either 
are  now,  or  will  become  in  the  future,  of  great 
benefit  to  mankind.  He  drew  the  plans  for  the 
Chicago  Hydraulic  Company,  which  built  the 
first  water-works  system  in  Chicago. 

In  1851  Mr.  Prosser  came  to  Chicago,  and  the 
wisdom  of  his  choice  of  a  location  was  demon- 
strated long  ago.  No  other  city  has  ever  opened 
such  welcoming  arms  to  men  of  genius  as  has 
she,  nor  out  of  her  own  prosperity  rewarded  them 
so  bountifully.  The  great  fireof  1871  found  him 
among  its  victims,  and  he  lost  the  greater  part  of 
the  accumulations  of  years;  but  financial  loss  is 
one  of  the  minor  evils  to  a  man  who  has  within 
himself  the.  power  to  mould,  in  a  great  measure, 


his  own  destiny,  and  is  no  mere  inert  mass,  lying 
helpless  under  the  buffetings  of  the  winds  of  ill- 
fortune.  The  energy  which  was  one  of  the 
marked  points  in  his  character  asserted  itself,  and 
his  days  were  ended  in  the  prosperity  he  deserved. 

From  1851  until  the  date  of  his  death,  Decem- 
ber n,  1895,  Mr.  Prosser  made  Chicago  his  home, 
with  the  exception  of  two  years  spent  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  six  years  in  Boston,  and  a 
short  vacation  spent  in  Europe.  He  was  the  first 
man  to  introduce  the  steam  engine  and  the 
quartz-mill  into  the  Rockies,  the  engine  being 
constructed  of  material  shipped  from  the  East,  the 
boiler  being  literally  built  in  that  wild  region. 
While  in  Europe  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Mechanics  of  England  and  Scotland, 
an  honor  which  speaks  of  his  high  merits  as  a 
mechanical  engineer. 

In  West  Bloomfield,  New  York,  September  26, 
1849,  Mr.  Prosser  married  Miss  Lucy  J.  Phillips, 
and  of  their  union  two  children  were  born: 
Henry  Blinn  Prosser,  of  Chicago;  and  Mary 
Augusta,  wife  of  Oscar  E.  Poole,  of  Lakeside, 
Illinois.  Mrs.  Prosser  was  the  daughter  of  Isaac 
Webster  Phillips,  a  relative  of  the  famous  Web- 
ster family,  his  mother  being  a  sister  of  Noah 
Webster's  father.  Isaac  Phillips  was  a  native  of 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  but  removed  to  West 
Bloomfield,  where  he  served  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  and  was  commonly  known  as  Judge  Phil- 
lips. He  came  to  Chicago  late  in  life,  and  died 
at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Prosser,  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-two years.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Laura  Miller,  reached  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-two  years. 

Closely  wedded  to  his  profession ,  Mr.  Prosser 
generally  refused  the  responsibilities  of  official 
positions,  but  made  an  exception  to  this  rule  after 
the  Great  Fire,  when  he  acted  as  superintendent 
of  the  distribution  of  food  to  the  destitute  in 
Districts  Four  and  Five.  These  duties  he  filled 
in  an  energetic  and  impartial  manner,  which 
accorded  well  with  the  other  actions  of  his  well- 
spent  life.  In  his  politics  he  voted  with  the 
Republican  party. 

Oscar  E.  Poole,  who  married  Mr.  Prosser 's  only 
daughter,  was  born  January  18,  1857,  *n  Will 


J.   W.  LARIMORE. 


County,  Illinois,  and  is  a  son  of  Ezra  and  Eliza 
Treat  Poole,  pioneers  in  Will  County,  where  they 
settled  in  1850.  He  received  his  principal  educa- 
tion in  Joliet,  where  his  guardian  lived.  His 
father  died  when  he  was  but  one  and  a-half  years 
old,  and  his  mother  died  when  he  was  ten 
years  old.  His  boyhood  was  spent  in  Joliet. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  became  a  clerk  in 
his  uncle's  store,  and  three  years  later  became  a 
partner.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  entered  the 
employ  of  the  State,  in  the  capacity  of  storekeeper 


at  the  State  Penitentiary,  remaining  a  number  of 
years  in  that  position.  From  there  he  went  to 
Chicago,  where  he  first  started  a  milk  business 
and  then  became  a  traveling  salesman  for  Kinney 
&  Company,  and,  later,  their  manager.  He  finally 
bought  out  the  business,  and  it  is  now  conducted 
under  the  name  of  Poole  &  Company.  Mr.  Poole 
was  married,  February  27,  1885,  to  Miss  Mary 
Augusta  Prosser,  who  is  the  mother  of  four 
children  now  living:  Edward  Prosser,  Helen 
Irene,  Lucy  Eliza  and  Malcolm  Alan  Poole. 


PROF.  JAMES  W.  LARIMORE. 


(TAMES  WILSON  LARIMORE,  who  died 
I  suddenly  of  heart  failure  at  his  home  in  Chi- 
G)  cago,  May  30,  1894,  was  for  many  years 
prominent  in  the  literary,  social  and  religious 
work  of  the  city.  He  was  born  in  Steubenville, 
Ohio,  May  6,  1834,  and  was  a  son  of  Joseph  and 
Mary  Jane  (Wilson)  Larimore,  both  also  natives 
of  that  place.  The  earliest  progenitors  of  the 
family  known  were  French  Huguenots,  who  fled 
from  their  native  land  after  the  cruel  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  by  Louis  XIV.,  locating 
in  Scotland.  There  the  name  was  difficult  of 
pronunciation  on  the  Scotch  tongue,  and  from 
"Laird  o'  the  Moor,"  the  name  gradually  came 
to  its  present  form. 

The  first  settlement  of  the  family  in  Amer- 
ica was  made  in  Chester  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  David  Larimore,  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  March  31, 
1782.  For  many  generations  the  Larimores  had 
been  distinguished  for  literary  tastes  and  attain- 
ments, and  David  Larimore  was  no  exception  to 
the  rule.  He  was  a  man  of  affairs,  and  conserved 


the  family  estates,  which  were  considerable.  He 
died  at  Norristown,  Pennsylvania,  March  16, 
1857,  having  almost  completed  his  seventy-fifth 
year. 

James  Wilson,  father  of  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Lari- 
more, came  of  a  Scotch-Irish  family,  which  has 
borne  a  prominent  part  in  the  literary  and  social 
life  of  the  United  States,  furnishing  many  not- 
able statesmen,  attorneys  and  generals  to  the 
Nation.  This  family  is  also  a  strong  factor  in 
the  literary  life  of  America,  and  Professor  Lari- 
more inherited  talents  from  both  lines  of  ances- 
tors. 

The  youth  of  the  latter  was  spent  at  Niles, 
Michigan,  whither  his  parents  removed  when  he 
was  two  years  old.  He  early  manifested  a  fond- 
ness for  books,  and  most  of  his  life  up  to  the  age 
of  twenty-six  years  was  spent  in  school.  He 
was  sent,  in  1852,  to  Olivet  Institute,  in  Eaton 
County,  Michigan.  Having  an  uncle  in  the 
faculty  of  the  Hampton  and  Sidney  College  in 
southern  Virginia,  he  was  induced  to  go  there. 
He  remained  some  time,  but  the  climate  did  not 


J.  W.  LARIMORE. 


agree  with  him.  Consequently,  he  decided  to 
finish  his  education  at  the  North.  He  took  a 
course  at  the  University  of  New  York  City,  which 
graduated  him  in  the  Class  of  1860.  He  had  a 
thorough  theological  education,  having  spent  a 
year  at  Union  Theological  Seminary,  later  taking  a 
full  course  at  Princeton  Theological  Seminary, 
Princeton,  New  Jersey,  preparatory  to  entering 
the  Presbyterian  ministry.  He  preached  most  of 
the  time,  supplying  different  churches  during  the 
latter  part  of  his  theological  studies,  his  first 
regular  '  'call' '  being  to  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  important  churches  at  that  time  in  Albany, 
New  York,  the  Third  Dutch  Reformed.  He  had, 
however,  a  decided  preference  for  life  in  the  grow- 
ing West,  and  became  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa.  Under  his 
able  ministry,  this  soon  became  the  largest  so- 
ciety of  that  denomination  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River.  In  1863  he  accepted  the  Chaplaincy  of 
the  Ninth  Iowa  Cavalry,  at  the  earnest  solicita- 
tion of  his  particular  friend,  Adjutant-General 
Baker,  of  Iowa,  and  at  once  went  into  the  field 
with  the  regiment,  spending  most  of  the  time  in 
the  Department  of  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  being 
Post  Chaplain  at  De  Vails  Bluff.  Just  before  the 
death  of  President  Lincoln,  in  1865,  he  was  by 
him  brevetted  Major,  and  also  assigned  to  the 
position  of  Hospital  Chaplain  in  the  regular 
United  States  army.  He  resigned  his  position 
at  De  Vails  Bluff,  as  he  had  been  ordered  to  re- 
port for  duty  at  Webster  Hospital  in  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  in  April,  1865.  Owing  to  the  uncer- 
tainty of  the  mails,  he  did  not  receive  his  papers 
until  several  days  after  the  President's  assassina- 
tion. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Professor  Larimore 
came  to  Chicago,  and  in  the  fall  of  1865  was 
installed  as  pastor  of  the  Seventh  (now  West- 
minister) Presbyterian  Church  of  this  city,  which 
position  he  filled  for  something  over  two  years. 
In  the  mean  time  he  did  much  literary  work,  and 
for  a  period  gave  his  exclusive  attention  to  this 
congenial  labor.  He  developed  a  great  aptitude  for 
journalism,  and  was  offered  the  position  of  city 
editor  of  the  Chicago  Evening  Journal  in  the 
spring  of  1 87 1 ,  and  accepted.  He  discharged  the 


duties  of  this  responsible  charge  with  marked 
ability  and  success  for  three  years. 

On  the  fatal  ninth  of  October,  1871,  when 
\h&  Journal  office  was  a  ruin  through  the  historic 
"great  fire,"  Mr.  Larimore  gave  a  characteristic 
exhibition  of  energy  and  perseverance.  With 
the  aid  of  the  editor-in-chief,  Hon.  Andrew  Shu- 
man,  an  edition  of  the  Journal  was  produced 
on  a  hand  press,  which  they  secured  in  a  job-of- 
fice on  the  West  Side;  and  with  the  flames 
threatening  to  consume  the  building  over  their 
heads,  the  paper  was  issued  at  the  usual  hour  of 
publication — being  the  only  representative  of  the 
Chicago  daily  press  put  forth  on  that  day. 

The  numerous  writings  and  publications  of 
Professor  Larimore  had  attracted  the  notice  of 
the  University  of  Chicago,  and  in  March,  1874, 
he  was  elected  to  the  professorship  of  physics  in 
that  institution.  In  consequence  of  this,  he  re- 
signed his  connection  with  the  Journal  May  2 
of  that  year.  He  did  not,  however,  enter  upon 
the  duties  assigned  him  at  the  university,  but 
later  on  accepted  a  similar  position  at  the  Cook 
County  Normal  School  at  Englewood.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1878,  he  was  elected  teacher  of  physics 
and  chemistry  at  the  North  Division  High 
School  of  Chicago.  He  entered  at  once  upon 
his  duties,  and  continued  to  fill  the  chair  for 
eleven  consecutive  years,  with  great  credit  to 
himself  and  the  school,  making  many  devoted 
friends  among  his  pupils. 

Before  coming  West  Professor  Larimore  was 
married,  at  Hudson,  New  York,  to  Miss  Katie 
Hoysradt,  a  beautiful  and  talented  young  lady, 
who  died  in  Chicago  in  1865.  Her  remains,  with 
those  of  their  two  little  boys,  rest  in  the  cemetery 
at  Niles,  Michigan. 

In  1867  he  was  again  married,  by  Reverend 
Doctors  Humphrey  and  Harsha,  to  Miss  Hattie 
Stevens,  of  Chicago,  the  soprano  singer  of  his 
church  choir. .  She  was  born  in  Strykersville, 
Wyoming  County,  New  York,  being  the  young- 
est of  the  three  daughters  of  the  late  Ira  Stevens 
of  that  town.  In  the  year  1854,  while  she  was  a 
small  child,  the  family  went  to  St.  Charles,  Kane 
County,  Illinois.  Her  father,  a  talented  singer, 
died  very  suddenly  of  cholera  the  day  following 


CHRISTOPHER  JOHNSON. 


93 


their  arrival,  which  was  during  the  great  epidemic 
of  that  year.  Her  mother,  Percy  Talmage 
Hotchkiss,  a  refined  Christian  lady,  was  born 
near  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  She  died  in 
April,  1888,  leaving  her  six  children,  and  many 
friends,  to  mourn  her  loss. 

Mrs.  Larimore  received  her  education  in  the 
high  school  at  St.  Charles,  finishing  it  in  Chi- 
cago, where  the  greater  part  of  her  life  has  been 
spent.  Possessing  marked  musical  talent,  she 
devoted  most  of  her  time  to  its  development, 
which  brought  her  some  distinction.  At  one 
time,  while  a  young  lady,  she  was  urgently 
solicited  to  enter  upon  an  operatic  career.  She 
was  turned  from  that  course  by  conscientious 
scruples.  Aside  from  her  musical  talent,  she  is 
a  lady  of  much  culture  and  pleasing  personality, 
and  was  ever  a  true  helpmeet  and  companion 
to  her  talented  husband  in  all  his  labors.  Three 
bright  children  were  given  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lari- 
more, all  of  whom  are  now  deceased.  Hattie 
Gertrude,  the  eldest,  passed  away  at  the  age  ot 
two  years.  Paul,  a  promising  lad,  reached  the 


age  of  ten  years,  and  was  the  subject  of  a  most 
touching  and  beautiful  obituary  from  the  pen  of 
Dr.  Nixon,  of  the  Inter  Ocean.  Blanche  died  in 
infancy.  The  remains  of  the  husband  and  father 
and  their  three  children  lie  buried  at  Rose  Hill. 
During  his  ministry  in  Chicago,  Professor 
Larimore  preached  many  quite  noted  sermons, 
one  of  the  most  marked  being  what  was  called  by 
the  daily  papers  his  "Crosby  Opera  House  ser- 
mon." He  also  preached  the  sermon  at  the  in- 
stallation of  the  late  Professor  David  Sw^ng,  who 
was  loved  by  so  large  a  number  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  Chicago.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
these  two  ministers  were  the  only  surviving  mem- 
bers of  the  original  Presbytery  of  the  city.  Pro- 
fessor Larimore  was  ever  active  in  good  works, 
always  having  the  welfare  of  his  kind  at  heart, 
but '  'God's  finger  touched  him  and  he  slept. ' '  The 
following  lines  express  but  feebly  the  high  opinion 
in  which  he  was  held  by  his  friends: 

"To  know  him  was  to  love  him, 
None  named  him  but  to  praise." 


CAPT.  CHRISTOPHER  JOHNSON. 


EAPT.  CHRISTOPHER  JOHNSON,  one  of 
the  old  landmarks  of  Chicago,  who  arrived 
in  this  city  as  long  ago  as  1838,  was  a  native 
of  the  little  kingdom  of  Denmark,  and  was  born 
near  Copenhagen,  October  3,  1819,  his  parents 
being  natives  of  the  same  locality.  His  father  was 
killed  by  an  accident  before  Christopher  was  a  year 
old,  and  the  latter  was  bound  out  to  a  farmer  on  the 
island  of  Als.  Imbued  with  the  strong  love  of 
the  sea  which  has  filled  so  many  of  his  country- 
men and  made  them  famous  as  sailors  the  world 
over,  at  the  early  age  of  fourteen  years  he  shipped 
at  Sonderburg,  Denmark,  on  board  an  ocean 


vessel,  and  within  the  next  two  or  three  years 
had  sailed  around  the  globe.  In  the  winter  of 
1837  he  found  himself  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans, 
and,  having  long  desired  to  verify  the  statements 
he  had  heard  of  the  advantages  America  offered 
to  industrious,  enterprising  youth  of  all  nations, 
he  left  his  ship,  and  started  for  the  heart  of  the 
country.  Aftei  reaching  St.  Louis,  he  went  to 
Peoria,  in  this  State,  whence,  by  means  of  a  hired 
team,  he  reached  this  city. 

Mr.  Johnson's  employment  after  reaching  what 
was  then  the  muddy  little  village  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Chicago  River  was  as  a  member  of  a  survey- 


94 


CHRISTOPHER  JOHNSON. 


ing  party;  but  he  served  thus  only  a  short  time, 
and  soon  after  sought  the  more  familiar  and  con- 
genial life  of  a  sailor  on  the  Great  Lakes.  On 
one  occasion,  while  on  a  trip  on  one  of  the  Lower 
Lakes,  on  a  vessel  called  the  "Maria  Hilliard," 
he  was  shipwrecked  and  met  with  other  mishaps. 
But  on  the  whole  fortune  favored  him;  and  after 
a  few  years'  service  as  a  common  sailor,  he  was 
able  to  buy  a  small  schooner,  the  "Helena,"  and 
took  charge  of  her  as  captain.  In  1849,  while 
coming  with  a  cargo  of  bricks  from  Little  Fort, 
near  Kenosha,  the  "Helena"  was  sunk  near  the 
Rush  Street  Bridge.  On  her  voyage  to  Chicago, 
she  had  sprung  a  leak,  but  by  the  efforts  of  the 
captain  and  crew,  she  had  been  kept  afloat  until 
the  city  was  reached.  After  raising  his  vessel, 
Captain  Johnson  sailed  her  for  some  time  longer, 
but  in  1853  concluded  to  give  up  sailing  for  good. 
His  life  on  the  lakes  had  given  him  a  pretty  fair 
insight  into  the  lumber  business,  and  in  this  he 
embarked,  remaining  thus  engaged  until  the 
Great  Fire,  when,  in  common  with  innumerable 
others,  he  lost  almost  his  entire  savings.  Fort- 
unately, however,  he  did  not  lose  his  residence, 
which  was  then  on  the  West  Side.  He  was  the 
owner  of  a  farm  at  Lemont,  and  he  moved  his 
family  there  for  a  time.  His  handsome  new 
farmhouse  was  destroyed  by  fire  two  years  later, 
and  he  built  another. 

Captain  Johnson  had  married  in  1849,  and  for 
the  next  twelve  years  he  reared  his  children  on 
the  farm.  He  retained  the  real  estate  he  had 
owned  in  Chicago  previous  to  the  fire,  and  had 
added  to  it,  and  at  the  end  of  the  twelve  years  he 
removed  his  wife  and  family  to  the  city,  finding 
here  greater  scope  for  himself  and  promise  of 
future  occupation  for  his  sons.  His  property 
interests  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  his  time 
was  fully  taken  up  in  managing  his  private 
affairs,  and  he  never  entered  any  other  business. 
During  all  his  life  in  Chicago  he  lived  on  the 
North  Side,  where  he  was  universally  known 
and  popular  with  all.  He  built  his  first  home  on 
the  corner  of  Ohio  and  Market  Streets,  a  spot 
which  he  then  considered  the  most  prepossessing 
in  the  city.  His  objection  to  the  South  Side  was 
due  to  its  mud,  that  portion  of  the  city  being 


almost  impassable  in  the  early  days  on  account  of 
its  level.  At  one  time  he  intended  to  buy  the 
land  on  which  the  Briggs  House  now  stands,  but 
after  considerable  deliberation  concluded  the  site 
was  too  muddy,  a  succession  of  mud  holes  having 
to  be  crossed  to  reach  it. 

Captain  Johnson's  widow,  who  yet  survives, 
was  previous  to  her  marriage  Miss  Emily  Ray- 
mond, a  daughter  of  John  and  Louise  Raymond. 
She  is  a  native  of  Copenhagen,  and  was  born 
September  i,  1833.  At  the  age  of  ten  years  she 
came  to  America  with  her  father,  who  was  a  ship- 
carpenter.  He  followed  the  lakes  until  his  death, 
which  resulted  from  an  accident  he  met  with  while 
in  the  pursuit  of  his  calling,  being  caught  and 
crushed  between  two  ships.  His  death  occurred 
some  months  later,  at  the  age  of  forty-five  years, 
August  ii,  1853.  Mrs.  Johnson's  marriage 
occurred  in  Du  Page  County,  this  State,  near 
Naperville,  December  9,  1849,  and  resulted  in 
the  birth  of  thirteen  children,  of  whom  the  fol- 
lowing are  living:  Maria  Louise,  Mrs.  A.  Nelson, 
of  Chicago;  Lena  Amelia,  Mrs.  John  S.  Lee,  of 
Lemont;  Evelyn,  Mrs.  D.  T.  Elston,  of  Chicago; 
Henry  W.,  living  in  Socorro,  New  Mexico;  Benja- 
min Franklin,  of  Pomeroy,  Washington;  Charles 
Christopher  and  George  W.  Johnson,  of  this  city. 

In  politics  Captain  Johnson  was  an  ardent  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  party,  and  his  party's 
candidates  were  never  defeated  by  his  failure  to 
do  his  duty  at  the  polls.  During  the  early  years 
of  the  Civil  War  he  served  as  Collector  of  the 
North  Town,  but  a  naturally  retiring  and  modest 
disposition  kept  him  from  ever  being  conspic- 
uous in  politics.  In  religious  faith  he  accorded 
with  the  Lutheran  Church.  The  respect  in 
which  he  was  held  was  shown  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  September  28,  1895,  within 
a  week  of  his  seventy-sixth  birthday  anniversary. 
He  had  been  an  enthusiastic  member  of  Cleveland 
Lodge  of  the  Chicago  Freemasons,  in  which  he 
was  initiated  June  n,  passed  July  7,  and  raised 
October  13,  1859,  and  his  fellow  Masons  attended 
his  funeral  in  a  body.  His  early  life  had  been 
full  of  incident  and  adventure,  but  his  later  years 
found  him  quietly  fulfilling  the  duties  of  a  self- 
respecting,  honorable  life. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


H.  L.  STEWART. 


95 


HART  L.  STEWART. 


EN.  HART  LE  LAC  STEWART,  who  was 
very  prominent  in  the  development  of  Mich- 
igan  and  Illinois,  a  participator  in  the  Black 
Hawk  War,  and  a  leading  citizen  of  Chicago  for  a 
generation,  came  of  the  sturdy  stock  which  paved 
the  way  for  and  was  active  in  the  civilization  of 
many  of  the  eastern  States  of  this  country.  He 
was  born  in  Bridgewater,  Oneida  County,  New 
York,  August  29,  1803,  and  died  in  Chicago  May 
23,  1882. 

The  name  indicates  the  Scotch  origin  of  his 
ancestry,  but  the  date  of  their  transplanting  to 
America  is  not  known.  From  the  recollections 
of  General  Stewart,  published  by  him  at  the  re- 
quest of  his  family,  it  is  learned  that  his  grand- 
parents, Samuel  Stewart  and  Patience  Hunger- 
ford,  lived  in  Tolland  County,  Connecticut.  The 
latter  was,  undoubtedly,  of  English  lineage. 
She  died  many  years  before  her  husband,  who 
passed  away  in  1816,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two 
years.  They  had  nine  children,  and  the  second, 
William,  was  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
biography. 

William  Stewart  was  born  in  1772,  in  Con- 
necticut, and  was  an  early  settler  in  the  Territory 
of  Michigan.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of 
1812,  and  also  served  in  the  militia  regiment,  com- 
manded by  his  son,  which  went  from  Michigan 
to  aid  in  suppressing  the  Indians  under  Black 
Hawk  in  1832.  He  was  married  at  Mansfield, 
Windham  County,  Connecticut,  in  1795,  to  Miss 
Validia  Turner,  eighth  of  the  ten  children  of 
Timothy  and  Rachel  (Carpenter)  Turner,  of 
Mansfield.  Timothy  Turner  was  born  August 
18,  1757,  in  Willington,  Connecticut,  which  was 
also  the  native  place  of  his  wife.  The  latter  died 
in  Mansfield  Center,  Windham  County,  Con- 


necticut, June  22,  1799.  They  were  married 
August  20,  1776.  Timothy  Turner  was  a  soldier 
of  the  Revolution,  serving  in  the  "Lexington 
Alarm  Party"  from  Mansfield,  Connecticut.  He 
was  the  son  of  Stephen,  third  and  youngest  son 
of  Isaac  Turner,  born  in  Bedford,  Massachusetts, 
whose  father  came  from  England.  Rachel  Car- 
penter's parents  were  James  and  Irene  (Ladd) 
Carpenter.  The  former  was  a  son  of  Ebenezer 
Carpenter  and  Eunice  Thompson.  Ebenezer, 
born  in  Coventry,  Connecticut,  as  was  his  son, 
was  the  son  of  Benjamin  Carpenter  and  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Jedediah  Strong.  Benjamin  was  the 
tenth  child  of  William  Carpenter  and  Priscilla 
Bonette.  The  former  was  one  of  the  four  chil- 
dren of  William  Carpenter,  who  came  from  South- 
ampton, England,  in  the  ship  "Bevis"  in  1638, 
and  settled  in  Rehoboth,  Massachusetts.  (See 
biography  of  Benjamin  Carpenter  in  this 
volume. ) 

When  Hart  L.  Stewart  was  twelve  years  old, 
his  father  moved  to  Batavia,  Genesee  County, 
New  York,  where  he  purchased  land  of  the  Hol- 
land Land  Company,  and  the  son  helped  to  clear 
this  ground  of  timber.  When  seventeen  years  old 
the  latter  went  into  the  office  of  David  D.  Brown, 
at  Batavia,  to  study  law.  At  the  end  of  a  year 
he  was  forced,  by  lack  of  means,  to  take  some 
remunerative  employment,  and  after  vainly  seek- 
ing a  situation  as  school  teacher,  in  which  he 
hoped  to  be  able  to  continue  his  legal  studies,  he 
engaged  as  clerk  in  a  store  in  Oneida  County 
with  an  uncle.  Through  the  recommendation  of 
the  latter,  at  the  end  of  a  year  he  was  employed 
by  a  merchant  named  Blair  in  Rochester,  New 
York.  After  four  months'  service  at  Rochester, 
he  was  sent  by  Mr.  Blair  to  open  a  branch  store 


96 


H.  I,.   STEWART. 


at   Lyons,    New  York,    where  he  continued  in 
charge  until  the  fall  of  1822. 

He  now  determined  to  engage  in  business  on 
his  own  account,  and,  securing  the  assistance  of 
his  brother,  George  Stewart,  opened  a  store  at 
Lockport,  New  York,  where  a  successful  trade 
was  carried  on,  they  having  the  benefit  of  credit 
with  Mr.  Blair  and  other  Rochester  merchants. 
In  1823  Hart  L,.  Stewart  took  a  sub-contract  to 
finish  the  work  of  Judge  Bates  on  the  Erie  Canal, 
which  he  completed,  with  a  fair  profit,  the  next 
year.  These  facts  indicate  that  the  young  man 
had  developed  good  business  qualifications,  which 
attracted  the  favorable  notice  and  assistance  of 
influential  men. 

Having  now  gained  a  practical  experience  in 
canal  construction,  he  sent  his  brother,  Alanson 
C.  Stewart,  who  had  become  associated  with  him 
in  the  mean  time,  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  October, 
1824,  to  secure  a  contract  on  the  Ohio  Canal. 
Hart  L,.  had  become  engaged  in  the  lumber  busi- 
ness at  Niagara,  New  York,  and  continued  it  un- 
til November,  1825,  being  at  the  same  time  in- 
terested in  the  Ohio  contract  which  his  brother 
secured.  They  next  contracted  to  execute  sec- 
tions on  the  western  end  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Canal,  and  in  November,  1826,  took  the  con- 
tract to  bore  a  tunnel  for  the  canal  on  the  Coue- 
maugh  River.  This  was  finished  in  1829,  and 
was  the  first  tunnel  of  its  kind  in  the  United 
States.  Among  those  connected  with  the  canal ' 
enterprise,  they  were  known  as  the  "boy  con- 
tractors," the  elder  brother  but  twenty-four  years 
old;  but  they  were  credited,  and  justly,  with 
superior  practical  knowledge.  They  were  the 
first  to  introduce  the  method  of  securing  light  by 
means  of  reflecting  mirrors  placed  at  the  mouths 
of  the  tunnel.  Work  was  prosecuted  from  both 
ends,  night  and  day,  and  its  completion  was  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  greatest  achievements  of  the 
age,  and  the  subject  of  this  notice  was  furnished 
with  some  very  flattering  letters  when  he  left 
Pennsylvania. 

Having  made  a  considerable  profit  from  his 
contracts,  he  now  resolved  to  invest  some  of  it  in 
lands,  before  engaging  in  further  ventures,  and 
with  that  end  in  view,  took  a  trip  of  exploration 


through  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michigan,  which  oc- 
cupied three  months.  He  purchased  about  one 
thousand  acres  on  White  Pigeon  and  Sturgis 
Prairies,  in  St.  Joseph  County,  Michigan. 

Another  plan  which  had  for  some  time  been 
considered  was  now  consummated,  and  on  the 
fifth  of  February,  1829,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Hannah  Blair  McKibbin,  of  Franklin  County, 
Pennsylvania.  In  September  of  the  same  year 
they  set  out  for  their  new  home  in  Michigan. 
At  the  end  of  a  six-weeks  journey  from  Pitts- 
burgh, they  arrived  at  White  Pigeon,  November 
7,  1829,  and  here  a  log  cabin  was  erected.  After 
making  further  provisions  for  a  home,  young 
Stewart  went  to  Detroit  and  presented  to  Gov- 
ernor Lewis  Cass  his  letters  of  introduction. 
These  were  from  Governor  Porter,  Senators 
Blair  and  Lacock,  Judge  William  Wilkins  and 
James  S.  Stevenson,  President  of  the  Canal  Board, 
of  Pennsylvania,  all  of  whom  Governor  Cass 
characterized  as  his  personal  friends. 

In  the  spring  of  1830  the  Governor  sent  to  Mr. 
Stewart  a  commission  as  Colonel  of  Militia,  and 
a  year  later  appointed  him  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners to  locate  the  county  seats  of  St.  Joseph 
and  Cass  Counties.  At  this  time,  the  entire 
population  of  Michigan,  including  Detroit,  the 
chief  city  of  the  West,  numbered  but  a  few  thou- 
sand whites.  Through  the  influence  of  Colonel 
Stewart,  a  post  route  was  established  by  the 
Government  to  supply  the  few  scattered  settle- 
ments extending  from  Detroit  toward  Chicago. 
The  two  Stewart  brothers  before  named  were  the 
contractors  for  carrying  the  mails  once  in  two 
weeks,  which  was  accomplished  on  horseback, 
over  a  region  where  one  hundred  tons  are  now 
carried  daily.  Hart  L.  Stewart  was  made  Post- 
master at  Mottville,  with  the  franking  privilege, 
and  his  own  letters  and  papers  constituted  the  bulk 
of  the  mail  at  his  office.  In  1832  he  was  appointed 
Judge  of  the  County  Court  by  Governor  Porter, 
and  the  next  year  he  was  commissioned  Circuit 
Judge,  in  which  capacity  he  officiated  the  next 
three  years. 

In  1836  Judge  Stewart  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Second  Constitutional  Convention,  which 
was  called  to  fix  the  southern  boundary  of  the 


H.  L.  STEWART. 


97 


State  of  Michigan  to  correspond  with  the  line  as 
established  when  Indiana  and  Ohio  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union.  By  this  convention  he  was 
sent  to  Washington  to  secure,  if  possible,  the  ad- 
mission of  the  State  with  boundary  as  established 
by  the  ordinance  ceding  the  Northwest  Territory 
to  the  United  States,  and  including  Michigan 
City  and  Maumee  City.  That  he  did  not  suc- 
ceed is  a  matter  of  history,  but  the  State  secured, 
in  offset,  all  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  North- 
ern Peninsula  of  Michigan.  On  this  mission 
Judge  Stewart  formed  the  acquaintance  of  many 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  Nation  at  that  time. 

On  his  return  home,  Judge  Stewart  found  that 
the  Legislature  had  chosen  him  Commissioner  of 
Internal  Improvements,  and  in  this  capacity  he 
took  charge  of  the  survey  of  the  St.  Joseph  River 
for  slack- water  navigation,  and  also  of  the  Central 
Railroad.  The  latter  was  partially  built  by  the 
State,  and  then  turned  over  to  the  Michigan  Cen- 
tral Railroad  Company.  In  1838  he  received  the 
commission  of  Brigadier-General,  commanding 
the  Fourteenth  Brigade,  Michigan  Militia.  When 
the  Indians,  under  Black  Hawk,  threatened  to  kill 
or  drive  out  the  settlers  in  northern  Illinois  and 
southern  Wisconsin,  the  Government  requested 
the  Governor  of  Michigan  to  send  volunteers  to 
the  rescue.  General  Stewart  was  ordered  by 
Governor  Porter  to  raise  a  regiment  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  this  was  found  an  easy  tas,k,  as 
volunteers,  from  the  age  of  sixteen  to  sixty,  were 
numerous.  The  service  lasted  about  six  months, 
and  Colonel  Stewart's  regiment  included  his 
brothers,  A.  C.  Stewart,  as  Commander  of  a  com- 
pany; Samuel  M.  Stewart,  as  Lieutenant  of  an- 
other; besides  two  other  brothers  and  his  father 
as  volunteers.  The  latter  was  especially  valuable 
as  a  drill  master,  on  account  of  his  previous  serv- 
ice in  the  War  of  1812.  He  was  now  sixty  years 
of  age. 

In  June,  1836,  General  Stewart  attended  the 
letting  of  the  construction  contracts  on  the  Illinois 
&  Michigan  Canal,  and  contracted  for  a  large 
amount  of  deep-rock  work  near  Lockport.  He 
had  as  partners  A.  S.  Stewart,  Lorenzo  P.  Sanger, 
James  Y.  Sanger,  and  others,  who  took  personal 
charge  of  the  work,  while  he  continued  in  charge 


of  his  personal  and  official  interests  in  Michigan. 
In  1840  the  inability  of  the  State  to  meet  its 
financial  obligations  compelled  the  contractors  to 
abandon  the  work,  at  great  loss,  and  ruin  in 
many  cases.  About  this  time  General  Stewart 
took  up  his  residence  in  Chicago,  and  in  1842 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and 
was  active  in  securing  the  acceptance  of  the  for- 
eign bondholders'  proposition  to  complete  the 
canal.  None  of  the  contractors  had  ever  received 
anything  for  their  losses  previous  to  that  time. 
While  on  a  trip  to  Canada  to  secure  workmen  for 
the  canal  in  1839,  General  Stewart  was  placed 
in  arrest,  under  the  impression  that  he  was  a  spy 
in  the  interest  of  the  "Patriot  War. "  Through 
the  influence  of  friends,  his  mission  was  made 
known  to  the  Canadian  authorities,  and  he  was 
discharged  and  furnished  every  facility  for  carry- 
ing out  his  business.  From  1845  to  1849,  under 
the  administration  of  President  Polk,  General 
Stewart  served  as  Postmaster  at  Chicago,  being 
the  first  presidential  appointee  in  that  office. 

He  now  turned  his  attention  to  railroad  con- 
struction, and  became  interested  in  some  of  the 
largest  contracts  ever  given  in  the  West  to  a 
single  firm.  The  history  of  these  undertakings 
is  fully  related  in  this  volume  in  the  biography 
of  James  Y.  Sanger,  who  was  associated  with 
General  Stewart  in  this  work,  and  need  not  be 
repeated  here.  During  the  progress  of  their 
work,  in  partnership  with  several  others,  they 
became  proprietors  of  the  Rhode  Island  Central 
Bank,  and  this,  in  common  with  many  others, 
was  wrecked  by  the  financial  upheaval  of  1857, 
though  its  proprietors  were  enabled  to  close  up  its 
affairs  honorabl)-  and  with  little  loss  to  them- 
selves. 

General  Stewart  became  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity  in  1824,  and  subsequently 
took  all  the  chapter  and  encampment  degrees 
and  several  others.  In  political  sentiment,  he  was 
a  Democrat.  He  was  one  of  the  few  brave  spirits 
who  stood  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas  at  North 
Market  Hall,  on  the  evening  of  September  i, 
1854,  when  a  mob  of  political  opponents  refused 
to  let  the  "Little  Giant"  be  heard,  and  even 
threatened  him  with  bodily  harm.  In  religious 


98 


J.  H.   RICE. 


faith,  General  Stewart  was  a  true  "neighbor,"  a 
Presbyterian,  and  for  forty  years  rarely  failed  to 
listen  to  Rev.  Dr.  Patterson's  sermons  in  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Chicago.  He 
was  an  able  leader,  quiet  and  gentle  in  his  man- 
ners, sociable  and  genial,  making  his  home  a 
happy  place  for  the  frequent  reunions  of  a  large 
and  interesting  circle  of  friends. 

On  the  i2th  of  February,  1849,  authority  was 
granted  by  the  State  to  five  individuals,  one  of 
whom  was  Hart  L.  Stewart,  to  incorporate  the 
Chicago  Gas  Light  and  Coke  Company,  which 
was  granted  the  exclusive  right  to  supply  gas  to 
the  city  of  Chicago  for  ten  years.  Before  the 
close  of  the  next  year,  the  streets  of  the  city  and 
many  private  buildings  were  for  the  first  time 
illuminated  by  gaslight.  In  1857  General  Stew- 
art was  Vice-President  of  the  Great  Western  In- 
surance Company,  with  a  capital  of  half  a  million 
dollars,  and  office  at  No.  160  South  Water  Street. 
The  Stewart  Building,  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
State  and  Washington  Streets  (which  was  torn 
down  in  1896,  to  make  way  for  one  of  Chicago's 
famous  high  office  buildings),  was  the  fourth 
structure  erected  by  General  Stewart  on  that 
spot — the  first  one  having  been  for  many  years 
his  family  home. 

Hannah  Blair  McKibbin,  wife  of  General 
Stewart,  was  descended  from  old  and  honorable 
families.  Her  maternal  grandfather,  William 
Nelson,  was  a  brother  of  the  famous  Admiral 
Horatio  Nelson,  the  hero  of  Trafalgar.  His  wife 


was  Mary  Harvey,  and  their  children  were  Will- 
iam, James  and  Mary  Esther.  William  Nelson, 
senior,  died  in  1803,  at  which  time  his  daughter 
was  about  fifteen  years  old.  She  married  Col. 
James  McKibbin,  of  Franklin  "County,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  their  eldest  daughter,  Hannah  B., 
became  the  wife  of  General  Stewart,  as  before  re- 
lated, and  the  mother  of  the  following  children: 
Mary  Esther,  Frances  Validia,  Amelia  Mott, 
Catherine  E. ,  Jane,  Anna  Waldo,  Hannah  McKib- 
bin and  Helen  Wolcott.  The  first  married  Henry 
A.  Clark  in  1850,  and  both  are  now  deceased, 
being  survived  by  a  son,  Stewart  Clark,  of  Chi- 
cago. The  second  died  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
while  the  wife  of  Watson  Matthews,  leaving  one 
child,  Fannie  V.  Matthews.  Amelia  and  Cath- 
erine died  in  childhood.  Jane  Stewart  married 
John  C.  Patterson,  and  died  in  1875,  leaving  a 
son,  Stewart  Patterson.  Hannah  McKibbin  is 
the  wife  of  George  Sydney  Williams,  of  Chicago. 
The  youngest  is  the  wife  of  Lorenzo  M.  Johnson, 
manager  of  the  Mexican  International  Railroad. 
Mary  C.  McKibbin,  sister  of  Mrs.  Stewart, 
married  James  Y.  Sanger,  whom  she  survives, 
and  is  among  the  most  interesting  surviving 
pioneers  of  Illinois.  She  is  spoken  of  by  General 
Stewart  as  the  "Daughter  of  the  Regiment," 
during  the  campaign  against  Black  Hawk.  She 
was  then  a  miss  of  fourteen  years,  and  ready  to 
ride  on  any  expedition,  carrying  dispatches  and 
otherwise  aiding  in  conveying  information. 


JAMES  H.  RICE. 


(TAMES  HARLOW  RICE,  one  of  the  oldest 
I  and  most  highly  respected  business  men  of 
(*/  Chicago,  passed  away  at  his  home  on  Michi- 
gan Avenue,  in  that  city,  February  6,  1896. 
He  was  born  in  Tompkins  County,  New  York, 
in  1830.  His  parents,  Asa  and  Polly  (Reed) 
Rice,  were  natives  of  Massachusetts,  and  settled 


in  New  York  in  1811,  shortly  after  their  mar- 
riage. Asa  Rice  was  a  prosperous  farmer,  well 
known  and  esteemed  for  his  great  moral  worth. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church  and  active  in  good  works.  They 
attained  a  venerable  age,  the  former  dying  when 
eighty  years  old,  and  the  latter  at  seventy-five. 


E.  W.  EVANS. 


Mr.  Rice  was  an  "old-line"  Whig,  and  in  later 
life  became  a  Republican.  His  nine  children 
reached  mature  years,  and  three  came  West, 
namely,  Henry,  Columbus  T.  and  James  H. 
Rice.  The  first  two  are  now  residents  of  Adair 
County,  Missouri.  Columbus  Titus  Rice  came 
with  his  brother  to  Chicago  in  June,  1854,  and 
proceeded  to  Missouri  four  years  later,  and  has 
resided  there  ever  since.  In  early  life  he  was  a 
carpenter,  and  worked  at  that  occupation  while  a 
resident  of  Chicago.  On  going  to  Missouri  he 
engaged  in  farming,  but  is  now  retired  from  act- 
ive life.  He  was  married  in  New  York  in  1855 
to  Miss  Catherine  Wickoff,  who  is  still  his  com- 
panion on  life's  journey.  They  are  the  parents 
of  six  children,  namely:  Edward,  Flora,  Mary, 
Elizabeth,  Charles,  Augusta  and  James. 

James  H.  Rice  was  also  a  carpenter,  and  very 
early  after  arriving  in  Chicago  began  contract- 
ing for  the  erection  of  buildings.  Among  the 
structures  erected  by  him  were  the  old  Tremont 
House  and  the  Commercial  Hotel.  He  built  the 
first  structure  put  up  after  the  fire  of  1871,  which 
was  located  on  Quincy  Place.  From  1856  to 
1878  he  was  associated  in  this  business  with  Mr. 
Ira  Foote,  with  whom  he  was  acquainted  in  early 
life  in  New  York. 

In  1872  he  engaged  in  the  plate  and  window- 
glass  trade,  and  built  up  an  extensive  and  pros- 
perous business.  This  passed  into  the  control  of 
an  incorporated  company,  known  as  the  James 
H.  Rice  Company,  of  which  he  was  President. 
He  also  became  President  of  the  Stewart  Estep 
Glass  Company,  which  engaged  in  the  manu- 


facture of  glass  at  Marion,  Indiana.  Both  these 
institutions  were  flourishing  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  In  trade  circles  for  years  he  had  been  a 
leader,  and  his  counsel  had  ever  been  sought  and 
his  sterling  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  thor- 
oughly appreciated.  Among  Mr.  Rice's  personal 
friends  was  the  late  Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  for 
whom  he  did  much  work  during  his  building  ca- 
reer. He  was  widely  known  during  the  early 
days  in  Chicago,  and  was  esteemed  and  respected 
by  all  classes  of  citizens. 

In  1876  he  was  married  to  Miss  Margaret  Su- 
san Gilliland,  a  native  of  Ohio,  at  that  time  a 
resident  of  Perry,  Iowa.  She  died  February  4, 
1896.  During  the  last  eighteen  years  of  her  life 
she  had  been  an  invalid.  In  life  they  were  to- 
gether and  in  death  not  divided.  No  children 
blessed  their  union,  but  his  wife  was  ever  to  him 
his  child  and  care,  and  his  devotion  in  this  rela- 
tion was  most  beautiful.  The  double  funeral 
from  their  late  home  was  conducted  by  Rev.  J.  L. 
Withrow,  a  personal  friend  of  Mr.  Rice,  with 
whom  he  was  for  some  time  associated  on  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Presbyterian  Hospital. 
He  spoke  feelingly  of  the  man  and  woman  and 
their  works,  aims  and  ideas.  The  remains  were 
laid  away  in  Oakwoods  Cemetery,  the  active 
pallbearers  being  workmen  in  the  employ  of  the 
James  H.  Rice  Company.  By  Mr.  Rice  his  em- 
ployes were  ever  considered  as  his  "boys."  Some 
of  these  "boys"  are  men,  aged  and  gray,  who 
had  been  in  his  service  for  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
and  all  of  them  will  miss  his  kindly,  genial 
presence. 


ENOCH  W.  EVANS. 


ITNOCH  WEBSTER  EVANS,  who  for  a 
Ky  score  of  years  ranked  as  a  leading  member 
L_  of  the  Chicago  Bar,  was  born  at  Fryeburg, 
Maine,  in  1817,  and  died  in  Chicago,  September 
2,  1879.  He  was  one  of  eleven  children  born  to 


Capt.  William  and  Anna  Evans,  further  notice 
of  whom  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume, 
in  connection  with  the  biography  of  Dr.  Moses 
Evans. 

Enoch  W.  Evans  received  his  early  education 


IOO 


JOHN  DICKINSON. 


at  Fryeburg  Academy  and  Waterville  College, 
in  his  native  State.  Later  he  went  to  Dartmouth 
College,  where  he  pursued  a  classical  course,  and 
graduated  with  the  Class  of  1838.  He  then  en- 
gaged in  teaching  at  Hopkinton,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  simultaneously  began  to  read  law  in 
the  office  of  Judge  Chase,  a  noted  jurist  of  that 
State. 

In  1840  Mr.  Evans  came  to  Chicago,  where  he 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  during  the  same  year, 
soon  after  removing  to  Dixon's  Ferry,  Illinois, 
remaining  at  that  place  two  or  three  years. 
Thence  he  went  to  Kenosha,  Wisconsin,  where 
he  practiced  his  profession  until  1858.  At  that 
date  he  again  located  in  Chicago,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  general  practice  in  this  city  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death.  During  this  time  he  tried 
many  important  cases,  which  he  managed  with 
marked  ability,  gaining  a  numerous  and  profit- 
able clientage. 


On  the  i6th  of  September,  1846,  Mr.  Evans 
was  married,  Miss  Caroline  Hyde,  of  Darien, 
New  York,  becoming  his  wife.  Mrs.  Evans,  who 
is  a  daughter  of  James  Hyde,  still  survives,  at 
the  venerable  age  of  seventy-four  years,  making 
her  home  in  Chicago.  She  is  the  mother  of  four 
living  children:  William  W.,  a  prosperous  at- 
torney at  Chicago;  Lewis  H.,  a  civil  engineer,  at 
present  connected  with  the  track  elevation  of  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway  in  Chicago; 
Carrie,  Mrs.  William  L.  Adams,  and  Mary  W., 
the  two  latter  also  residents  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Evans  was  a  gentleman  of  quiet,  un- 
ostentatious habits,  and  gave  but  little  heed  to 
public  affairs.  He  confined  his  labors  and  at- 
tention almost  exclusively  to  professional  sub- 
jects, and  achieved  an  enviable  standing  among 
his  contemporaries,  which  justly  entitles  this 
brief  record  of  his  life  to  a  place  among  the  annals 
of  his  adopted  home. 


JOHN  DICKINSON. 


(JOHN  DICKINSON,  a  highly  successful 
I  operator  upon  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade, 
Q)  residing  at  Evanston,  was  born  in  the  his- 
toric old  town  of  Deerfield,  Massachusetts,  No- 
vember 21,  1855,  and  is  a  son  of  Philander  P. 
and  Mary  A.  (Feeney)  Dickinson. 

The  Dickinsons  were  among  the  earliest 
Colonial  families  of  Massachusetts.  Philander 
R.  Dickinson,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  notice,  was  a  wholesale  and  retail  shoe 
dealer  in  New  York  City  for  many  years.  He 
attained  the  great  age  of  ninety-eight  years,  dy- 
ing at  Springfield  Massachusetts. 

Philander  P.  Dickinson  became  an  extensive 
manufacturer  of  brooms  at  Springfield,  and  had 
at  one  time  the  largest  factory  in  that  State.  This 
establishment  was  destroyed  by  fire,  inflicting 
upon  Mr.  Dickinson  a  financial  loss  which  he 
was  never  able  wholly  to  retrieve.  In  1860 
he  removed  to  Iowa,  locating  first  at  Claremont, 


and  settling  later  at  McGregor.  At  the  latter 
point  he  again  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
brooms,  and  built  up  a  fair  business  On  account 
of  failing  health,  he  retired  from  active  business 
about  1865,  and  returned  to  the  East.  The  last 
ten  years  of  his  life  were  passed  at  Norwalk, 
Florida,  where  he  died  in  1884,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-nine  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  Church,  and  a  steadfast  Republican. 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Dickinson  died  at  Evanston  in 
1878,  aged  forty-nine  years.  She  was  born  in 
New  York  City,  her  parents  being  of  Irish  de- 
scent. Her  father  was  a  wholesale  shoe  mer- 
chant in  that  city.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  Church.  Her  children  are  named  and 
reside  as  follows:  Millie  D.,  Mrs.  Julius  Ball, 
Montague,  Massachusetts;  Mary  J.,  and  Delia, 
wife  of  F.  H.  Bennett,  Chicago;  John,  Evanston; 
Hattie  M.,  Denver,  Colorado. 

John  Dickinson  was  a  small  boy  when  the  fam- 


BENJAMIN  SHURTLEFF. 


101 


ily  came  West,  and  he  received  his  education  at 
the  Evanston  High  School.  He  began  his  busi- 
ness career  in  a  furniture  store,  and  established 
himself  in  business  as  a  shoe  dealer  at  Evanston, 
with  success.  In  1879  he  sold  out  and  joined  the 
Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  with  which  he  has  ever 
since  been  identified.  He  was  among  the  younger 
members  of  that  body,  but  soon  demonstrated 
his  capability  and  soundness,  and  has  won  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  the  entire  membership. 
He  handles  all  kinds  of  grain  and  provisions,  as 
well  as  stocks  and  bonds  and  other  paper  securi- 
ties, on  his  own  account,  and  has  met  with  al- 
most uniform  success.  His  profits  have  been 
largely  invested  in  real  estate  at  Hammond, 
Indiana,  and  in  Florida  timber  lands  and  orange 
groves. 

Mr.  Dickinson  was  married,  November  25, 
1875,  to  Miss  Mary  Alice  Johnson,  daughter  of 
Anthony  Johnson  and  Catherine  (Ganer)  John- 


son. Mrs.  Dickinson  was  born  at  Port  Jervis, 
New  York,  where  her  father  was  connected  with 
important  railroad  interests  for  some  years.  Mr. 
Dickinson  is  identified  with  the  First  Methodist 
Church  of  Evanston.  He  is  a  man  of  domestic 
tastes,  and  devotes  little  time  to  social  recreations. 
He  supports  the  Republican  party,  whose  policy 
he  believes  to  be  in  the  interest  of  good  govern- 
ment and  the  commercial  prosperity  of  the 
country. 

In  1889  he  built  an  elegant  residence  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Asbury  Avenue  and  Church 
Street,  Evanston,  which  is  surrounded  by  one  of 
the  handsomest  and  best- kept  lawns  in  Cook 
County.  In  short,  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Dickinson,  throughout  its  exterior  and  interior 
appointments,  bespeaks  the  refined  tastes  and 
cultivated  instincts  by  means  of  which,  only, 
such  an  establishment  can  be  designed  and  main- 
tained. 


BENJAMIN  SHURTLEFF. 


gENJAMIN  SHURTLEFF,  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  Lake  View,  whose  identity  is  rapidly 
becoming  lost  in  the  vast  city  of  Chicago,  is 
still  a  resident  of  that  former  suburb,  and  affords 
an  excellent  type  of  the  pioneers  of  the  metrop- 
olis of  the  West.  He  was  born  in  Ernesttown, 
Lennox  County,  Ontario,  July  19,  1812.  His 
ancestors  were  English,  and  were  very  loyal 
subjects  of  the  British  crown.  The  first  one  in 
the  American  colonies  settled  in  Massachusetts, 
whence  Lemuel  Shurtleff,  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  notice,  removed  to  Canada  at  the 
beginning  of  the  American  Revolution.  He 
settled  in  Ernesttown,  Lennox  County,  Ontario, 
where  he  engaged  in  farming,  reared  a  large 
family,  and  reached  a  good  old  age.  He  had 
three  sons,  Seldon,  Jacob  and  Gideon. 

The  last-named  passed  his  life  in  Canada, 
exceeding  the  age  of  eighty  years,  and  was  a 
farmer.  He  was  a  quiet,  faithful  Christian, 


devoted  to  the  Methodist  Church,  and  the  welfare 
of  his  fellow-men  was  dear  to  his  heart.  His 
wife,  Mary  Ward,  probably  of  Irish  descent,  was  a 
tender  and  true  wife  and  mother,  and,  like  himself, 
a  faithful  member  of  the  Methodist  Church.  She 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years.  Of  their 
twelve  children,  eleven  grew  to  maturity,  and 
three  of  the  sons  became  residents  of  the  United 
States.  Their  names  were  Samuel,  Jacob,  Gid- 
eon, Lemuel,  Benjamin,  Miles,  John,  Polly,  Amy, 
Lydia  and  Amanda.  Lemuel  was  an  able  me- 
chanic, and  built  some  of  the  large  iron  mills  at 
Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  at  which  place  he  died. 
Miles  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  New  York,  and 
became  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  iron  at 
Rochester,  New  York,  for  many  years. 

Benjamin  ShurtlefF  passed  the  first  eighteen 
years  of  his  life  on  the  home  farm,  receiving  such 
intellectual  training  as  was  afforded  by  the  dis- 
trict schools  and  good  home  surroundings.  At 


102 


BENJAMIN  SHURTLEFF. 


the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  began  learning  the 
joiner's  trade,  of  which  he  became  master.  In 
1837  he  joined  his  brother  in  Pittsburgh,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  was  associated  with  him  in  erecting 
large  manufacturing  plants  there.  Among  these 
may  be  mentioned  the  immense  iron  mills  of 
Spang,  Chalfant  &  Company  at  J3tna,  and 
the  rolling  mills  of  Louis  Dalzell  &  Company 
at  Sharpsburgh,  another  suburb  of  Pittsburgh. 
Among  his  fellow-workmen  was  Mr.  C.  K.  Gar- 
rison, since  one  of  the  most  successful  business 
men  and  capitalists  of  that  city,  who  was  regarded 
by  Mr.  Shurtleff  as  one  of  the  brightest  business 
men  he  ever  met.  Twelve  years  of  industrious 
application  there  gave  Mr.  Shurtleff  a  small  cap- 
ital, which  he  resolved  to  invest  in  a  newer  place, 
and  he  set  out  for  Chicago. 

Arriving  here  in  1851,  he  immediately  made 
investments  in  real  property,  which  his  foresight 
told  him  was  sure  to  appreciate  greatly  in  value. 
He  secured  twenty  acres  in  Lake  View  Town- 
ship, beside  three  twenty-acre  tracts  in  section 
33,  town  39  north,  range  14,  most  of  which  has 
been  subdivided  and  sold  off.  Shurtleff  s  Addi- 
tion was  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  well-known 
subdivisions  on  the  old  maps,  and  he  now  has 
valuable  property  on  the  South  Side  of  the  city. 
His  present  possessions  include  about  ten  acres 
of  the  most  valuable  land  in  the  city,  including 
many  improved  lots  in  the  vicinity  of  his  home, 
on  Oakdale  Avenue.  In  1870  he  built  six  sub- 
stantial houses  on  the  corner  of  Fremont  and  Oak- 
dale  Avenues,  which  were  beyond  the  ravages 
of  the  great  fire  of  the  next  year  and  became 
immediately  profitable. 

May  5,  1853,  at  Sharpsburgh,  Pennsylvania, 
Mr.  Shurtleff  was  married  to  Miss  Lucinda  J. 
Sewell,  daughter  of  James  H.  Sewell,  an  old 
resident  of  Pittsburgh.  Judge  James  Sewell,  a 
well-known  character  of  that  city,  was  a  brother 
of  Mrs.  Shurtleff.  Mrs.  Shurtleff  was  bom  in 
Baltimore,  Maryland,  and  died  January  10,  1856, 
in  the  prime  of  young  womanhood,  being  but 
twenty-seven  years  old  at  the  time  of  her  death. 
She  left  a  daughter,  Lucy  J.,  who  was  reared  by 
her  aunt,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Roberts,  well  known  in  Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania,  society.  She  was  educated 


at  Ferry  Hall  Seminary,  at  Lake  Forest,  Illinois, 
and  Hellmuth  College,  London,  Canada,  and  is 
now  the  wife  of  Bruce  M.  Myers,  of  Chicago. 
Subsequently,  at  Chicago,  Mr.  Shurtleff  married 
Mrs.  Margaret  A.  Buker,  who  was  born  Sep- 
tember 2,  1837,  at  Greenwood,  Maine.  She  was 
a  daughter  of  Capt.  Isaac  P.  Furlong,  who  was 
a  native  of  Maine,  and  commanded  a  company 
in  the  War  of  1812.  His  father  took  up  the 
first  claim  in  the  town  of  Greenwood,  Oxford 
County,  Maine.  Mrs.  Shurtleff  was  a  genial 
companion  to  Mr.  Shurtleff  in  every  sense  of  the 
word,  and  also  a  good  business  manager.  She 
was  a  woman  possessed  of  more  than  ordinary 
native  ability,  and  esteemed  for  many  good  qual- 
ities of  head  and  heart.  She  passed  away  July 
7,  1894,  leaving  two  sons  by  her  first  marriage. 
Harry  Leslie  Buker,  who  was  educated  principally 
at  the  Schattuck  Military  School,  Faribault, 
Minnesota,  is  well  known  in  musical  circles  in 
Chicago,  and  was  associated  twelve  years  with 
the  Slay  ton  Lyceum  Bureau  of  that  city.  The 
other  son,  .William  F.  Buker,  is  an  actor  by  pro- 
fession and  a  resident  of  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Shurtleff  was  among  the  early  members  of 
the  old  Fullerton  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Chicago,  and  has  been  a  stanch  supporter  of  the 
political  principles  of  the  Republican  party  all  his 
life.  In  1844  he  voted  for  Henry  Clay  for  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  he  was  among  the 
promoters  and  organizers  of  the  Republican  party, 
voting  for  Fremont  in  1856.  His  has  been  a 
quiet  life  of  industry  and  attention  to  his  private 
affairs,  with  no  seeking  after  public  honors.  He 
has  ever  given  of  his  time,  influence  and  means 
toward  the  promotion  of  any  movement  calculated 
to  further  the  general  welfare,  and  his  example 
is  commended  to  the  careful  attention  of  every 
youth  who  hopes  to  make  something  of  himself 
in  the  business,  social  or  moral  world.  His  suc- 
cess has  not  been  the  result  of  accident,  but  has 
been  built  up  by  shrewd  calculation,  and  the 
prudent  use  of  means  acquired  by  the  practice  of 
habits  of  industry  and  right  living.  He  refused 
his  share  of  his  father's  estate,  preferring  it 
should  go  to  his  sisters. 


D.  B.  FONDA. 


103 


DAVID  B.  FONDA,  M.  D. 


0AVID  BARTHOLOMEW  FONDA,  M.  D., 
is  a  representative  of  an  old  and  prominent 
Empire  State  family  which  settled  in  and 
named  the  county-seat  of  Montgomery  County, 
New  York.  His  grandfather,  John  Fonda,  was 
a  native  of  Holland,  and  settled  at  a  place  called 
Bogt,  in  Albany  County,  New  York,  where  he 
owned  an  estate  comprising  several  thousand 
acres.  His  only  son,  Henry  Fonda,  was  born 
there  and  inherited  this  estate.  Most  of  his  life 
was  passed  at  Watervliet,  New  York,  where  he 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years,  in  June,  1841. 
His  wife,  Rebecca  Hall,  was  born  at  Mayfield, 
Fulton  County,  New  York,  and  died  in  August, 
1840,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  Henry  Fonda 
was  somewhat  active  in  political  affairs,  though 
he  never  sought  or  accepted  office  for  himself. 

David  B.  Fonda  was  born  November  6,  1834, 
in  Watervliet,  Albany  County,  New  York,  where 
he  remained  until  he  reached  the  age  of  sixteen 
years.  In  his  native  township,  at  a  place  called 
Elisha's  Kill,  he  received  his  primary  education, 
completing  the  course  of  the  upper  school  before 
he  was  sixteen  years  old. 

He  was  then  appointed  principal  of  the  Second 
District  School  of  the  Third  Ward  of  Schenectady, 
New  York,  where  he  taught  one  year.  His  first 
teacher's  certificate  was  granted  by  Jonathan 
Pearson,  professor  of  languages  in  Union  Col- 
lege, at  Schenectady,  and  superintendent  of  the 
public  schools  of  that  city.  The  scene  of  his 
labors  for  the  next  four  years  was  a  place  called 


Lowell's  Corners,  where  he  taught  in  the  joint 
district  embracing  portions  of  the  towns  of  Cherry 
Valley  and  Seward,  in  the  Counties  of  Schoharie 
and  Otsego.  While  teaching  here  he  pursued  a 
private  course  in  moral  and  mental  philosophy, 
and  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  under  the 
tutelage  of  Franklin  Pierce,  a  cousin  of  the  Presi- 
dent who  bore  the  same  name.  At  the  end  of 
this  time  he  was  prepared  for  matriculation  at 
Hartwick  College,  a  Lutheran  Theological  institu- 
tion. 

It  is  evident  from  the  progress  made  up  to  this 
time  that  Mr.  Fonda  was  a  close  student.  By  the 
time  he  attained  his  majority  he  had  occupied  a 
responsible  position  as  teacher  for  a  period  of  five 
years.  The  hard  work  involved  in  these  labors, 
coupled  with  the  diligent  pursuit  of  his  studies 
preparatory  to  further  advancement,  made  deep 
inroads  upon  his  physical  strength,  and  a  connec- 
tion which  he  formed  at  this  time  changed  his 
plans  and  the  entire  course  of  his  life.  March  22, 
1855,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Clarinda  Lowell,  a 
descendant  of  the  famous  New  England  family  of 
that  name,  who  was  born  at  Lowell's  Corners. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  Nyram  Lowell. 

In  1855,  with  his  bride,  Mr.  Fonda  removed  to 
Chicago.  Having  a  relative  who  was  in  the 
service  of  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union  Railroad, 
he  sought  and  secured  employment  as  a  brake- 
man  on  this  line  for  the  sake  of  the  outdoor 
labor,  and  at  the  end  of  fourteen  months  spent  in 
this  capacity,  he  found  his  health  fully  restored. 


104 


D.  B.  FONDA. 


He  then  accepted  a  position  as  teacher  at  Rose- 
hill,  and  began  the  pursuit  of  a  medical  course  at 
Rush  Medical  College.  He  attended  lectures  at 
this  institution  during  the  two  years  beginning  in 
1859  an(i  ending  in  1861. 

Early  in  1862  he  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier, 
in  Company  C,  Eighty-ninth  Illinois  Volunteer 
Infantry  known  as  the  Railroad  Regiment,  being 
composed  entirely  of  railroad  men.  By  the  time 
the  regiment  was  mustered  he  was  promoted  to 
Orderly  Sergeant,  and  continued  in  service 
through  Kentucky  with  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land until  the  battle  of  Perryville.  After  this 
engagement  he  was  sent  with  a  detail  to  escort  an 
ambulance  train  to  Bardstown,  Kentucky.  On 
his  arrival  there  he  found  that  he  had  been. ap- 
pointed chief  steward  of  the  hospitals  at  that  point. 
He  continued  there  until  the  latter  part  of  1863, 
and  became  secretary  of  the  medical  corps,  which 
embraced  eight  army  surgeons.  When  he  entered 
the  army  his  weight  was  one  hundred  forty- 
five  pounds,  but  during  his  service  it  was  re- 
duced to  ninety-four  pounds,  and  through  the 
recommendation  of  the  surgeons  he  was  honorably 
discharged  on  account  of  disability,  although  he 
had  never  as  yet  asked  for  a  release  from  duty. 
On  his  return  to  Chicago  he  was  prostrated  by 
a  severe  illness,  which  continued  for  a  period  of 
three  months. 

Recovering  his  health,  he  again  entered  Rush 
Medical  College  in  1864,  and  two  years  later  com- 
pleted the  coarse.  He  subsequently  entered 
Bennett  Medical  College,  from  which  he  received 
a  diploma  in  1878.  In  1866  he  began  the  practice 
of  medicine  at  Jefferson  Park,  and  has  continued 
to  reside  there  ever  since.  In  1867,  without  any 
solicitation  on  his  part,  he  was  elected  by  the 
County  Board  to  the  post  of  County  Physician  and 
superintendent  of  the  insane  paupers  sustained  by 
the  county.  Through  his  vigorous  protest 
against  the  mixture  of  insane  with  the  other 
wards  of  the  county,  the  board  was  induced  to 
appropriate  money  for  a  building  to  be  devoted 
exclusively  to  the  care  of  the  insane.  This  was 
begun  in  1868,  and  on  the  first  day  of  the  year 
1871  Dr.  Fonda  installed  the  patients  in  his  charge 
in  their  new  quarters.  At  the  end  of  four  years' 


service  he  retired  and  resumed  his  private  practice 
at  Jefferson,  in  which  he  has  since  continued  with 
the  ever-increasing  confidence  and  respect  of  the 
community. 

Dr.  Fonda  has  been  somewhat  active  in  the 
conduct  of  local  affairs,  and  the  promotion  of  the 
common  welfare.  In  1874  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  village  board  of  Jefferson,  of  which 
body  he  was  immediately  made  president  and 
continued  four  consecutive  years  in  this  position. 
He  was  for  many  years  health  officer  of  the  vil- 
lage, which  was  co-extensive  with  the  town  of 
Jefferson,  until  it  was  merged  in  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago, and  was  again  a  member  of  the  village 
board  from  1884  until  1886.  During  the  first 
year  of  this  service  he  was  president  of  the  board, 
but  refused  that  office  during  the  second  year,  in 
order  that  he  might  be  active  on  the  floor  in  the 
discussion  of  many  important  movements  then 
pending.  For  many  years  he  was  County  Phy- 
sician in  charge  of  the  medical  relief  of  the  poor 
outside  of  public  institutions.  In  1889,  when 
Jefferson  was  annexed  to  the  city  of  Chicago,  Dr. 
Fonda  was  elected  one  of  the  first  aldermen  from 
the  twenty-seventh  ward,  and  in  the  following 
April  he  was  re-elected  and  served  two  years. 
In  political  matters  he  has  always  acted  with  the 
Republican  party,  having  allied  himself  with  it 
in  1856,  and  although  he  has  sometimes  voted 
for  individuals  not  on  his  party  ticket,  he  has 
ever  remained  true  to  its  principles.  In  recent 
years  he  has  made  numerous  addresses  on  political 
and  economic  subjects,  which  have  been  received 
with  much  applause. 

Dr.  Fonda  is  still  a  member  in  good  standing  of 
the  Lutheran  Church  at  Gardnersville,  New  York. 
On  a  visit  to  the  scenes  of  his  early  life,  made  in 
the  fall  of  1897,  he  attended  worship  at  this  place, 
where  he  met  but  one  person  that  he  had  previ- 
ously known.  After  an  absence  of  forty  years 
this  visit  to  his  childhood  home,  although  a  very 
pleasant  one  on  the  whole,  was  much  saddened 
by  the  absence  of  familiar  faces.  In  the  midst  of 
family  connections  numbering  thousands,  he  was 
still  among  strangers. 

Dr.  Fonda  was  for  many  years  connected  with 
Hesperia    Lodge,    Ancient   Free   and   Accepted 


L.  J.  HALSEY. 


105 


Masons,  of  Chicago,  and  was  a  charter  member 
of  the  first  Masonic  Lodge  in  Jefferson.  He  is 
now  connected  with  Wylie  M.  Egan  Lodge, 
Washington  Chapter,  Siloam  Council,  St.  Ber- 
nard Commandery,  and  Medinah  Temple,  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine.  He  was  for  many  years  con- 
nected with  Home  Lodge  No.  416,  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  of  Chicago,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  George  H.  Thomas  Post  No.  5,  Grand 


Army  of  the  Republic.  He  is  Grand  Medical 
Examiner  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Mutual  Aid 
of  the  State  of  Illinois. 

Mrs.  Fonda  passed  away  in  1890,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-five  years,  leaving  one  child,  Carrie  Azubah, 
who  resides  with  her  father.  Dr.  Fonda  is  yet  in 
possession  of  sound  health,  and  a  vigorous  intel- 
lect, and  has  many  years  of  usefulness  both  as  a 
citizen  and  physician  before  him. 


REV.  LEROY  J.  HALSEY. 


REV.  LEROY  JONES  HALSEY,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.  On  the  28th  day  of  January,  A. 
D.  1812,  Leroy  Jones  Halsey  was  born  in 
Cartersville,  Goochland  County,  Virginia,  on  the 
banks  of  the  James  River,  twelve  miles  from 
Richmond,  the  first-born  son  of  John  and  Lucy 
(Tiller)  Halsey.  His  paternal  ancestry  is  traced 
back  through  the  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 
settlements  to  a  New  England  stock  of  the  date 
of  1640.  He  was  acquainted  with  the  hardship 
£>f  straitened  circumstances  in  his  early  childhood. 
When  he  was  less  than  five  years  old  his  father 
met  with  reverses  by  too  generously  becoming 
liable  for  another  man's  debt.  It  deprived  him 
of  his  business  and  his  home,  and  forced  his  emi- 
gration to  the  far  southwest  to  begin  life  anew. 
He  located  at  Huntsville,  Alabama. 

Leroy  was  always  of  a  studious  habit.  He  ac- 
quired the  rudiments  of  knowledge  at  home,  and 
from  the  few  books  and  periodicals  available  he 
had  gained  much  information  before  he  went  to 
school.  At  school  learning  was  a  pleasure  to 
him.  Study  was  a  delight,  and  this  love  of  ap- 
plication and  research  so  early  manifested  was 
characteristic  of  his  entire  collegiate  and  theo- 
logical course,  and  remained  with  him  through 
life.  The  days  spent  in  the  classic  shades  of  the 
old  Green  Academy  at  Huntsville  were  among 
the  happiest  of  his  youth. 


At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  left  his  home  in 
Huntsville  to  enter  the  University  of  Nashville, 
at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  he  was  matricu- 
lated in  the  autumn  of  1831,  and  entered  the 
junior  class.  His  education  had  been  begun  and 
was  prosecuted  from  first  to  last  with  the  ministry 
of  the  Gospel  definitely  in  view. 

In  the  summer  of  1834  he  was  graduated,  and 
after  a  visit  to  his  home  he  returned  to  Nashville 
and  taught  a  select  school  for  a  year,  from  the 
proceeds  of  which  he  repaid  his  college  debt,  and 
then  accepted  the  position  of  tutor  in  the  college. 
At  the  same  time,  in  November,  1835,  he  placed 
himself  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Nash- 
ville as  a  candidate  for  the  Gospel  ministry. 
Having  served  as  tutor  for  a  year  he  accepted  the 
appointment  of  substitute  professor  of  languages 
in  place  of  a  professor  who  was  to  be  absent 
for  a  year. 

These  three  years  succeeding  graduation,  one 
spent  in  private  teaching,  and  two  in  college 
work,  were  beneficial  in  fixing  and  testing  scholar- 
ship, and  also  from  a  financial  point  of  view. 
They  enabled  him  to  discharge  his  debt  and  to 
accumulate  a  fund  sufficient  to  defray  the  expense 
of  a  theological  course. 

Retiring  from  these  pleasing  associations  in  the 
summer  of  1837,  after  a  brief  visit  to  his  home 
he  journeyed  eastward  by  stage  coach  and  steam- 


io6 


L.  J.  HALSEY. 


boat  until,  at  Frederick,  Md. ,  he  had  his  first 
view  of  a  railway  train,  and  thence  through  Bal- 
timore and  Philadelphia,  his  first  experience  of 
railway  travel,  as  far  as  Trenton,  N.  J.  On  the 
gth  day  of  November  he  entered  the  Theological 
Seminary  of  Princeton. 

On  the  agth  day  of  September,  1840,  the  semi- 
nary life  of  Dr.  Halsey  ended  with  his  gradua- 
tion. He  had  been  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick  on  the  5th  day  of  August  pre- 
ceding. He  immediately  began  his  journey  to 
the  West,  stopping  in  Philadelphia  to  preach  in 
several  of  the  churches  there  and  to  receive  his 
commission  from  the  Board  of  Missions  assign- 
ing him  to  missionary  labor  in  the  bounds  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Tuscaloosa,  Alabama. 

This  work  continued  for  more  than  two  years, 
when  its  widely  known  success  and  the  growing 
reputation  of  Dr.  Halsey  brought  such  urgent 
calls  to  wider  fields  that  he  was  constrained  to 
give  them  heed.  The  one  which  proved  the 
most  attractive  was  the  one  which  showed  the 
greatest  need.  A  recently  organized  congrega- 
tion in  the  city  of  Jackson,  the  capital  of  Missis- 
sippi, was  seeking  for  consecrated  leadership  and 
preaching  power.  They  were  without  a  house 
of  worship,  with  little  numerical  or  financial 
strength,  but  with  united  and  zealous  purpose 
and  with  a  growing  and  influential  community 
around,  in  crying  need  of  Gospel  privileges  and 
influence  and  work.  He  accepted  their  call,  and 
removing  to  Jackson,  was  ordained  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Mississippi  and  installed  pastor  on  the 
sistday  of  March,  1843. 

A  commodious  house  of  worship  was  soon 
provided.  The  congregation  grew  and  the  work 
enlarged.  This  prosperous  work  continued  for 
five  years.  'During  this  pastorate,  on  the  24th 
day  of  April,  1844,  he  was  married  to  Caroline 
Augusta  Anderson,  of  Pendleton,  South  Carolina, 
a  granddaughter  of  Gen.  Robert  Anderson  of 
Revolutionary  fame. 

His  well-known  success  in  Jackson  led  to  his 
being  called  to  undertake  a  similar  work  in  Lou- 
isville, Kentucky,  where  a  small  colony  of  Presby- 
terians desired  him  to  lead  them  in  the  work  of 
founding  and  establishing  a  church.  Satisfied  of 


the  importance  of  the  enterprise,  and  undismayed 
by  its  prospective  difficulties,  he  accepted  their 
call  and  entered  upon  the  work  in  the  autumn 
of  1848. 

The  church  grew  rapidly  under  his  ministry. 
A  comfortable  house  of  worship  was  speedily  pro- 
vided, and  very  soon  the  congregation,  in  point 
of  numbers  and  ability  and  efficiency,  took  rank 
with  the  older  churches  of  the  city. 

Here  he  conducted  a  happy,  useful  and  success- 
ful pastorate  for  ten  years,  in  connection  with  the 
Chestnut  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  the  same 
organization  that,  in  a  different  locality,  is  still  ac- 
tive, strong  and  prosperous,  under  the  name  and 
title  of  the  Warren  Memorial  Church. 

In  1859  he  was  appointed  by  the  General  As- 
sembly to  the  Chair  of  Ecclesiology,  Sacred 
Rhetoric  and  Pastoral  Theology  in  the  Presby- 
terian Theological  Seminary  of  the  Northwest, 
which  the  same  assembly  located  at  Chicago,  on 
the  basis  of  an  endowment  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  donated  by  the  late  Cyrus  H.  Mc- 
Cormick,  of  this  city.  The  institution  is  now 
known  as  McCormick  Theological  Seminary. 

He  entered  upon  his  work  in  Chicago  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year.  The  city  then  contained  a 
population  of  barely  one  hundred  thousand.  The 
seminary  was  domiciled  at  first  in  a  rented  build- 
ing at  Clark  and  Harrison  Streets.  Two  years 
later  it  found  temporary  quarters  in  the  base- 
ment of  the  North  Presbyterian  Church  at  Cass 
and  Indiana  Streets.  The  present  location,  at 
North  Halsted  Street  and  Fullerton  Avenue,  was 
first  occupied  for  seminary  purposes  in  the  winter 
of  1863  and  1864. 

Dr.  Halsey  continued  his  active  labors  in  the 
seminary  for  thirty-three  years,  terminating 
them  only  in  1892,  when  he  was  eighty  years  old. 
In  addition  to  the  labors  of  the  pastorate  and 
of  the  professor's  chair  he  was  a  faithful  and  in- 
fluential helper  in  the  councils  of  the  church;  he 
responded  to  invitations  for  addresses  on  public 
occasions,  and  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  the 
columns  of  the  press.  In  1858  he  published  his 
first  book,  "The  Literary  Attractions  of  the 
Bible,"  a  work  of  classic  merit,  which  holds  and 
will  continue  to  hold  an  assured  place  among  the 


L.  J.  HALSEY. 


107 


preserved  gems  of  English  and  American  litera- 
ture. 

After  Dr.  Halsey  came  to  Chicago  his  voice 
and  pen  occupied  a  wider  sphere  than  that  of  the 
seminary  alone.  He  preached  often  and  in  many 
pulpits  all  over  the  land  and  always  with  great 
acceptance.  In  1860  he  issued  "Life  Pictures 
from  the  Bible, ' '  a  work  that  has  held,  and  will 
always  hold  with  those  who  possess  it,  an  eminent 
place  among  the  delineations  of  Bible  character. 
In  1861  appeared  "The  Beauty  of  Immanuel," 
an  exposition  of  the  life,  character,  person,  work, 
offices  and  glory  of  the  Christ  whom  he  loved 
and  adored,  a  work  most  stimulating  to  piety  and 
helpful  to  devotion. 

In  1866  he  published,  in  three  large  volumes, 
through  the  L,ippiiicott  press,  the  "Life  and 
Works  of  Philip  Lindsley,  D.  D.,"  a  labor  of 
love,  preserving  to  posterity  the  literary  produc- 
tions of  one  of  the  most  accomplished  educators 
of  his  day.  In  1871  appeared  from  his  pen  '  'The 
Memoir  of  Lewis  W.  Green,  D.  D.,"  and  in  1881 
a  volume  entitled  "Living  Christianity,"  a  brief, 
clear  and  strong  presentation  of  the  fundamentals 
of  Christian  faith  and  the  essentials  of  Chris- 
tian duty. 

About  this  time  he  became  Professor  Emeritus 
and  continued  to  give  regular  instruction  in 
the  matters  of  church  government  -and  the  sacra- 
ments. His  pen  was  by  no  means  idle,  for  in 
1884  he  published  a  very  instructive  and  edifying 
book  on  "Scotland's  Influence  on  Civilization," 
and  in  1893  there  came  from  his  pen  the  work 
into  which  he  had  poured  the  affections  of  his 
heart  and  the  accumulated  events  and  emotions 
of  thirty  years,  "The  History  of  the  McCormick 
Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,"  an  octavo  volume  of  five  hundred 
pages. 

Dr.  Halsey  lived  to  be  eighty-four  years  old, 
dying  June  18,  1896. 

One  of  the  large  privileges  of  human  life  is  to 
dwell  in  immediate  touch  with  great  and  good 
men.  The  very  presence,  the  example,  and  the 
teachings  of  such  men,  tend  to  form  the  character, 
to  guide  the  thinking,  to  elevate  the  taste  and  to 
direct  the  activities  of  whole  communities.  Be- 


neath their  kindly  but  potent  influence,  society 
is  rounded  out  into  fairer  proportions,  the  pur- 
pose to  accomplish  noble  ends  becomes  more  de- 
cisive, sympathy  expands  and  deepens,  and  life 
is  found,  more  and  more,  to  be  truly  worth  the 
living.  One  of  the  noblest  of  this  high  class  was 
the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

For  thirty-seven  years  Dr.  Halsey  lived  in 
Chicago.  He  entered  on  his  work  in  that  city 
in  the  zenith  of  his  powers.  Long  and  painstak- 
ing education  had  fitted  him  to  exercise  with 
commanding  ability  the  sacred  office  to  which  he 
had  been  chosen.  He  had  reached  first  rank  as 
a  preacher  and  pastor  before  he  entered  on  the  re- 
sponsible task  of  training  young  men  for  the 
ministry,  and  he  came  to  this  new  work  ripe  in 
learning,  mature  in  piety,  skilled  in  administra- 
tion, familiar  with  the  best  methods  of  profes- 
sional education,  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
foremost  churchmen  of  the  period,  ardent  in  the 
cause  of  a  world- wide  evangelization,  embalmed 
in  the  confidence  of  the  influential  communion, 
which  he  represented,  and  in  every  way  well 
fitted  to  advance  the  important  enterprise  to  which 
he  stood  committed. 

At  the  time  of  his  entrance  to  Chicago  Dr. 
Halsey  was  called  to  lay  the  foundations  upon 
which  varied  structures  should  be  raised.  Society 
was  hardly  formed,  and  his  influence  was  felt  in 
directing  it  along  lines  of  Christian  refinement. 
There  was  but  one  Presbyterian  Church  on  the 
North  Side,  and  that  near  the  heart  of  the  city. 
He  early  helped  plant  another  and  then  others 
as  the  years  went  by. 

McCormick  Theological  Seminary  was  but  just 
opened  in  Chicago.  Its  maintenance  and  develop- 
ment and  permanent  establishment  had  yet  to  be 
provided  for. 

Few  men  have  ever  been  called  to  so  large  and 
so  varied  a  work  in  so  important  a  center  and  at 
such  an  epoch-making  period.  For  this  impos- 
ing undertaking  he  had  the  equipment  requisite, 
whether  we  consider  it  on  the  side  of  a  large  and 
unhesitating  faith  in  the  sublime  truths  which  he 
came  to  teach  and  defend,  or  in  the  stead y  cour- 
age for  the  day  of  small  things  to  be  fostered  in  a 
period  of  unrest  and  conflict — or  of  conspicuous 


io8 


THOMAS  GOODE. 


talents  fitted  to  meet  the  diversified  calls  arising 
from  the  extensive  task — or  of  sublime  patience 
in  the  midst  of  the  fluctuations  and  discourage- 
ments incident  to  the  sure  establishment  of  a 
young  institution  in  the  center  of  a  comoaratively 
new  section  of  our  great  country. 

In  the  prosecution  of  these  wide  ranging  labors 
Dr.  Halsey  laid  his  formative  hand  on  a  larger 
number  of  men  than  any  other  theological  teacher 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  West.  His 
early  colleagues  soon  passed  on — one  in  less  than 
two  years,  to  his  heavenly  home — the  others  to 
important  fields  elsewhere. 

Dr.  Halsey  remained  undaunted  at  his  post  in 
sunshine  and  in  storm,  when  rude  war  rolled  un- 
checked over  the  land,  when  peace  once  more 


settled  on  a  still  united  nation.  Under  all  the 
changes  of  an  eventful  period  he  stood  fast,  the 
one  commanding  figure  in  the  changing  scene, 
around  whose  person  the  destinies  of  the  institu- 
tion revolved,  and  in  whose  lone  hand  its  inter- 
ests often  reposed.  And  ere  yet  unseen  hands 
with  gentle  touch  closed  his  eyes  to  earthly  sight, 
to  be  re-opened  so  soon  amid  the  splendors  of 
mediatorial  glory  he  had  witnessed  the  triumphs 
of  the  cause  to  which  he  had  devoted  so  many 
years  of  his  life,  in  the  establishment  of  a  semi- 
nary of  sacred  learning,  equal  in  its  equipments  to 
any  in  the  land,  and  full  to  overflowing  with  in- 
genuous youth  in  preparation  for  the  noble  work 
of  preaching  the  Gospel  in  every  tongue  and  to 
every  land  under  the  sun. 


THOMAS  GOODE, 


'HOMAS  GOODE,  one  of  Chicago's  most 
worthy  pioneers,  now  living  in  rest  and  re- 
tirement on  Racine  Avenue,  was  born 
April  18,  1816,  in  the  Parish  of  Enfield,  in  Mid- 
dlesex, near  London,  England.  He  is  a  son  of 
Thomas  and  Maria  (Head)  Goode,  the  former  a 
native  of  Warwickshire,  and  the  latter  of  Middle- 
sex, England. 

Thomas  Goode,  senior,  was  an  orphan  from  the 
time  he  was  a  small  boy,  and  was  sent  to  London, 
where  his  eldest  brother  lived,  and  where  he 
learned  the  trade  of  baker,  at  which  he  worked 
for  many  years.  He  had  seven  children  that 
grew  to  maturity,  three  of  whom  came  to  America 
with  their  parents.  John  and  Thomas  came  in 
1845,  sailing  from  London,  and  upon  arriving  in 
New  York,  they  went  to  Albany  by  boat,  and 
from  there  proceeded  to  Buffalo  by  the  canal. 
From  Buffalo  they  came  to  Chicago  by  the  old 
steamer  "Madison." 

In  1859  Thomas  Goode  visited  England,  and 


when  he  returned  to  America  his  parents  accom- 
panied him,  spending  their  last  years  in  Chicago. 
The  father  died  in  1870,  his  wife  having  preceded 
him  by  three  years.  Edward,  a  younger  brother, 
came  to  the  United  States  about  1864,  and  still 
resides  in  this  city,  and  John  Goode  makes  his 
home  in  Florida. 

Thomas  Goode  received  only  an  ordinary  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  his  native  land,  which  were 
then  much  poorer  than  now,  and  was  early  em- 
ployed in  a  greenhouse,  in  the  cultivation  of 
flowers  and  plants. 

In  1840  Mr.  Goode  married  Miss  Ellen  Colpus, 
and  their  first  three  children  were  born  in  Eng- 
land. Soon  after  coming  to  Chicago  he  bought 
property  on  the  West  Side,  in  Carpenter's  Ad- 
dition, and  later,  bought  twelve  acres  in  North 
Chicago,  afterwards  Lake  View.  Here  he  raised 
vegetables  extensively  for  the  city  market,  and 
through  his  prudence  and  industry,  and  the  great 
growth  of  the  city,  became  wealthy.  He  sold 


G.  N.   POWELL. 


109 


some  of  his  land  to  a  railroad  company,  and  the 
remainder  mostly  in  lots.  He  retired  from  active 
business  about  ten  years  ago.  Mr.  Goode  is  an 
ardent  Republican,  but  has  never  been  willing  to 
accept  any  public  office  himself.  He  is  an  ad- 
herent of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

Mr.  Goode  has  been  married  twice.  By  his 
first  wife  he  had  six  children,  two  of  whom  died 
in  infancy.  Those  of  his  children  living  are: 
Edwin  Peto;  Jane,  wife  of  John  M.  Gibson;  La- 


vinia  and  Rowland  T.  The  mother  of  this  family 
died  about  1879.  In  1891  Mr.  Goode  married 
Miss  Margaret  M.  Gubbins,  a  native  of  the  city 
of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Goode  has  lived  many  years  in  his  present 
location,  and  has  many  friends.  He  is  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  highly  respected  citizens  of  this 
part  of  the  city,  where,  during  his  long  residence, 
he  has  proven  his  sterling  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart. 


GEORGE  N.  POWELL. 


fJfEORGE  NELSON  POWELL,  one  of  Chi- 

bcago's  pioneers,  came  to  the  West  in  1833. 
He  was  descended  from  English  and  Welsh 
ancestry,  and  his  lineage  has  been  traced  back  to 
Thomas  Powell,  who  was  born  in  August,  1641 
(probably  in  Wales),  and  died  at  Westbury, 
Long  Island,  December  28,  1721.  A  descendant 
of  his  in  the  fourth  generation,  Obadiah  Powell, 
was  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Obadiah  Powell  died  in  Saratoga  County,  New 
York,  at  the  age  of  nearly  one  hundred  years. 
Some  time  previous  to  the  Revolutionary  War  he 
removed  thither  from  Dutchess  County,  in  the 
same  state,  with  his  wife  Betsy,  taking  all  their 
belongings  on  the  back  of  a  pony.  Like  his 
Quaker  ancestry,  he  was  opposed  to  war,  and 
was  much  censured  during  the  Revolutionary 
struggle  because  of  his  non-combatant  position, 
and  most  of  his  personal  property  was  confiscated. 
He  was  steadfast  in  his  convictions,  however,  and 
lived  to  be  one  of  the  leading  farmers  in  the  com- 
munity. At  the  age  of  ninety-eight  years  he 
husked  several  baskets  of  corn,  which  he  carried 
on  his  shoulder  to  the  loft  of  his  carriage-house. 


He  was  the  father  of  three  sons  and  eight  daugh- 
ters, all  of  whom  lived  to  extreme  old  age,  and 
his  house  was  the  favorite  gathering-place  of  his 
descendants.  His  son,  Frost  Powell,  lived  until 
1840  in  Dutchess  County,  New  York,  where  he 
married  Katharine  Nelson,  who  was  of  Dutch 
descent.  In  1840  he  removed  to  Waterford,  Ra- 
cine County,  Wisconsin,  where  he  died  a  few 
years  later. 

His  son,  George  N.  Powell,  whose  name  heads 
this  article,  was  born  August  13,  1807,  in  Dutchess 
County,  New  York.  He  received  the  best  edu- 
cation that  the  locality  afforded  at  that  time,  and 
early  in  life  became  a  general  contractor.  Being 
convinced  that  the  West  offered  great  business 
opportunities,  he  removed  in  1833  to  Chicago. 
Here  he  rented  a  tract  of  land  from  Archibald  Cly- 
bourn,  and  engaged  in  farming  and  gardening.  In 
1836  he  located  in  what  was  afterwards  known  as 
Jefferson  Township,  making  claim  to  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  thirty-six,  which  he  pur- 
chased at  the  land  sale  of  1838.  He  at  once  com- 
menced the  improvement  of  a  farm  on  this  land, 
which  was  then  in  a  state  of  nature,  and  for  sev- 


no 


G.  N.  POWELL. 


eral  years  kept  a  public  house  for  the  entertain- 
ment of  travelers.  While  still  in  the  prime  of 
life,  and  apparently  having  many  years  of  active 
usefulness  before  him,  he  was  stricken  with 
cholera  and  died  August  18,  1850.  Besides  being 
a  careful  and  successful  business  man  he  was  ever 
active  as  a  citizen  and  took  a  great  interest  in  pub- 
lic affairs,  affiliating  in  politics  with  the  Dem- 
ocratic party. 

March  22,  1835,  Mr.  Powell  married  Miss  Ara- 
mesia  Harmon,'  who  was  born  in   Montgomery 
County,  Virginia,  February  27,  1820.     Her  par- 
ents,   Henry   Harmon   and    Mary   Ann    Horn- 
barger,  were  natives  of  that  state,  and  the  chil- 
dren of  Revolutionary  soldiers.     Henry  Harmon 
enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  but  peace 
was  declared  before  his  services  were  called  for. 
He  died  October  29,  1829,  and  his  widow  mar- 
ried Jacob  Miller.     In  1832  this  couple  came  to 
Chicago,  where  Mr.  Miller  worked  as  a  carpen- 
ter.    In  1849  he  made  the  overland  journey  to 
California,  and  died  there  in  the  fall  of  that  year. 
His  widow  died  December  27,   1876,  in  Minne- 
sota.    The  family  arrived  in  Chicago  at  the  time 
of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  took  refuge  in  Fort 
Dearborn.     The   daughter,   Aramesia,    was   but 
twelve  years  of  age  at  that  time,  and  received  her 
education  and  grew  to  womanhood  in  the  pioneer 
settlement.     She  has  been  an  observant  witness 
of  the  marvelous  growth  of  Chicago  from  a  mere 
hamlet  of  log  huts  to  the  second  city  in  the  land. 
George  N.  and  Aramesia  Powell  were  the  par- 
ents of  six  children,  the  first  of  whom,  George 
W.,  died  in  childhood.     John  Frost,  the  second, 
is  a  prominent  citizen  of  Waukegan,    Illinois, 
where  for  some  years  he  was  largely  engaged  in 
manufacturing.     He  is  especially  active  and  in- 
fluential in  the  municipal  affairs  of  that  city,  where 
he  served  many   years  as  alderman,    and  was 
Mayor  three  terms.     He  is  largely  interested  in 
Chicago  property.     William   H.,  the  third  son, 
was  a  dealer  in  real  estate  in  Chicago  from  1870 
until  his  death,  in  August,    1896.     He  married 
Elizabeth  J.  Ritchie,  who  bore  him  a  son,  George 
H.  Powell,  now  engaged  in  the  real-estate  bus- 
iness in  Chicago.     Mrs.  Elizabeth  J.  Powell  died 
in  1886. 


Daniel  N.  and  Mary  C.,  the  fourth  and  sixth, 
are  deceased.  A  sketch  of  the  fifth,  Perry  P., 
appears  below.  In  1862  Mrs.  Powell  married 
Theodore  Mismer,  a  native  of  Strasburg,  which 
was  at  the  time  of  his  birth,  in  France,  but  now 
belongs  to  Germany.  They  have  one  daughter, 
Clara,  now  the  wife  of  Fred  C.  Irwin,  of  Chicago. 
Perry  Polk  Powell,  the  youngest  son  of  George 
N.  and  Aramesia  Powell,  was  born  January  n, 
1845.  He  remained  at  home  assisting  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  farm  and  attending  the  district 
school  until  he  reached  the  age  of  seventeen 
years.  At  that  time  the  Civil  War  was  stirring 
the  martial  spirit  of  every  patriotic  American, 
and  young  Powell  was  no  exception  to  the  rule. 
Though  still  very  young,  he  enlisted,  July  6, 
1862,  in  Battery  A,  First  Illinois  Light  Artillery. 
In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  took  part  in  the  Vicks- 
burg  Campaign  under  General  Sherman,  and 
celebrated  his  eighteenth  birthday  by  participat- 
ing in  the  Battle  of  Arkansas  Post.  On  account 
of  sickness  he  was  discharged  August  7,  1863,  but 
on  his  recovery  re-enlisted  in  Battery  G  of  the 
First  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  and  was  discharged 
at  the  close  of  the  war  at  Memphis,  Tennessee. 

After  farming  for  one  year  in  Cook  County, 
Mr.  Powell  removed  to  Blairstown,  Iowa,  where 
he  carried  on  a  general  store  for  about  two  years. 
He  then  returned  to  Cook  County,  and  has  since 
followed  farming  and  gardening.  In  1870  he 
also  engaged  in  the  real-estate  business,  in  which 
he  has  been  very  successful.  He  has  given  his 
hearty  support  to  the  Republican  party  and  was 
a  member  of  the  first  board  of  trustees  of  Jeffer- 
son after  its  organization  as  a  village.  He  was 
initiated  into  Masonry  in  July,  1867,  in  Lincoln 
Lodge  No.  199,  at  Blairstown,  Iowa.  He  is  a 
member  of  Winfield  Chapter  No.  42,  Royal  Arch 
Masons,  and  is  Past  Commander  of  Winfield  Com- 
mandery  No.  15,  Knights  Templar,  both  of  Win- 
field,  Kansas.  He  is  also  a  member  of  Siberd 
Post  No.  58,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  De- 
partment of  Kansas.  Mr.  Powell  was  married 
January  10,  1872,  to  Miss  Mary  E. ,  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Christie  McGregor.  Three  children 
have  blessed  this  union,  named  in  order  of  birth, 
Maud,  Frank  and  Ethel. 


C.  B.  DUPEE. 


in 


CHARLES  B.  DUPEE. 


/TJHARLES  BILLINGS  DUPEE.  Among 
1 1  the  business  men  who  helped  to  promote 
\J  the  growth  of  Chicago,  both  materially  and 
morally,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  should  receive 
honorable  mention.  His  ancestors  were  the  de- 
voted French  Huguenots,  whose  love  of  liberty 
and  freedom  of  religious  thought  induced  them  to 
leave  old  France  and  settle  in  the  New  World. 
James,  grandfather  of  Charles  B.  Dupee,  was  born 
in  Walpole,  Massachusetts.  He  was  among  the 
most  progressive  of  the  citizens  of  the  old  Bay 
State.  (See  sketch  of  H.  M.  Dupee  for  com- 
plete genealogy. ) 

Their  son,  Cyrus  Dupee,  was  also  born  in  Wal- 
pole, and  learned  the  mercantile  business  in  Bos- 
ton. For  a  long  period  he  was  engaged  in  the 
wholesale  provision  Iradein  Brighton,  Massachu- 
setts. He  was  married  at  Brighton  (now  Alls- 
ton),  Massachusetts,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  English, 
of  that  place.  He  died  there  in  1841,  leaving 
eight  children.  Three  of  his  sons,  Charles  B., 
Cyrus  and  Horace  Dupee,  became  prominent  bus- 
iness men  of  Chicago,  where  the  last  two  are  still 
engaged  in  active  life.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling 
character,  devoted  to  his  family  and  diligent  in 
business.  The  family  has  for  many  generations 
been  noted  in  mercantile  business,  and  has  al- 
ways maintained  a  high  reputation  for  integrity. 

Charles  B.  Dupee  was  born  in  Brighton,  Mass- 
achusetts, May  12,  1823.  His  first  business  under- 
taking was  in  the  meat  and  ice  trade  at  Fitchburg, 
Massachusetts,  in  which  he  was  moderately  suc- 
cessful. In  1 8  54  he  became  a  resident  of  Chicago, 
establishing  himself  here  in  June  of  that  year — 
his  family,  which  at  that  time  consisted  of  a  wife 


and  two  children,  following  in  September.  He 
continued  in  the  meat  business  in  Chicago,  and 
after  a  time  began  putting  up  hams  by  a  process 
of  his  own,  which  secured  for  him  an  excellent 
reputation  and  trade,  and  he  grew  prosperous  and 
extended  the  business  by  adding  the  wholesale 
provision  trade.  He  exercised  great  care  in  the 
preparation  of  his  goods,  which  he  insisted  on 
giving  his  personal  inspection,  and  the  result  was 
an  ever-increasing  trade  and  a  high  reputation 
for  his  wares,  which  continued  to  be  popular  on 
the  market  long  after  his  demise.  He  was  in- 
dustrious and  economical,  and  his  painstaking 
care  provided  him  a  handsome  competence.  For 
many  years  he  carried  on  a  large  trade  in  supplies 
for  the  United  States  Government. 

Among  his  brother  merchants,  Mr.  Dupee  was 
known  for  his  unswerving  fidelity  to  those  prin- 
ciples of  true  manhood  that  lift  a  man  high  above 
the  rank  of  ordinary  men  and  make  for  him  a 
name  in  commercial  centers  that  will  forever  be 
worthy  of  remembrance  and  emulation.  He  was 
a  shrewd,  far-seeing  businessman,  and  his  advice, 
often  sought  by  friends,  was  safe  and  reliable. 
For  about  twenty  years  he  was  a  resident  of 
Hyde  Park,  and  was  highly  esteemed  by  the  res- 
idents of  that  suburb  for  his  many  noble  qualities. 
He  was  identified  with  the  Republican  party,  but 
was  never  connected  with  any  office  or  political 
work,  and  was  in  everyway  a  model  citizen,  and, 
above  all,  an  honest  man — the  noblest  work  of 
God. 

After  retiring  from  business,  Mr.  Dupee  made 
good  investment  in  real  estate,  and  the  rapid  ap- 
preciation in  value  of  his  holdings  added  mate- 


112 


J.  A.  PEARSONS. 


rially  to  his  resources,  so  that  his  declining  years 
were  passed  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  competence 
which  his  long  years  of  industry  had  earned.  He 
passed  away  at  his  home  in  Chicago  August  12, 
1887,  and  his  last  words  were:  "I  have  been  an 
honest  man."  He  left  the  impress  of  his  strong 
character  upon  the  business  world  of  Chicago,  and 
a  good  name  that  will  be  ever  cherished  by  his 
family. 

On  the  yth  of  April,  1847,  at  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts, Charles  B.  Dupee  was  married  to  Miss  Em- 
meline,  daughter  of  Seth  and  Louise  (Miles) 
Wellington,  old  and  respected  residents  of  Bos- 
ton. The  Wellingtons  were  among  the  noted  pio- 
neers of  the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 
Mrs.  Dupee's  ancestor,  Roger  Wellington,  mar- 
ried Miss  Foster,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Foster,  who 
was  the  first  settled  physician  in  Charlestown, 
Massachusetts.  The  Wellington  monument, 


standing  in  the  Watertown  (Massachusetts)  cem- 
etery, was  erected  over  two  hundred  years  ago. 
Three  children  came  to  bless  the  home  of  Charles 
B.  and  Mrs.  Dupee.  Their  names  are,  Charles 
Frederick,  Elizabeth  A.  and  Emma  M.  The  sec- 
ond is  now  deceased,  and  the  last  is  the  wife  of 
Reuben  D.  Coy,  of  Chicago.  Her  only  child  is 
a  daughter,  named  Margaret  Wellington  Coy. 
Charles  F.  Dupee  came  with  his  parents  to  Chi- 
cago in  1854.  His  father  admitted  him  to  part- 
nership in  his  growing  business  in  order  to  have 
his  aid  in  its  conduct.  Since  the  business  was 
closed  out  he  has  given  his  attention  to  the  care 
of  his  large  property  interests.  He  has  two 
children,  Elizabeth  S.  and  Charles  Edward  Du- 
pee. 

In  1890  Mrs.  Emmeline  Dupee  built  one  of  the 
handsomest  residences  in  Glencoe,  Illinois,  where 
her  family  now  resides. 


JOHN  A.  PEARSONS. 


(JOHN  ALONZO  PEARSONS,  an  early  set- 
I  tier  of  Evanston,  was  born  in  Bradford,  Ver- 
Q/  mont,  September  8,  1818.  He  is  a  son  of 
John  Pearsons  and  Hannah  Putnam,  natives,  re- 
spectively, of  Lyndeborough  and  Francestown, 
New  Hampshire.  John  Pearsons  was  a  promi- 
nent farmer  and  lumberman  of  Bradford,  where 
he  located  at  the  age  of  twelve  years.  For  some 
years  he  also  kept  a  hotel  there,  known  as  the 
Mann  House.  He  was  a  soldier  of  the  War  of 
1812,  serving  throughout  that  struggle.  His 
death  occurred  in  Bradford,  October  7,  1857,  at 


the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  His  mother,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Kimball,  also  died 
there  at  an  extreme  old  age. 

Mrs.  Hannah  Pearsons  died  at  Holyoke,  Mass- 
achusetts, in  1888,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one 
years.  She  was  a  daughter  of  John  Putnam,  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  and  a  relative  of  Gen. 
Israel  Putnam.  John  Putnam  served  seven  years 
in  the  Continental  army,  and  was  at  one  time  a 
member  of  General  Washington's  Life  Guard. 
He  afterward  became  an  Adjutant  of  Vermont 
militia,  and,  with  two  of  his  sons,  participated  in 


J.  A.  PEARSONS. 


the  War  of  1812.  In  later  life  he  was  a  car- 
penter and  bridge-builder  at  Bradford.  His  wife, 
Olive  Barron,  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety-three 
years. 

John  A.  Pearsons  spent  his  boyhood  in  Brad- 
ford, where  he  attended  the  district  school,  and, 
at  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  began  teaching,  a 
calling  which  he  continued  for  four  winters  at  and 
in  the  vicinity  of  Bradford.  He  helped  to  con- 
duct his  father's  hotel,  and  subsequently  carried 
on  the  same  business  at  White  River  Village  and 
Norwich,  Vermont.  The  latter  place  was  then 
the  seat  of  General  Ransom's  Military  School. 

In  September,  1852,  he  arrived  in  Chicago, 
where  he  was  employed  for  a  time  by  John  P. 
Chapin,  a  prominent  pioneer  of  Chicago.  In 
March,  1854,  he  located  at  Evanston,  being  in- 
duced to  settle  there  through  the  influence  of 
Dr.  Hinman.  Mr.  Pearsons  was  the  first  to  build 
a  house  on  the  university  lands,  the  location  be- 
ing identical  with  his  present  residence  on  Chi- 
cago Avenue.  Others  soon  followed  his  example, 
and  when  the  Chicago  &  Milwaukee  Railway 
reached  that  point  the  next  winter,  there  was  a 
rapid  influx  of  people.  Such  was  the  demand  for 
building  materials  and  other  merchandise,  that 
Mr.  Pearsons  found  it  advantageous  to  engage  in 
the  business  of  general  teaming.  For  eighteen 
years  he  operated  Pearsons'  Evanston  Express, 
employing  a  number  of  teams  and  wagons  on  the 
road  between  Chicago  and  Evanston,  and  the 
business  which  he  started  has  ever  since  been 
continued,  and  is  still  a  prosperous  enterprise. 
For  some  time  he  also  kept  a  livery  stable  at 
Evanston. 

In  1872  Mr.  Pearsons  sold  out  his  express  line, 
and  spent  the  following  winter  in  the  woods  of 
northern  Michigan  in  the  interest  of  his  brother, 
D.  K.  Pearsons,  the  well-known  lumberman  and 
philanthropist.  Becoming  interested  in  the  lum- 
bering industry,  and  finding  the  business  agree- 
able to  his  health,  which  had  become  considerably 
impaired,  he  spent  the  ensuing  twelve  years  in 
the  lumber  woods,  during  a  part  of  which  time 
he  operated  a  lumber-yard  in  Evanston.  In  1885 
he  disposed  of  his  lumber  interests,  since  which 
time  he  has  lived  in  practical  retirement.  He 


has  filled  nearly  every  office  in  the  township,  vil- 
lage, and  city  of  Evanston,  and  his  official  as  well 
as  business  obligations  have  always  been  dis- 
charged in  a  creditable  and  efficient  manner. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  October,  1842,  was 
celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Pearsons  and  Miss 
Hannah  Stevens  Bay  ley,  of  Newbury,  Vermont, 
a  daughter  of  Amherst  Bayley  and  Melissa  Stev- 
ens, both  natives  of  Newbury.  Mrs.  Pearsons' 
paternal  grandfather  was  the  distinguished  Gen- 
eral Jacob  Bayley,  of  the  Continental  army.  Her 
maternal  grandfather,  Simeon  Stevens,  was  an 
extensive  farmer  and  highly  exemplary  citizen  of 
Newbury,  distinguished  also  for  his  musical  tal- 
ents, being  the  possessor  of  a  strong  and  very 
sweet  voice,  which  he  retained  even  in  old  age. 
He  survived  until  nearly  ninety  years  of  age. 

Mrs.  Pearsons  is  a  lady  of  many  graces  of  mind 
and  heart.  In  her  youth  she  won  considerable 
celebrity  as  a  participant  in  the  State  Musical 
Conventions  of  Vermont.  She  was  one  of  the 
prime  movers  in  organizing  the  Woman's  Ed- 
ucational Aid  Association,  which  was  formed 
in  1871,  and  has  been  an  officer  of  the  association 
from  its  inception,  and  for  eighteen  years  has 
served  as  its  President.  The  object  of  this 
society  is  to  assist  worthy  young  ladies  of  lim- 
ited means  in  obtaining  an  education.  The  Col- 
lege Cottage,  which  was  built  soon  after  the  or- 
ganization of  the  association,  has  been  several 
times  enlarged  and  improved,  and  now  accommo- 
dates about  fifty-five  students,  and  is  recognized 
as  a  worthy  adjunct  of  the  Northwestern  Univer- 
sity at  Evanston. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pearsons  are  the  parents  of  two 
children,  and  have  lost  two  by  death,  one  passing 
away  in  infancy.  The  eldest,  Henry  Alonzo,  is 
a  business  man  of  Chicago,  residing  in  Evanston. 
Isabella  is  the  wife  of  Wilbur  F.  Mappin,  of 
Bryn  Mawr,  Pennsylvania.  Helen,  who  was  the 
wife  of  Rev.  Harvey  R.  Calkins,  died  March  27, 
1892,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  years.  Two 
grandchildren,  Harry  Putnam  Pearsons  and  Lil- 
ian Mappin,  make  glad  the  hearts  of  this  worthy 
couple. 

In  October,  1892,  the  golden  wedding  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Pearsons  was  celebrated,  and  they  are 


R.  C.  HALLETT. 


still  in  the  enjoyment  of  excellent  health  and  that 
contentment  of  mind  which  is  "a  continual  feast, ' ' 
and  few  of  their  acquaintances,  and  none  among 
strangers,  can  readily  believe  the  number  of  their 
years  of  usefulness  already  spent.  They  are 
members  of  the  First  Methodist  Church  of  Evan- 
ston,  which  they  helped  to  organize  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1854,  at  which  time  the  society  comprised 
but  six  members.  Mr.  Pearsons  was  the  Chorister 
of  the  church  for  many  years,  and  is  one  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  Des  Plaines  Camp- Meeting  Asso- 
ciation. Mr.  Pearsons  cast  his  first  vote  for  Will- 
iam Henry  Harrison,  and  was  a  member  of 
a  military  band  which  furnished  music  for 


many  of  the  public  gatherings  of  the  famous  po- 
litical campaign  of  1840.  He  played  in  this  band 
for  ten  years.  Since  the  organization  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  he  has  been  an  adherent  of  its 
principles.  When  he  first  located  inEvanston,  a 
large  portion  of  the  present  site  of  the  city  con- 
sisted of  a  marsh  covered  with  water,  and  none 
of  the  streets  had  been  improved.  He  has  wit- 
nessed the  material  development  of  the  town  until 
it  has  come  to  be  recognized  as  the  first  sub- 
urb of  Chicago,  and  has  simultaneously  watched 
its  intellectual  and  moral  growth,  in  the  promo- 
tion of  which  he  has  been  an  interested  factor. 


REUBEN  C    HALLETT. 


REUBEN  CROWELL  HAlvLETT,  grandson 
of  one  of  the  hardy  pioneers  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  and  son  of  James  Hallett,  of 
whom  extended  mention  is  made  elsewhere  in 
this  volume,  has  the  proud  distinction  of  being 
a  native  of  Illinois.  He  was  born  at  Mount  Car- 
roll, in  Carroll  County,  on  the  isth  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1857,  and  grew  up  in  his  native  village, 
where  he  received  his  primary  schooling.  He 
attended  Beloit  College,  Wisconsin,  and  finished 
his  education  at  the  Wesleyan  University,  Bloom- 
ington,  Illinois,  where  he  received  instruction  in 
the  law  department  from  Adlai  E.  Stevenson, 
Gen.  Ira  J.  Bloomfield,  John  M.  Hamilton,  and 
other  noted  attorneys  of  the  state. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1880,  and  be- 
gan the  practice  of  law  at  Mount  Carroll,  but 
soon  turned  his  attention  to  other  and  more  con- 
genial pursuits.  He  became  the  owner  and  pub- 
lisher of  the  Herald  at  Mount  Carroll,  which  he 
retained  about  a  year.  He  then  went  to  Rock- 
ford,  Illinois,  where  he  was  connected  with  the 


Rockford  Watch  Company  seven  years.  He  re- 
sided in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  for  a  year,  being  iden- 
tified with  the  Arctic  Ice  Machine  Manufacturing 
Company.  During  the  last  three  years  he  has 
been  the  western  representative  of  the  Hildreth 
Varnish  Company  of  New  York,  with  headquar- 
ters in  one  of  the  Grand  Pacific  offices,  on  Jack- 
son Street,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Hallett  possesses  a  keen  business  instinct, 
and  his  kind  and  genial  manners  and  knowledge 
of  human  nature  make  him  an  exceptionally  suc- 
cessful salesman.  His  dealings  are  largely  with 
railroad  companies,  and  cover  many  large  con- 
tracts. He  takes  an  active  interest  in  all  that 
pertains  to  the  general  welfare,  and  is  thoroughly 
posted  on  questions  that  engage  the  public  mind. 
He  was  the  independent  candidate  for  States  At- 
torney of  Carroll  County  in  1 880,  but  usually  acts 
with  the  Republican  party.  He  was  made  a 
Master  Mason  at  Mount  Carroll,  and  is  now  en- 
tering upon  the  work  of  the  exalted  degrees. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


J.  D.  CATON. 


JOHN  D.  CATON. 


(JOHN  DEAN  CATON  was  born  in  Monroe, 
I  Orange  County,  New  York,  March  19,  1812. 
O  He  is  the  fifteenth  of  the  sixteen  children  of 
Robert  Caton,  and  the  third  child  of  his  mother, 
Hannah  (Dean)  Caton,  who  was  the  third  wife  of 
Robert  Caton.  The  latter  was  born  March  22, 
1761,  on  a  plantation  owned  by  his  father  (Robert 
Caton)  in  Maryland.  He  joined  the  Continental 
Army  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  Though  very  young 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  he  gave  good 
service  to  his  native  land  in  that  struggle,  and 
after  the  triumph  of  colonial  arms,  settled  on  the 
Hudson  River,  in  New  York.  He  died  in  1815. 
Robert  Caton,  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
biography,  was  born  in  England,  of  Irish  de- 
scent, and  served  in  the  English  army  before  set- 
tling in  Maryland.  He  was  a  prominent  citizen 
of  that  colony  long  before  the  Revolution,  and 
the  name  is  a  conspicuous  one  in  Maryland  soci- 
ety to-day.  Robert  Caton,  during  the  life  of  his 
second  wife,  joined  the  Society  of  Friends,  and 
became  a  preacher  in  that  denomination,  his  third 
wife  being  a  member  also.  His  four  children  by 
his  third  wife,  according  to  the  rules  of  that  de- 
nomination, became  birthright  members,  and  so 
has  the  subject  of  this  sketch  continued;  he  is 
now  a  member  of  the  society  in  good  standing. 

When  John  D.  Caton  was  four  years  old,  his 
widowed  mother  took  him  to  Oneida  Count}-, 
New  York.  His  advantages  were  few,  but  he  re- 
ceived the  primary  training  of  a  common  school. 
At  the  age  of  nine  years,  he  was  set  to  work  with 
a  farmer,  at  two  and  one-half  dollars  per  month, 
and  brought  home  a  quarter  of  beef  as  the  fruit  of 
his  first  earnings.  Work  was  afforded  only  in  the 
summer,  and  his  winters  were  spent  in  school  un- 
til he  was  fourteen.  It  had  been  his  father's  wish 


that  he  should  be  equipped  for  life  with  a  trade, 
and  he  was  apprenticed.  A  weakness  of  the  eyes 
interfered  with  the  completion  of  his  time,  and  at 
sixteen,  he  joined  his  mother  at  Utica,  New  York, 
where  he  was  enabled  to  put  in  nine  months  at  the 
academy.  He  was  so  diligent  and  apt  that  he 
was  thus  equipped  for  earning  by  surveying  and 
teaching  school.  While  teaching,  he  pursued 
the  study  of  the  classics,  and  also  did  a  little  work 
in  the  law  by  practicing  in  justices'  courts.  He 
entered  the  office  of  Beardsley  &  Matteson,  at 
Utica,  as  a  student,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years. 
He  later  studied  with  James  H.  Collins,  who  af- 
terward became  a  leader  at  the  Chicago  Bar  and 
was  a  partner  in  practice  with  Mr.  Caton. 

Having  become  well  grounded  in  the  theory  of 
law,  and  having  attained  man's  estate,  he  resolved 
to  settle  in  the  new  West  and  establish  himself  in 
practice.  He  had  a  special  incentive  in  this  de- 
termination, in  the  fact  that  he  was  the  accepted 
lover  of  one  of  "York  State's"  fairest  daughters, 
and  was  anxious  to  secure  a  permanent  home. 
Having  reached  Buffalo  by  canal,  he  took  pas- 
sage on  the  steamer  "Sheldon Thompson,"  which 
brought  him  to  Detroit,  and  thence  he  took  stage 
to  Ann  Arbor,  still  undetermined  as  to  his  loca- 
tion. Still  pushing  westward,  he  rode  in  a  wagon 
to  White  Pigeon,  and  here,  by  pure  accident,  he 
fell  in  with  a  cousin,  whose  husband,  Irad  Hill, 
was  a  carpenter  and  was  employed  by  Dr.  John  T. 
Temple,  of  Chicago,  to  build  a  house  for  him 
there.  The  doctor  and  Mr.  Hill  were  then  in 
White  Pigeon  getting  lumber  for  this  purpose. 
Young  Caton  joined  the  rafting  party  which 
transported  the  lumber  down  the  St.  Joseph 
River,  and  took  passage  on  the  schooner  which 
conveyed  it  to  its  destination.  This  was  the 


J.  D.  CATON. 


"Ariadne,"  whose  cargo  of  lumber  and  immi- 
grants was  about  all  she  could  carry. 

He  soon  determined  to  locate  here,  and  in  a 
few  days  set  off  on  horseback  for  Pekin,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  away,  to  seek  admission  to 
the  Bar.  Here  he  met  Stephen  T.  Logan,  after- 
wards partner  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  other 
leading  attorneys  of  the  State.  After  court  ad- 
journed and  supper  had  been  taken,  the  young 
applicant  accompanied  Judge  Lockwood,  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  in  a  stroll  on  the  river  bank,  and 
after  being  plied  with  questions  on  the  theory  and 
practice  of  law,  was  addressed  in  these  words: 
"Well,  my  young  friend,  you've  got  a  good  deal 
to  learn  if  you  ever' expect  to  make  a  success  as  a 
lawyer,  but  if  you  study  hard  I  guess  you'  11  do  it. 
I  shall  give  you  your  license."  It  took  but  nine 
years  for  the  new  licensee  to  attain  a  place  beside 
his  examiner  on  the  supreme  bench  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Caton's  first  case  was  in  the  first  lawsuit 
in  the  village  of  Chicago,  in  which  he  appeared 
as  prosecutor  of  a  culprit  accused  of  stealing  thir- 
ty-six dollars  from  a  fellow-lodger  at  the  tavern. 
When  the  defendant  was  brought  before  Squire 
Heacock,  Caton  insisted  that  he  be  searched,  and 
he  was  stripped  to  his  underclothing.  Before  he 
could  replace  his  apparel,  as  directed  by  the  court, 
the  prosecuting  attorney  discovered  a  suspicious 
lump  in  his  stocking.  Seizing  hold  of  this  lump, 
he  turned  down  the  stocking  and  disclosed  the 
missing  bills.  The  case  was  then  adjourned  till 
next  day,  and  a  Constable  watched  the  prisoner 
all  night,  having  confined  him  under  a  carpenter's 
bench.  Next  morning  when  he  was  arraigned, 
Spring  and  Hamilton  appeared  for  the  defence  and 
took  a  change  of  venue  to  Squire  Harmon,  who 
held  court  in  the  old  tannery,  on  the  North  Side 
near  the  river  forks.  The  whole  town  was  now 
agog  with  the  novel  spectacle  of  a  public  trial; 
and  Harmon,  in  order  to  give  all  a  chance  to  en- 
joy the  show,  adjourned  to  Wattle's  Tavern,  on 
the  West  Side,  where  the  case  came  off  with  much 
eclat;  all  the  young  attorneys  "spreading  them- 
selves' '  in  their  respective  speeches.  Judge  Caton 
remembers  that  he  dwelt  particularly  on  the  enor- 
mity of  the  act  of  this  serpent  who  had  brought 


crime  into  this  young  community  where  it  had 
been  unknown.  The  thief  was  held  for  trial,  but 
the  device  (then  new)  of  "straw  bail"  gave  him 
temporary  liberty,  which  he  made  permanent  by 
running  away  as  soon  as  the  money  was  recovered; 
and  as  the  public  had  had  the  fun  and  excitement 
of  a  '  'lawsuit' '  nobody  cared  much  what  became 
of  the  author  of  this  welcome  break  in  the  village 
monotony.  If  he  had  been  tried  and  convicted  it 
would  have  been  only  the  beginning  of  trouble, 
for  there  was  no  jail  wherein  to  keep  him.  Young 
Caton  got  ten  dollars  for  his  fee — the  first  money 
he  had  ever  earned  in  Illinois  by  his  profession — 
and  it  just  paid  the  arrears  of  his  board  bill. — 
(History  of  Chicago,  edited  by  Moses  and  Kirk- 
land.) 

Having  now  been  launched  in  practice,  Mr. 
Caton  rented  an  office  in  the  "Temple  Building," 
having  his  lodging  in  the  attic  of  the  same  struc- 
ture. To  "make  ends  meet,"  he  rented  desk 
room  in  his  office  to  his  contemporary,  Giles 
Spring. 

Justice  Caton  recalls  July  12,  1834,  an  era  in 
his  youthful  experience.  It  was  the  beginning  of 
his  judicial  career;  the  date  of  his  election  to  the 
office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  the  only  public  office 
he  ever  held  except  those  of  Alderman  of  the  city 
(1837-8)  and  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  (1843-64).  He  became  its  Chief  Justice  in 
1857.  The  election  of  1834  was  a  fierce  contest, 
"bringing  out  every  last  voter  in  the  precinct, 
from  Clybourne  to  Hardscrabble  and  beyond,  per- 
haps even  taking  in  the  Calumet  Crossing."  The 
Government  piers  had  been  built  and  the  begin- 
ning of  a  channel  had  been  cut  across  the  imme- 
morial sandbar,  but  as  yet  it  had  never  been  used. 
On  this  memorable  day,  the  schooner  "Illinois" 
chanced  to  be  lying  at  anchor,  and  the  friends  of 
Caton  (George  W.  Dole  and  others),  to  the  num- 
ber of  a  hundred  or  more,  got  ropes  to  the  schooner 
and  dragged  her  by  main  force  through  the  un- 
finished dug-way.  Then  they  decked  her  with 
all  the  bunting  in  the  village,  and,  hoisting  sail, 
sped  triumphantly  up  the  stream  to  the  Forks — 
the  first  vessel  that  ever  penetrated  the  Chicago 
River.  And  when  the  votes  were  counted  the 


J.  D.  CATON. 


117 


tally  showed — John  DeanCaton,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-two;  Josiah  C.  Goodhue,  forty-seven. 
(Story  of  Chicago,  130). 

An  incident  in  the  life  of  the  future  chief  jus- 
tice, which  saved  him  to  the  people  of  Illinois,  is 
elsewhere  related  in  the  biography  of  Col.  Julius 
\Varren,  who  was  ever  gratefully  remembered  by 
Mr.  Caton  as  his  dearest  friend. 

In  the  spring  of  1835  Squire  Caton  felt  himself 
able  to  assume  the  cares  of  a  household,  and  he 
returned  to  New  York,  where  he  was  wedded  to 
Miss  Laura  Adelaide,  daughter  of  Jacob  Sherrill, 
of  New  Hartford.  Their  wedding  tour  was  an 
ideal  one,  being  a  passage  from  Buffalo  to  Chicago 
on  the  brig  "Queen  Charlotte."  This  was  one 
of  the  vessels  captured  in  Put-in-Bay  and  sunk  in 
the  harbor  of  Erie  by  Commodore  Perry  in  1812. 
After  twenty  years,  it  had  been  raised  and  refitted, 
and  this  was  her  first  trip. 

In  1836  Mr.  Caton  built  the  first  dwelling  on 
the  '  'school  section, ' '  west  of  the  river.  This  was 
at  the  southwest  corner  of  Clinton  and  Harrison 
Streets,  and  at  that  time  it  was  so  far  from  other 
dwellings  that  it  was  called  the  '  'prairie  cottage. ' ' 
It  fell  before  the  great  holocaust  of  1871.  About 
the  same  time  that  he  built  this  house,  he  entered 
into  partnership  with  Norman  B.  Judd  (who 
drafted-the  first  charter  of  Chicago) .  The  finan- 
cial difficulties  of  1837  almost  crippled  the  ambi- 
tious young  lawyer,  and  to  increase  his  troubles, 
his  health  became  impaired  and  he  was  advised 
by  his  physician  to  return  to  farming.  He  took  up 
a  tract  of  land  near  Plainfield,  which  he  still  owns, 
and  removed  his  family  thither  in  1839.  He  con- 
tinued the  practice  of  law,  and  the  records  show 
that  he  tried  the  first  jury  cases  in  Will  and  Kane 
Counties,  as  well  as  Cook. 

Mr.  Caton  was  appointed  an  associate  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  in  1842,  and  his  united  terms 
of  service,  by  successive  elections,  amounted  to 
twenty-two  years.  During  the  latter  portion  of 
this  time  he  occupied  the  position  of  Chief  Justice. 
The  duties  of  his  high  office  were  completed  day 
by  day,  no  matter  how  much  of  the  night  they 
might  consume,  and  the  court  in  his  day  was  al- 
ways up  with  its  docket.  In  1864  he  left  the 
Bench,  and  has  since  given  his  time  to  travel, 


literary  labors  and  the  conduct  of  his  private  af- 
fairs. He  has  published  several  works,  among 
which  are  "The  Antelope  and  Deer  of  America," 
"A  Summer  in  Norway,"  "Miscellanies"  and 
"Early  Bench  and  Bar  of  Illinois." 

Before  1850  Justice  Caton  became  interested  in 
the  electric  telegraph.  This  was  before  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Western  Union,  and  he  set  to  work 
to  re-organize  and  set  in  order  the  dilapidated  and 
scattered  lines.  They  had  hitherto  occupied  the 
wagon  roads,  and  he  secured  the  adoption  of  a 
system  by  the  railways,  where  it  was  soon  found 
to  be  an  absolute  necessity.  When  the  Western 
Union  took  hold  of  the  business,  Judge  Caton  and 
his  fellow-stockholders  were  enabled  to  make  most 
advantageous  terms  for  the  disposition  of  their 
interests. 

Death  first  invaded  the  home  of  Judge  Caton  in 
1891,  when  a  daughter,  her  mother's  namesake, 
was  taken  aw?y,  and  in  1892,  Mrs.  Caton  went 
before.  For  fifty-seven  years,  this  happily-as- 
sorted couple  had  traveled  together  the  journey 
or  life,  and  they  were,  no  doubt,  the  oldest  sur- 
viving couple  in  Chicago  at  the  time  of  Mrs.  Ca- 
ton's  demise.  During  her  last  illness  Judge  Caton 
remarked  to  his  family  physician  that  they  had 
lived  together  for  more  than  fifty-seven  years 
without  a  cross  or  unkind  word  ever  passing  be- 
tween them.  Two  children  survived  her,  namely: 
Arthur  J.  Caton,  a  Chicago  business  man,  who 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  Caroline,  now  the 
wife  of  the  distinguished  attorney,  Norman  Wil- 
liams. 

In  August,  1893,  Judge  Caton  suffered  a  slight 
stroke  of  paralysis.  Before  this  affliction,  advanc- 
ing years  had  brought  on  the  old  trouble  with  his 
eyes,  which  had,  happily  for  his  future  career, 
turned  his  attention  from  a  trade,  but  up  to  the 
beginning  of  1893,  he  was  able  to  read  a  little  with 
the  aid  of  strong  glasses.  By  the  aid  of  a  reading- 
secretary,  he  keeps  up  an  acquaintance  with 
literature  and  current  events.  Even  the  added 
trial  of  decay  in  his  powers  of  locomotion  did 
not  make  him  despair  or  become  morose.  To 
a  close  friend  he  said:  "I  do  not  repine.  I  do 
not  lament  the  advance  of  age  and  the  loss  of  fac- 
ulties; not  one  bit.  I  enjoy  my  life,  and  thank- 


n8 


T.  H.  WEBSTER. 


fully  recognize  the  numberless  compensations  and 
alleviations  that  are  mercifully  left  me.  No;  I 
am  well  content." 

He  still  survives  at  the  age  of  eighty-three,  and 


it  is  a  little  remarkable  that  the  first  lawyer  in 
Chicago  to  bring  a  case  in  a  court  of  record  is 
still  with  us,  with  intellect  unimpaired,  when  the 
bar  numbers  more  than  three  thousand. 


THOMAS  H.  WEBSTER. 


'HOMAS  HOLMES  WEBSTER.  Among 
the  many  fire-insurance  agents  with  which 
La  Salle  Street  abounds,  there  is,  perhaps, 
no  other  man  whose  reputation  for  safe  and  con- 
servative business  methods  has  been  more  con- 
sistently sustained  than  he  whose  name  heads 
this  notice.  His  entire  business  training  and 
experience  have  been  acquired  in  this  city,  and, 
while  the  opportunities  for  speculation  have  been 
abundant,  and  the  chances  for  unusual  profit  have 
seemed  quite  as  alluring  to  him  as  to  others,  he 
has  conscientiously  avoided  all  participation  in 
that  hazardous  and  demoralizing  field,  confining 
his  attention  to  the  regular  channels  of  business, 
and  thereby  maintaining  his  business  credit  and 
securing  the  confidence  and  good- will  of  his  asso- 
ciates. 

Mr.  Webster  was  born  in  Leeds,  England,  on 
the  2gth  of  October,  1846.  His  parents,  John  and 
Mary  (Holmes)  Webster,  were  natives  of  York- 
shire. John  Webster  was  employed  for  some  years 
in  the  cloth-mills  at  Leeds,  but  being  desirous  of 
procuring  better  opportunities  for  his  growing 
family,  in  1853  he  came  to  America.  He  located 
in  Chicago  and  secured  employment  with  the  Chi- 
cago Gas  Light  and  Coke  Company,  whose  inter- 
ests he  continued  to  serve  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1866,  at  the  age  of  forty-two  years. 
He  began  as  a  laborer,  but  with  such  faithful- 
ness and  ability  did  he  serve  the  interests  of  the 
company  that  he  was  soon  promoted  to  a  more  re- 
munerative occupation,  and  at  the  time  of  his  de- 
mise was  the  assistant  Secretary  of  the  company. 


His  wife  survived  him  but  two  years,  passing 
away  at  the  age  of  forty-four.  They  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  of  Chicago, 
and  had  formerly  been  connected  with  the  Taber- 
nacle Baptist  Church. 

Thomas  H.  Webster,  with  his  mother  and  the 
balance  of  the  family,  joined  his  father  in  Chica- 
go in  1855.  He  is  one  of  a  family  of  thirteen 
children,  of  whom  but  two  others  now  survive. 
Their  names  are  Sarah  H.,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Corlies; 
and  Louisa  L.,  Mrs.  R.  M.  Johnson,  all  of  Chi- 
cago. Thomas  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  this  city,  and  upon  the  death  of  his  father  as- 
sumed the  care  of  the  family,  supplying'  to  its 
members,  as  far  as  possible,  the  place  of  the  de- 
ceased parent.  His  first  employment  was  in  the 
capacity  of  a  clerk  in  a  dry-goods  store,  where  he 
continued  for  about  one  year.  Since  the  ist  of 
August,  1863,  he  has  been  consecutively  connect- 
ed with  the  business  of  fire  underwriting.  He  be- 
gan as  office  boy  for  the  Chicago  Firemen's  In- 
surance Company,  but  was  soon  appointed  to  a 
clerkship,  and  about  1865  bcame  the  cashier  of 
the  company.  This  position  he  filled  until  the 
concern  was  annihilated  by  the  great  fire  of  1871. 
After  that  disaster,  the  affairs  of  the  corporation 
were  placed  in  the  hands  of  Hon.  O.  H.  Horton, 
as  assignee,  and  this  gentleman  secured  the  serv- 
ices of  Mr.  Webster  as  his  assistant,  his  familiar- 
ity with  the  affairs  of  the  concern  being  of  great 
value  in  closing  up  its  business. 

Mr.  Webster  was  afterwards  successively  con- 
nected with  the  firms  of  Walker  &  Lowell,    and 


LIBRARY 
OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILUN( 


W.  C.  GOUDY. 


119 


the  Globe  Insurance  Company,  continuing  with 
the  latter  concern  until  it  went  out  of  business  in 
1876.  He  then  became  a  clerk  for  S.  M.  Moore, 
with  whom  he  soon  after  entered  into  partnership, 
under  the  firm  name  of  S.  M.  Moore  &  Com- 
pany. Upon  the  retirement  of  the  senior  member 
in  1886,  this  firm  was  succeeded  by  that  of  Web- 
iter  &  Wiley,  Mr.  E.  N.  Wiley  becoming  the  jun- 
ior partner.  In  1889  the  latter  firm  was  consol- 
idated with  that  of  H.  de  Roode  &  Company, 
under  the  name  of  Webster,  Wiley  &  de  Roode. 
On  the  first  of  November,  1 894,  Mr.  de  Roode  re- 
tired from  the  firm,  since  which  time  the  business 
has  been  conducted  under  the  name  of  Webster, 
Wiley  &  Company,  Mr.  C.  P.  Jennings  having 
become  a  third  partner  on  January  i,  1895. 

Mr.  Webster  was  married,  September  13,  1881, 
to  Miss  Anna  Martindale,  a  native  of  Ohio,  and 
a  daughter  of  Rev.  Theodore  D.  Martindale,  a 


Methodist  clergyman  of  that  state.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Webster  are  the  parents  of  two  sons,  Frank  M. 
and  Ralph  N.  Mr.  Webster  is  identified  with  the 
Union  League,  Sunset  and  Metropolitan  Clubs, 
and  Lexington  Council  of  the  National  Union. 
He  is  not  an  active  participant  in  political  strife, 
but  has  all  his  life  been  a  supporter  of  Republican 
principles. 

Having  been  the  head  of  a  family  from  the  age 
of  twenty  years,  he  has  had  few  opportunities  for 
recreation,  and  finds  his  greatest  pleasure  in  the 
midst  of  the  home  circle.  His  business  opera- 
tions have  been  confined  to  the  realm  of  fire  un- 
derwriting, and  while  others  have  in  some  in- 
stances accumulated  more  wealth  than  he,  the 
substantial  friendship  and  esteem  of  his  colleagues 
are  his,  and  his  record  is  one  which  causes  no  re- 
grets. 


WILLIAM  C    GOUDY. 


CHARLES  GOUDY.  To  be  a 
leader  in  any  profession  in  a  city  the  size  of 
Chicago,  means  to  be  the  possessor  of  large 
intellect,  of  close  application  and  happy  fortune; 
to  be  in  the  front  rank  of  contemporary  lawyers 
in  a  metropolis  whose  courts  decide  as  many 
cases  as  the  combined  judiciary  of  all  Great 
Britain,  is  a  mark  of  pre-eminence  indeed.  Such 
pre-eminent  distinction  has  been  already  noted 
by  the  Muse  of  History  in  her  vast  temple  of 
fame,  where,  chiseled  in  conspicuous  recent 
strength,  we  read  the  sterling  name  of  William 
Charles  Goudy. 

Mr.  Goudy  was  born  near  Cincinnati,  Ohio 
(but  "across  the  line"  in  Indiana),  on  the  isth 
day  of  May,  1824,  unto  Robert  and  Jane  (Ainslie) 
Goudy.  His  father  was  a  native  of  North  Ire- 
land and  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  of  that  virile 


blood  which  has  already  played  so  thrilling  a 
part  in  American  history  on  sea  and  land.  The 
name  is  spelled  Goudie  in  Scotland,  where  the 
poet  Burns  immortalized  it  in  song  in  that  stanza 
of  a  poem  wherein  occurs  the  line,  '  'Goudie,  ter- 
ror of  the  Whigs!"  The  family  continues  to  hew 
true  to  the  block,  for  who  ever  heard  of  any 
Goudy  who  was  anything  but  a  Democrat  in 
the  United  States  ?  His  mother,  who  was  of 
English  birth,  was  residing  in  Pennsylvania  when 
taken  to  wife  by  Mr.  Goudy 's  father. 

Robert  Goudy  was  a  carpenter  in  early  life,  later 
changing,  as  do  so  many  of  our  citizens,  his  calling 
to  printing,  in  which  craft  he  was  busied  for  some 
years  at  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania.  But  when 
the  future  Judge  Goudy  was  a  boy  of  ten  years, 
his  father  moved  to  Jacksonville,  Illinois,  a  most 
fortunate  field,  as  afterwards  developed,  for  all  the 


I2O 


W.  C.  GOUDY. 


family.  Here,  in  1833,  he  began  the  publication 
of  Gaudy's  Farmers'  Almanac,  the  first  annual 
of  its  kind  to  be  printed  in  the  Northwest,  which, 
filling  a  greatly  felt  need,  grew  speedily  into  the 
deserved  prominence  it  maintained  for  the  many 
years  during  which  it  was  a  household  word. 
Later,  he  embarked  in  a  newspaper  of  fair  pro- 
portions for  that  era;  in  which  connection  let  it 
not  be  overlooked  that  it  was  the  first  press  to 
call  pointed  attention  to  that  rising  young  star, 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.  The  son  also  did  his  share 
of  battling  for  this  candidate  during  that  heated 
campaign  when  Douglas  defeated  Lincoln  in  the 
memorable  congressional  contest. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  graduated  at  the 
Illinois  College  of  Jacksonville  in  1845,  an  alma 
mater  made  proud  time  and  again  by  the  grand 
deeds  of  her  hero  pupil,  whom  she  has  twice  hon- 
ored with  her  post-graduate  degrees,  namely, 
Master  of  Arts  and  Doctor  of  Laws.  Suffice  to 
say,  that  none  of  her  myriad  graduates  ever  won 
such  special  favor  more  fairly  than  he  of  whom 
we  are  writing. 

While  reading  law  thereafter,  Mr.  Goudy 
taught  school  in  Decatur.  Later  he  went  for  a 
time  into  the  office  of  Stephen  A.  Logan,  partner 
of  Lincoln.  In  1847  he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar 
at  Lewistown,  Illinois,  entering  directly  into 
partnership  with  Hon.  Hezekiah  M.  Weed,  of 
that  place,  where  he  rapidly  rose  in  public  notice 
and  favor.  Taking  an  active  part  in  politics,  he 
was  partially  rewarded  in  1852  by  being  elected 
States  Attorney  of  the  Tenth  Judicial  Circuit, 
which  position  of  trust  he  resigned  in  1856;  and 
from  1857  to  1861  was  twice  returned  as  State  Sen- 
ator for  the  Fulton-McDonough  district.  In  1859 
fame  and  rapidly  growing  practice  invited  him 
to  Chicago,  the  great  Western  center,  which,  like 
Athens  of  old,  calls  annually  for  its  tribute  of 
talent  and  oratory  from  its  outlying  territory. 
For  about  the  next  thirty-five  years  his  reputa- 
tion and  his  wealth  grew  with  amazing  rapidity, 
until  none  throughout  the  entire  Mississippi  Val- 
ley was  better  or  more  favorably  known  in  his 
profession  than  Judge  Goudy.  His  learned  skill 
was  demonstrated  in  the  higher  courts  all  over 
this  western  county,  from  which,  in  frequent 


triumphs,  he  went  to  more  honorable  laurels 
achieved  before  that  tribunal  of  dernier  resort,  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  His  specialty 
was  the  law  of  real  property,  in  which  branch 
of  learning  he  was  recognized  as  a  leader  all  over 
the  vast  domain  his  talents  dominated;  indeed, 
there  have  been  expressed  on  more  than  one  oc- 
casion sincere  regrets  that  Judge  Goudy  left  no 
published  work  upon  this  broad  field  of  judicature, 
of  especial  application  in  the  newer  West,  for 
the  guidance  of  future  brothers.  It  would  indeed 
have  been  the  labor  of  a  legal  giant,  gigantically 
performed.  During  all  this  later  period,  not  a 
volume  of  Illinois  Reports,  and  they  number  into 
the  hundreds,  but  bears  his  name  as  attorney  or 
counsel  in  cases  of  gravest  import  and  represent- 
ing questions  and  corporations  of  greatest  magni- 
tude. 

As  illustrating  the  thoroughness  with  which 
he  worked  and  the  minuteness  of  inquiry  and 
research  to  which  he -would  voluntarily  go,  rather 
than  admit  he  was  beaten  or  acknowledge  there 
was  no  redress  (in  his  opinion)  for  his  client, 
we  must  digress  sufficiently  to  call  attention  to 
that  case  (the  Kingsbury-Buckner),  perhaps 
most  famous  of  all  his  many  noted  cases,  which 
involved  the  question  of  the  fee  of  that  splendid 
piece  of  central  real  estate  upon  which  now  stands 
the  Ashland  Building,  the  great  law  office  re- 
sort, corner  of  Randolph  and  Clark  Streets,  in 
our  city.  This  case  long  looked  hopeless  for  the 
party  in  whose  interests  Judge  Goudy  had  been 
retained.  Conviction  of  the  fact  that  the  grantee, 
who  seemed  to  own  the  fee,  was  really  a  holder 
for  cestuis  qui  trust  was  sincerely  entertained,  but 
in  support  of  such  hypothesis  not  a  scintilla  of 
evidence  seemed  possible  to  be  introduced.  Early 
and  late,  far  and  near,  in  and  out  of  season,  our 
lawyer  toiled  to  find  some  slight  link,  so  vital  to 
support  such  a  much-sought  chain  of  title.  In 
short,  almost  at  a  standstill,  sufficient  proof  was 
at  last  unearthed  from  a  letter  written  as  casual 
correspondance  to  a  relative  of  the  writer  in  the 
Down  East.  This  became  the  turning-point  of 
the  case.  For  his  services  the  Judge  is  said  to 
have  been  paid  the  largest  fee  known  in  the 
West.  How  many  thousands  is  not  known,  but 


W.  C.  GOUDY. 


121 


surely  it  was  earned  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be 
gladly  paid  by  a  client  who  would  have  lived  and 
died  in  ignorant  non-assertion  of  rights,  but  for 
the  untiring  researches  of  his  lawyer.  Let  every 
young  attorney  ponder  well  the  significance  of 
the  story;  just  such  opportunities  time  and  again 
have  made  in  an  instant  the  name  and  fame 
)f  the  energetic  hero.  The  ability  to  win  cases 
is  the  crucial  test  of  lawyers;  and  a  still  greater 
test  is  the  ability  to  effect  a  desirable  compromise, 
as  the  subject  of  this  sketch  often  did;  for  exam- 
ple, in  the  notable  Wilbur  F.  Storey  will  case. 

During  the  later  years  of  his  exceedingly  active 
career,  the  firm  of  which  he  was  senior  member 
was  styled  Goudy,  Green  &  Goudy,  and  for 
a  considerable  period  prior  to  his  demise  he  was 
chief  counsel  for  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railway,  in  which  position  he  had  the  excep- 
tional fortune  of  holding  his  former  private 
clientage.  It  is  worth  recording  that  the  reasons 
for  his  being  retained  by  that  railway  were 
found  in  numerous  suits  brought  against  it  by 
Mr.  Goudy  for  clients,  who  usually  won. 

Mr.  Goudy  married,  August  22,  1849,  a  most 
estimable  and  cultured  lady,  Miss  Helen  Judd, 
of  Canton,  Illinois,  a  daughter  of  Solomon  Judd, 
quite  a  distinguished  Abolitionist.  His  father  was 
Solomon  Judd,  Sr.,  of  Westhampton,  Massachu- 
setts, coming  of  excellent  ancestry,  tracing  back 
to  the  pride  of  all  Yankees,  the  "Mayflower"  of 
1620.  Mrs.  Goudy's  mother  was  Eleanor  Clark, 
born  of  an  old  Northampton,  Massachusetts, 
family. 

Two  children  cheered  their  most  happy  wedded 
life.  Clara  Goudy  (an  adopted  daughter),  born 
in  October,  1857,  married,  in  1887,  Ira  J.  Geer, 
of  this  city,  a  practicing  lawyer  of  superior 
repute,  by  whom  she  has  one  child,  William 
Jewett  Geer.  Judge  Goudy  left  an  only  son, 
William  Judd  Goudy,  who  was  born  in  1864, 
for  an  extended  sketch  of  whom  vide  other  pages 
herein. 

Mrs.  Goudy  was  born  on  the  2ist  of  November, 
1821,  at  Otisco,  Onondaga  County,  New  York, 
was  educated  at  the  Aurora  Academy  of  that 
State,  after  which  she  taught  school  for  about 
nine  years.  She  then  removed  to  Canton,  Illinois, 


where  she  had  been  teaching  her  own  private 
school  for  young  ladies  about  two  years  at  the 
time  Judge  Goudy  won  her  undying  affections. 
She  survives  her  deeply  mourned  husband,  and, 
while  not  in  perfect  health,  yet  for  her  mature 
age  well  preserved;  and  it  is  the  earnest  wish 
of  all  her  myriad  friends  and  recipients  of  generous 
benefactions  that  she  may  long  continue  in  a 
sphere  of  wisely  contented  usefulness.  She  is 
unostentatiously  conspicuous  for  her  many  works 
of  charity,  formal  recognition  of  which  was  made 
some  years  since  in  her  elevation  to  the  position 
of  President  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Half 
Orphan  Asylum.  Truly  may  it  be  said  in  sim- 
ple, modest  truth,  her  life  has  been  a  model  for 
imitation. 

The  old  Goudy  homestead,  one  of  the  choicest, 
most  elegant  of  its  time,  was  located  in  what  has 
since  become  a  very  public  neighborhood,  about 
No.  1 140  North  Clark  Street.  In  the  early  days 
it  stood  in  a  magnificient  grove  of  trees  some 
acres  in  extent,  whose  retirement  received  a  con- 
tinual benediction  from  the  murmurs  of  the  lake 
near  at  hand.  Later  operations  have  subdivided 
and  covered  with  many  dwellings  this  lovely 
property.  "And  the  place  thereof  shall  know  it 
no  more."  Anticipating  growing  encroachment 
upon  that  privacy  in  which  Mr.  Goudy  so  much 
delighted,  he  finally  built  a  solid,  ornate  mansion 
of  gray  granite  at  No.  240  Goethe  Street,  than 
which  none  of  our  citizens  can  boast  of  a  more 
complete  or  elegant  home.  In  full  view  of  the  lake 
(but  a  block  distant),  contiguous  to  a  beautiful 
private  park,  within  easy  access  of  business 
haunts,  and  yet  enjoying  the  stillness  of  a  veritable 
country  seat,  Judge  Goudy  with  his  wife  there 
found  the  oasis  of  existence,  his  seat  of  recupera- 
tive rest,  his  scene  of  domestic  bliss,  for  he  was 
emphatically,  notwithstanding  the  grandeur  and 
publicity  which  cast  a  halo  about  his  character, 
a  domestic  man.  Though  a  valued  member  of 
the  Union  and  Iroquois  Clubs,  he  was  not  an 
habitue  of  their  inviting  halls,  save  on  rare  special 
occasions. 

In  politics,  like  all  his  lineage,  he  was  a  sturdy 
Democrat ;  not  particularly  aggressive,  but  full  of 
wise  counsels  and  dictator  of  winning  courses  to 


122 


H.  F.  FRINK. 


be  pursued  in  accomplishing  certain  political 
ends.  His  first  vote  was  cast  for  L,ewis  Cass  in 
1848;  he  had  much  to  do  with  the  nomination  of 
President  Cleveland  to  his  last  term  of  office;  and 
might  have  passed  away  in  occupation  of  the 
most  dignified  seat  of  judicial  honor  within  the 
gift  of  our  country,  i.  e.,  the  Supreme  Bench  of 
the  United  States,  had  not  his  ever  honorable 
principles  decided  him  to  withdraw  in  favor  of 
his  old  friend,  the  present  Chief  Justice,  M.  W. 
Fuller.  He  was  at  one  time  President  of  the 
Lincoln  Park  Board  of  Commissioners,  as  he  had 
been  among  those  most  actively  valuable  in  lay- 
ing out  the  bounds  and  bringing  into  being  that 
most  beautiful  of  all  our  resorts. 

Judge  Goudy  was  a  "gentleman  of  the  old 
school,"  always  courteous  and  scrupulously  hon- 
orable; the  possessor  of  a  frankly-bright,  prepos- 
sessing face,  brimful  of  character.  A  very  broad 
forehead  surmounted  features  all  finely  chiseled; 
his  figure  was  but  of  medium  height  and  physical 
weight,  but  capable  of  expressing  great  dignity 
upon  occasion.  Though  rather  sickly  in  youth, 
by  abstemious  habits  he  had  grown  for  many 
years  to  be  quite  robust,  in  which  condition  he 
was  maintained  by  studious  attention  to  all  his 


habits,  save  that  of  work.  In  this,  he  reminds 
one  strongly  of  the  great  Csesar,  who,  sickly  in 
youth,  by  careful  regimen  grew  to  endure  in- 
credible labors.  Indeed,  it  was  from  over  appli- 
cation, following  too  speedily  a  season  of  malady, 
that  Judge  Goudy  met  his  end  April  27,  1893; 
which  found  him  suddenly,  like  the  lightning 
flash,  seated  in  his  chair  by  the  office  desk,  whither 
he  had  injudiciously  repaired  upon  important 
business.  His  tough,  perennial  thread  of  life, 
which  had  been  vexed  and  tugged  at  time  and 
again  by  his  response  to  urgent  demands,  was 
strained  beyond  endurance;  it  snapped,  and  the 
heroic  melody  of  a  noble  life  became  forever  in- 
stantly silent.  He  was  buried  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  he 
had  always  had  a  vital  interest,  and  now  sleeps  the 
peaceful  sleep  of  the  just  in  the  family  lot  at  Grace- 
land  Cemetery,  which  spot  will  long  continue  to  be 
marked  by  the  dignified  memorial  now  rising 
over  his  remains. 

He  left  a  supremely  honorable  name.  Out  of  the 
many  illustrious  heroes  found  herein,  none  need 
doubt  that  the  memory  of  the  greatest  will  not 
survive  that  of  Hon.  William  Charles  Goudy. 


HENRY  F.  FRINK. 


HENRY  FARNSWORTH  FRINK,  whose 
business  and  social  relations  cause  him  to  be 
well  known  in  Cook  County,  enjoys  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  a  native  of  Chicago,  and  repre- 
sents one  of  its  most  esteemed  pioneer  families. 
The  house  in  which  he  was  born  stood  at  the 
corner  of  Wabasli  Avenue  and  Randolph  Street, 
and  the  date  of  his  advent  was  April  17,  1848. 
His  parents  were  John  and  Harriet  Frink,  an  ap- 
propriate notice  of  whom  is  given  elsewhere  in 
this  book. 

Henry  F.  Frink  was  afforded  excellent  educa- 


tional advantages,  and  at  twenty  years  of  age 
graduated  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts 
from  the  Chicago  University.  It  is  needless  to 
add  that  his  subsequent  career  has  been  such  as 
to  reflect  credit  upon  his  Alma  Mater.  He  began 
the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Sleeper,  Whiton 
&  Durham,  and  in  1872  was  admitted  to  practice 
by  a  committee  composed  of  members  of  the  Bar 
appointed  for  the  purpose  of  examining  candi- 
dates. Since  that  date  he  has  been  continuously 
engaged  in  practice,  making  a  specialty  of  real- 
estate  law  and  the  examination  of  abstracts.  His 


J.  M.  ADSIT. 


123 


ample  experience  and  accurate  knowledge  of 
these  subjects  are  of  great  value  to  himself  and 
his  clients,  and  cause  his  opinions  to  be  received 
with  respectful  attention  by  attorneys  and  officials 
generally.  He  deals  in  city  and  suburban  realty 
to  a  considerable  extent,  and  by  the  exercise  of 
foresight  and  discrimination  in  these  operations 
has  accumulated  a  competence,  which  he  endeav- 
ors to  invest  in  such  a  manner  as  to  promote  the 
commercial  interests  of  the  community.  In  1891 
he  organized  the  Austin  State  Bank,  of  which  he 
has  ever  since  been  the  President,  giving  consid- 
erable of  his  time  and  attention  to  its  affairs.  His 
business  of  all  kinds  has  been  conducted  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  secure  the  best  results  to  his  col- 
leagues and  at  the  same  time  to  inspire  the  confi- 
dence of  the  public  in  his  judgment  and  integrity. 
On  the  I4th  of  April,  1886,  occurred  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Frink  and  Miss  Louise  Creote,  a 
most  estimable  lady  and  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
Creote,  an  early  pioneer  of  Chicago.  A  daugh- 
ter, Mildred,  helps  to  brighten  the  home  circle  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frink.  The  former  of  this  couple 


adheres  to  the  Episcopal  faith,  in  the  tenets  of 
which  he  was  instructed  in  youth,  while  his  wife 
is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Austin, 
where  the  family  resides. 

Socially,  Mr.  Frink  is  identified  with  the  Royal 
League  and  Athletic  Clubs.  While  never  an  act- 
ive politician,  he  is  not  unmindful  of  the  duties 
of  citizenship,  and  usually  casts  his  ballot  in  sup- 
port of  Republican  principles. 

Previous  to  the  great  Chicago  fire  he  occupied 
an  office  with  W.  D.  Kerfoot  at  No.  95  Washing- 
ton Street,  and  for  a  time  subsequent  to  that  dis- 
aster he  shared  with  that  gentleman  the  historic 
cabin  in  the  street,  which  served  them  as  a  shel- 
ter pending  the  rescue  of  their  safe  from  the  em- 
bers and  the  erection  of  their  new  building.  He 
did  duty  as  a  member  of  the  citizens'  patrol  guard 
immediately  after  the  great  fire,  a  temporary  ar- 
rangement for  the  protection  of  homes  and  prop- 
erty, which  was  instrumental  in  preventing  a 
great  deal  of  the  pillage  and  plundering  to  which 
the  city  was  exposed  until  the  police  force  could 
be  re-organized. 


JAMES  M.  ADSIT. 


(TAMES  M.  ADSIT.  To  have  been  among 
I  the  first  in  Chicago  to  engage  in  any  honor- 
Q)  able  calling  is  quite  sufficient  to  make  such 
a  one  a  local  historical  personage  for  all  time  to 
come,  and  so  the  career  of  James  M.  Adsit  is 
filled  with  unusual  interest,  because  of  the  con- 
spicuous fact  that,  apart  from  his  being  an  excep- 
tional character,  he  was  among  the  first  bankers 
to  enter  upon  a  career  of  finance  within  the  pres- 
ent limits  of  Cook  County. 

Mr.  Adsit  was  born  February  5,  1809,  in 
Spencertown,  Columbia  County,  New  York,  unto 
Leonard  and  Frances  Adsit  {nee  Davenport). 
His  father  dying  when  the  son  was  but  six  years 
of  age,  he  went  to  live  and  remain  with  his 
grandfather  Adsit,  and  after  finishing  the  com- 


mon-school education  customary  for  those  early 
days,  went  for  a  time  into  employment  in  his 
uncle  Ira  Davenport's  store. 

On  April  2,  1838,  he  arrived  in  Chicago, 
then  a  city  of  but  a  single  year's  standing,  con- 
sisting of  only  a  few  streets  stragglingly  built  up; 
and,  as  one  of  the  earliest  pioneers,  founded  a 
private  bank  at  Number  37  Clark  Street  in  1850, 
having  up  to  that  time,  from  the  date  of  his  arri- 
val, been  engaged  in  loans  and  investments  on 
Lake  Street.  In  1856  he  removed  one  door  to 
Number  39  Clark  Street,  where  he  remained  un- 
til the  "Chicago  Fire,"  at  which  time  he  had  the 
great  misfortune  to  lose  all  of  his  personal  papers 
and  books  connected  intimately  with  much  of 
Chicago's  early  history,  whereby  vanished  forever 


124 


J.  M.  ADSIT. 


valuable  data  covering  the  development  of  the 
city  for  its  first  three  decades.  But  fortune  was 
his  on  that  occasion  to  save  the  bulk  of  moneys 
and  securities  in  the  vaults  of  his  office,  thereby 
being  able  to  reassure  his  depositors,  many  of 
whom  on  days  following  came  with  woeful  visage, 
in  expectation  of  news  of  their  hard-earned 
means  having  gone  up  in  flames. 

Shortly  after  he  had  re-opened  his  banking  busi- 
ness at  Number  422  Wabash  Avenue  for  a  few 
months,  he  removed  to  a  store  on  Wabash  Avenue 
a  few  doors  from  Congress,  thence  to  the  Ogden 
Building,  corner  Lake  and  Clark  Streets.  He  then 
built  at  Number  41  Clark  Street,  where  he  contin- 
ued in  active  life  until  1881 .  At  that  date,  owing 
somewhat  to  failing  health,  he  decided  to  merge  his 
corporation  into  the  Chicago  National  Bank,  of 
which  he  became  the  first  Vice-President,  resign- 
ing, however,  in  1885,  at  which  time  he  retired 
from  active  life. 

His  shortsightedness,  if  indeed  we  are  right  to 
so  style  the  matter,  was  a  lack  of  faith  in  the 
future  real-estate  values  of  Chicago.  Had  a  bold 
course  been  adopted  in  this  direction,  it  would 
have  resulted  in  the  acquiring  of  an  estate  vast 
indeed:  but  sufficient  honor  is  his,  in  that  he  un- 
swervingly carried  out  his  financial  life  in  strict 
integrity. 

While  ever  a  stanch  Republican  in  politics, 
Mr.  Adsit  was  never  prominent  in  public  life,  fig- 
uring rather  in  the  background  on  movements 
which  were  to  be  carried  out  for  the  public  weal. 
In  that  sense  he  was  always  a  most  active  and 
useful  member  in  aid  of  advances.  Among  the 
institutions  with  which  he  was  conspicuously  as- 
sociated was  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  of  which 
he  was  the  first  Vice-President.  Following  the 
panic  of  1857,  when  threatened  by  adverse  cir- 
cumstances with  destruction,  he  lent  strong  finan- 
cial support,  and  was  for  years  one  of  the  chief 
managers,  until  its  future  of  honor  and  usefulness 
was  assured.  In  1871  he  was  Chairman  of  the 
Clearing  House  Association.  Among  the  large 
estates  promoted  under  his  management  was  that 
of  Allen  C.  Lewis,  which  was  enhanced  greatly 
in  value  through  his  shrewd  handling. 

He  was  a  member  of  the   North  Side  Union 


Club,  but  growing  infirmity  of  health  and  life-long 
devotion  to  home  influences  prevented  much  so- 
cial dissipation.  On  Dearborn  Avenue,  at  the 
corner  of  Elm  Street,  in  a  luxurious  mansion- 
house,  to  which  he  removed  in  1884,  he  spent 
happy  days  following  a  most  usefully  busy  career. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  great  fire,  he  had  at- 
tended at  the  Wabash  Avenue  Methodist  Church; 
afterwards  for  some  years  at  the  Plymouth  Con- 
gregational Church,  but  finally  became  an  habit- 
ual attendant  at  David  Swing's  church,  on  the 
North  Side,  following  him  to  the  Music  Hall  or- 
ganization across  the  river,  being  thus  long  in 
intimate  relations  with  him  who  so  feelingly  offi- 
ciated at  the  final  obsequies,  preceding  interment 
at  Graceland.  The  time  of  going  to  the  other 
shore  was  September  4,  1894;  subsequent  to  a 
stroke  of  paralysis  and  some  years  of  indisposi- 
tion; and  when  his  venerable  form,  which  had 
borne  the  trials  of  upwards  of  eighty-five  years, 
was  laid  to  rest,  there  was  not  a  dry  eye  over  the 
melancholy  thought  that  the  worthiest  of  the  rem- 
nant of  the  early  pioneers  had  gone  to  his  well- 
merited  reward.  And  thus  the  first  generation 
passed  into  that  history  which  it  is  the  province 
of  this  publication  to  rescue  from  oblivion  for  the 
edification  and  teaching  of  future  times. 

Said  the  well-known  philanthropist,  Dr.  Pear- 
son, in  speaking  of  Mr.  Adsit:  "He  was  a  thor- 
oughly upright  man,  whom  I  never  knew  to  fail 
in  an>-  undertaking.  He  passed  through  the  pan- 
ics of  1857,  l866  an(*  l873.  and  the  great  fire, 
not  without  financial  loss,  but  without  a  blemish 
upon  his  reputation,  meeting  every  obligation 
faithfully."  Mr.  John  J.  Mitchell,  President  of 
the  Illinois  Trust  and  Savings  Bank,  remarked 
shortly  after  his  demise:  "Mr.  Adsit  was  a  man 
of  the  very  highest  integrity,  and  none  stood 
higher  than  he  among  the  business  men  and  bank- 
ers of  Chicago.  *  *  *  In  his  death  Chicago 
loses  not  only  one  of  her  foremost  citizens,  but 
one  who  helped  to  make  the  city's  history,  and 
the  success  she  now  enjoys." 

Mr.  Adsit  married,  January  21,  1840,  MissAr- 
ville  Chapin,  of  Chicago,  who,  herself  in  ad- 
vanced age,  survives  him,  waiting  her  message 
to  join  on  the  other  side  him  she  so  long,  so  deep- 


H.   M.  ROBINSON. 


125 


ly  loved.     Seven   children   blessed   their  union, 
namely : 

Leonard  D.  Adsit,  who  was  born  January  29, 
1841,  and  who  died  in  Chicago  in  1879,  having 
been  a  banker,  associated  with  his  father; 

Isabella  F.,  who  married  Ezra  I.  Wheeler,  of 
Chicago,  a  commission  merchant,  now  deceased, 
leaving  her  without  children; 

James  M.  Adsit,  Jr.,  born  April  7,  1847,  un- 
married; a  former  banker  with  his  father;  now  a 
stock  broker  with  office  in  the  Stock  Exchange; 

Charles  Chapin,  who  is  associated  with  his 
brother  as  a  stock  broker;  born  July  14,  1853; 
married  in  October,  1890,  to  Mary  Bowman  Ash- 
by,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  by  whom  one  child, 
Charles  Chapin,  Jr.,  was  born  July  3,  1892; 

Caroline  Jane,  educated  at  Dearborn  Seminary, 
then  at  Miss  Ogden  Hoffman's  private  school  in 
New  York  City;  unmarried; 

Frank  S.,  born  September  7,  1855;  died  in 
childhood ; 

Jeanie  M.,  educated  at  Dearborn  Seminary; 
unmarried. 

Mrs.  Adsit  comes  of  an  old  and  distinguished 
New  England  family,  of  which  she  is  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  seventh  American  generation. 
Springfield,  Massachusetts,  is  their  leading  home- 
stead, where  members  have  erected  a  magnificent 
statue  of  their  "Puritan  divine"  ancestor. 

Deacon  Samuel   Chapin,   who   married  a  Miss 


Cisily,  was  the  progenitor  from  whom  are  de- 
scended all  in  the  United  States.  He  came  from 
abroad  to  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  in  1641,  at 
which  time  he  took  the  "freeman's  oath"  in  Bos- 
ton. The  following  year  he  went  to  Springfield, 
then  one  of  the  frontier  towns,  where  he  was  for 
a  long  time  a  local  magistrate  and  one  of  its  first 
deacons. 

His  son  Henry  married  Bethia  Cooley,  and  re- 
sided in  Springfield.  Was  a  Representative  in 
the  General  Court,  a  merchant  sea-captain  be- 
tween London  and  Boston;  afterwards  retired  to 
live  in  Boston ;  then  to  Springfield.  He  had  a  son, 

Deacon  Benjamin,  who  married  Hannah  Col- 
ton,  and  lived  in  Chicopee,  a  set-off  portion  of 
northern  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  where  he 
was  one  of  its  first  deacons.  He  had  a  son 

Captain  Ephraim,  who  married  Jemima  Chapin, 
his  own  cousin ;  lived  in  Chicopee,  where  he  was 
an  old-time  inn-keeper.  He  also  served  in  the 
French  and  Indian  Wars.  He  had  a  son 

Bezaleel,  who  also  married  his  own  cousin, 
Thankful  Chapin;  living  at  Ludlow  Massachu- 
setts. He  had  a  son 

Oramel,  who  married  Suzan  Rood;  living  in 
Ludlow,  Massachusetts,  thence  removing  to  Mil- 
waukee, Wisconsin,  later  to  Chicago,  where  he 
died. 

Their  daughter  Arville  married  the  subject  of 
this  sketch. 


HAMILTON  M.  ROBINSON. 


HAMILTON    MOFFAT    ROBINSON    was 
born  in  Cheltenham,  Gloucestershire,  Eng- 
land,  February  12,  1862,  and  is  the  eldest 
son  of  James  Hamilton   Robinson  and  Frances 
Jane  Moffat.     Both  the  parents  represent  ancient 
Scottish  families. 
James  H.  Robinson,  who  was  born  in  London 


and  educated  at  the  Edinburgh  High  School, 
engaged  in  business  in  Manchester,  England, 
soon  after  completing  his  education,  and  later  in 
London,  in  the  East  India  trade.  He  continued 
ip  business  about  thirty  years,  dealing  in  jute 
and  export  merchandise.  During  a  portion  of 
this  time  he  resided  at  Calcutta,  in  order  to  give 


126 


H.   M.  ROBINSON. 


personal  supervision  to  his  export  trade.  In  1885 
he  retired  from  business  and  came  to  America, 
locating  at  Winnipeg,  Manitoba,  where  his  chil- 
dren had  preceded  him  and  where  he  still  resides. 
His  father,  George  Brown  Robinson,  had  suc- 
ceeded his  (George's)  father  in  the  East  India 
trade,  and  also  resided  for  some  years  in  Calcutta. 
He  married  Jane  Campbell  Hamilton,  like  him- 
self a  native  of  Scotland.  She  is  still  living  in 
London,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 

Mrs.  Frances  J.  Robinson  was  a  daughter 
of  Col.  Bowland  Moffat,  who  commanded  the 
Fifty-fourth  Regiment  of  the  British  army,  was 
a  veteran  of  the  Crimean  War,  and  was  stationed 
for  some  years  at  Calcutta,  at  which  place  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  James  H.  Robinson  were  married.  A  num- 
ber of  the  ancestors  of  Colonel  Moffat  were  well- 
to-do  merchants  in  the  West  India  trade,  and  sev- 
eral members  of  the  family  served  in  the  British 
army. 

Hamilton  M.  Robinson  was  but  six  months 
old  when  the  family  moved  from  London  and 
again  took  up  its  residence  in  Calcutta.  Seven 
years  subsequently  he  returned  to  Europe,  and  at- 
tended boarding-schools  at  various  points  in 
the  South  of  England.  At  the  age  of  sixteen 
years  he  finished  the  course  at  Chatham  House 
College,  Ramsgate,  Kent.  It  had  been  his  in- 
tention to  enter  the  East  Indian  civil  service,  but 
owing  to  his  father's  financial  embarrassments 
at  that  time,  he  abandoned  this  purpose  and  en- 
tered the  London  office  of  Kelly  &  Company, 
East  India  merchants.  He  began  in  the  capacity 
of  office  boy,  but  with  such  vigor  and  intelligence 
did  he  apply  himself  to  business,  that  in  the  brief 
space  of  four  years  he  became  the  office  manager 
of  the  firm.  He  continued  in  that  connection  un- 
til September,  1883,  when  he  determined  to  seek 
a  wider  field  for  the  development  of  his  talents 
and  ability,  and  came  to  America,  joining  his 
brother  in  the  Northwest  Territory  of  Canada. 
He  homesteaded  a  farm  in  Manitoba,  but  a  short 
time  sufficed  to  convince  him  that  the  pursuit  of 
agriculture  was  neither  as  profitable  nor  congenial 
as  he  had  anticipated.  In  the  following  May  he 
joined  a  friend  who  was  coming  to  Chicage,  and 
has  ever  since  made  this  city  his  home  and  place 


of  business.  In  the  spring  of  1885  he  again 
visited  the  Northwest  Territory,  and  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Colonel  Boulton's  scouts,  assisted  in  sup- 
pressing the  Riel  rebellion. 

He  arrived  here  with  neither  money,  friends 
nor  influence,  and  wasted  no  time  in  seeking  or 
waiting  for  a  genteel  position,  but  immediately 
began  work  at  the  first  employment  which  he 
could  obtain.  In  the  mean  time  he  was  constantly 
on  the  alert  for  a  more  lucrative  occupation,  and 
in  a  few  weeks  secured  a  position  as  bookkeeper 
with  the  Anglo-American  Packing  and  Provision 
Company,  with  which  he  remained  for  about 
three  years.  In  May,  1887,  he  resigned  this  em- 
ployment and  obtained  a  position  with  the  firm 
of  Crosby  &  Macdonald,  marine  underwriters. 
He  continued  in  this  connection  about  five  years, 
winning  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  em- 
ployers, and  demonstrating  his  integrity  and 
ability  for  the  transaction  of  business.  In  what- 
ever position  he  has  been  placed  he  has  ever  been 
an  indefatigable  worker,  striving  to  promote  the 
interests  of  those  whom  he  served,  even  at  the 
expense  of  his  own  health  and  personal  comfort. 
On  the  first  of  June,  1892,  Mr.  Robinson  formed 
a  partnership  with  James  B.  Kellogg,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Kellogg  &  Robinson,  marine  average 
adjusters.  This  is  one  of  the  leading  firms  of 
marine  adjusters  upon  the  shores  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan, and  their  success  has  been  gratifying  from 
the  start. 

Mr.  Robinson  is  a  member  of  the  Lake  Board 
of  Average  Adjusters,  and  of  the  Association  of 
Average  Adjusters  of  the  United  States.  He  has 
never  identified  himself  with  any  political  party, 
but  takes  an  intelligent  interest  in  questions  of 
public  policy,  and  has  been  an  American  citizen 
since  1891.  He  is  heartily  in  sympathy  with  the 
spirit  of  American  institutions,  and  may  be  classed 
as  one  of  the  most  desirable  and  useful  among 
the  foreign-born  citizens  of  Chicago. 

He  was  married,  in  1887,  to  Ida  T.  Cleverdon, 
of  Toronto,  province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  daugh- 
ter of  William  Thompson  Cleverdon  and  Nanie 
Geech,  both  formerly  residents  of  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


M.  W.  FULLER 


127 


MELVILLE  W.  FULLER. 


I ELVILLE  WESTON  FULLER.  The  fol- 
lowing sketch  of  Chief  Justice  Fuller  was 
written  by  the  late  Major  Joseph  Kirkland 
for  the  "History  of  Chicago,"  published  by  Mun- 
sell  &  Company,  by  whose  permission  it  is  here 
reprinted: 

Chief  Justice  Fuller  traces  his  descent  direct 
to  the  "Mayflower. ' '  His  father  was  Frederick  A. 
Fuller,  and  his  mother  Catherine  Martin  Weston. 
His  grandfather  on  the  mother's  side  was  Nathan 
Weston,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Maine  Supreme 
Court;  and  his  uncle,  George  Melville  Weston, 
was  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Augusta.  Melville 
Weston  Fuller  was  born  February  n,  1833,  at 
Augusta,  Maine,  and  grew  up  with  good  educa- 
tional advantages.  He  was  prepared  for  college 
at  Augusta,  and  entered  Bowdoin  College  in  1849, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  1853.  Thence  he 
went  to  Dane  Law  School  (Harvard),  where  so 
many  of  our  western  jurists  have  earned  their 
diplomas.  He  is  described  as  having  been  a 
rather  aimless  youth,  but  in  college  a  model 
student,  with  a  special  gift  for  public  speaking. 
He  began  his  law  practice  in  Augusta,  but  find- 
ing business  lacking,  he  employed  his  time  and 
eked  out  his  income  by  newspaper  work;  a  cir- 
cumstance to  which  is  doubtless  due  something  of 
the  literary  facility  which  has  always  formed  a 
strong  feature  in  his  career. 

An  interesting  fact  connected  with  this  journal- 
istic experience  is  this:  At  a  certain  session  of  the 
Legislature  which  Melville  W.  Fuller  reported  for 
the  Augusta  Age  (which  he  and  his  uncle,  B.  A. 
G.  Fuller,  published  together),  James  G.  Elaine 
was  engaged  as  correspondent  of  the  Kennebec 


Journal.  Though  opposed  in  politics,  the  two 
men  were  always  personal  friends,  and  at  last,  by 
a  curious  coincidence,  found  themselves  in  Wash- 
ington together;  the  one  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  and  the  other  Secretary  of  State. 

Mr.  Fuller's  success  in  Augusta  as  a  lawyer 
was  in  proportion  to  the  law  business  of  the  place, 
and  so  not  large  or  satisfying.  His  success  in 
politics  was  in  proportion  to  his  ability,  and  there- 
fore excellent.  At  twenty-three  he  was  City  At- 
torney and  President  of  the  Common  Council  of 
Augusta. 

Still,  it  must  have  been  unconsciously  borne  in 
upon  him  that  Augusta  and  Maine,  always  loved 
and  honored  by  him,  were,  after  all,  a  "pent-up 
Utica"  to  such  a  soul  as  his.  He  must,  at  least, 
see  the  great  West.  In  1 856  he  came  to  Chicago, 
meeting  here  his  friend  and  fellow-townsman, 
Mr.  S.  K.  Dow,  a  practicing  lawyer,  who  urged 
him  to  emigrate,  offering  him  a  place  in  his  office 
and,  at  his  choice,  either  a  partnership  in  the 
business  or  a  salary  of  $50  per  month.  He  chose 
the  latter,  and  worked  on  those  terms  five  months, 
living  within  his  income.  But  scarcely  a  year 
had  passed  before  he  began  to  do  a  fine  and  prof- 
itable business,  which  went  on  increasing  with 
remarkable  speed  and  steadiness  up  to  the  time 
of  his  leaving  the  Bar  for  the  Supreme  Bench. 

In  politics  he  was  a  stanch  Democrat,  and  by 
friendship  and  sympathy  a  warm  adherent  ot 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.  At  Mr.  Douglas's  death  in 
1861,  he  delivered  the  funeral  oration,  his  speech 
being  a  masterly  production.  In  the  same  year 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  and  two  years  later  we  find  him  in 


128 


M.  W.  FULLER. 


the  Illinois  Legislature.  Here  he  gave  the  same 
strenuous  support  to  the  war  which  was  offered 
by  other  Douglas  men;  he  was  a  Unionist,  but 
not  an  anti-slavery  man  or  Republican.  The 
war  Democrats  were  in  favor  of  the  war  as  they 
thought  it  should  be  conducted,  giving  their  ad- 
herence to  the  McClellan  plan  as  being  the  most 
certain  to  triumph  and  restore  the  integrity  of  the 
country. 

Here  it  seems  well  to  quote  from  some  fine 
verses  written  by  Mr.  Fuller  long  afterward. 
They  are  on  the  death  of  General  Grant,  and 
show  at  once  a  loyal  feeling  for  the  great  soldier's 
services  and  a  true  poetic  thought  and  diction;  a 
power  of  composition  rare  in  the  learned,  prac- 
ticed and  successful  lawyer: 

Let  drum  to  trumpet  speak — 
The  trumpet  to  the  cannoneer  without — 
The  cannon  to  the  heavens  from  each  redoubt, 

Each  lowly  valley  and  each  lofty  peak, 
As  to  his  rest  the  great  commander  goes 
Into  the  pleasant  land  of  earned  repose. 

*  *        *        * 

Not  in  his  battles  won, 
Though  long  the  well-fought  fields  may  keep  their  name, 

But  in  the  wide  world's  sense  of  duty  done, 
The  gallant  soldier  finds  the  meed  of  fame; 
His  life  no  struggle  for  ambition's  prize, 
Simply  the  duty  done  that  next  him  lies. 

*  *        *        * 

Earth  to  its  kindred  earth: 
The  spirit  to  the  fellowship  of  souls! 
As,  slowly,  Time  the  mighty  scroll  unrolls 

Of  waiting  ages  yet  to  have  their  birth, 
Fame,  faithful  to  the  faithful,  writes  on  high 
His  name  as  one  that  was  not  born  to  die. 

Mr.  Fuller  was  a  hard  worker  in  his  profession ; 
and  it  is  said  of  him  that  in  any  case  his  stoutest 
fighting  is  done  when  the  day  seems  lost,  when 
he  is  very  apt  to  turn  defeat  into  victory.  He  is 
reported  to  have  had,  during  his  thirty  years' 
practice,  as  many  as  twenty-five  hundred  cases  at 
the  Chicago  Bar;  which,  deducting  his  absence  at 
the  Legislature,  etc.,  would  give  him  at  least  one 
hundred  cases  a  year;  fewer,  necessarily,  in  the 
earlier  part  of  his  practice,  and  more  afterward. 
This  shows  a  remarkable  degree  of  activity  and 
grasp  of  business.  He  has  never  made  a  specialty 
of  any  kind  of  law,  though  there  are  some  where- 
in his  name  scarcely  appears;  for  instance,  di- 
vorce law  and  criminal  law.  Among  his  many 
cases  are  Field  against  Leiter;  the  Lake  Front 


case;  Storey  against  Storey's  estate;  Hyde  Park 
against  Chicago;  Carter  against  Carter,  etc.,  and 
the  long  ecclesiastical  trial  of  Bishop  Cheney  on 
the  charge  of  heresy. 

His  partnership  with  Mr.  Dow  lasted  until 
1860.  From  1862  to  1864  his  firm  was  Fuller  & 
Ham,  then  for  two  years  Fuller,  Ham  &  Shep- 
ard,  and  for  two  years  more  Fuller  &  Shepard. 
From  1869  to  1877  he  had  as  partner  his  cousin, 
Joseph  E.  Smith,  son  of  Governor  Smith,  of 
Maine.  Since  that  time  he  has  had  no  partner. 
His  business  was  only  such  as  he  chose  to  ac- 
cept; and  his  professional  income  has  been  esti- 
mated at  from  $20,000  to  $30,000  a  year.  His 
property  includes  the  Fuller  Block  on  Dearborn 
Street,  and  is  popularly  valued  at  $300,000. 

He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Democratic  National 
Conventions  of  1 864,  1872,  1876  and  1880,  always 
taking  a  prominent  place.  Just  after  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's first  election  to  the  Presidency,  Mr.  Fuller 
called  on  him  in  Albany,  and  Mr.  Cleveland  at 
once  conceived  for  him  a  very  high  appreciation. 
On  the  death  of  Chief  Justice  Waite  it  seemed  de- 
sirable that  the  new  Justice  should  be  taken  from 
the  West;  and  Mr.  Fuller's  liberal  education,  the 
catholicity  of  his  law  practice,  his  marked  indus- 
try, abilit}-  and  command  of  language — all  these, 
joined  with  his  devotion  to  the  principles  of  his 
party,  made  him  a  natural  choice  for  nomination 
to  the  position.  High  and  unexpected  as  was  the 
honor,  Mr.  Fuller  hesitated  before  accepting  it. 
If  it  satisfies  his  ambition  in  one  direction,  it 
checks  it  in  another. 

The  salary  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United 
States  is  $10,500  a  year;  very  far  less  than  the 
gains  arising  from  general  practice  in  the  front 
rank  of  lawyers,  or  from  service  as  counsel  of  any 
one  of  hundreds  of  great  corporations.  So  there 
comes  a  kind  of  dead-lock;  if  a  man  happens  to  be 
born  to  riches,  he  is  pretty  sure  never  to  go 
through  the  hard  work  which  alone  gives  leader- 
ship in  the  law.  If  he  starts  poor,  then,  having 
his  fortune  to  make,  he  cannot  take  Federal  judi- 
cial office,  that  being  a  life-long  position.  The 
only  way  in  which  the  Federal  Bench  can  be  ap- 
propriately filled,  under  the  circumstances,  is 
when  by  chance  a  man  prefers  power  and  dignity 


JOHN  PRINDIVILLE. 


129 


to  mere  riches;  or  where  his  success  has  been  so 
sudden  that  he,  is  able  (and  willing)  to  accept 
a  judgeship  as  a  kind  of  honorable  retirement 
from  the  struggle  and  competition  of  practice. 

Aside  from  these  considerations,  Mr.  Fuller  felt 
a  natural  hesitancy  in  undertaking  a  responsibil- 
ity so  trying  and  hazardous. 

As  to  the  money  obstacle,  Mr.  Fuller  probably 
felt  himself,  through  his  great  and  rapid  success, 
able  to  afford  to  accept  the  appointment.  He  ac- 
cepted it,  was  hailed  in  his  new  dignity  with 
genial  cordiality,  and  has  filled  the  office  with  un- 
impeachable credit  and  honor. 

Mr.  Fuller's  first  wife  was  Miss  Calista  O. 
Reynolds.  She  died  young,  after  bearing  him 
two  children.  He  married  a  second  time,  taking 


to  wife  Mary  Ellen,  daughter  of  the  distinguished 
banker,  William  F.  Coolbaugh.  His  family  now 
consists  of  eight  daughters  and  one  son;  and 
his  domestic  and  social  relations  are  as  happy  as 
it  is  possible  to  imagine,  the  young  ladies  being 
full  of  gaiety  and  loveliness  in  all  its  styles  and 
types.  He  himself  is  never  so  well  content  as  in 
his  own  household,  making  merry  with  all.  It  is 
even  whispered  that  should  his  resignation  not 
throw  his  own  party  out  of  the  tenancy  of  the 
office  to  which  it  chose  him,  he  might  give  up  the 
irksome  and  confining  dignity  and  the  forced 
residence  in  a  strange  city,  and  return  to  the 
West,  to  the  city  of  his  choice,  to  the  home  of 
his  heart. 


CAPT.  JOHN  PRINDIVILLE. 


ft}  APT.  JOHN  PRINDIVILLE,  whose  name  is 
I  (  a  synonym  for  honesty,  courage  and  gener- 
\J  osity  among  the  early  residents  of  Chicago, 
was  born  in  Ireland,  September  7,  1826.  The 
names  of  his  parents  were  Maurice  Prindiville  and 
Catharine  Morris.  While  a  boy  at  school  Maur- 
ice Prindiville  ran  away  from  home  and  went  to 
sea,  making  a  voyage  to  India,  thereby  gratifying 
his  thirst  for  adventure  and  forfeiting  the  oppor- 
tnnity  to  enter  Trinity  College  at  Dublin.  Re- 
turning to  his  native  land,  he  there  married  Miss 
Morris,  and  in  1835  came  with  his  family  to  Amer- 
ica. After  spending  a  year  at  Detroit,  he  came  to 
Chicago,  where  he  was  for  several  years  in  charge 
of  Newbury  &  Dole's  grain  warehouse.  With  his 
family,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  a  log  house  on 
Chicago  Avenue,  at  the  northern  terminus  of  Wol- 
cott  (now  North  State)  Street,  which  was  subse- 
quently extended.  The  locality  was  long  known 
as  "the  Prindiville  Patch."  The  nearest  house 
was  Judge  Brown's  residence,  on  the  west  side  of 
Wolcott  Street, between  Ontario  and  Ohio  Streets, 


the  only  one  between  Prindiville' s  and  River 
Street,  the  intervening  territory  being  covered 
with  thick  woods.  Indians  and  wild  beasts  were 
numerous  in  the  vicinity  at  that  time,  and  John 
Prindiville  became  quite  familiar  with  the  Indians 
and  learned  to  speak  several  of  their  dialects. 
His  father  and  he  were  firm  friends  of  Chief  Wau- 
bansee  and  others,  and  always  espoused  their 
cause  in  resisting  the  encroachments  of  the  whites 
upon  their  rights  and  domains. 

As  a  boy  John  was  noted  for  his  dare-devil 
pranks,  though  always  popular  with  his  comrades, 
whom  he  often  led  into  difficulties,  out  of  which  he 
usually  succeeded  in  bringing  them  without  seri- 
ous results.  He  was  one  of  the  first  students  at 
St.  Mary's  College,  which  was  located  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Wabash  Avenue  and  Madison  Street.  Upon 
one  occasion,  he  led  a  number  of  students  upon  a 
flqating  cake  of  ice  near  the  shore  of  the  lake. 
The  wind  suddenly  changed,  and,  before  they 
were  aware  of  their  condition,  floated  their  preca- 
rious barge  out  into  the  lake.  Upon  discovering 


JOHN  PRINDIVILLE. 


the  danger,  John  promptly  led  the  way  back  to 
shore  by  wading  through  water  breast  deep.  This 
prompt  action,  aided  by  his  reputation  for  honesty 
and  truthfulness,  saved  him  from  punishment  at 
the  hands  of  the  college  authorities.  He  always 
had  a  great  desire  to  live  upon  the  water,  and  at 
the  age  of  eleven  years  he  gratified  this  tendency 
by  shipping  as  a  cook  on  a  lake  schooner.  Two 
of  the  first  vessels  upon  which  he  sailed  were  the 
"Hiram  Pearson"  and  "Constitution."  His 
menial  position  made  him  the  butt  of  the  sailors, 
but  he  took  so  readily  to  the  life  of  a  mariner  and 
performed  his  duties  so  thoroughly  and  capably, 
that  he  rapidly  won  promotion  to  more  respon- 
sible posts,  and  when  but  nineteen  years  of  age 
became  the  master  of  the  schooner  "Liberty," 
engaged  in  the  lumber  trade  between  Chicago  and 
other  Lake  Michigan  ports.  For  about  ten  years 
he  was  the  skipper  of  sailing-vessels,  abandoning 
the  last  of  these  in  1855,  after  which  he  com- 
manded several  steamers,  although  that  was  never 
so  much  to  his  taste  as  sailing.  In  1860  he  for- 
sook marine  life,  though  he  has  been  ever  since 
interested  in  the  operation  of  lake  craft.  From 
1855  to  1865  he  and  his  brother,  Redmond  Prin- 
diville,  operated  a  line  of  tugs  upon  the  Chicago. 
River.  During  this  time,  in  August,  1862,  he 
had  a  narrow  escape  from  instant  death  by  the 
explosion  of  the  boiler  of  the  tug  "Union." 
Though  not  regularly  in  command  of  the  vessel, 
he  chanced  to  be  on  board  at  that  time,  and  had 
just  left  the  wheel,  going  aft  to  hail  another  tug, 
when  the  accident  occurred.  Captain  Daly,  who 
took  his  place  at  the  wheel,  and  several  others 
were  instantly  killed. 

As  a  skipper,  Capt.  John  Prindiville  was  noted 
for  quick  trips,  always  managing  to  out-distance 
any  competing  vessels,  though  he  made  wreck  of 
many  spars  and  timbers  by  crowding  on  canvas. 
One  of  his  standing  orders  was  that  sail  should 
not  be  shortened  without  instructions,  though  it 
was  allowable  to  increase  it  at  any  time  deemed 
desirable.  He  was  ever  on  the  alert  and  always 
took  good  care  of  the  lives  of  his  crew  and  pass- 
engers. He  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  but  was 
always  popular  with  his  men,  who  considered  it 
a  special  honor  to  be  able  to  sail  with  him,  and 


were  ever  ready  to  brave  any  danger  to  serve 
him.  These  included  a  number  of  those  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  curse  him  when  he  first  began 
his  marine  career  in  the  capacity  of  cook. 

In  1850  Captain  Prindiville  commanded  the 
brigantine  "Minnesota"  (which  was  built  in  Chi- 
cago, below  Rush  Street  Bridge) ,  the  first  Amer- 
ican vessel  to  traverse  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 
Her  cargo  consisted  of  copper  from  the  Bruce 
Mines  on  Georgian  Bay,  and  her  destination  was 
Swansea,  Wales.  Owing  to  the  stupidity  and  in- 
capacity of  the  pilot,  she  ran  upon  the  rocks  in 
Lachine  Canal  and  was  obliged  to  unload.  This 
was  a  disappointment  to  the  youthful  captain,  who 
was  ambitious  to  be  the  first  lake  skipper  to  cross 
the  ocean.  He  and  his  brothers  owned  the 
schooner  "Pamlico,"  the  first  vessel  loaded  from 
Chicago  for  Liverpool.  This  was  in  1873,  and 
the  cargo  consisted  of  twenty-four  thousand  seven 
hundred  bushels  of  corn. 

November  17,  1857,  occurred  one  of  the  most 
disastrous  storms  which  ever  visited  Lake  Michi- 
gan, an  event  long  to  be  remembered  by  the  fami- 
lies of  those  who  were  sailors  at  that  time.  A 
number  of  vessels  were  wrecked  off  the  shore  of 
Chicago,  and  many  lives  were  sacrificed  to  the  fury 
of  the  elements.  The  number  of  fatalities  would 
have  been  far  greater  but  for  the  bravery  and  har- 
dihood of  Captain  Prindiville  and  his  crew,  who 
manned  the  tug  "McQueen"  and  brought  maity 
of  the  men  to  land  in  safety,  though  at  the  peril 
of  their  own  lives.  For  this  act  of  bravery  and 
humanity,  on  the  evening  of  that  day,  Hon. 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  in  behalf  of  the  citizens, 
who  had  assembled  at  the  Tremont  House,  ten- 
dered him  a  purse  of  $700  in  gold.  This  valua- 
ble testimonial  he  modestly  declined,  recommend- 
ing that  the  money  be  distributed  among  the 
families  of  the  crew  of  the  "Flying  Cloud,"  all  of 
whom  had  been  lost  in  the  storm.  This  is  only 
one  of  the  many  instances  of  his  courage  and  self- 
sacrifice  in  behalf  of  others.  It  is  an  acknowl- 
edged and  well-known  fact  that  he  has  saved  more 
human  lives  than  any  other  navigator  on  Lake 
Michigan. 

Captain  Prindiville  is  the  father  of  eight  living 
children,  the  offspring  of  two  marriages.  On  the 


J.  W.  GARY. 


i8th  of  November,  1845,  Miss  Margaret  Kalehr 
became  his  bride.  After  her  death  he  married 
Margaret  Prendergast,  a  native  of  Burlington, 
Vermont,  who  came  to  Chicago  with  her  parents 
about  1840.  Of  his  three  sons,  Redmond  is  now 
an  ex-captain  of  lake  craft,  and  resides  in  Chi- 
cago. James  W.  and  Thomas  J.  are  associated 
with  their  father  in  the  vessel  and  marine  busi- 
ness. 

Captain  Prindiville  has  been  a  steadfast  Roman 
Catholic  from  boyhood,  and  is  now  a  communi- 
cant of  the  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Name.  He  is 


broad-minded  and  tolerant  toward  all  sincere 
Christians.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Royal  Arca- 
num, and  in  national  politics  has  been  a  life-long 
Democrat,  but  gives  his  support  to  any  good  citi- 
zen for  local  office,  irrespective  of  party  fealty. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Trade  since  1856,  and  is  now  one  of  the  oldest 
citizens  connected  with  that  body.  His  noble, 
self-sacrificing  spirit  and  unquestioned  integrity 
of  character  have  won  a  host  of  friends,  by  whom 
his  memory  will  be  cherished  long  after  the  mere 
man  of  millions  has  passed  into  obscurity. 


JOHN  W.  GARY. 


(JOHN  W.  CARY  was  the  lineal  descendant 
I  in  the  fifth  generation  of  John  Gary,  who 
(2)  came  from  Somersetshire,  near  Bristol,  Eng- 
land, in  1634,  and  joined  the  Plymouth  Colony, 
and  a  son  of  Asa  Gary,  who  was  born  in  Mans- 
field, Connecticut,  in  1774.  He  was  born  Feb- 
ruary ii,  1817,  in  Shoreham,  Vermont.  Four- 
teen years  later,  his  parents  removed  to  western 
New  York,  where  he  attended  the  common 
school,  assisting  his  father  on  the  farm  until,  at 
the  age  of  twenty,  he  entered  Union  College.  He 
supported  himself  through  college,  and  was  grad- 
uated with  the  Class  of  1842.  Two  years  later  he 
was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 
New  York,  and  followed  his  profession  in  Wayne 
and  Cayuga  Counties  until  1850,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Wisconsin,  taking  up  his  residence  at 
Racine.  He  took  an  active  interest  in  educational 
matters,  and  as  a  School  Commissioner  was  in- 
strumental in  developing  the  public-school  sys- 
tem of  Racine.  He  was  elected  State  Senator  in 
1852,  and  Mayor  in  1857.  Two  years  later  he 
removed  his  home  to  Milwaukee,  and  was  at 


once  engaged  as  solicitor  and  counsel  to  fore- 
close the  mortgages  given  by  the  La  Crosse  & 
Milwaukee  Railroad  Company.  At  the  resulting 
sale,  the  property  was  purchased  by  the  Milwau- 
kee &  St.  Paul  Railroad  Company  (now  the  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul),  which  he  had  in- 
corporated, and  of  which  he  continued  as  the 
legal  adviser  and  one  of  the  controlling  spirits  to 
the  day  of  his  death,  a  period  of  thirty-six  years. 
Until  1887  he  was  the  General  Solicitor  of  that 
company,  at  which  time  the  Board  of  Directors 
created  the  office  of  General  Counsel,  and  he  was 
then  chosen  to  that  position,  which  he  continued 
to  fill  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  not 
only  the  legal  adviser  of  that  company,  counsel- 
ing on  all  questions  and  conducting  all  its  litiga- 
tion, in  which  he  was  eminently  successful,  es- 
pecially before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  but  during  all  that  time  he  was  the  chief 
counselor  and  adviser  of  the  general  policy  of  the 
company.  He  stood  high  in  the  legal  profession, 
and  was  regarded  by  all  as  one  of  the  best  equip- 
ped railway  lawyers  in  the  country.  Some  of  the 


132 


J.  W.  GARY. 


cases  in  which  he  appeared  as  counsel  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  in  which 
he  was  successful,  rank  among  the  most  notable 
cases  of  that  court.  He  argued  before  that  court 
what  is  known  as  the  Milk  Rate  case,  which  was 
the  case  of  the  State  of  Minnesota  against  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway  Com- 
pany, decided  in  April,  1890.  The  magnitude 
of  that  case,  both  as  regards  the  principle  in- 
volved and  the  moneyed  interest  affected,  places 
it  by  the  side  of  such  cases  as  the  Dartmouth 
College  case,  the  case  of  McCulloch  versus  Mary- 
land, and  the  Slaughter  House  cases.  The  Su- 
preme Court  in  that  case  held,  as  Mr.  Gary  had 
for  many  years  contended,  that  the  reasonableness 
of  a  rate  of  charge  for  transportation  of  property 
by  a  railroad  company  was  a  question  of  judicial 
determination,  rather  than  of  arbitrary  legislative 
action,  and  that  State  Legislatures,  in  fixing  the 
rates  of  freight,  must  fix  reasonable  rates;  that  is, 
rates  which  are  compensatory ,  such  as  will  per- 
mit carriers  to  receive  reasonable  profits  upon 
their  invested  capital,  the  same  as  other  persons 
are  permitted  to  receive. 

The  success  of  Mr.  Gary  in  this  case  is  all  the 
more  notable  from  the  fact  that  fifteen  years  pre- 
viously he  appeared  as  counsel  for  the  St.  Paul 
Company  in  what  are-  known  as  the  Granger 
cases,  in  which  that  court  declined  to  adopt  the 
rule  which  it  afterwards  established  in  the  Milk 
Rate  case. 

Of  the  members  of  that  court  at  the  time  the 
Granger  cases  were  argued,  but  one  remains, 
Justice  Field,  and  of  the  leading  counsel  who  ap- 
peared in  those  cases  all  have  passed  away  ex- 
cept William  M.  Evarts.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that 
Mr.  Cary  survived  every  justice  who  was  a  mem- 
ber of  that  court  at  the  time  of  his  first  appearance 
therein,  as  well  as  the  leading  lawyers  who  were 
practicing  in  that  court  at  that  time. 

It  is  told  of  Mr.  Cary  that  he  successfully 
argued  fourteen  cases  during  one  session  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  against  such  men  as  Caleb  Cush- 
.ing,  Matt  H.  Carpenter,  Henry  A.  Cram,  of  New 
York,  and  other  eminent  men. 

In  1872,  while  a  member  of  the  Wisconsin 
State  Legislature,  he  was  requested  to  draw  a 


general  railroad  law  for  the  state,  which  he  did, 
and  the  statute  which  he  prepared  was  adopted 
and  is  still  in  force,  and  has  passed  into  history 
as  one  of  the  most  important  laws  ever  enacted  in 
Wisconsin,  and  is  regarded  by  all  as  a  law  fair 
both  to  the  people  and  the  railway  companies. 

No  person  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin  was  better 
or  more  favorably  known  than  Mr.  Cary.  His 
reputation  as  a  lawyer  of  marked  abilities,  and 
his  character  for  candor  and  integrity  as  a  man, 
were  enviable.  At  all  times  and  everywhere  he 
maintained  the  honor  of  his  profession  and  the 
majesty  of  the  law.  Those  who  knew  him  best 
respected  him  the  most. 

He  always  took  a  great  interest  in  political  af- 
fairs, and  was  unusually  well  versed  in  national 
and  political  history.  Throughout  his  entire  man- 
hood he  was  a  devoted  adherent  of  Democracy, 
receiving  in  1864  the  nomination  for  Congress, 
and  upon  several  occasions  the  complimentary 
vote  of  the  Legislature  for  United  States  Senator. 
During  the  long  period  in  which  the  Democratic 
party  was  in  the  minority,  which  covered  nearly 
the  whole  of  his  maturer  years,  Mr.  Cary  re- 
mained steadfast  in  his  loyalty  to  its  principles. 
But  for  this  fact  his  name  would  undoubtedly 
have  found  place  on  the  pages  of  history  among 
the  most  eminent  statesmen  of  his  generation.  A 
man  of  vast  mental  endowment,  clear  of  judg- 
ment, and  true  as  the  needle  to  the  pole  was  he 
to  the  right  as  he  saw  the  right. 

He  resided  in  Milwaukee  until  1890,  when  the 
general  offices  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St. 
Paul  Railway  Company  were  removed  to  Chicago. 
At  this  time  he  removed  his  home  to  Hinsdale,  a 
suburb  of  Chicago,  where  he  resided  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  Chicago  on  March  29, 
1895. 

In  1844  Mr.  Cary  was  married  to  Eliza  Vilas, 
who  died  in  1845,  leaving  a  daughter,  Eliza.  In 
1 847  he  was  married  to  Isabel  Brinkerhoff.  He 
has  seven  children  living,  namely:  Eliza,  who  is 
the  wife  of  Sherburn  Sanborn ;  Frances,  the  widow 
of  Charles  D.  Kendrick;  Melbert  B.,  Fred  A., 
John  W.,  Jr.,  George  P.  and  Paul  V. 

In  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow-men,  and 
with  his  associates  in  professional  labor,  he  was 


E.  W.  BAILEY. 


133 


alway  considerate  and  gentle.  No  unkind  or 
reproachful  word  ever  passed  his  lips.  He  was 
true  and  faithful  in  friendship,  magnanimous  in 
his  dealings  with  others,  and  every  act  was 
prompted  by  the  highest  sense  of  honor.  He  was 
modest  and  unassuming,  simple  and  unaffected  in 


manner,  and  admired,   trusted  and  loved  by  all 
who  knew  him. 

"  In  his  family  and  home  life 
He  was  all  sunshine;  in  his  face 
The  very  soul  of  sweetness  shone." 


EDWARD  W.  BAILEY. 


|~DWARD  WILLIAM  BAILEY,  a  member 
fJ  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  was  born  at 
Elinore,  La  Moille  County,  Vermont,  Au- 
gust 31,  1843.  His  parents,  George  W.  Bailey  and 
Rebecca  Warren,  were  natives  of  Berlin,  Vermont. 
The  Bailey  family  is  remotely  of  Scotch  lineage. 
George  W.  Bailey  was  one  of  a  family  of  thirteen 
children,  and  was  bereft  of  his  father  in  childhood. 
He  participated  in  the  War  of  1812,  entering  the 
sen-ice  of  the  United  States  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years.  But  little  is  known  of  his  service,  except 
that  he  was  in  the  battle  of  Fort  Erie.  He  be- 
came a  prominent  farmer  and  practical  business 
man,  officiating  as  President  of  the  Vermont 
Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  and  for  many 
years  filled  the  office  of  Judge  of  Probate  in 
Washington  County,  a  circumstance  which  indi- 
cates the  regard  and  confidence  reposed  in  him 
by  his  fellow- citizens.  His  death  occurred  at 
Montpelier  in  1868,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years. 
Mrs.  Rebecca  Bailey  was  a  daughter  of  Abel  War- 
ren. She  died  upon  the  homestead  farm  at  El- 
more  in  1885,  having  reached  the  mature  age  of 
eighty-three  years. 

Edward  W.  Bailey  is  the  youngest  of  ten  chil- 
dren. His  education  was  obtained  in  the  public 
schools,  and  in  Washington  County  Grammar 
School  at  Montpelier.  From  the  age  of  seventeen 
years,  he  assisted  his  father  in  the  management 
of  the  homestead  farm,  thereby  developing  a 
strong  muscular  frame  and  acquiring  strength 
and  endurance  for  the  subsequent  battle  of  life. 


He  also  inherited  the  upright  character  and  con- 
scientious principles  for  which  his  progenitors 
had  been  conspicuous,  and  when,  in  1869,  he  en- 
tered upon  his  commercial  career,  he  was  fully 
competent  to  meet  and  master  the  exigencies  and 
vicissitudes  which  ever  beset  the  business  man. 
At  that  date  he  purchased  a  grocery  store  at 
Montpelier,  and  the  following  year  he  and  his 
partner  increased  their  business  by  the  addition 
of  a  gristmill.  When  the  firm  dissolved,  a  few 
years  later,  Mr.  Bailey  retained  the  mill  and 
still  continues  to  own  and  operate  the  same. 

In  1879  he  located  in  Chicago,  and,  in  partner- 
ship with  V.  W.  Bullock,  began  dealing  in  grain 
on  commission,  an  occupation  which  still  em- 
ploys his  time  and  attention.  After  the  first  two 
or  three  years,  Mr.  Bailey  became  sole  proprie- 
tor of  the  business,  and  now  occupies  commo- 
dious quarters  in  the  Board  of  Trade  Building. 
In  most  instances,  he  has  been  successful,  and  he 
has  ever  maintained  a  reputation  for  honorable 
dealing  and  integrity  of  character,  which  has 
earned  him  the  confidence  of  all  his  business  as- 
sociates. There  is,  perhaps,  no  man  upon  the 
Board  of  Trade  to-day  in  whom  the  public  has 
better  reason  to  trust  or  whose  business  credit  is 
freer  from  imputation. 

In  June,  1869,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Jennie 
Carter,  daughter  of  Charles  H.  Carter,  of  Mont- 
pelier, Vermont.  The  lady  was  born  in  Wil- 
mington, Massachusetts,  and  has  become  the 
mother  of  two  children:  George  C.,  who  holds  a 


134 


J.  B.  BRADWELL. 


responsible  position  with  the  great  packing  house 
of  Swift  &  Company,  and  Mary  D.,  wife  of  Fred- 
erick Meyer,  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Bailey  holds 
liberal  views  on  religious  subjects,  and  was  for 
many  years  a  member  of  the  congregation  of  the 
late  Prof.  David  Swing.  He  is  not  in  fellowship 
with  any  social  or  religious  organization.  Though 
not  an  active  politician,  he  never  fails  to  exercise 


the  right — as  well  as  duty — of  casting  a  vote, 
and  supports  Republican  principles,  believing  the 
Republican  party  to  represent  the  best  social  and 
economic  ideas.  He  is  a  man  of  resolution  and 
prompt  action,  and  his  industrious  habits  have 
made  him  an  exemplary  business  man,  whose  life 
and  character  are  worthy  of  the  emulation  of  the 
rising  generation. 


HON.  JAMES  B.  BRADWELL. 


HON.  JAMES  B.  BRADWELL.  This  dis- 
tinguished gentleman,  an  excellent  portrait 
of  whom  is  herewith  presented,  was  born 
April  1 6,  1828,  at  Loughborough,  England.  His 
parents  were  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  (Gutridge) 
Bradwell.  The  family  left  England  when  James 
was  sixteen  months  old,  and  settled  in  Utica, 
New  York,  where  they  resided  until  1833,  when 
they  removed  to  Jacksonville,  Illinois.  They 
went  from  Jacksonville  to  what  is  now  Wheeling, 
Cook  County,  Illinois,  in  Ma}-,  1834.  The  fam- 
ily made  the  trip  in  a  covered  wagon  drawn  by  a 
span  of  horses  and  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and,  although 
the  distance  was  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles, 
it  took  twenty-one  days  to  complete  the  journey. 
Young  Bradwell  spent  a  number  of  years  upon  a 
farm  in  Cook  County,  splitting  rails,  breaking 
prairie,  mowing  and  cradling  in  the  old-fashioned 
way,  which  aided  to  give  him  that  strength  of 
body  and  mind  which  he  possesses  at  the  age  of 
sixty  -seven.  His  early  education  was  obtained 
in  a  log  schoolhouse;  later  in  Wilson's  Academy, 
of  Chicago,  in  which  Judge  Lorenzo  Sawyer,  of 
California,  was  tutor;  and  was  completed  in  Knox 
College,  Galesburg,  Illinois.  He  supported  him- 
self in  college  by  sawing  wood  and  working  in  a 
wagon  and  plow  shop  afternoons  and  Saturdays, 
where  he  often  had  to  take  his  pay  in  orders  on 
stores,  which  he  discounted  at  twenty-five  cents 


on  the  dollar.  This  resulted  in  the  young  man 
taking  an  oath  that  if  ever  he  lived  to  employ 
men  he  would  never  pa}-  them  in  orders  or  truck. 
Although  he  has  paid  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  for  wages,  he  has  religiously  kept  his 
oath.  For  a  number  of  years  before  his  admis- 
sion to  the  Bar  he  worked  as  a  journeyman  at 
several  different  trades  in  Chicago.  He  is  a 
natural  mechanic,  and,  believing  with  Solomon 
that  "the  rest  of  the  laboring  man  is  sweet,"  he 
aimed,  even  when  on  the  Bench  and  at  the  Bar, 
to  devote  a  portion  of  every  day  to  some  kind  of 
manual  labor.  It  is  said  that  he  could  earn  his 
living  to-day  as  a  journeyman  at  any  one  of  sev- 
enteen trades.  As  a  process  artist  he  has  few  su- 
periors. He  invented  a  process  of  his  own  for 
doing  half-tone  work,  and  has  the  honor  of  hav- 
ing made  the  first  half-tone  cut  ever  produced 
in  Chicago — that  of  Chief  Justice  Fuller,  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court.  Nearly  forty  years 
ago  he  was  admitted  to  the  Illinois  Bar,  and, 
being  a  good  speaker,  a  bold,  dashing  young 
man,  and  considerable  of  a  "hustler,  "he  succeeded 
in  building  up  a  large  and  paying  practice.  In 
1 86 1  he  was  elected  County  Judge  of  Cook  Coun- 
ty by  a  larger  majority  than  any  judge  had  ever 
received  in  the  county  up  to  that  time;  and  in 
1865  he  was  re-elected  for  four  years.  Judge 
Bradwell  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  of  Illi- 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


MRS.  MYRA  BRADWELL 


MYRA  BRADWELL. 


135 


nois  in  1873,  and  re-elected  in  1875.  He  has 
held  many  offices  in  charitable  and  other  institu- 
tions; presided  at  Cleveland  during  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  American  Woman  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion; was  President  of  the  Chicago  Press  Club; 
President  of  the  Chicago  Rifle  Club,  and  for 
many  years  was  considered  the  best  rifle  shot  in 
Chicago;  President  of  the  Chicago  Bar  Associa- 
tion; President  of  the  Illinois  State  Bar  Associa- 
tion, and  for  many  years  its  historian;  President 
of  the  Chicago  Soldiers'  Home;  Chairman  of  the 
Arms  and  Trophy  Department  of  the  Northwest- 
ern Sanitary  Commission  and  Soldiers'  Home 
Fair  in  1865;  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Union 
League  Club  of  Chicago,  President  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  the  first  year,  and  the  first  man  to 
sign  the  roll  of  membership,  "Long  John"  Went- 
worth  being  the  second;  he  has  been  President  of 
the  Chicago  Photographic  Society,  and  was  Chair- 
man of  the  Photographic  Congress  Auxiliary  of 
the  World's  Columbian  Exposition. 

When  on  the  Bench  he  ranked  as  a  probate 
jurist  second  only  to  the  distinguished  surrogate, 
Alexander  Bradford, 'of  New  York. 

He  was  the  first  judge  to  hold,  during  the  war, 
that  a  marriage  made  during  slavery  was  valid 
upon  emancipation,  and  that  the  issue  of  such  a 
marriage  was  legitimate  upon  emancipation  and 
would  inherit  from  their  emancipated  parents; 


or,  in  other  words,  that  the  civil  rights  of  slaves, 
being  suspended  during  slavery,  revived  upon 
emancipation.  The  opinion  was  delivered  in  the 
case  of  Matt  C.  Jones,  and  was  published  ap- 
provingly in  the  London  Solicitors'  Journal,  and 
fully  endorsed  by  Mr.  Joel  Prentiss  Bishop  ten 
years  after  it  was  rendered,  in  one  of  his  works. 
Judge  Bradwell  was  the  friend  of  the  widow  and 
the  orphan — an  able,  impartial  judge. 

He  was  an  influential  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  aided  in  securing  the  passage  of  a  num- 
ber of  measures  for  the  benefit  of  the  State  and 
the  city  of  his  adoption.  He  holds  advanced 
views  as  to  the  rights  of  women,  and  introduced 
a  bill  making  women  eligible  to  all  school  offices, 
and,  mainly  by  his  influence  and  power,  secured 
its  passage;  also  a  bill  making  women  eligible  to 
be  appointed  notaries  public. 

Judge  Bradwell  has  taken  the  Thirty-third  and 
last  degree  in  Masonry,  and  is  an  honorary  mem- 
ber of  the  Supreme  Council  with  its  Grand  East 
at  Boston,  and  also  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Ancient  Ebor  Preceptory  at  York,  England.  He 
has  recently  published  a  neat  volume  of  Ancient 
Masonic  Rolls  and  other  matter  of  interest  to  the 
order,  showing  that  there  was  originally  no  pro- 
vision against  the  admission  of  women  to  the  fra- 
ternity. 


MYRA  BRADWELL 


IV^YRA  BRADWELL.  In  these  latter  days 
I  V  I  of  the  century,  a  century  which  has  done 
|(jj|  more  for  women  than  any  other  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world,  it  is  interesting  to  record  the 
life  of  a  citizen  of  Chicago  of  national  reputation, 
who  wrought  earnestly,  wisely  and  successfully 
for  woman's  advancement. 

To  follow  in  a  pathway  which  has  been  made 
for  one  is  easy.     To  be  an  original  and  practical 


leader,  clearing  the  way  for  others  to  come,  is  a 
difficult  undertaking.  Such  a  leader  was  Myra 
Bradwell,  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  movements 
to  give  woman  equal  rights  before  the  law  and 
equal  opportunities  to  labor  in  all  avocations. 

Myra  Bradwell  was  born  in  Manchester,  Ver- 
mont, February  12,  1831.  In  infancy  she  was 
taken  to  Portage,  New  York,  where  she  remained 
until  her  twelfth  year,  when  she  came  West  with 


MYRA  BRADWELL. 


her  father's  family.  In  the  warp  of  her  nature 
was  woven  the  woof  of  that  sterling  New  England 
character  which  has  made  such  an  impress  on 
our  national  life.  On  her  father's  side  she  was 
descended  from  a  family  which  numbers  many 
noble  men,  philanthropists,  eminent  divines  and 
noted  statesmen.  Her  father,  Eben  Colby,  was 
the  son  of  John  Colby,  a  Baptist  minister  of  New 
Hampshire.  Her  father's  mother  was  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Aquilla  Chase,  whose  family  gave 
to  the  world  the  noted  divine,  Bishop  Philander 
Chase,  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States. 

On  her  mother's  side  she  was  a  descendant  of 
Isaac  Willey,  who  settled  in  Boston  in  1640.  Two 
members  of  the  family,  Allen  and  John  Willey, 
served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  were  in  the 
little  army  which  suffered  glorious  defeat  at  Bun- 
ker Hill.  Her  family  were  aggressive  Abolition- 
ists and  stanch  friends  of  the  Lovejoys.  The 
story  of  the  murdered  martyr,  Elijah  Lovejoy,  as 
recounted  by  the  friend  of  her  youth,  Owen  Love- 
joy,  made  a  deep  impression  upon  her  mind. 
Thus  early  was  implanted  a  hatred  of  slavery 
and  injustice  in  the  soul  of  one  who  was  destined, 
in  after  years,  to  bear  a  conspicuous  part  in  free- 
ing her  sex  from  some  of  the  conditions  of  vas- 
salage in  which  it  had  stood — a  champion  who 
broke  one  of  the  strongest  barriers  to  woman's 
enfranchisement,  the  Bar,  and  paved  the  way  for 
women  into  the  upper  halls  of  justice,  into  the 
greatest  court  of  the  world.  As  a  student,  pos- 
sessed of  a  keen,  logical  mind,  with  the  soul  of  a 
poet,  she  early  evinced  a  deep  love  for  learning, 
and  made  the  most  of  the  limited  educational  ad- 
vantages which  were  then  deemed  more  than  suf- 
ficient for  girls.  After  studying  at  Kenosha  and 
the  ladies'  seminary  in  Elgin,  Myra  engaged  in 
teaching. 

May  18,  1852,  Myra  Colby  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  James  B.  Bradwell.  Soon  after  her  mar- 
riage she  removed  with  her  husband  to  Memphis, 
Tennessee.  While  there  she  proved  herself  a 
veritable  helpmate,  conducting  with  her  husband 
the  largest  select  school  in  the  city.  In  two 
years  they  returned  to  Chicago,  where  her  hus- 
band engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  and 


where  they  have  since  resided.  With  the  ardor 
of  a  true  patriot,  she  could  not  remain  inactive 
when  danger  threatened  the  Government  which 
her  Revolutionary  ancestors  fought  to  establish. 
During  the  war  she  helped  care  for  the  suffering, 
the  wounded  and  the  dying.  The  Soldiers'  Fair 
of  1863,  and  the  Fair  of  1867  for  the  benefit  of 
the  families  of  soldiers,  had  no  more  active  or 
efficient  worker  than  Mrs.  Bradwell.  She  was  a 
member  and  Secretary  of  the  Committee  on  Arms, 
Trophies  and  Curiosities  of  the  great  Northwest- 
ern Sanitary  Fair,  and  was  the  leading  spirit  in 
producing  that  artistic  and  beautiful  exhibition  in 
Bryan  Hall  in  1865.  When  the  war  was  over, 
she  assisted  in  providing  a  liDme  for  the  scarred 
and  maimed  and  dependent  veterans  who  shoul- 
dered the  musket  to  preserve  the  Union. 

Becoming  deeply  interested  in  her  husband's 
profession,  she  commenced  the  study  of  law  un- 
der his  tutelage,  at  first  with  no  thought  of  be- 
coming a  practicing  lawyer,  but  subsequently  she 
decided  to  make  the  profession  her  life  work,  and 
applied  herself  diligently  to  its  study.  In  1868 
she  established  the  "Chicago  Legal  News,"  the 
first  weeekly  law  periodical  published  in  the  West, 
and  the  first  paper  of  its  kind  edited  by  a  woman 
in  the  world,  and  which  stands  to-day  the  best 
monument  to  her  memory.  Believing  fully  in 
the  power  of  the  law,  she  adopted  as  the  motto 
of  the  "Legal  News"  the  words  Lex  Vincil,  which 
have  always  been  at  the  head  of  its  columns. 
Practical  newspaper  men  and  prominent  lawyers 
at  once  predicted  its  failure,  but  they  under-esti- 
mated the  ability  and  power  of  its  editor.  She 
obtained  from  the  Legislature  special  acts  mak- 
ing all  the  laws  of  Illinois  and  the  opinions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State  printed  in  her  paper 
evidence  in  the  courts.  She  made  the  paper  a 
success  from  the  start,  and  it  was  soon  recognized 
by  the  Bench  and  Bar  throughout  the  country  as 
one  of  the  best  legal  periodicals  in  the  United 
States.  With  her  sagacity,  enterprise  and  mas- 
terful business  ability  she  built  up  one  of  the 
most  flourishing  printing  and  publishing  houses 
in  the  West.  Two  instances  may  be  cited  to 
show  her  business  energy  and  enterprise.  From 
the  year  1869,  when  she  first  began  to  publish 


MYRA  BRADWELL. 


137 


the  Illinois  session  laws,  she  always  succeeded 
in  getting  her  edition  out  many  weeks  in  advance 
of  any  other  edition.  At  the  Chicago  fire,  in 
common  with  thousands  of  others,  she  lost  home 
and  business  possessions,  but,  undismayed  by 
misfortune,  she  hastened  to  Milwaukee,  had  the 
paper  printed  and  published  on  the  regular  pub- 
lication day,  and  thus  not  an  issue  of  her  paper 
was  lost  during  this  trying  time  in  our  city's 
history. 

She  finally  decided  to  apply  for  admission  to  the 
Bar  and  to  practice  law.  She  had  been  permitted 
to  work  side  by  side  with  her  husband  as  a  most 
successful  teacher,  why  not  as  a  lawyer  ? 

In  1869  she  passed  a  most  creditable  examina- 
tion for  the  Bar,  but  was  denied  admission  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  upon  the  ground  that 
she  was  a  married  woman,  her  married  state  be- 
ing considered  a  disability.  She  knew  that  the 
real  reason  had  not  been  given.  She  filed  an  ad- 
ditional brief  which  combated  the  position  of  the 
court  with  great  force,  and  compelled  the  court 
to  give  the  true  reason.  In  due  time  the  court, 
by  Mr.  Chief  Justice  Lawrence,  delivered  an  elab- 
orate opinion,  in  which  it  was  said,  upon  mature 
deliberation,  the  court  had  concluded  to  refuse  to 
admit  Mrs.  Bradwell  upon  the  sole  ground  that 
she  was  a  woman.  She  sued  out  a  writ  of  error 
against  the  State  of  Illinois  in  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.  Her  case  in  that  tribunal 
was  argued  in  1871  by  Senator  Matt  Carpenter. 
In  May,  1873,  the  judgment  of  the  lower  court 
was  affirmed  by  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court.  Mr.  Chief  Justice  Chase,  who  never  failed 
to  give  his  powerful  testimony  to  aid  in  lifting 
woman  from  dependence  and  helplessness  to 
strength  and  freedom,  true  to  his  principles,  dis- 
sented. As  has  been  well  said,  "the  discussion 
of  the  Myra  Bradwell  case  had  the  inevitable  ef- 
fect of  letting  sunlight  through  many  cobwebbed 
windows.  It  is  not  so  much  by  abstract  reason- 
ing as  by  visible  examples  that  reformations 
come,  and  Mrs.  Bradwell  offered  herself  as  a  living 
example  of  the  injustice  of  the  law.  A  woman  of 
learning,  genius,  industry  and  high  character, 
editor  of  the  first  law  journal  in  the  West,  forbid- 
den by  law  to  practice  law,  was  too  much  for  the 


public  conscience,  tough  as  that  conscience  is. ' ' 
Although  Mrs.  Bradwell,  with  Miss  Hulett, 
was  instrumental  in  securing  the  passage  of  a 
law  in  Illinois  granting  to  all  persons,  irrespec- 
tive of  sex,  freedom  in  the  selection  of  an  occu- 
pation, profession  or  employment,  she  never  re- 
newed her  application  for  admission  to  the  Bar. 
Twenty  years  after,  the  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Illinois,  on  their  own  motion,  performed 
a  noble  act  of  justice  and  directed  license  to  prac- 
tice law  to  be  issued  to  her,  and  March  28,  1892, 
upon  motion  of  Attorney-General  Miller,  Mrs. 
Bradwell  was  admitted  to  practice  before  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States. 

A  pioneer  in  opening  the  legal  profession  for 
women,  Myra  Bradwell' s  signal  service  to  her 
sex  has  been  in  the  field  of  law  reform.  Finding 
women  and  children  without  adequate  protection 
in  the  law,  she  devoted  herself  with  the  zeal  of 
an  enthusiast  to  secure  such  protection.  One  of 
the  most  wonderful  phases  of  her  character  was 
the  power  which  she  exerted  in  securing  these 
changes  in  the  law. 

It  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  note  that 
she  was  the  only  married  woman  who  was  ever 
given  her  own  earnings  by  special  act  of  the 
Legislature.  She  drafted  the  bill  giving  a  mar- 
ried woman  a  right  to  her  own  earnings.  A  case 
in  point,  so  monstrous  in  its  injustice,  gave  an 
added  impetus  to  her  zeal.  A  drunkard,  who 
owed  a  saloon-keeper  for  his  whisky,  had  a  wife 
who  earned  her  own  living  as  a  scrubwoman, 
and  the  saloon-keeper  garnisheed  the  people  who 
owed  her  and  levied  on  her  earnings  to  pay  her 
husband's  liquor  bill.  It  needed  but  an  applica- 
tion like  this  for  her  to  succeed  in  her  efforts  to 
pass  the  bill.  She  also  secured  the  passage  of 
the  law  giving  to  a  widow  her  award  in  all  cases. 
Believing  thoroughly  in  the  principle  enunciated 
by  John  Stuart  Mill,  "of  perfect  equality,  admit- 
ting no  privilege  on  the  one  side  nor  disabil- 
ity on  the  other,"  she  was  an  enthusiastic  sup- 
porter of  the  bill  granting  to  a  husband  the 
same  interest  in  a  wife's  estate  that  the  wife  had 
in  the  husband's.  While  holding  most  advanced 
views  upon  the  woman  question,  she  recognized 
that  the  prejudice  of  years  cannot  be  overcome  in 


138 


MYRA  BRADWELL. 


a  day,  and  that  the  work  must  be  done  by  de- 
grees. 

She  therefore  never  missed  an  opportunity  to 
try  to  secure  any  change  in  the  law  which  would 
enlarge  the  sphere  of  woman.  With  this  purpose 
in  view,  she  applied  to  the  Governor  to  be  ap- 
pointed Notary  Public.  Finding  her  womanhood 
a  bar  to  even  this  humble  office,  she  induced  her 
husband,  who  was  in  the  Legislature,  to  intro- 
duce a  bill  making  women  eligible  to  the  office  of 
Notary  Public,  which  bill  became  a  law.  The 
bill  drafted  by  her  husband  permitting  women  to 
act  as  school  officers,  and  which  was  passed  while 
he  was  in  the  Legislature,  received  her  hearty  sup- 
port. In  all  the  reforms  which  Mrs.  Bradwell  se- 
cured, she  was  not  acting  as  the  representative  of 
any  organization,  but  they  were  secured  through 
her  personal  influence.  Twice  Mrs.  Bradwell 
was  honored  by  special  appointment  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, being  appointed  a  delegate  to  the  Prison 
Reform  Congress  at  St.  Louis;  and  it  was  mainly 
by  her  efforts  that  women,  after  a  severe  contest, 
were  allowed  a  representation  on  the  list  of  officers, 
she  declining  to  accept  any  office  herself;  subse- 
quently she  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  as 
one  of  the  Illinois  Centennial  Association  to  repre- 
sent Illinois  in  the  Centennial  Exhibition  of  1876. 

Mrs.  Bradwell  circulated  the  call  for  the  first 
Woman  Suffrage  Convention  held  in  Chicago, 
in  1869,  and  was  one  of  its  Vice-Presidents.  She 
was  one  of  the  active  workers  in  the  suffrage 
convention  held  in  Springfield  in  1869,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  one  of  the  executive  committee 
of  the  Illinois  Woman  Suffrage  Association.  She 
also  took  an  active  part  in  the  convention  at 
Cleveland  which  formed  the  American  Woman's 
Suffrage  Association.  Once  only  was  she  per- 
mitted to  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage.  Under 
the  recent  school  law  in  Illinois  she  cast  her  bal- 
lot for  the  first  and  last  time,  her  death  occurring 
on  the  fourteenth  day  of  February,  1894. 

A  thorough  Chicagoan,  in  the  life,  progress 
and  best  interests  of  her  city  she  had  a  citizen's 
interest  and  a  patriot's  pride.  She  was  untiring 
in  her  efforts  to  secure  the  World's  Fair  for  Chi- 
cago, accompanied  the  commission  to  Washing- 


ton, and  rendered  valuable  services  there  in  ob- 
taining the  location  of  the  Exposition  in  Chicago. 
She  was  appointed  one  of  the  Board  of  Lady 
Managers,  and  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Law  Reform  of  its  auxiliary  congress.  It  is 
•interesting  to  note  that  the  woman  who  labored 
so  courageously,  persistently  and  effectively  to 
secure  for  women  their  rights  was  herself  a  rep- 
resentative in  the  first  national  legislature  of 
women  to  be  authorized  by  any  Government. 

Mrs.  Bradwell  was  the  first  woman  who  be- 
came a  member  of  the  Illinois  State  Bar  Associa- 
tion and  the  Illinois  Press  Association;  was  a 
charter  member  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  Board, 
the  Illinois  Industrial  School  for  Girls,  the  Wash- 
ingtonian  Home,  and  the  first  Masonic  chapter 
organized  for  women  in  Illinois,  over  which  she 
presided;  was  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Women's 
Club,  the  daughters  of  the  American  Revolution, 
the  Grand  Army  Relief  Corps,  the  National  Press 
League  and  the  Woman's  Press  Association. 

A  gentle  and  noiseless  woman,  her  tenderness 
and  refinement  making  the  firmness  of  her  char- 
acter all  the  more  effective,  Mrs.  Bradwell  was 
one  of  those  who  live  their  creed  instead  of  preach- 
ing it.  Essentially  a  woman  of  deeds,  not  words, 
she  did  not  spend  her  days  proclaiming  on  the 
rostrum  the  rights  of  women,  but  quietly,  none 
the  less  effectively,  set  to  work  to  clear  away  the 
barriers. 

A  noble  refutation  of  the  oftimes  expressed  be- 
lief that  the  entrance  of  women  in  public  life 
tends  to  lessen  their  distinctively  womanly  char- 
acter, she  was  a  most  devoted  wife  and  mother, 
her  home  being  ideal  in  its  love  and  harmony. 
She  was  the  mother  of  four  children',  two  of  whom 
survive  her,  Thomas  and  Bessie,  both  lawyers, 
and  the  latter  the  wife  of  a  lawyer,  Frank  A. 
Helmer,  of  the  Chicago  Bar. 

Of  this  gifted  and  honored  lady  it  has  been 
truthfully  said:  "No  more  powerful  and  convinc- 
ing argument  in  favor  of  the  admission  of  women 
to  a  participation  in  the  administration  of  the 
Government  was  ever  made  than  may  be  found 
in  Myra  Bradwell' s  character,  conduct  and 
achievements." 


JOHN  FRINK. 


139 


JOHN  FRINK. 


(7OHN   FRINK,   who  was  probably  as  well 

I  known  as  any  man  in  the  United  States,  out- 
G)  side  of  National  public  life,  was  a  leader  in 
the  operation  of  transportation  lines  before  the 
days  of  railroads,  as  well  as  in  railroad  building 
and  operation.  He  was  born  at  Ashford,  Con- 
necticut, October  17,  1797,  and  died  in  Chicago 
May  21,  1858.  He  represented  the  seventh  gen- 
eration of  his  family  in  America,  being  descended 
from  John  Frink,  who  settled  at  New  London, 
Connecticut,  previous  to  1650.  The  last-named 
took  part  in  King  Philip's  War,  as  a  Colonial  sol- 
dier, and  for  his  services  in  that  conflict  was 
awarded  by  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut  a 
grant  of  two  hundred  acres  of  land  and  permis- 
sion to  retain  his  arms. 

John  Frink,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
notice,  removed  about  1810  from  Ashford,  Con- 
necticut, toStockbridge,  Massachusetts,  becoming 
the  proprietor  of  the  Stockbridge  Inn,  a  noted 
hostelry,  which  is  still  kept  there.  He  afterward 
kept  taverns  at  Northampton  and  Palmer,  Mass- 
achusetts. His  death  occurred  at  the  latter  place 
in  1847,  at  the  age  of  sixty  years. 

While  a  young  man,  John  Frink,  whose  name 
heads  this  article,  started  out  in  the  operation  of 
a  stage  line.  One  of  his  first  ventures  was  the 
establishment  of  a  stage  line  between  Boston  and 
Albany,  by  way  of  Stockbridge.  His  partner  in 
this  enterprise  was  Chester  W.  Chapin,  ofSpring- 
field,  Massachusetts,  afterward  conspicuous  in 
railroad  operations.  A  branch  to  New  York  City 
was  soon  added,  and  the  undertaking  was  entire- 
ly successful,  becoming  a  prosperous  medium  of 
travel.  Mr.  Frink  was  subsequently  instrument- 
al in  the  establishment  of  a  stage  line  between 
Montreal  and  New  York,  an  undertaking  of  con- 
siderable magnitude  in  those  days. 

About  1830  he  made  a  trip,  by  way  of  Pitts- 
burgh, to  New  Orleans,  and  was  so  favorably  im- 
pressed with  the  development  and  progress  of  the 


West  that  he  determined  to  transfer  the  field  of 
his  operations  to  a  new  territory.  Accordingly, 
in  1836,  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  soon  after  his 
arrival  purchased  the  stage  line  in  operation  be- 
tween Chicago  and  Ottawa,  •  Illinois.  He  soon 
afterward  established  a  connecting  line  of  steam- 
boats on  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  be- 
tween the  latter  point  and  St.  Louis,  and  the 
route  thus  completed  immediately  became  a  pop- 
ular thoroughfare.  Another  stage  line  was  short- 
ly afterwards  put  into  operation  between  Galena 
and  Chicago,  by  way  of  Freeport.  Galena  was 
then  the  metropolis  of  the  Northwest,  and  this 
line  of  stages  became  the  most  important  over- 
land route  of  travel  in  that  region.  Another  ex- 
tensive undertaking  was  the  establishment'  of 
stages  between  Chicago  and  Madison,  Wisconsin. 
The  business  was  conducted  at  the  outset  by  the 
firm  of  John  Frink  &  Company,  later  known  as 
Frink  &  Walker.  This  became  one  of  the  most 
powerful  business  concerns  in  the  Northwest,  and 
its  operations  eventually  extended  to  Des  Moines, 
Iowa,  and  Fort  Snelling,  Minnesota.  All  compe- 
tition was  driven  out  of  the  way,  even  though 
business  was  sometimes  conducted  for  a  season  at 
a  loss,  in  order  to  maintain  their  supremacy.  An 
immense  number  of  men  and  horses  was  em- 
ployed. The  stage  sheds  were  located  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Wabash  Avenue  and  Ran- 
dolph Street,  with  extensive  repair  shops  adja- 
cent; and  the  principal  stage  office  was  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  Dearborn  and  Lake  Streets, 
opposite  the  Tremont  House,  then  the  principal 
hotel  of  Chicago. 

One  of  the  most  important  features  of  the  busi- 
ness was  the  carriage  of  the  United  States  mails, 
and  the  securing  and  care  of  the  contracts  for  the 
same  kept  Mr.  Frink  in  Washington  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  time,  and  brought  him  in  contact  and 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  leading  politicians 
and  public  men  of  the  nation.  These  contracts, 


140 


O.  B.  PHELPS. 


which  involved  large  sums  of  money,  were  faith- 
fully carried  out,  a  fact  which  enabled  him  to 
hold  them  in  spite  of  aggressive  competition.  He 
was  a  man  of  rare  executive  ability,  excelling  the 
various  partners  with  whom  he  was  associated  in 
that  respect  to  such  a  degree  that  he  was  kept 
constantly  on  the  move  to  regulate  the  adminis- 
tration of  business.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  phys- 
ical make-up  and  of  most  unusual  colloquial  and 
conversational  abilities,  which  made  him  popular 
in  any  circle  where  he  chanced  to  be.  He  was 
extremely  fastidious  in  dress  and  the  care  of  his 
personal  appearance,  and  required  the  most  scru- 
pulous care  and  thrift  in  all  his  employes.  No 
man  who  failed  to  keep  matters  under  his  charge 
in  first-class  order  could  remain  a  day  in  his  em- 
ploy. 

When  the  steam  locomotive  became  a  practical 
success,  Mr.  Frink  at  once  saw  that  it  would  su- 
persede the  horse  as  a  means  of  propelling  pas- 
senger vehicles.  He  accordingly  began  to  close 
out  his  interests  in  the  stage  business,  transfer- 
ring his  capital  and  energy  to  railroad  building 
and  operation.  He  was  one  of  the  prime  movers 
in  the  construction  of  the  Chicago  &  Galena  Un- 
ion Railroad,  and  also  the  Peoria  &  Oquawka, 
now  a  part  of  the  great  Burlington  System,  and 
in  the  Peoria  &  Bureau  Valley  Railroad,  at  pres- 
ent a  branch  of  the  Rock  Island  System.  He 
did  not  live  to  witness  the  ultimate  completion 
of  these  lines,  but  their  success  vindicated  his 
foresight  and  judgment. 

Mr.    Frink  was  first  married  to  Martha    R. 


Marcy,  who  died  in  Chicago  in  1839,  leaving 
three  children:  John,  Harvey  and  Helen.  The 
last-named  became  the  wife  of  Warren  T.  Hecox, 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Chicago  Board 
of  Trade,  and  all  are  now  deceased.  For  his 
second  wife  he  chose  Miss  Harriet  Farnsworth, 
who  was  born  in  Woodstock,  Vermont,  July  2, 
1810,  and  died  at  Wheaton,  Illinois,  March  7, 
1884.  Her  father,  Stephen  Farnsworth,  was  a 
descendant  of  Matthias  Farnsworth,  an  early  set- 
tler of  Groton,  Massachusetts.  The  descendants 
of  the  last-named,  in  direct  line,  were  Samuel, 
who  was  born  at  Groton,  October  8,  1669;  Steph- 
en, born  in  1714,  died  at  Charleston,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  who  took  part  in  the  French  and  Indian 
War,  in  which  two  of  his  brothers  were  killed. 
Stephen,  Jr.,  father  of  Mrs.  Frink,  was  born  in 
Charleston,  New  Hampshire,  June  20,  1764.  He 
moved  to  South  Woodstock,  Vermont,  where  he 
became  a  prominent  fanner  and  miller.  He 
served  as  a  member  of  the  Vermont  Legislature, 
and  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  a  great  many 
years. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Frink  was  one  of  the  earliest 
members  of  St.  James'  Episcopal  Church  of  Chi- 
cago, and  when  Trinity  Church  was  formed  on 
the  South  Side  she  joined  that  society.  She  aft- 
erwards became  a  member  of  Christ  Church,  and 
continued  to  be  a  communicant  thereof  until  her 
death,  both  she  and  her  husband  being  buried 
from  that  church.  Their  children  are  George, 
Henry  F.,  and  Eva,  Mrs  John  W.  Bennett,  all  of 
whom  reside  at  Austin,  Illinois. 


OTHNIEL  B.  PHELPS. 


ITHNIEL    BREWSTER    PHELPS.      The 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  at   Cones- 
ville,  Schoharie  County,  New  York,  Febru- 
ary 18,  1821,  and  was  the  elder  of  two  children 


springing  from  the  marriage  of  George  W.  Phelps 
with  Zerviah  Potter.  His  mother  dying  when 
Othniel  was  only  two  years  of  age,  his  father 
married  Mary  Chapman  in  the  year  1824, 


O.  B.  PHELPS. 


141 


wherefrom  it  will  be  seen  that  his  step-mother 
was  the  only  maternal  parent  of  whom  he  ever 
had  a  memory.  From  this  second  union  eight 
children  came  into  being,  the  eldest  of  whom  was 
William  Wallace  Phelps,  a  sketch  of  whom  will 
be  found  upon  other  pages  in  this  work;  in  con- 
nection with  which  will  also  be  found  a  succinct 
account  of  the  Phelps  genealogy,  which,  for  ob- 
vious reasons,  is  not  reprinted  at  this  place. 

His  early  life  was  spent  upon  a  farm  (it  seems 
as  if  the  farms  of  that  generation  did  the  raising 
of  all  the  brains,  as  well  as  vegetables,  etcetera, 
of  the  country),  and  his  erudition,  save  the  self- 
learned,  was  limited  to  the  common  school.  At 
a  very  youthful  age,  he  went  to  Catskill,  New 
York,  as  clerk  in  the  mercantile  house  of  Joshua 
Fiero,  and,  being  one  of  unusual  energy  and  self- 
reliance,  after  a  few  years  he  started  a  mercantile 
business  for  himself  at  Windham,  Greene  County, 
New  York,  to  which  place  he  removed,  and  in 
which  occupation  he  was  engaged  for  the  next 
succeeding  six  years. 

Selling  out  at  the  end  of  that  period  at  an  ad- 
vantage, he  removed  to  Williamstown,  New  York, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  tanning  business,  be- 
coming the  possessor  of  one  of  the  finest  proper- 
ties in  that  part  of  the  country  at  that  time  (  es- 
pecially notable  in  one  of  so  few  years) .  He  was 
estimated  to  be  worth  an  estate  of  $80,000,  which, 
however,  was  entirely  swept  away  by  the  panic 
of  1857. 

Almost  directly  with  the  disappearance  of  his 
household  gods,  he  set  his  face  towards  the  then 
far  West  to  retrieve,  as  fortune  should  favor  him, 
his  lost  accumulations.  Chicago  was  the  fortun- 
ate end  of  his  journey,  which  was  not  then,  as 
might  be  now,  wooed  into  a  longer  continuance 
than  necessary  by  luxurious  conveniences  for 
traveling.  He  bought  a  house  on  West  Madison 
Street;  but  within  a  few  years  found  the  spot 
henceforth  to  be  most  dear  to  him  on  earth,  pur- 
chasing again,  at  Number  2427  Indiana  Avenue. 
The  large  brick  mansion,  standing  to-day  nearly  as 
he  found  it,  was  one  of  the  finest  places  in  the 
city  at  that  time,  and  a  veritable  landmark  in  this 
generation;  for  in  the  early  sixties  and  for 
long  after  this  was  well  out  on  the  edge  of  the 


town,  viewing  to  the  westward,  as  far  as  Michi- 
gan Avenue,  a  thrifty  cornfield  in  summer  time. 

His  business  relations  from  the  start  were  with 
our  prince  of  citizens,  Potter  Palmer,  for  whom 
he  acted  as  confidential  adviser  and  credit  man, 
with  power  of  attorney  (a  position  of  great  re- 
sponsibilities) up  to  the  time  of  the  Big  Fire  in 
1871.  From  this  time,  although  in  the  very  mer- 
idian of  life,  hale  and  hearty,  having  re-made  a 
conspicuous  estate,  he  lived  the  retired  life  of  a 
gentleman  of  leisure. 

Politically  he  was  a  Republican,  and  for  sever- 
al years  he  acted  as  a  prominent  City  Alderman, 
closing  his  record  thus  in  1882,  because  of  the 
results  of  an  outspoken  nature,  which  would  nev- 
er quietly  allow  public  wrongs  to  be  attempted. 

He  was  a  keen  lover  of  finely  bred  dogs  and 
horses,  of  which  he  owned  many  in  his  time, 
finding  in  this  about  his  only  real  extravagance. 
Most  pleasant  days  found  him  on  the  boulevards 
behind  as  fine  a  pair  of  gentleman's  drivers  as 
our  city  could  boast;  and  when  a  better  pair  passed 
him  on  the  road,  he  quietly  remarked  to  himself, 
"That  is  the  team  I  want."  From  this  trait,  it 
has  been  said,  those  who  knew  this  proud  weak- 
ness often  realized  exceptional  prices  for  horses 
from  one  who,  they  knew,  would  have  them,  if  he 
had  set  his  mind  that  way,  regardless  of  cost.  In 
this  connection  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  he 
was  a  charter  member  of  the  famous  Washington 
Park  Club,  now  for  long  years  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  places  for  race  meetings  in  the 
country. 

Not  what  would  be  called  a  pious  man,  he  was 
none  the  less  a  fair-minded,  public-spirited  citi- 
zen, who  was  a  great  credit  to  our  city  (more  so, 
perhaps,  than  some  who  are  prominent  in  mat- 
ters ecclesiastical) ,  and  a  regular  attendant  at  Dr. 
Scudder's  Congregational  Church.  Between  Dr. 
Scudder  and  Mr.  Phelps  there  was  a  deep  and 
wholesome  regard,  and  this  pastor  officiated  with 
much  feeling  at  the  final  obsequies,  after  which 
the  remains  were  borne  to  Graceland  Cemetery, 
where  they  lie  at  the  foot  of  a  sightly  monument. 
Physically,  he  was  a  portly  man;  facially,  he 
had  a  physiognomy  in  which  all  could  read  a  grim 
determination  that  whatsoever  was  undertaken 


I42 


O.  B.  PHELPS. 


would,  the  Heavens  permitting,  be  put  through; 
yet,  he  was  kind  and  generous;  though  blunt, 
warm-hearted  indeed.  His  health  was  uniformly 
good,  save  for  the  vital  lurkings  of  the  insidious 
heart  disease,  which  suddenly  took  him  hence  on 
the  seventh  day  of  February,  1891. 

Mr.  Phelps  was  twice  married.  First,  to  Miss 
Emerette  Steele  of  Windham,  New  York,  about 
the  year  1846.  She  died,  without  issue,  in  the 
year  1880,  and  was  buried  at  Graceland.  Second, 
to  Mrs.  Sarah  Van  Buren,  the  widow  of  Aaron 
R.  Van  Buren,  of  Catskill,  New  York,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1882.  Her  first  husband  was  of  the  family 
of  the  so-called  "Kinderhook"  (New  York)  Van- 
Burens,  which  has  produced  a  number  of  illus- 
trious men,  chief  among  them  being  our  eighth 
National  Chief  Magistrate,  Martin  Van  Buren. 

Mrs.  Sarah  (Van  Buren)  Phelps  survives  her 
husband,  in  good  health,  and  without  children. 
Mrs.  Phelps'  parents  were  Franklin  and  Hannah 
(Groom)  Graham,  of  Catskill,  New  York,  her  fa- 
ther being  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Martha  (French) 
Graham,  of  Windham,  New  York.  Her  grand- 
mother French  was  of  French  parentage,  and 
from  Montreal,  Canada.  It  is  needless  to  remark 
that  the  Grahams  are  of  Scotch  antecedents. 
From  Beers'  "History  of  Greene  County,  New 
York"  (p.  402),  we  learn  that  the  said  Samuel 
Graham  went  from  Conway,  Massachusetts,  about 
the  year  1800  to  Windham,  New  York,  where,  in 
the  village,  he  bought  of  one  Constant  A.  Andrews 
a  property  (at  present  known  as  the  Matthews 
Place,  and  owned  by  N.  D.  Hill),  whereon  the 
first  tannery  of  the  place,  a  large  one  for  the 
times,  was  constructed  prior  to  1805  by  said 
Samuel  Graham.  The  latter  passed  into  a  son's 
hands,  and  continued  to  be  operated  up  to  1832. 
Samuel  died  there  in  1830,  aged  seventy  years. 

The  Massachusetts  Grahams  are  undoubtedly 
descended  from  old  Connecticut  stock,  which  has 
been  very  prolific  in  numbers  and  emigrating 
members  to  other  of  the  United  States,  not  a  few 
of  whom  have  made  prominent  names  for  them- 
selves. From  Cothren's  "History  of  Ancient 
Woodbury,  Connecticut"  (pp.  545  et  seq.},  we 


glean  the  following  of  both  the  trans-Atlantic  and 
native  tree: 

The  family  arms  are:  Or,  on  a  chief  sable  three 
escalops  of  the  field;  crest,  an  eagle,  wings  hover- 
ing or,  perched  upon  a  heron  lying  upon  its  back, 
proper  beaked  and  membered  gules;  motto,  Ne 
Oubliez. 

The  family  is  of  great  antiquity,  tracing  its  de- 
scent from  Sir  David  Graeme,  who  held  a  grant 
from  King  William  the  Lion  of  Scotland  from 
1163  to  1214.  His  descendant,  Patrick  Graham, 
was  made  a  Lord  in  Parliament  about  1445,  and 
his  grandson,  William,  Lord  Graham,  was,  in 
1504,  by  James  IV.,  created  Earl  of  Montrose. 
His  son  William  was  second  earl,  succeeded  in 
turn  by  John,  John  (  Junior)  and  James,  fifth  earl, 
a  very  distinguished  character  in  history.  He  was 
born  in  1612,  and  joined  the  Covenanters  against 
Charles  I. ,  but  later  became  loyal  to  his  sovereign, 
who  created  him  Marquis  of  Montrose.  He  had 
a  varied  career,  which  ended  by  his  execution  in 
1645  by  the  axe  on  the  scaffold,  as  did  that  of  so 
many  contemporaries.  He  was  succeeded  by 
James,  James,  and  James,  fourth  Marquis,  who 
was  made  Lord  High  Admiral  of  Scotland  in 
1705,  and  in  1707  Duke  of  Montrose.  Then 
came  David,  Earl  and  Baron  Graham,  succeeded 
by  William  (his  brother),  James,  James,  the 
fourth  Duke  of  Montrose,  etc.,  who  was  a  Com- 
missioner of  India  Affairs,  Knight  of  the  Thistle, 
Lord  Justice-General  of  Scotland,  Chancellor  of 
Scotland,  etc. 

The  Rev.  John  Graham,  A.  M.,  a  second  son 
of  a  Marqnis  of  Montrose,  was  born  in  Edinburgh 
in  1691;  he  graduated  at  the  University  of  Glas- 
gow, and  studied  theology  at  his  native  Edin- 
burgh; came  to  Boston  in  1718,  where  he  married 
Abigail,  a  daughter  of  the  very-  celebrated  Dr. 
Chauncey,  of  Harvard  College.  Later  Rev.  Mr. 
Graham  removed  to  Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  but 
in  1722  to  Stafford,  Connecticut,  and  in  1732  to 
Woodbury,  Connecticut,  where  he  lived  until  his 
death,  in  December,  1774.  He  was  an  eminent  man 
and  left  a  family  of  five  sons  and  four  daughters, 
from  whom  are  descended  a  numerous  progeny. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


S.  B.  COEP. 


»43 


SILAS  B.  COBB. 


(7J  ILAS  BOWMAN  COBB.  In  the  entire  his- 
2\  tory  of  the  world  it  has  been  vouchsafed  to 
Q)  but  few  men  to  witness  the  growth  of  a  mu- 
nicipality from  a  few  dozen  in  population  to  a 
million  and  a  quarter  souls.  No  story  of  Chicago's 
development  can  be  written  without  cognizance  of 
Silas  B.  Cobb  as  one  of  its  initial  forces.  It  was 
such  sturdy,  self-reliant  and  hopeful  young  men 
as  he  that  began  the  development  of  her  great- 
ness, and  carried  forward  her  growth  in  middle 
and  later  life.  Ever  since  the  little  band  of  Pil- 
grims established  a  home  on  the  rocky  and  frost- 
locked  shores  of  Massachusetts,  New  England  has 
been  peopled  by  a  race  of  enterprising  and  adven- 
turous men,  whose  habits  of  industry  and  high 
moral  character  have  shaped  the  destinies  of  the 
Nation.  It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  the  hamlet 
planted  by  their  descendants  on  the  swampy  shore 
of  Lake  Michigan  in  the  303'  should  become  the 
commercial,  industrial  and  philanthropical  me- 
tropolis of  America. 

Silas  W.  Cobb,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  gained  a  livelihood  by  various  occupa- 
tions, being  in  turn  a  farmer,  a  tanner  and  a  tav- 
ern-keeper, and  the  son  was  early  engaged  in 
giving  such  assistance  to  his  father  as  he  was  able. 
When  other  boys  were  applying  themselves  to 
their  books,  he  was  obliged  to  employ  his  strength 
in  support  of  the  family.  His  mother,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Hawkes,  died  when  he  was  an 
infant,  and  he  knew  little  of  maternal  love  or  care, 
growing  up  in  the  habit  of  self-reliance  which 
carried  him  through  many  difficult  enterprises 
and  made  him  a  successful  man.  He  was  born 
in  Montpelier,  Vermont,  January  2$,  1812,  and 


is  now  entering  upon  the  eighty-fourth  year  of 
his  age.  He  is  keenly  active  in  mind  and  sound 
in  body,  taking  a  participating  interest  in  all  the 
affairs  of  life. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen,  young  Cobb  was  regu- 
larly "bound  out,"  according  to  the  custom  of 
those  days,  for  a  term  of  years,  as  apprentice  to  a 
harness-maker,  having  previously  made  a  begin- 
ning as  a  shoemaker,  which  did  not  suit  his  taste. 
Within  a  twelvemonth  after  he  was  "articled"  to 
the  harness-maker,  his  employer  sold  out,  and  the 
new  proprietor  endeavored  to  keep  the  lad  as  an 
appurtenance  to  his  purchase.  Against  this  the 
manly  independence  of  the  youth  rebelled,  and  the 
new  proprietor  was  obliged  to  give  him  more  ad- 
vantageous terms  than  he  had  before  enjoyed. 
Having  become  a  journeyman,  he  found  employ- 
ment in  his  native  State,  but  he  was  not  satisfied 
with  the  conditions  surrounding  him.  After  nine 
months  of  continuous  toil  and  frugal  living,  he 
was  enabled  to  save  only  $60,  and  he  resolved  to 
try  his  fortune  in  the  new  country  to  the  then 
far  West. 

Joining  a  company  then  being  formed  at  Mont- 
pelier to  take  up  land  previously  located  by 
Oliver  Goss,  the  young  man — having  but  just  at- 
tained his  majority — in  spite  of  his  father's  re- 
monstrance, set  out.  From  Albany,  the  trip  to 
Buffalo  was  made  by  canal  packet,  and  in  the 
journey  from  home  to  this  point  all  his  little  sav- 
ings, except  $7,  were  exhausted.  The  schooner 
"Atlanta"  was  about  to  leave  Buffalo  for  Chicago, 
and  Mr.  Cobb  at  once  explained  to  the  captain 
his  predicament.  The  fare  to  Chicago  was  just 
$7,  but  this  did  not  include  board,  and  Mr.  Cobb 


144 


S.  B.  COBB. 


was  delighted,  as  well  as  surprised,  when  the 
captain  told  him  to  secure  provisions  for  the  jour- 
ney and  he  would  carry  him  to  Chicago  for  the 
balance.  After  a  boisterous  voyage  of  five  weeks, 
anchor  was  dropped  opposite  the  little  settlement 
called  Chicago.  Its  hundred  white  and  half-breed 
inhabitants  were  sheltered  by  log  huts,  while  the 
seventy  soldiers  forming  the  garrison  occupied 
Fort  Dearborn.  And  now  a  new  hardship  assailed 
the  young  pioneer.  Disregarding  the  bargain 
made  in  Buffalo,  the  tricky  commander  of  the 
schooner  refused  to  let  him  leave  its  deck  until 
his  passage  money  had  been  paid  in  full.  For 
three  days  he  was  detained  in  sight  of  the  promised 
land,  until  he  was  delivered  by  a  generous 
stranger,  who  came  on  board  to  secure  passage  to 
Buffalo.  His  first  earnings  on  shore  were  applied 
by  Mr.  Cobb  in  repaying  the  sum  advanced  by 
his  kind  deliverer.  Before  the  boat  sailed  he 
found  employment  on  a  building  which  James 
Kinzie  was  erecting  for  a  hotel.  He  knew  noth- 
ing of  the  builder's  trade,  but  had  pluck  and 
shrewdness,  and  took  hold  with  such  will  that  he 
was  placed  in  charge  of  the  work,  at  a  salary  of 
$2.75  per  day — a  very  liberal  remuneration  in  his 
estimation.  The  building  was  constructed  of  logs 
and  unplaned  boards,  and  did  not  require  a  very 
high  order  of  architectural  skill,  but  within  a 
few  days  a  man,  seeking  the  position,  called  at- 
tention to  the  lack  of  experience  on  the  part  of 
the  youthful  superintendent,  and  clinched  the 
matter  by  offering  to  do  the  work  for  fifty  cents 
less  per  day. 

Mr.  Cobb  now  invested  his  earnings  in  a  stock 
of  trinkets  and  began  to  trade  with  the  Indians, 
by  which  he  secured  a  little  capital,  and  resolved 
to  erect  a  building  of  his  own  and  go  into  busi- 
ness. The  nearest  sawmill  was  at  Plainfield,  forty 
miles  southwest  of  Chicago,  across  unbroken 
prairies.  Getting  his  directions  from  an  Indian, 
Mr.  Cobb  set  out  on  foot  to  purchase  the  lumber 
for  his  building.  There  being  110  trail,  he  was 
guided  solely  by  the  groves  which  grew  at  long 
intervals,  and  found  only  one  human  habitation 
on  the  way.  From  one  of  the  settlers  at  Plain- 
field  he  secured  the  use  of  three  yoke  of  oxen  and 
a  wagon,  with  which  to  bring  home  his  purchase 


of  lumber.  He  was  but  fairly  started  when  a 
three-days  rain  set  in,  and  the  surface  of  the 
prairies  became  so  soft  that  the  wagon  sank  deep 
in  the  mud,  making  progress  almost  impossible 
and  compelling  an  occasional  lightening  of  the 
load  by  throwing  off  a  part.  After  sleeping  three 
nights  on  the  wagon  with  such  shelter  as  could 
be  made  with  boards  from  the  load,  with  the  rain 
beating  down  pitilessly  and  the  wolves'  howling 
the  only  accompaniment,  he  arrived  at  the  Des 
Plaines  River,  still  twelve  miles  from  his  destina- 
tion. The  stream  was  so  swollen  by  the  rains 
that  it  was  impossible  to  cross  with  the  wagon, 
and  the  balance  of  the  load  was  thrown  off  and 
the  oxen  turned  loose  to  find  their  way  back  to 
their  owner,  which  they  did  without  accident. 
After  the  rains  were  over  and  the  ground  became 
settled,  the  trip  was  repeated,  the  lumber  recov- 
ered and  brought  safely  to  Chicago.  These  are 
some  of  the  experiences  of  the  pioneer,  and  can 
never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  pass  through 
them. 

When  Mr.  Cobb  had  completed  his  building, 
which  was  two  stories  in  height,  he  rented  the 
upper  story,  and  began  business  on  the  ground 
floor.  The  capital  consisted  of  $30,  furnished  by 
Mr.  Goss,  who  was  a  partner  in  the  venture,  and 
was  invested  in  stock  for  a  harness  shop.  The 
industry  and  business  ability  of  the  working  part- 
ner caused  the  enterprise  to  prosper  and  grow, 
and  at  the  end  of  a  year  he  withdrew  and  set 
up  business  on  his  individual  account  in  larger 
quarters.  His  business  continued  to  grow,  and 
in  1848  he  sold  out  at  a  good  advance.  He  then 
engaged  in  the  general  boot  and  shoe,  hide  and 
leather  trade,  in  partnership  with  William  Os- 
borne,  and  found  success  beyond  his  fondest  an- 
ticipations, and  in  1852  he  retired  from  mercan- 
tile operations.  About  the  same  time,  he  was 
appointed  executor  of  the  estate  of  Joel  Matteson 
and  guardian  of  the  latter' s  five  children.  When 
this  trust  closed  in  1866,  the  estate  was  found  to 
have  been  vastly  benefited  by  his  shrewd  man- 
agement of  the  trust. 

With  characteristic  foresight,  Mr.  Cobb  early 
began  to  invest  in  Chicago  realty,  and  the  wisdom 
of  his  calculations  has  been  abundantly  demon- 


S.  B.  COBB. 


strated.  He  has  also  been  identified  with  semi- 
public  enterprises,  or  those  which  largely  con- 
cerned and  benefited  the  city,  while  yielding  a 
return  to  the  investors.  In  1855  he  was  elected 
a  Director  of  the  Chicago  Gas  Light  and  Coke 
Company,  and  subsequently  one  of  the  Board  of 
Managers.  This  position  he  held  until  he  sold 
his  interest  and  retired  from  the  company  in  1887. 
It  was  his  executive  ability  which  was  largely  re- 
sponsible for  the  establishment  of  cable  roads  in 
the  city,  those  on  State  Street  and  Wabash  Ave- 
nue being  constructed  under  his  advice  and  direc- 
tion, while  President  of  the  Chicago  City  Railway. 
He  is  still  active  in  the  councils  of  that  company, 
as  well  as  of  the  West  Division  horse  railway. 
For  many  years  he  was  among  the  controlling 
members  of  the  Chicago  &  Galena  Union  and 
Beloit  &  Madison  Railroads,  now  a  part  of  the 
Northwestern  System  (see  biography  of  John  B. 
Turner).  Mr.  Cobb  is  a  Director  of  the  National 
Bank  of  Illinois,  and  several  blocks  of  fine  build- 
ings in  the  business  district  contribute  to  his  in- 
come, as  the  result  of  his  faith  in  the  city  and 
sagacity  in  selection. 

While  being  prospered,  he  has  not  forgotten  to 
add  to  his  own  felicity  by  contributing  to  the  happi- 
ness of  others.  He  has  been  one  of  the  kindest 
husbands  and  fathers,  and  not  only  his  family  but 
the  city  of  his  home  have  often  shared  in  his  bene- 
factions. When  the  effort  to  raise  $1,000,000  for 
the  buildings  of  the  new  University  of  Chicago 
was  straining  every  resource  of  the  Trustees,  Mr. 
Cobb  came  forward  unsolicited  and  donated  $i  50, - 
ooo,  assuring  the  success  of  the  movement.  The 
"History  of  Chicago,"  by  John  Moses,  says:  "It 
is  believed  that  up  to  the  time  when  this  subscrip- 
tion was  made,  few,  if  any,  greater  ones  had  ever 
been  made  to  education  by  a  Chicago  citizen  at 
one  time.  A  noble  building,  the  Cobb  Lecture 
Hall,  now  stands  on  the  University  campus,  a 
monument  of  the  builder's  liberality  and  public 
spirit.  As  long  as  the  great  university  endures, 
this  memorial  of  Silas  B.  Cobb's  life  will  stand, 
the  corporation  having  pledged  to  rebuild  the  hall 
if  it  should  be  destroyed."  The  Presbyterian 
Hospital  and  Humane  Society  of  Chicago  are  also 
among  the  beneficiaries  of  his  generosity,  and  Mr. 


Cobb  will  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  city's 
largest  benefactors,  as  well  as  a  successful  busi- 
ness man. 

In  1840  Mr.  Cobb  married  Miss  Maria,  daugh- 
ter of  Daniel  Warren,  whose  biography  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  work.  He  thus  describes  his 
first  meeting  with  his  future  bride:  "I  arrived 
in  Chicago  in  the  spring  of  1833.  In  October  of 
the  same  year  I  was  occupying  my  new  shop  op- 
posite the  Kinzie  Hotel — in  the  building  of  which 
my  first  dollar  was  earned  in  Chicago.  Standing 
at  my  shop  one  afternoon,  talking  with  a  neigh- 
bor, my  attention  was  attracted  by  the  arrival  at 
the  hotel  of  a  settler's  wagon  from  the  East.  With 
my  apron  on  and  sleeves  rolled  up,  I  went  with 
my  neighbor  to  greet  the  weary  travelers  and  to 
welcome  them  to  the  hospitalities  of  Fort  Dear- 
born, in  accordance  with  the  free  and  easy  cus- 
toms of  'high  society'  in  those  days.  *  *  *  * 
There  were  several  young  women  in  the  party, 
two  of  them  twin  sisters,  whom  I  thought  partic- 
ularly attractive,  so  much  so  that  I  remarked  to 
my  friend,  after  they  had  departed,  that  when  I 
was  prosperous  enough  so  that  my  pantaloons  and 
brogans  could  be  made  to  meet,  I  was  going  to 
look  up  those  twin  sisters  and  marry  one  of  them 
or  die  in  trying."  The  same  pertinacity  and 
acumen  which  characterized  his  every  undertak- 
ing carried  him  through  seven  years  of  toil  and 
privation  until  he  had  won  the  prize,  which  in- 
deed she  proved  to  be.  Their  wedding  took  place 
on  the  ayth  of  October.  Her  twin  sister  married 
Jerome  Beecher  (for  sketch  of  whom  see  another 
page). 

Mrs.  Cobb  passed  away  on  the  loth  of  May, 
1888.  Of  her  six  children,  only  two  survive. 
Two  daughters  died  in  infancy,  and  Walter,  the 
first-born  and  only  son,  and  Lenore,  wife  of  Joseph 
G.  Coleman,  are  also  deceased.  The  others  are: 
Maria  Louisa,  wife  of  William  B.  Walker,  and 
Bertha,  widow  of  the  late  William  Armour. 

Being  a  man  of  firm  principle,  Mr.  Cobb  has 
always  adhered  to  a  few  simple  rules  of  conduct, 
in  the  adoption  of  which  any  youth  may  hope  to 
win  moderate  success,  at  least.  He  early  discov- 
ered the  disadvantage  of  being  in  debt,  and  made 
it  a  rule  as  soon  as  he  got  out  to  stay  out.  The 


146 


W.  E.  ROLLO. 


other  words  forming  his  motto  are:  Inaustry, 
economy,  temperate  habits  and  unswerving  in- 
tegrity. A  few  more  words  from  the  pen  of  Mr. 
Cobb  will  fittingly  close  this  brief  article.  On 
the  guests'  register  in  the  Vermont  State  Build- 
ing at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  ap- 
peared this  entry  over  his  signature:  "A  native 


of  Vermont,  I  left  Montpelier  in  April,  1833,  and 
arrived  at  Fort  Dearborn,  now  the  city  of  Chicago, 
May  2gth  of  the  same  year.  I  have  lived  in  Chi- 
cago from  that  time  to  the  present  day.  Every 
building  in  Chicago  has  been  erected  during  my 
residence  here. ' ' 


WILLIAM  E.  ROLLO. 


QGJILLIAM  EGBERT  ROLLO  is  a  well- 
\  A  /  known  citizen  of  Chicago  and  a  veteran 
Y  V  underwriter,  having  been  engaged  in  that 
line  of  business  since  1850.  He  was  born  in  the 
Parish  of  Gilead,  Hebron  Township,  Tolland 
County,  Connecticut,  January  3,  1851.  His  par- 
ents, Ralph  R.  Rollo  and  Sibyl  Post,  were  natives 
of  South  Windsor,  Connecticut.  The  former  was 
a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  a  son  of  William 
Rollo,  who,  in  addition  to  his  agricultural  inter- 
ests, carried  on  the  business  of  a  tanner  and  cur- 
rier. Their  progenitors  were  among  the  earliest 
colonists  of  Connecticut,  and  traced  their  lineage, 
through  a  long  line  of  English  ancestry,  from  the 
famous  William  Rollo,  better  known  in  history 
as  William  the  Conqueror. 

Ralph  R.  Rollo  died  in  1869,  at  the  extreme 
old  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  Mrs.  Sibyl  Rollo 
passed  away  in  1833,  in  her  fifty-first  year.  They 
were  strict  adherents  of  the  Congregational  faith, 
and  observed  most  rigidly  the  rules  of  its  creed. 
The  names  of  their  children  were:  Lucy  A.,  who 
died  in  South  Windsor,  Connecticut,  in  1858; 
Evelyn  S.,  who  died  in  Chicago  in  1882,  while 
the  wife  of  Elizur  W.  Drake;  Ralph  R.,  who  be- 
came a  resident  of  Chicago  in  1870,  and  died  in 
1872;  Henry,  who  died  in  childhood;  Lucinda 
F.,  Mrs.  Solyman  W.  Grant,  who  departed  this 
life  at  Conneaut,  Ohio,  in  1845;  Samuel  A., 


whose  death  occurred  in  New  Jersey  in  1864;  and 
William  E. ,  whose  name  heads  this  notice. 

The  last-named  became  a  student  at  East  Wind- 
sor Academy,  and  completed  his  education  at  a 
similar  institution  at  East  Hartford,  graduating 
therefrom  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  It  had 
been  his  intention  to  take  up  the  study  of  law, 
but  his  father  sternly  forbade  that  plan,  declaring 
that  no  man  could  simultaneously  be  a  lawyer 
and  a  Christian.  Accordingly  he  abandoned  his 
cherished  hopes,  and  in  1850  he  went  to  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  as  a  representative  of  the  Hartford 
Fire  Insurance  Company.  While  in  that  city  he 
was  also  the  agent  of  the  Springfield  Fire  and 
Marine  Insurance  Company  of  Springfield,  Mass- 
achusetts, the  State  Mutual  Fire  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Com- 
panies. His  faithful  and  efficient  management  of 
the  business  in  his  hands  soon  caused  other  cor- 
porations to  seek  his  services,  and  in  1858  he  be- 
came the  General  Agent  of  the  Girard  Fire  and 
Marine  Insurance  Company,  and  during  the  next 
two  years  established  agencies  in  Chicago  and  all 
the  principal  cities  of  the  West. 

Since  1860  he  has  been  permanently  located  in 
Chicago.  In  1863  he  organized  the  Merchants' 
Insurance  Company  of  Chicago,  which  included 
among  its  stockholders  many  of  the  most  substan- 
tial citizens  and  business  men  of  the  city.  This 


J.  G.  ROGERS. 


corporation  had  become  well  established,  and  was 
doing  a  most  flattering,  lucrative  business,  when 
it  was  overtaken  by  the  great  holocaust  of  1871, 
going  down — in  company  with  many  other  or- 
dinarily invincible  companies — before  the  un- 
dreamed-of assault  upon  its  assets.  The  year  fol- 
lowing that  disaster,  through  Mr.  Rollo's  efforts, 
the  Traders'  Insurance  Company  was  re-estab- 
lished and  made  a  successful  and  solid  institution. 
After  two  years,  owing  to  failing  health  and  other 
great  demands  upon  his  time,  he  turned  over  the 
enterprise  to  other  parties.  Since  that  time  he 
has  been  carrying  on  the  insurance  agency  of 
William  E.  Rollo  &  Son.  This  firm  manages  the 


Western  Department  of  the  Girard  Insurance 
Company,  and  represents  a  number  of  other  lead- 
ing underwriting  concerns. 

Mr.  Rollo  was  married,  in  October,  1845,  to 
Miss  Jane  T.  Fuller,  daughter  of  Gen.  Asa  Ful- 
ler, of  Ellington,  Connecticut.  Mrs.  Rollo  is  a 
native  of  the  same  state,  born  at  Somers.  They 
are  the  parents  of  two  daughters  and  a  son,  Jen- 
nie Sibyl,  Evelyn  Lavinia  and  William  Fuller, 
the  last-named  being  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
William  E.  Rollo  &  Son.  Mr.  Rollo  has  adhered 
strictly  to  the  business  of  underwriting,  meeting 
with  success  where  men  of  less  energy  and  perse- 
verance would  have  despaired. 


HON.  JOHN  G.  ROGERS. 


HON.  JOHN  GORIN  ROGERS,  who  was  for 
many  years  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  popu- 
lar jurists  in  Chicago,   has  been  thus  de- 
scribed by  previous  writers: 

"Nature  designed  him  for  a  Judge.  His  mind 
was  of  the  judicial  order,  and  he  would  in  almost 
any  community  have  been  sought  for  to  occupy  a 
place  on  the  Bench.  The  high  esteem  in  which 
he  was  held  as  a  jurist  among  the  entire  profession 
was  the  result  of  a  rare  combination  of  fine  legal 
ability  and  culture  and  incorruptible  integrity, 
with  the  dignified  presence,  absolute  courage,  and 
graceful  urbanity  which  characterized  all  his  offi- 
cial acts.  Like  the  poet,  the  Judge  is  born,  not 
made.  To  wear  the  ermine  worthily,  it  is  not 
enough  for  one  to  possess  legal  acumen,  be  learned 
in  the  principles  of  jurisprudence,  familiar  with 
precedents  and  thoroughly  honest.  Most  men 
are  unable  wholly  to  divest  themselves  of  preju- 
dice, even  when  acting  uprightly,  and  are  uncon- 
sciously warped  in  their  judgment  by  their  own 
mental  characteristics  or  the  peculiarities  of  their 
education.  This  unconscious  influence  is  a  dis- 


turbing force,  a  variable  factor,  which  more  or  less 
enters  into  the  final  judgment  of  all  men.  In 
this  ideal  jurist  this  factor  was  not  discernible, 
and  practically  did  not  exist." 

Judge  Rogers  traced  his  ancestry  from  some  of 
the  most  honorable  families  of  Virginia,  being  de- 
scended from  Giles  Rogers,  who  emigrated  from 
Worcestershire,  England,  to  Virginia  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century.  He  settled  at  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Dunkirk,  on  the  Mattapony  River,  in  King 
and  Queen  County.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife,  whom  he  is  supposed  to  have  married  in 
Virginia,  was  Eason,  or  Eastham.  They  were 
the  parents  of  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 
One  of  the  sons,  John  Rogers,  married  Mary 
Byrd,  daughter  of  Captain  William  Byrd,  who 
came  from  England  to  Virginia  late  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Captain  Byrd  was  a  native  of 
Cheshire,  and  received  from  the  Crown  a  grant 
of  land  embracing  most  of  the  site  of  the  present 
city  of  Richmond  and  of  Manchester,  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  James  River.  John  Rogers  was 
a  farmer  and  surveyor,  and  lived  in  King  and 


148 


J.  G.  ROGERS. 


Queen  County.  He  also  took  up  land  on  the 
border  between  Carolina  and  Spottsylvania  Coun- 
ties. His  initials,  with  the  date  1712,  are  carved 
upon  a  rock  there.  Among  the  descendants 
of  John  and  Mary  (Byrd)  Rogers  may  be  men- 
tioned General  George  Rogers  Clark,  the  noted 
Kentucky  frontiersman,  and  his  brother,  William 
Clark,  the  explorer  of  the  American  Northwest, 
beside  a  number  of  prominent  military  men,  in- 
cluding Colonel  George  Grogham,  of  Fort  Meigs 
and  Sandusky  memory,  as  well  as  several  emi- 
nent statesmen  and  jurists.  Among  the  latter 
was  Hon.  John  Semple,  who  became  a  United 
States  Senator  from  Illinois. 

In  the  first  year  of  the  present  century,  Byrd 
Rogers,  a  son  of  John  and  Mary  Rogers,  moved 
to  Fayette  County,  Kentucky,  where  he  soon  aft- 
erward died.  He  had  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. One  of  the  sons,  George  Rogers,  became 
an  eminent  physician,  and  died  at  Glasgow,  Ken- 
tucky, in  March,  1860.  He  married  Sarah  Hen- 
sley  Gorin,  a  daughter  of  General  John  Gorin, 
who  served  in  the  Continental  army,  and  rose  to 
the  rank  of  Major  during  the  War  of  1812.  Mrs. 
Sarah  H.  Rogers  was  born  December  n,  1800, 
and  died  in  1870.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Rogers  had  four 
sons  and  five  daughters,  and  two  oi  the  former 
became  Judges.  These  were  John  Gorin  Rogers, 
the  subject  of  this  notice,  and  George  Clark  Rog- 
ers, who  became  a  Circuit  Judge  at  Bowling 
Green,  Kentucky,  and  died  there  about  1870. 

John  Gorin  Rogers  was  born  at  Glasgow,  Ken- 
tucky, December  28,  1818,  and  died  in  Chicago, 
January  10,  1887.  His  primary  education  was 
obtained  at  the  village  school,  and  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  years  he  entered  Center  College  at  Dan- 
ville, Kentucky,  an  institution  famous  for  its  lect- 
ures on  law,  in  which  he  acquired  the  founda- 
tion of  his  professional  knowledge.  Thence  he 
went  to  Transylvania  University  at  Lexington, 
from  which  he  graduated  in  1841,  with  the  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  He  began  his  practice 
in  his  native  town,  being  a  part  of  the  time  asso- 
ciated with  his  uncle,  Hon.  Franklin  Gorin,  one 
of  the  oldest  lawyers  of  the  State. 

In  1 857  he  became  a  resident  of  Chicago,  where 
his  talents  and  ability  soon  won  him  a  prominent 


position  at  the  Bar.  In  1870  he  was  chosen  one 
of  the  five  Judges  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cook 
County,  a  position  to  which  he  was  repeatedly 
re-elected  and  continued  to  hold  during  the  bal- 
ance of  his  life.  He  commanded  the  universal  re- 
spect of  the  people  and  the  members  of  the  Bar, 
and,  though  he  was  always  nominated  as  a  Dem- 
ocrat, he  received  the  support  of  many  leading 
Republicans. 

Judge  Rogers  always  took  an  active  interest 
in  public  affairs,  and  previous  to  his  elevation  to 
the  Bench  he  was  interested  in  many  prominent 
political  movements,  though  he  was  never  a  vio- 
lent partisan.  In  early  life  he  was  an  old-line 
Henry  Clay  Whig,  and  in  1848,  and  again  in 
1852,  he  was  placed  on  the  electoral  ticket  of  that 
party  in  Kentucky.  In  1860  he  became  identi- 
fied with  the  Democratic  party,  and  was  placed 
on  the  Bell  and  Everett  electoral  ticket  of  Illinois. 
In  1856  he  was  a  member  of  the  convention  which 
nominated  Millard  Fillmore  for  President  of  the 
United  States.  Had  he  chosen  to  pursue  a  polit- 
ical career,  he  could,  no  doubt,  have  held  some 
of  the  highest  offices  in  the  Nation;  but  after  his 
election  to  the  Bench  he  refrained  from  taking 
any  active  part  in  politics,  contending  that  a 
Judge  should  be  in  all  things  strictly  non-partisan, 
and  should  not  lower  the  dignity  of  his  office,  or 
subject  himself  to  a  charge  of  prejudice  or  favor- 
itism, or  place  himself  in  any  position  where  any 
one  might  think  that  he  had  a  claim  on  him  for 
special  favors. 

Though  not  a  total  abstainer,  Judge  Rogers 
was  always  an  advocate  of  the  temperance  cause, 
and  at  one  time  was  Grand  Worthy  Patriarch  of 
the  Sons  of  Temperance  of  the  State  of  Kentucky. 
In  1849  he  joined  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  and  from  that  time  until  his  death  was 
the  recipient  of  numerous  honors  from  the  order. 
In  1863  he  was  elected  Grand  Master  of  Illinois, 
and  in  1869  was  Grand  Representative  to  the 
Sovereign  Grand  Lodge  of  the  United  States.  Aft- 
er the  great  Chicago  fire,  he  was  selected  as  one 
of  the  Chicago  Odd  Fellows'  Relief  Committee, 
and  as  treasurer  of  that  body  received  and  dis- 
bursed $  1 2  5 ,000.  He  helped  to  organize  the  Char- 
ity Organization  Society,  which  was  formed  to 


EDSON  KEITH. 


149 


promote  the  co-operation  of  all  the  charitable  or- 
ganizations of  the  city  in  1883.  In  1878  he  was 
elected  the  first  President  of  the  Illinois  Club,  and 
was  re-elected  to  that  position  in  1882.  He  was 
also  a  prominent  member  of  the  Iroquois  Club. 

Judge  Rogers  was  always  popular  in  society, 
where  his  genial  love  for  humanity  and  sincerity 
of  purpose  won  him  a  host  of  friends,  and  his 
name  carne  to  be  a  household  word  among  the 
older  residents  of  Chicago.  He  always  manifest- 
ed a  deep  interest  in  the  poor  and  humble  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  and  would  often  stop  to  grasp  the 
hand  of  a  man  of  no  social  position,  while  he 
might  merely  pass  with  a  pleasant  bow  a  million- 
aire or  social  leader. 

In  1844  Mr.  Rogers  was  married  to  Miss  Ara- 


bella E.  Crenshaw,  daughter  of  Hon.  B.  Mills 
Crenshaw,  who  afterward  became  Chief  Justice 
of  the  State  of  Kentucky.  Mrs.  Rogers,  who 
still  survives  her  noble  husband,  is  a  lady  of  high 
culture  and  many  accomplishments,  and  to  her 
loving  thoughtfulness  and  kindly  assistance  may 
be  attributed  much  of  the  success  achieved  by  her 
husband.  They  were  the  parents  of  four  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  reside  in  Chicago.  Henry,  the 
eldest  son,  though  finely  endowed  intellectually, 
owing  to  ill-health  has  not  been  actively  engaged 
in  business  for  many  years;  and  George  Mills 
Rogers,  the  second  son,  is  a  well  known  attorney 
and  Master  in  Chancery;  the  eldest  daughter  is 
the  wife  of  Joseph  M.  Rogers;  and  Sarah  is  the 
wife  of  ex -Judge  Samuel  P.  McConnell. 


EDSON  KEITH. 


HUDSON  KEITH,  one  of  Chicago's  self-made 
Kj  men,  is  numbered  among  the  most  energet- 
I  ic,  honorable,  progressive  and  broad-minded 
residents  of  the  city.  He  was  born  at  Barre,  Ver- 
mont, January  28,  1833,  and  is  a  son  of  Martin 
Keith,  a  prominent  farmer  and  builder  of  that 
place,  who  afterward  became  a  resident  of  Chicago. 
The  Keith  family  in  America  are  all  descend- 
ants of  Rev.  James  Keith,  of  Bridgewater,  Mass- 
achusetts, who  emigrated  from  Scotland  about 
1660.  Though  but  sixteen  years  of  age  at  that 
time,  he  was  a  graduate  of  Aberdeen  College,  and 
became  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Bridgewater.  It  is  said  that  his  first  sermon  was 
delivered  from  a  rock  in  "Mill  Pasture,"  so- 
called,  near  the  river.  He  married  Susannah, 
daughter  of  Deacon  Samuel  Edson,  and  they  had 
nine  children:  James,  Joseph,  Samuel,  Timothy, 
John,  Jariah,  Margaret,  Mary  and  Susannah. 
Unto  James  (second)  were  born  eight  children: 


James,  Mary,  Gensham,  Israel,  Faithful,  Esther, 
Jane  and  Simeon.  The  children  of  James  (third) 
were:  Noah,  Comfort,  James  and  Abigail.  One 
of  the  children  of  Comfort  Keith  was  Abijah,  born 
June  20,  1770.  He  was  born  in  Uxbridge, 
Worcester  County,  Massachusetts,  and  was  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  Barre,  Washington  Coun- 
ty, Vermont. 

Martin  Keith  was  the  second  son  of  Abijah, 
and  was  born  in  Uxbridge,  Massachusetts,  Feb- 
ruary 23,  1800,  and  came  with  his  father's  family 
to  Barre,  Vermont,  in  1804.  He  was  married  to 
Miss  Betsey  French,  and  had  seven  children: 
Damon,  Judith,  Osborn  R.,  Edson,  Byron  and 
Elbridge  Gerry. 

Betsey  French  was  one  of  the  fourteen  children 
of  Bartholomew  and  Susannah  French,  who  came 
to  Barre  from  Alstead,  New  Hampshire,  in  1791. 
Bartholomew  French,  who  was  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  of  Barre,  built  the  first  mill  in  that  place. 


150 


EDSON   KEITH. 


He  was  a  veteran  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
was  born  in  Sutton,  Massachusetts.  A  historian 
of  the  town  of  Barre  says:  "To  this  energetic 
man  and  his  descendants  much  of  the  prosperity 
of  the  town,  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  until  the 
present  day,  is  due."  Twelve  of  his  seventeen 
children  lived  until  the  youngest  was  past  sixty 
years  of  age.  At  least  two  of  his  sons  served  in 
the  War  of  1812,  and  one  of  them,  named  Bar- 
tholomew, commanded  a  company  of  Vermont 
troops,  and  served  as  a  Captain  of  militia  for  many 
years  afterward. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  Keith  removed  to  Chica- 
go in  1859.  The  former  died  herein  1876,  at  the 
age  of  nearly  seventy-seven  years,  and  the  latter 
in  1868,  aged  about  seventy  years.  They  were 
worthy  representatives  of  the  pioneer  families  of 
New  England,  and  cherished  the  same  love  of  hon- 
or and  truth  for  which  their  ancestors  were  con- 
spicuous, while  practicing  that  rigid  adherence  to 
principle  which  has  distinguished  their  posterity. 

Edson  Keith  passed  his  childhood  upon  the 
homestead  farm  and  in  attendance  at  the  public 
school.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he  went 
to  Montpelier,  where -the  next  four  years  were 
spent.  In  1854  he  came  to  Chicago,  beginning 
his  mercantile  career  in  this  city  as  clerk  in  a  re- 
tail dry-goods  store.  Two  years  later  he  became 
a  salesman  and  collector  for  a  wholesale  house, 
dealing  in  hats,  caps  and  furs.  In  1860  he  be- 
came a  member  of  the  firm  of  Keith,  Faxon  & 
Company,  jobbers  of  hats,  caps,  furs  and  milli- 
nery. Since  that  time  he  has  been  continuously 
associated  with  that  line  of  business,  though  the 
style  of  the  firm  has  undergone  a  number  of 
changes  and  transformations,  and  the  volume  of 
its  transactions  has  been  repeatedly  multiplied. 
He  is  now  senior  member  of  the  wholesale  fancy 
dry-goods  and  millinery  establishment  of  Edson 
Keith  &  Company,  on  Wabash  Avenue,  and 
President  of  the  firm  of  Keith  Brothers  &  Com- 
pany, wholesale  dealers  in  hats,  caps,  etc.,  whose 
place  of  business  is  on  Adams  Street.  In  addition 
to  these,  he  is  proprietor  of  Keith  &  Company, 
grain  warehousemen,  and  is  a  stockholder  and 
Director  of  the  Metropolitan  National  Bank. 


He  has  ever  taken  a  keen  interest  in  the  growth 
and  progress  of  Chicago,  maintaining  perfect  con- 
fidence in  its  future  greatness,  and  has  at  differ- 
ent times  managed  some  extensive  real-estate 
transactions,  which  not  only  have  contributed  to 
his  personal  gain,  but  have  been  important  fac- 
tors in  the  financial  prosperity  of  the  commun- 
ity. 

But  a  few  years  had  elapsed  after  casting  in  his 
lot  with  the  growing  metropolis  before  he  had  es- 
tablished a  reputation  for  integrity  of  character 
and  honorable  dealing  which  has  ever  been  con- 
sistently maintained,  and  he  enjoys  the  esteem 
and  confidence  of  his  colleagues  and  coadjutors  to 
a  degree  attained  by  few  men  in  the  West. 

In  1860  Mr.  Keith  was  happily  married  to 
Miss  Woodruff,  of  Chicago.  This  union  has  been 
blessed  with  two  sons:  Edson,  Jr.,  a  graduate  of 
Yale  College  and  later  of  Columbia  Law  School, 
New  York  City;  and  Walter  W.,  a  graduate  of 
Yale. 

Though  a  sympathizer  with  Republican  princi- 
ples, Mr.  Keith  is  not  a  strict  partisan,  but  sup- 
ports such  men  for  public  office  as  he  deems  most 
worthy  of  his  confidence.  And,  while  he  does 
not  hold  membership  with  any  religious  organiz- 
ation, he  isa  liberal  supporter  of  institutions  tend- 
ing to  upbuild  the  moral  and  intellectual  senti- 
ment of  the  people.  He  is  a  patron  of  art  and 
literature,  and  was  for  several  terms  a  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  Art  Institute  of  Chicago.  He  served 
for  three  years  as  President  of  the  Citizens'  Asso- 
ciation, in  the  inception  of  which  he  was  one  of 
the  foremost  movers,  and  which  did  a  great  work 
in  the  reform  of  municipal  and  state  affairs.  He 
was  three  years  President  of  the  Calumet  Club, 
and  is  identified  with  numerous  other  leading 
clubs  of  Chicago  and  New  York  City.  His  hon- 
orable and  successful  career  stands  out  on  the 
horizon  of  Chicago's  history,  a  fitting  example 
to  its  rising  generations  of  the  rewards  which 
await  persistent  and  intelligent  application,  when 
accompanied  by  straightforward  dealing,  but- 
tressed with  regular  habits  and  unswerving  integ 
rity  of  character. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


J.  F.  EBERHART. 


JOHN  F.  EBERHART. 


(7OHN  FREDERICK  EBERHART,  fifth 
I  child  of  Abraham  and  Esther  Eberhart  (nee 
O  Amend),  was  born  January  21,  1829,  at 
Hickory,  Mercer  County,  Pennsylvania,  his  early 
years  being  busily  spent  upon  his  father's  farm, 
situated  in  the  then  new-settlement  region. 

In  1837  he  moved  with  his  parents  to  Big  Bend 
(on  the  Allegheny),  in  Venango  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, still  occupying  himself  with  agricultural 
pursuits,  save  in  winter,  which  time  was  given 
over  to  district  schools.  At  sixteen  he  left  school, 
becoming  himself  a  country  pedagogue,  his  first 
charge  being  located  at  the  mouth  of  Oil  Creek 
(near  Franklin),  Pennsylvania,  where,  after  the 
manner  so  eloquently  depicted  by  Eggleston 
in  "The  Hoosier  Schoolmaster,"  he  "boarded 
'round"  and  received  his  few  dollars  per  month 
for  "teaching  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot." 

The  following  year  he  took  advanced  tuition  in 
drawing,  writing  and  flourishing,  afterward  teach- 
ing these  accomplishments  to  others.  After  some 
further  schoolteaching,  and  having  himself  com- 
pleted the  curriculum  of  the  Cottage  Hill  Acad- 
emy at  Ellsworth,  Ohio,  he  entered  Allegheny 
College,  in  1849,  whence  he  graduated  July  2, 
1853,  having,  like  many  another  contemporary 
who  has  since  "made  his  mark,"  worked  his  way 
through  college  by  teaching  and  working  upon 
farms.  He  always  took  a  leading  part  in  his 
classes,  as  well  as  in  many  field  sports,  outlifting, 
outjumping  and  outrunning  all  his  several  hun- 
dred classmates.  Perhaps  we  may  allow  this  to 
speak  as  a  prophecy  of  later  superior  achieve- 
ments. In  oratory  he  was  proficient,  as  is  suffi- 
ciently attested  by  the  plaudits  of  the  several 
thousand  auditors  who  attended  his  Fourth  of 
July  oration  near  his  old  home  at  Rockland,  Pa., 
two  days  after  his  graduation. 


The  succeeding  fall  he  assumed  the  duties  of 
Principal  of  the  Albright  Seminary  at  Berlin, 
Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania.  This  first  in- 
stitution of  letters  founded  by  the  Evangelical  As- 
sociation developed  and  prospered  under  his  fos- 
tering care.  And  here  a  digression  is  briefly 
made  in  order  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
Rev.  H.  W.  Thomas,  now  pastor  of  the  People's 
Church,  Chicago,  was  a  pupil  of  his  at  this  time. 

The  first  serious  disappointment  in  his  life 
work,  as  Mr.  Eberhart  had  first  planned  it,  oc- 
curred after  two  years'  confinement  over  school 
duties,  at  which  juncture  several  consulting  doc- 
tors of  medicine  prognosticated  a  growing  con- 
sumption, which  he  could  not  outlive  beyond  a 
few  months  at  the  furthest.  Packing  up  his  pos- 
sessions, he  set  his  face  toward  the  great  West, 
a  country  destined  to  give  him  that  abundant 
measure  of  renewed  life  which  he  has  since  spent 
in  the  interest  of  others  as  well  as  himself.  April 
15<  l855.  was  the  date  of  his  first  coming  to  Chi- 
cago, at  which  time  in  the  then  "Muddy  City" 
he  remained  only  a  short  interval,  on  his  way  to 
Dixon,  Illinois,  where  for  a  time  he  edited  and 
published  an  early  newspaper,  called  the  Dixon 
Transcript.  About  this  time  he  also  prepared  and 
delivered  lectures  upon  chemistry,  natural  philos- 
ophy, meteorology  and  astronomy,  they  being 
among  the  first  popular  lectures  to  be  illustrated 
by  practical  apparatus.  He  also  at  this  period 
traveled  for  New  York  publishing  houses,  and  was 
largely  instrumental  in  establishing  district-school 
libraries  in  the  state.  But,  best  of  all,  in  this  in- 
vigorating climate,  with  its  changes  of  diversified 
labors,  attended  by  abundance  of  outdoor  sports 
and  healthy  exercises,  he  regained  and  fortified 
that  healthful  virility  which  through  more  than 
three  and  a-half  decades  has  amply  sufficed  to 


152 


J.  F.  EBERHART. 


keep  him  well  engaged  in  honorable  pursuits; 
until  at  this  writing,  through  untiring  self-efforts, 
he  stands  prominent  and  time-honored  among  the 
early  educators  of  Illinois  and  the  West. 

On  locating  in  Chicago,  he  purchased  and  for 
three  years  edited  and  published,  "The  North- 
western Home  and  School  Journal,"  interspers- 
ing such  labors  by  lecturing  before  and  conduct- 
ing teachers'  institutes,  not  only  in  Illinois,  but 
also  in  other  western  states,  coming  thus  into 
personal  contact  with  the  leading  educators  of  the 
day,  such  as  Elihu  Burritt,  Henry  Barnard  and 
Horace  Mann. 

He  was  elected  Superintendent  of  Schools  of 
Cook  County  in  the  fall  of  1859.  This  office  he 
uninterruptedly  held  for  ten  years,  during  which 
time  he  earnestly  labored  to  arouse  a  unanimity 
of  interest  and  enthusiasm  of  which  our  local 
school  history  affords  no  parallel.  Our  free 
schools  in  the  county  up  to  this  time  had  never 
been  under  proper  supervision,  and  were  when 
he  assumed  the  duties  in  a  neglected  condition. 
But  he  began  a  thorough  systematic  visitation  of 
schools,  conferring  with  teachers  and  directors, 
organizing  institutes,  etc. ;  until,  finding  it  im- 
possible to  secure  otherwise  the  services  of  ade- 
quately qualified  teachers,  he  began  his  agitation 
for  a  county  normal  school,  and  with  such  suc- 
cess, that  in  1867  a  school  was  opened  at  Blue 
Island,  through  provisions  made  by  the  Board  of 
Supervisors.  This  school,  since  removed  to  Nor- 
mal, has  grown  to  be  a  power  in  the  land,  being 
sought  by  many  pupils  coming  from  long  distan- 
ces, and  always  having  a  large  attendance  roll. 
Among  other  noteworthy  acts  we  may  call  to 
mind  the  following:  Mr.  Eberhart  was  among 
the  organizers  of  the  Illinois  State  Teachers'  As- 
sociation, the  first  seventeen  consecutive  sessions 
of  which  he  attended;  he  assisted  in  establishing 
the  State  Normal  University,  and  in  making  many 
valuable  changes  in  the  state  school  law,  includ- 
ing the  original  act  authorizing  counties  to  estab- 
lish normal  schools,  and  was  the  principal  mover 
in  forming  the  State  Association  of  County  Super- 
intendents, which  chose  him  for  its  first  President. 
As  President  of  the  County  Board  of  Education, 
he  was  the  means  of  introducing  the  '  'kindergar- 


ten" into  the  Cook  County  Normal  School,  and 
also  aided  in  establishing  the  system  of  free  kin- 
dergartens in  the  city.  During  all  this  time  he 
was  a  member  of  the  American  Institute  of  In- 
struction, as  well  as  one  of  the  first  life  members 
of  the  National  Teachers'  Association.  Mr.  Eb- 
erhart received  many  overtures  to  accept  profes- 
sorships and  presidents'  chairs  in  some  of  our 
leading  institutions  of  learning,  but  he  always 
declined,  principally  because  he  did  not  again 
wish  to  risk  his  health  and  life  in  such  work. 

Always  imbued  with  a  liking  for  travel  and 
outings,  and  with  generous  tastes  for  a  liberal, 
rational  enjoyment  and  improvement  of  life  and 
its  grand  possibilities,  after  a  quarter  of  a  century 
spent  as  before  briefly  indicated,  he  set  about  ac- 
cumulating a  fortune  out  of  real  estate.  At  the 
time  of  the  panic  of  1873  he  was  esteemed  one  of 
the  millionaires  of  the  city.  However,  through 
joint  interests  with  others,  which  he  had  to  settle, 
he  lost  his  possessions,  but  is  now  again  a  wealthy 
man,  and  is  content  in  making  a  wise  use  of  his 
powers  and  gifts,  being  a  liberal  parent  and  hus- 
band, and  munificent  in  charity  donations. 

Personally  Mr.  Eberhart  is  rather  slender,  but 
well  proportioned,  six  feet  in  stature,  of  affable 
manners,  positive  in  opinion,  Republican  in  poli- 
tics and  of  deeply  religious  convictions. 

Christmas  Day,  1864,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  married  to  Miss  Matilda  Charity  Miller,  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  C.  and  Mercie  H.  Miller,  of 
this  city.  This  most  estimable  lady  was  born  in 
Toronto,  Canada,  but  in  infancy  was  brought  to 
the  United  States,  where,  prior  to  her  marriage, 
she  became  a  prized  teacher.  She  has  become 
the  tenderest  of  mothers,  and  full  of  thoughtful 
kindnesses  toward  unfortunates  in  life.  Six  chil- 
dren have  blessed  their  union,  namely:  Maude 
Winifred,  born  November  i,  1866,  and  who  died 
February  n,  1873;  John  Joseph,  born  September 
8,  1870;  Frank  Nathaniel,  December  17,  1872; 
Mary  Evangeline,  April  3,  1875;  Grace  Josephine, 
June  4,  1877;  and  Wilfred,  June  12,  1881,  and 
who  died  December  26,  1882. 

A  brief  genealogy  of  the  family  is  here  added: 

The  name  has  been  variously  spelled,  Everhart, 
Everhard,  Eberhardt,  Eberhard  and  Eberhart 


J.  F.  EBERHART. 


153 


being  the  most  common  forms.  Such  changes  of 
patronymic  spelling  are  by  no  means  unusual  in 
German  descendants  living  upon  American  soil; 
but  Eberhart  is  believed  to  be  the  most  general, 
as  well  as  correct,  English  orthography,  and  is 
used  by  the  branch  which  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

This  family,  which  from  1280  to  1723  (a  period 
of  four  hundred  and  forty -three  years)  gave  birth 
to  counts  and  dukes  reigning  over  the  province  of 
Wurtemberg,  is  of  Swabian  (Bavarian)  German 
origin.  Through  the  middle  ages  its  numerous 
descendants  have  figured  very  conspicuously  in 
the  history  of  that  country  and  the  advancement 
of  civilization.  As  a  generation  they  have  lived 
ahead  of  their  respective  years;  have  been  a  mar- 
tial, well-educated,  honorable  and  religious  branch 
of  the  human  race. 

One  Eberhart  rendered  invaluable  assistance  to 
Martin  Luther,  hero  of  the  Reformation,  since 
which  era  most  of  the  families  have  belonged  to 
the  Lutheran  Church.  Of  its  many  men  of  let- 
ters, space  permits  a  reference  only  to  Johannes 
August  Eberhardt,  friend  of  Frederick  the  Great, 
Privy  Councilor  to  the  King  of  Prussia,  mem- 
ber of  the  Berlin  Academy,  one  of  the  greatest 
scholars  of  the  eighteenth  century,  who  composed 
many  able  treatises,  some  of  them  authority  to 
this  day. 

Of  the  sovereigns  of  this  family,  whose  deeds 
and  virtues  are  celebrated  in  prose  and  verse  (the 
lyric  king  of  German  song,  the  immortal  Schil- 
ler, pausing  in  Parnassian  flights  to  do  them 
homage),  we  must  chronicle  how  "Duke  Eber- 
hard  the  Noble,"  "Duke  Eberhard  the  Groaner" 
(or  "Rushing  Beard"),  "Duke  Eberhard  the 
Mild,"  "Duke  Eberhard  with  the  Beard,"  "Duke 
Eberhard  the  Younger,"  "Prince  Eberhard"  and 
"Duke  Leopold  Eberhard"  were  some  of  the 
most  noted  rulers  springing-  from  the  loins  of  this 
famous  race. 

The  first  above  was  the  founder  of  the  royal 
line,  being  the  most  daring  warrior  Wurtemberg 
has  ever  produced,  of  whom  it  is  written: 

"Then  spoke  Eberhard  the  Great, 

Wurtemberg's  beloved  lord, — 
'No  great  cities  boast  my  state, 

Nay,  nor  hills  with  silver  stored. 


"  'But  one  treasure  makes  me  blest, 
Though  the  days  are  fierce  and  dread; 

On  each  subject's  loyal  breast 
I  can  safely  lay  my  head.' 

"  'Eberhard  !'  cried  one  and  all, 

And  meekly  before  him  bowed, 
'Thou  art  richest  of  us  all! ' 

And  their  praise  rang  long  and  loud.' 

The  grandson  of  '  'The  Noble' '  was  '  'The  Rush- 
ing Beard,"  whose  episode  connected  with  the 
fatal  conduct  of  his  son  Ulrich  is  famed  in  art, 
compositions  thereupon  being  hung  in  the  Cor- 
coran Gallery  at  Washington  (District  of  Colum- 
bia), in  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  and  two 
canvases  in  the  Museum  of  Rotterdam;  while  in 
Wurtemberg's  capital  is  a  life-size  statue  in  mar- 
ble of  "The  Rushing  Beard,"  which  is  among 
the  first  objects  of  interest  to  attract  the  attention 
of  the  visitor. 

Intermarriages  were  made  with  such  leading 
families  as  the  Ulrichs,  Rudolphs,  Henrys,  Fred- 
ericks, Hartmans  and  Ludwigs,  whose  names  are 
occasionally  found  in  the  line  of  rulers,  when  a 
male  heir  was  wanting  to  the  Eberharts;  or,  per- 
chance, a  female  sovereign  for  a  time  appears,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Duchess  Henrietta,  widow  of 
"Eberhard  the  Younger." 

With  the  death  of  Charles  VI,  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many, in  1740,  passed  away  the  glories  of  the 
House  of  Hapsburg.  At  this  era  the  Eberhardts 
also  ceased  to  reign  in  Wurtemberg,  being  de- 
throned partly  by  their  own  injudicious  counsels 
and  conduct,  but  more  especially  by  the  then 
growing  ascendancy  of  the  Catholics.  This  was 
the  time  of  self-expatriation  of  many  of  their  line 
in  quest  of  better  fortunes,  together  with  the  civil 
and  religious  freedom  of  the  New  World. 

In  1727  three  brothers,  Michael,  Peter  and 
Joseph,  came  to  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  Of 
these,  Michael  Eberhart  came  from  Germany  in 
the  ship  "Friendship,  John  Davis  master,  land- 
ing in  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love  October  16, 
1727.  He  had  a  son  Paul,  born  during  the  voy- 
age to  America,  who  lived  in  Northampton  Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania,  until  1773,  when  he  removed 
to  the  "Manor  Settlement"  near  Greensburg, 
Pennsylvania.  He  had  a  third  son,  Christian, 
who  married  Anna  Maria  Snyder,  of  his  native 


154 


D.  H.  PINNEY. 


place,  where  he  died  in  1849,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  seventy -seven.  He  had  a  second  son,  Abra- 
ham, who  was  born  December  28,  1797,  and  who 
married,  August  22,  1820,  Esther  Arniend,  of 
New  Salem,  Pennsylvania.  At  twenty-five  he 
removed  into  the  wilderness  of  Mercer  County, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  cleared  a  farm  and  erect- 
ed a  sawmill  on  the  Little  Neshannock.  He 


afterward  lived  in  Illinois  and  Iowa,  and  was  the 
first  to  take  up  residence  in  the  suburb  of  Chi- 
cago Lawn,  October  2,  1877.  He  died  August  7, 
1880,  and  was  interred  in  Rose  Hill  Cemetery. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  good  sense  and  stanchest 
probity.  From  him  descended  a  fifth  child,  John 
Frederick  Eberhart,  the  subject  of  the  foregoing 
sketch. 


HON.  DANIEL  H.  PINNEY. 


HON.  DANIEL  HYDE  PINNEY,  a  worthy 
member  of  the  Chicago  Bar,  and  formerly 
Associate  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Arizona,  is  descended  from  one  of  the  early  Colo- 
nial families  of  Connecticut.  His  grandfather, 
Peter  Pinney ,  was  a  native  of  the  '  'Land  of  Steady 
Habits,"  and  his  parents,  Martin  and  Nancy 
(Johnson)  Pinney,  were  born  in  Vermont.  Mar- 
tin Pinney  was  reared  in  Franklin  County,  Ver- 
mont, and  settled  in  Western  New  York  about 
1830.  He  was  a  carpenter  and  builder,  and 
erected  many  of  the  early  buildings  of  Orleans 
County,  New  York,  where  he  died  in  1869,  at 
the  age  of  seventy  years.  His  widow  is  still  liv- 
ing there,  in  the  ninety-second  year  of  her  age. 
The  subject  of  this  notice  is  the  seventh  of  their 
nine  children. 

Daniel  H.  Pinney  was  born  in  Albion,  the  seat 
of  Orleans  County,  New  York,  June  2,  1837.  He 
received  the  benefit  of  the  common  schools  of  his 
native  town,  and  when  still  a  young  man  joined 
the  engineering  corps  employed  in  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  Erie  Canal,  continuing  in  that  work 
two  years  and  gaining  a  practical  knowledge 
which  ever  after  proved  of  advantage  to  him. 
He  was  possessed  of  energy,  and  a  worthy  ambi- 
tion to  rise  in  the  world,  and  resolved  to  try  his 
fortune  in  the  new  West. 

The  year  1856  found  him  in  Chicago,  looking 


for  any  honorable  employment.  For  about  two 
years  he  worked  as  a  clerk  and  in  various  occu- 
pations, and  in  the  mean  time  set  his  mind  on  the 
study  of  law.  Going  to  Michigan  City,  Indiana, 
he  entered  the  office  of  J.  A.  Thornton,  a  leading 
attorney  of  that  place.  When  business  called 
him  to  Joliet,  Illinois,  he  continued  his  studies  in 
the  office  of  Snapp  &  Breckenridge,  and  applied 
himself  with  such  industry  and  aptitude  that  he 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  in  the  fall  of  1861. 

His  first  experience  as  a  practical  lawyer  was 
obtained  in  the  town  of  Wilmington,  Will  Coun- 
ty, this  State,  where  he  practiced  two  years  with 
moderate  success.  At  the  end  of  this  period  he 
returned  to  Joliet  and  continued  his  way  into 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  public.  This  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  he  was  five  times  elected 
City  Attorney  of  Joliet,  and  in  1876  he  was  the 
successful  candidate,  as  an  Independent,  for  a  seat 
in  the  General  Assembly.  He  espoused  the  cause 
of  Judge  David  Davis  as  candidate  for  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  as  an  active  and  aggressive 
worker,  was  largely  instrumental  in  the  success 
of  that  candidacy.  He  continued  his  law  prac- 
tice in  Joliet  until  1882,  when  he  was  appointed 
by  President  Arthur  to  a  position  on  the  Supreme 
Bench  of  Arizona,  which  he  filled  with  credit  to 
all  concerned  for  four  years. 


F.  E.  R.  JONES. 


155 


After  spending  a  year  in  California,  Judge  Pin- 
ney  returned  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Chicago,  where 
he  has  continued  in  practice  since.  He  is  an 
exceptionally  able  trial  lawyer,  and  has  handled 
a  wide  range  of  cases,  many  of  them  taking  him 
to  the  Supreme  Courts  of  adjoining  and  distant 
States.  He  is,  withal,  a  very  modest  man,  and 
gets  no  more  credit  than  he  is  entitled  to.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Chicago  Bar  Association  and  of 
the  Sons  of  New  York.  Being  an  independent 
thinker,  he  has  not  allied  himself  with  any  organ- 
izations other  than  social  ones.  In  religious  faith 
he  is  a  Universalist,  and  attended  the  Englewood 
church  of  that  denomination  as  long  as  he  dwelt 
near  it.  He  was  an  original  Lincoln  Republican, 


and  was  for  many  years  an  active  campaigner, 
but  retains  his  independence  of  party  lines,  and 
acts  in  elections  according  to  his  faith  in  respec- 
tive candidates. 

In  1865,  at  Albion,  New  York,  Mr.  Pinney 
was  married  to  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  John  B. 
Lee,  a  prominent  citizen  of  that  town,  which  was 
Mrs.  Pinney 's  birthplace.  She  died  in  1872,  leav- 
ing a  son,  William  Lee  Pinney,  now  in  business 
at  Phoenix,  Arizona.  In  1874  Mr.  Pinney  mar- 
ried Miss  Mary  E.  Bowman,  of  Shawneetown, 
Illinois,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  who  has  borne  him 
three  children,  Harry  Bowman,  Sidney  Breese 
and  Nannie  E.  Pinney,  aged,  respectively,  nine- 
teen, seventeen  and  nine  years. 


FRED  E.  R.  JONES. 


f~  RED  ELLSWORTH  RANDOLPH  JONES. 
[3  To  what  extent  the  character  of  an  individ- 
|  ual  is  molded  by  the  circumstances  and  con- 
ditions which  surround  him  is  a  problem  that  ad- 
mits of  almost  unlimited  discussion.  But  no  stu- 
dent of  human  nature  will  attempt  to  deny  that 
the  environments  of  childhood  exert  a  powerful 
influence  upon  the  life  of  the  future  man  or  wo- 
man. A  thorough  business  training,  begun  at 
an  earty  age,  and  vigorously  adhered  to  in  ma- 
ture years,  while  it  may  dwarf  some  of  the  finer 
sensibilities  and  smother  many  of  the  noblest  at- 
tributes of  a  man's  nature,  seldom  fails  to  develop 
a  capable,  systematic  and  successful  business  man. 
Mr.  Jones  was  born  at  Chelsea,  Washtenaw 
County,  Michigan,  January  18,  1860,  and  is  a  son 
of  Aaron  C.  Jones  and  Carrie  R.  Clarke.  A.  C. 
Jones  was  born  in  New  York,  and  came,  during 
his  childhood,  with  his  parents  to  Michigan. 
They  settled  near  Adrian,  where  his  father,  Ab- 
ner  Jones,  became  a  prominent  farmer.  The  lat- 
ter was  a  native  of  New  York.  Aaron  C.  Jones 


was  a  master  marble-cutter,  but  being  troubled 
with  weakness  of  the  lungs,  which  was  aggra- 
vated by  the  pursuit  of  this  calling,  he  abandoned 
it.  In  1868  he  came  to  Chicago  and  engaged  in 
the  fire-insurance  business,  which  occupied  his 
attention  until  the  great  fire.  The  spring  follow- 
ing this  disaster  he  contracted  a  severe  cold,  which 
developed  consumption  and  terminated  his  life. 
His  death  occurred  in  1874,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
five  years. 

Mrs.  Carrie  R.  Jones,  who  still  resides  in  Chi- 
cago, was  born  in  Goshen,  Indiana,  where  her 
father's  death  occurred  about  the  time  she  was 
eleven  years  of  age.  Her  mother's  maiden  name 
was  Randolph,  and  she  was  a  relative  of  the  noted 
Virginia  family  of  that  name — the  Randolphs  of 
Roanoke.  Her  grandfather,  who  was  a  man  of 
considerable  means  and  influence,  devoted  much 
time  and  money  to  the  cause  of  the  American  col- 
onies during  the  Revolutionary  War.  During 
the  progress  of  that  struggle  he  made  an  expedi- 
tion to  the  West  Indies  in  the  interests  of  the  Na- 


156 


B.  M.  WIEDINGER. 


tional  Government,  leaving  his  motherless  chil- 
dren in  charge  of  a  neighbor  and  friend.  His 
absence  was  unexpectedly  prolonged,  and  during 
this  time  the  neighbor  moved  across  the  Ohio 
River  to  the  western  frontier,  and  the  family  was 
never  re-united. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  attended  the  public 
school  until  twelve  years  of  age,  at  which  time, 
owing  to  his  father's  failing  health,  he  was 
obliged  to  abandon  his  studies  and  begin  the  bat- 
tle of  life.  He  obtained  employment  in  the  in- 
surance office  of  the  late  George  C.  Clarke,  his 
first  position  being  that  of  errand  boy.  Under 
the  instruction  and  training  of  his  kind  employer, 
he  rapidly  developed  an  aptitude  for  business  and 
was  promoted  to  more  responsible  positions.  At 
the  age  of  twenty  years  he  became  the  bookkeeper 
and  confidential  man  of  the  concern,  with  which 
he  continued  to  be  identified  until  1893.  Few 
boys  of  his  age  had  to  contend  with  the  stern, 
realistic  problems  of  life  to  such  a  degree  as  he, 
but,  with  the  advice  and  counsel  of  his  employer 
and  aided  and  sustained  by  his  mother's  counsel, 
he  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities.  He  at- 
tended night  schools  at  intervals  and  subsequently 


became  a  teacher  of  bookkeeping  to  night  classes 
at  the  Chicago  Athenaeum. 

In  January,  1893,  he  was  made  City  Manager 
in  Chicago  of  the  Liverpool  &  London  &  Globe 
Insurance  Company,  which  position  he  has  filled 
up  to  this  time  with  credit  to  himself  and  the  mu- 
tual advantage  of  the  parties  concerned.  He  now 
occupies  one  of  the  finest  suites  of  offices  in  the 
city,  being  located  in  the  new  and  modern  Asso- 
ciation Building. 

Few  people  who  know  Mr.  Jones  as  an  able, 
thorough-going  business  man  are  aware  that  be- 
neath his  calm,  sedate  and  unemotional  exterior, 
there  are  veins  of  sentiment,  philosophy  and  enthu- 
siasm which  are  seldom  allowed  to  assert  them- 
selves during  business  hours.  His  more  intimate 
associates,  however,  know  him  as  a  man  of  re- 
fined and  cultivated  tastes,  who  has  given  consid- 
erable attention  to  the  study  of  vocal  music  and 
other  arts.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Apollo  and 
Mendelssohn  Clubs.  He  takes  little  interest  in 
political  or  other  public  movements,  but  feels  a 
deep  concern  in  the  development  of  the  intellect- 
ual and  spiritual  sentiments  of  mankind. 


BERNHARD  M.  WIEDINGER. 


BERNHARD  MARIA  WIEDINGER,  an 
educator  of  prominence  and  one  of  the  old- 
est members  of  Chicago's  German  colony, 
believed  in  the  brotherhood  of  man  and  the  equal- 
ity of  all  before  the  law,  and  this  brief  sketch  of 
his  life  will  show  a  little  of  the  much  he  did  for 
the  emancipation  of  the  down-trodden  from  op- 
pression and  slavery,  as  well  as  something  of  his 
efforts  in  educating  and  preparing  for  the  respon- 
sibilities of  after  life  many  of  the  active  and  in- 
fluential citizens  of  Chicago. 

Professor  Wiedinger  was  born  at  Engen,  near 
Constance,  in  Baden,  Germany,  on  the  isth  of 
August,  1826.  His  ancestors,  though  not  titled, 
were  persons  of  property  and  influence,  and  were 


among  the  leading  citizens  of  the  municipality  in 
which  they  dwelt. 

Abraham  de  Santa  Clara,  a  monk  and  author 
of  distinction  some  centuries  past,  was  a  near 
relative  of  Professor  Wiedinger's  maternal  ances- 
tor of  several  generations  ago.  Among  the  host- 
ages shot  by  General  Moreau  in  the  Napoleonic 
wars,  and  whose  bones  were  recently  interred 
with  great  honor,  was  an  ancestor  on  the  mater- 
nal side.  For  a  political  offense  another  gave  up 
his  life  under  the  leaden  prison  roof  of  Venice. 

His  father,  George,  served  as  an  officer  in  the 
French  army  in  the  famous  Peninsular  campaign, 
and  with  his  brothers  was  in  the  Government  em- 
ploy, he  being  engaged  in  arboriculture  and  viti- 


B.    M.  WIEDINGER. 


157 


culture,  and  having  charge  of  a  large  number  of 
men.  George  Wiedinger  died  some  time  in  the 
fifties,  aged  seventy-seven.  His  wife,  Apollonia, 
nee  Fricker,  died  in  1848,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six. 
This  couple  were  the  parents  of  thirteen  children, 
only  three  of  whom  grew  up  to  years  of  maturity, 
all  the  others  dying  in  early  childhood.  The  eld- 
est child  was  George,  the  second  Julius  Batiste, 
and  Bernhard  was  the  youngest. 

Bernhard  Wiedinger  obtained  at  Constance  the 
education  afforded  by  the  real  school  and  gymna- 
sium, and  later  attended  the  Heidelberg  Univer- 
sity. There  he  spent  two  years,  and  was  noted 
alike  for  his  knowledge  of  languages  and  musi- 
cal versatility.  The  noted  rebellion  of  1848  broke 
out  while  he  was  a  student  at  the  university,  he 
being  then  twenty -two  years  old,  and  enrolled  as  a 
soldier.  Young  Wiedinger  had  imbibed  in  his 
studies  a  fierce  and  unquenchable  love  of  liberty, 
and  hatred  of  all  forms  of  oppression  and  tyranny, 
and  did  not  hesitate  to  cast  his  lot  with  the  Revo- 
lutionists and  share  in  the  dangers  that  the  up- 
rising brought  to  those  who  participated  in  it. 
He  saw  bloody  work,  and  was  several  times 
wounded.  A  wound  which  he  received  in  the 
head  was  of  a  serious  nature.  The  collapse  of 
the  Revolution  brought  swift  and  summary  pun- 
ishment to  many  who  had  raised  their  hands  for 
liberty.  Among  those  who  were  taken  was  young 
Wiedinger.  Until  two  days  before  his  trial  all 
who  were  tried  were  sentenced  to  death  and  exe- 
cuted. His  punishment  was  severe,  on  account 
of  his  having  been  enrolled  in  the  army.  He  re- 
ceived a  sentence  of  ten  years  in  prison,  seven 
months  of  which  were  spent  in  solitary  confine- 
ment. After  spending  something  over  a  year  in 
prison,  by  the  aid  of  friends  he  escaped  to  Switz- 
erland, and  later  went  to  France.  In  the  latter 
country,  on  account  of  a  speech  he  made  at  a 
demonstration  by  Republicans,  he  was  compelled 
to  leave  the  political  asylum  he  had  sought  in 
Europe,  and  come  to  America,  where  his  efforts 
in  the  cause  of  freedom  were  destined  to  be  far- 
ther-reaching and  more  successful  than  they  had 
been  in  countries  where  oppression  had  crystalized 
in  monarchy. 

Arriving  in  the  United  States  in  1851,   he  re- 


mained for  a  time  at  Philadelphia,  where  he  had 
distant  relatives.  He  at  once  began  to  learn  the 
language  of  the  country,  and  in  order  to  do  so  in 
what  he  thought  would  be  the  most  successful 
way,  he  obtained  employment  on  a  farm  where 
he  would  hear  only  English  spoken.  He  re- 
mained on  the  farm  one  month,  and  in  after  life 
he  often  jocosely  said  that  in  that  time  he  learned 
just  five  words,  "breakfast,  dinner  and  supper, 
horse  and  harness."  He  was  not  long,  however, 
in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  English.  Among 
his  earliest  acts  was  filing  a  declaration  of  his  in- 
tention to  become  a  citizen  of  the  republic  whose 
political  institutions  were  so  dear  to  him. 

His  first  permanent  employment  was  as  travel- 
ing salesman  for  a  Philadelphia  book  house,  and 
in  that  business  he  remained  for  some  time  and 
traveled  much.  He  early  became  an  enthusiastic 
worker  in  the  cause  of  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
He  was  a  delegate  to  the  first  Republican  Na- 
tional Convention  held  at  Cincinnati  in  1854,  an(i 
stumped  the  state  of  Indiana  with  Oliver  P.  Mor- 
ton for  that  party,  speaking  in  German.  Later, 
he  went  to  Kansas,  where  he  thought  his  efforts 
in  the  abolition  cause  would  be  more  helpful,  and 
there  had  charge  of  a  station  of  the  "underground 
railroad,"  as  it  was  called,  for  the  aid  of  slaves 
escaping  from  the  South.  He  spent  some  time 
in  the  law  office  of  Sherman  &  Ewing,  and  was 
assistant  Secretary  of  the  famous  Topeka  Con- 
vention. John  Brown  numbered  him  among  his 
band,  and  when  he  planned  his  historic  raid  on 
Harper's  Ferry  sent  for  him;  but  he  arrived  at 
the  place  of  rendezvous  twelve  hours  too  late. 
In  the  early  part  of  1860  he  started  an  abolition 
paper  at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  but  one  night  a 
mob  visited  his  office,  threw  his  type  and  presses 
into  the  river,  and  he  was  compelled  to  seek  a 
more  promising  field  of  operations.  Coming  to 
Illinois,  he  recruited  a  company  of  one  hundred 
men  for  the  famous  Hecker  regiment,  and  was 
elected  Captain.  On  account  of  defective  sight, 
caused  by  injury  to  his  eyes  when  a  child,  he  was 
prevented  from  going  to  the  front. 

Soon  afterward  he  came  to  Chicago  and  bought 
out  a  German  school  of  small  proportions  and  en- 
gaged in  the  work  of  education.  He  was  very 


B.  M.  WIEDINGER. 


successful  as  a  teacher,  and  soon  had  three  hun- 
dred pupils  in  attendance.  Later  he  organized  a 
company  which  built  a  schoolhouse  on  the  corner 
of  La  Salle  Avenue  and  Superior  Street.  His 
health  failing,  he  was  compelled  to  give  up  teach- 
ing in  1868  and  seek  outdoor  employment.  Sub- 
sequently he  gave  private  lessons,  was  a  clerk  in 
the  postomce  for  a  year,  and  also  held  a  position 
in  the  City  Clerk's  office  for  two  years.  A  por- 
tion of  the  time  between  1868  and  1878,  when  his 
health  permitted,  he  was  engaged  in  teaching. 
He  spent  a  part  of  this  time  in  the  school,  but 
most  of  the  time  as  a  private  tutor.  In  those 
years,  beside  the  misfortune  of  bad  health,  he 
suffered  the  loss  of  his  schoolhouse  and  household 
goods  in  the  great  fire. 

In  1865  Mr.  Wiedinger  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  D.  Moulton,  a  native  of  Maine,  and  a 
daughter  of  Judge  Jotham  Tilden  Moulton,  of 
Chicago.  Mrs.  Wiedinger  is  a  descendant  of  an- 
cestors who  helped  build  up  the  New  England 
States.  Her  father,  born  October  8,  1808,  was  a 
graduate  of  Bowdoin  College,  where  the  poet 
Longfellow  was  one  of  his  teachers.  He  gradu- 
ated from  Harvard  Law  School,  where  he  was  a 
classmate  of  Wendell  Phillips  and  Charles  Sum- 
ner,  with  the  latter  of  whom  he  maintained  a  life- 
long friendship.  Coming  to  Chicago  in  1852,  he 
bought  a  third-interest  in  the  Chicago  Tribune, 
which  he  sold  a  year  later.  He  held  the  office  of 
Deputy  Clerk  of  the  United  States  Court,  and 
United  States  Commissioner  and  Master  in  Chan- 
cery, which  last  office  he  held  until  after  the  fire. 
His  death  occurred  in  1881.  Mr.  Moulton  was 
the  son  of  Dr.  Jotham  Moulton,  and  grandson  of 
Colonel  Moulton,  who  died  in  1777,  after  serving 
one  year  in  the  struggle  for  independence.  Mrs. 
Wiedinger  has  been  a  teacher  for  a  large  part  of 
her  life,  rendering  valuable  assistance  to  her  hus- 
band in  his  profession.  She  has  also  written  for 
the  press,  contributing  translations,  original  stories 
and  poetry. 

Mr.  Wiedinger  left  three  sons:  George  T., 
Bernhard  M.  and  Frank  A.  The  first  of  these  is 
a  lawyer,  the  second  is  engaged  in  real-estate  work, 


and  the  third  has  chosen  the  newspaper  profession. 

Mr.  Wiedinger  was  one  of  those  earnest  and 
tireless  men  whose  energies  keep  them  always  em- 
ployed. As  a  friend  of  freedom,  he  took  an 
active  part  in  the  great  moral  struggle  that  pre- 
ceded the  appeal  to  arms,  in  which  he  was  unable 
to  engage  on  account  of  physical  infirmity,  but 
to  the  aid  of  which  his  most  effective  assistance 
in  every  other  way  was  given.  He  aided  in 
the  organization  of  the  Republican  party,  in 
order  that  a  bulwark  of  freedom  might  be  es- 
tablished, and  stood  in  the  forefront  of  progress 
of  that  party  till  1888,  when  he  considered  the 
party  had  gone  from  the  position  it  formerly  oc- 
cupied, and  he  then  joined  the  ranks  of  the  Dem- 
ocracy. As  an  educator,  he  took  a  place  among 
the  leading  Germans  of  Chicago,  and  his  worth 
as  a  teacher  is  often  testified  by  the  leading  Ger- 
man-American citizens  of  Chicago,  who  were  his 
pupils  and  life-long  friends.  He  was  liberal  in 
his  ideas  and  progressive  in  his  work,  and  said 
that,  if  he  had  done  nothing  else,  he  had  made  it 
impossible  to  have  a  successful  German  school  in 
Chicago  without  having  an  English  teacher  in  it. 
In  the  organization  of  societies  of  various  kinds 
he  took  a  leading  part.  He  was  one  of  the  or- 
ganizers and  President  of  the  Turners'  Associa- 
tion of  Chicago,  also  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
Schiller  Liedertafel,  and. its  musical  director.  In 
recent  years  a  bowling  club,  composed  of  his 
former  pupils,  assumed  the  name  of  "  Wieding- 
er's  Boys." 

In  physique  Mr.  Wiedinger  was  a  powerful 
man,  and  a  complete  master  of  the  art  of  self-de- 
fense. Once,  when  attacked  by  three  ruffians,  he 
knocked  one  down  with  his  fist,  kicked  over  an- 
other, and  the  third,  seeing  the  condition  of  his 
companions,  fled  for  safety.  He  was  a  prolific 
writer  in  his  early  years,  and  the  habit  of  con- 
tributing to  the  newspapers  he  kept  up  through 
life.  As  a  friend,  a  husband  and  father,  he  showed 
those  rare  characteristics  that  endeared  him  to  his 
familiars.  His  gentle,  confiding  nature,  his  do- 
mesticity and  devotion  to  his  family  were  ap- 
parent to  all. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


SAMUEL  J.  JONES. 


159 


SAMUEL  J.  JONES,  M.  D.,  LL.  D. 


(3AMUEL  J.  JONES,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  is  a  na- 
/\  live  of  Bainbridge,  Pennsylvania,  born  March 
Q)  22,  1836.  His  father,  Doctor  Robert  H. 
Jones,  was  a  practicing  physician  in  the  Keystone 
State  for  a  third  of  a  century,  and  died  in  1863. 
The  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Sarah  M. 
Ekel,  is  a  member  of  one  of  the  pioneer  families 
of  the  old  town  of  Lebanon,  Pennsylvania,  of 
Swiss  and  Huguenot  descent.  At  the  age  of  sev- 
enteen, their  son  Samuel,  having  finished  his  pre- 
paratory studies,  in  the  fall  of  1853,  entered  Dick- 
inson College  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  four  years  later  with  the 
degree  of  A.  B.  In  1860  he  received  the  degree 
of  A.  M.,  and  in  1884  was  honored  by  his  alma 
mater  with  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  His  choice  of 
a  vocation  in  life  was  no  doubt  influenced  by  his 
father's  successful  practice  of  medicine,  and  at  an 
early  age  he  determined  to  follow  in  his  father's 
professional  footsteps.  Accordingly,  on  leaving 
college,  he  began  the  stud}'  of  medicine,  which  he 
pursued  for  three  years  under  his  father's  super- 
vision. In  the  fall  of  1858  he  matriculated  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  after  pursuing 
the  studies  prescribed  in  the  curriculum  of  the 
medical  department  of  that  institution,  took  the 
degree  of  M.  D. ,  in  the  spring  of  1860,  just  thirty 
years  after  the  father  had  graduated  from  the 
same  university. 

The  advantages  and  opportunities  for  observa- 


tion and  adventure  presented  by  the  United  States 
naval  service  proved  too  attractive  for  the  young 
practitioner  to  resist,  and  he  became  one  of  the 
competitors  in  the  examination  of  candidates  for 
the  position  of  Assistant  Surgeon.  He  success- 
fully passed  the  examination,  and  received  his  ap- 
pointment just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion,  and  entered  upon  a  life  which,  for 
activity,  change,  excitement  and  opportunity  for 
acquiring  experience,  should  have  fully  satisfied 
his  desires  in  those  particulars.  He  first  saw 
service  on  board  the  United  States  steam  frigate 
"Minnesota,"  which  sailed  under  sealed  orders 
from  Boston,  May  8,  1861,  as  flag-ship  of  the 
Atlantic  blockading  squadron.  Three  months 
later  he  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Hatteras  In- 
let, which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  the  Confed- 
erate forts  with  fifteen  hundred  prisoners,  and 
ended  the  blockade-running  there.  This  was  the 
first  naval  battle  ever  fought  in  which  steamships 
were  used  and  kept  in  motion  while  in  action. 
In  January,  1862,  Doctor  Jones  was  detached 
from  the  "Minnesota"  and  detailed  as  Surgeon  of 
Flag-OfEcer  Goldsborough's  staff,  on  the  expedi- 
tion of  Burnside  and  Goldsborough,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  capture  of  Roanoke  Island.  Later 
he  was  assigned  to  duty  as  Staff  Surgeon  under 
Commander  Rowan,  and  was  present  at  the  cap- 
ture of  Newbern,  Washington  and  other  points  on 
the  inner  waters  of  North  Carolina. 


i6o 


SAMUEL  J.  JONES. 


Soon  afterward  Doctor  Jones  accompanied  an 
expedition  up  the  Nansemond  River  for  the  relief 
of  the  Union  forces  engaged  in  repelling  General 
Longstreet's  advance  on  Suffolk,  Virginia.  This 
force  was  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Gush- 
ing, of  Albemarle  fame,  and  Lieutenant  Lamson. 
In  the  spring  of  1863  Doctor  Jones  was  assigned 
to  duty  at  Philadelphia,  there  passed  a  second 
examination,  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Sur- 
geon, and  assigned  to  duty  at  Chicago,  where, 
among  other  duties,  he  was  engaged  as  Examin- 
ing Surgeon  of  candidates  for  the  medical  corps 
destined  for  naval  service  in  the  Mississippi  River 
Squadron.  While  occupying  this  position  he  was 
ordered  to  visit  various  military  prisons,  and  there 
examined  more  than  three  thousand  Confederate 
prisoners  who  had  requested  permission  to  enlist 
in  the  Federal  service,  and  who  were  accepted 
and  assigned  to  men-of-war  on  foreign  stations. 
He  was  ordered  to  the  sloop-of-war  "Ports- 
mouth, ' '  of  Admiral  Farragut'  s  West  Gulf  Block- 
ading Squadron,  in  1864,  and  was  soon  after  as- 
signed to  duty  as  Surgeon  of  the  New  Orleans 
Naval  Hospital,  where  he  was  at  the  close  of  the 
Rebellion.  In  the  fall  of  1865  he  was  sent  to 
Pensacola,  Florida,  as  Surgeon  of  the  navy  yard 
and  naval  hospital.  In  1866  he  was  again  as- 
signed to  duty  at  Chicago,  where  he  remained 
until  the  marine  rendezvous  there  was  closed,  in 
the  same  year.  In  1867  he  was  ordered  to  the 
frigate  "Sabine,"  the  practice  ship  for  naval  ap- 
prentices, cruising  along  the  Atlantic  Coast,  which 
was  his  last  active  sendee  in  the  navy. 

In  1868,  after  eight  years'  continuous  service, 
Surgeon  Jones  resigned  to  devote  his  attention  to 
private  practice.  Not  long  after  he  was  elected 
delegate  from  the  American  Medical  Association 
to  the  meetings  of  the  medical  associations  of 
Europe,  and  was,  at  the  same  time,  commissioned 
by  Governor  Geary,  of  Pennsylvania,  to  report 
on  hospital  and  sanitary  matters  of  England  and 
the  continent.  He  attended  the  meetings  ot  the 
societies  at  Oxford,  Heidelberg  and  Dresden,  and 
in  the  month  of  September,  at  the  last  place, 
participated  in  organizing  the  first  Otological 
Congress  ever  held.  Combining  travel  with  study, 
he  enjoyed  the  remainder  of  the  year  in  visiting 


various  pans  of  Europe  and  investigating  medi- 
cal and  sanitary  affairs,  giving  special  attention 
to  diseases  of  the  eye  and  of  the  ear.  On  his  re- 
turn to  the  United  States  he  resumed  practice  in 
Chicago  in  1868.  Soon  after  he  was  elected 
President  of  the  Board  of  Examining  Surgeons 
for  United  States  Pensions  at  Chicago,  and  was 
also  made  a  member  of  the  medical  staff  of  St. 
Luke's  Hospital,  and  there  established  the  de- 
partment for  the  treatment  of  diseases  of  the  eye 
and  ear,  with  which  he  has  since  been  connected. 

In  1870  Doctor  Jones  was  again  elected  a  del- 
egate from  the  American  Medical  Association  to 
the  meetings  of  the  European  associations,  and, 
during  his  stay  abroad,  spent  some  months  in  re- 
search and  investigation.  In  the  same  year  he 
was  elected  to  the  newly-established  chair  of 
Ophthalmology  and  Otology  in  Chicago  Med- 
ical College,  now  Northwestern  University  Medi- 
cal School,  a  position  he  continues  to  hold.  He 
also  established  the  eye  and  ear  department  in 
Mercy  Hospital  and  in  the  South  Side  Dispensary, 
having  charge  of  each  of  them  for  about  ten 
years.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  one  of  the 
attending  staff  of  the  Illinois  Charitable  Eye  and 
Ear  Infirmary  in  Chicago.  In  1876  he  was  a 
delegate  from  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society 
to  the  Centennial  International  Medical  Congress 
at  Philadelphia,  and  in  1881  represented  the 
American  Medical  Association  and  the  American 
Academy  of  Medicine  at  the  Seventh  International 
Medical  Congress  at  London.  The  Ninth  Inter- 
national Medical  Congress  was  held  in  Washing- 
ton, District  of  Columbia,  in  1887,  and  of  this  Doc- 
tor Jones  was  a  member.  He  was  President  of 
the  section  of  otology,  and  was  e x-officio  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Executive  Committee,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  arrange  the  preliminary  organization  of 
the  congress. 

In  1889  Doctor  Jones  was  elected  President  of 
the  American  Academy  ot  Medicine,  whose  ob- 
jects, as  stated  in  its  constitution,  are:  "First,  to 
bring  those  who  are  alumni  of  collegiate,  scien- 
tific and  medical  schools  into  closer  relations  with 
each  other.  Second,  to  encourage  young  men  to 
pursue  regular  courses  of  study  in  classical  and 
scientific  institutions  before  entering  upon  the 


WILLIAM  O.  KEELER. 


161 


study  of  medicine.  Third,  to  extend  the  bounds 
of  social  science,  to  elevate  the  profession,  to  re- 
lieve human  suffering  and  prevent  disease." 

Doctor  Jones,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  read- 
ing of  the  foregoing  recital  of  his  services  in  his 
profession,  is  an  enthusiastic  worker  and  an  able 
physician,  whose  genial  manner  and  success  in 
practice  have  made  him  widely  known.  His  la- 
bors in  the  many  societies  of  which  he  has  been  a 
member  have  been  ably  supplemented  by  the 
product  of  his  pen,  which  has  been  directed  to- 
ward raising  the  standard  of  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine. His  writings  have  frequently  appeared  in 
medical  journals,  and  for  several  years  he  was 
editor  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Exam- 
iner, one  of  the  leading  periodicals  of  the  country. 
He  has  successfully  applied  himself  to  acquiring 
knowledge  pertaining  to  his  specialty,  and  for 
twenty  years  has  been  recognized  by  both  the 
medical  profession  and  the  public  as  authority  on 
all  matters  pertaining  to  ophthalmology  and  otol- 
ogy. He  has  always  stood  high  in  the  esteem  of 
the  profession,  and  has  been  active  and  influential 
in  its  councils  and  deliberations.  His  fine  personal 


appearance,  genial  manners,  fund  of  entertaining 
conversation,  and  frank,  manly  deportment  have 
made  him  a  favorite,  both  as  an  individual  and  a 
practitioner,  and  drawn  to  him  a  large  clientele. 

He  has  never  held  any  political  office,  but  has 
preferred  the  reward  which  has  come  to  him,  un- 
sought, in  his  profession  and  in  literature  and 
science.  He  has  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  been  a 
member  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Science,  and 
he  is  one  of  its  Board  of  Trustees.  He  is  also 
President  of  the  Western  Association  of  the 
Alumni  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of 
the  Illinois  Alpha  Chapter  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa, 
the  oldest  Greek-letter  society  in  the  United  States, 
founded  in  1776,  whose  membership  has  always 
been  restricted  and  conferred  as  a  recognition  of 
scholarship. 

When  the  Illinois  Naval  Militia  was  organized 
as  a  part  of  the  National  Naval  Reserve,  he  was 
solicited  to  give  that  organization  the  benefit  of 
his  large  experience  in  the  naval  service  in  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  he  is  now  Surgeon  of 
the  First  Battalion,  and  has  taken  an  active  in- 
terest in  its  development. 


WILLIAM  O.   KEELER. 


O.  KEELER,  who  after  an  active 
career  is  spending  his  declining  years  at  the 
home  of  his  only  surviving  son,  No.  6818 
Wright  Street,  Englewood,  was  born  in  Danbury, 
Conn.,  on  January  i,  1819.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, of  Scotch  descent,  was  extensively  engaged 
in  farming,  and  gave  to  each  of  his  children  as 
they  married  considerable  tracts  of  land.  His 
death  occurred  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-five 
years.  Abraham  G.  and  Sarah  (Dan)  Keeler, 
parents  of  William  O.,  were  natives  of  Connecti- 
cut. The  father  followed  farming  in  that  locality 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  December  23, 


1836,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years.  He  was 
drafted  for  service  in  the  War  of  1812,  but  hired 
a  substitute.  His  wife  lived  until  1860,  passing 
away  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years.  She  was 
a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  which  church  her  children  were  reared. 
William  O.  Keeler  is  the  sole  survivor  of  a 
family  of  eight  sons  and  two  daughters.  He  was 
reared  in  his  native  town,  and  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen beganjearning  the  hatter's  trade.  For  some 
years  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  hats  and 
in  merchandising,  devoting  his  time  and  atten- 
tion to  those  enterprises  throughout  his  business 


162 


ALBERT  WILSON  KELSO. 


career.  He  established  the  first  hat  manufactory 
in  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  employing  eighty  workmen, 
which  was  considered  a  large  force  at  that  time. 
On  the  26th  of  April,  1843,  Mr.  Keeler  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Abigail  Stuart  Clark, 
daughter  of  Sallu  P.  and  Hannah  (Benedict) 
Clark.  Eight  children  were  born  of  their  union, 
six  sons  and  two  daughters.  Ella,  now  deceased, 
was  the  wife  of  J.  Deville  Dennis.  William  P. 
married  Miss  Temperance  Hayward,  daughter  of 
Ambrose  D.  and  Martha  (Wiley)  Hayward,  the 
former  a  native  of  Maine,  and  the  latter  of  Mass- 
achusetts. They  have  two  children,  William  P. 
and  Martha  Abigail.  William  P.  Keeler  has 
since  April,  1872,  held  the  responsible  position  of 
City  Cashier  in  the  wholesale  house  of  Marshall 
Field  &  Co.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Englewood  Christian  Church.  On  the  nth  of 
May,  1864,  while  yet  a  boy,  he  enlisted  in  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion,  joining  the  one  hundred 
day  men  and  becoming  a  member  of  Company  A, 
One  Hundred  and  Thirty-fourth  Illinois  Infan- 
try, U.  S.  A.,  continuing  in  the  service  until  the 
25th  of  October.  Frederick  S.  and  Isaac  Ward 
were  the  next  younger,  but  are  now  deceased,  as 
also  Frank,  twin  brother  of  Fannie.  The  latter 
is  the  wife  of  Walter  Colby,  of  Chicago,  and 
they  have  two  children,  Otis  Keeler  and  Abigail 


Stuart.  Susan  C.  and  Charles  L.  have  also  passed 
away,  and  the  mother  of  this  family,  who  was  a 
devoted  member  of  the  Christian  Church,  died 
May  17,  1889,  in  her  sixty-seventh  year. 

In  1852,  William  O.  Keeler  went  to  California 
in  search  of  gold,  and  after  a  two-years  stay  re- 
turned to  Danbury,  Conn.,  remaining  thereuntil 
the  fall  of  1854.  He  then  came  to  Chicago  and 
opened  the  first  hat,  cap  and  fur  store  on  Randolph 
Street,  under  the  old  Mattsson  House,  occupying 
this  stand  for  a  number  of  years.  He  afterward 
removed  to  a  new  block  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street,  conducting  the  business  until  1861. 
He  then  accepted  a  clerkship  with  a  hat  house 
on  Clark  Street,  near  Lake,  and  later  at  No.  77 
Lake  Street,  in  the  Tremont  Block,  remaining 
there  until  1866.  In  that  year  he  went  upon  the 
road  as  a  traveling  salesman,  which  calling  he 
pursued  for  a  limited  time  only.  His  later  years 
have  been  mostly  spent  in  the  manufacture  of 
dress  hats,  but  in  the  spring  of  1894,  after  pass- 
ing his  seventy-fifth  milestone,  the  infirmities  of 
age  compelled  him  to  give  up  work.  Father  and 
son  have  never  been  separated  in  their  lives  ex- 
cept for  comparatively  brief  intervals,  the  home 
of  the  one  having  always  been  the  home  of  the 
other. 


ALBERT  WILSON  KELSO. 


G|  LBERT  WILSON  KELSO,  of  Chicago,  oc- 

I  |  cupies  the  responsible  position  of  chief  clerk 
/I  in  the  office  of  the  Assistant  General  Manager 
of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railroad. 
The  record  of  his  life  is  as  follows:  A  native  of 
Shippensburgh,  Pa.,  he  was  born  on  the  22d  of 
October,  1859,  and  is  a  son  of  James  W.  and 
Anna  B  (Shade)  Kelso.  His  father  was  also  a 
native  of  Shippensburgh,  and  died  in  that  town 
when  the  son  was  only  six  months  old.  By  trade 


he  was  a  painter  and  decorator,  and  did  a  good 
business  along  that  line.  After  the  death  of  her 
first  husband,  Mrs.  Kelso  married  Henry  High, 
and  is  now  residing  in  Wilson,  Kan. 

Mr.  Kelso  whose  name  heads  this  record  at- 
tended the  public  schools  until  fourteen  years  of 
age,  thus  becoming  familiar  with  the  common 
English  branches  of  learning.  His  knowledge 
has  since  been  greatly  supplemented  by  reading, 
experience  and  observation,  and  he  has  thus  be- 


WALES  TOBEY. 


163 


come  a  well-informed  man.  At  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen he  emigrated  westward,  removing  with  the 
family  to  Wilson,  Kan.  From  the  age  of  eight 
years  he  had  been  accustomed  to  work  in  a  brick- 
yard, and  also  engaged  in  other  labor,  thus  con- 
tributing to  his  own  support.  He  is  a  self-made 
man,  and  whatever  success  he  has  achieved  in 
life  is  due  entirely  to  his  own  efforts. 

While  living  in  Wilson,  Kan.,  Mr.  Kelso  sought 
and  obtained  a  position  as  night  clerk  in  a  hotel. 
Later  he  removed  to  Russell,  Kan.,  where  he  was 
employed  in  the  same  capacity.  In  May,  1880, 
he  entered  the  service  of  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company  and  removed  to  Wallace,  Kan. 
For  seven  years  he  continued  his  connection  with 
that  road,  becoming  chief  clerk  in  the  Division 
Superintendent's  office  at  Wallace,  his  merit  and 
ability  winning  him  a  promotion  to  which  he  was 
justly  entitled.  Later  he  was  in  the  office  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Bridges  and  Buildings  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  at  Omaha,  and 
on  the  27th  of  April,  1887,  he  engaged  with  the 
Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railroad  at  To- 
peka,  Kan.,  occupying  a  position  as  clerk  in  the 
office  of  the  Superintendent  of  Roadways.  In 
August,  1890,  he  came  to  Chicago  as  chief  clerk 


in  the  office  of  the  Assistant  General  Manager, 
which  position  he  now  holds.  He  discharges  his 
duties  with  promptness  and  fidelity,  and  wins  the 
respect  of  all  with  whom  he  is  brought  in  contact. 

Turning  from  the  public  to  the  private  life  of 
Mr.  Kelso,  it  is  noted  that  in  June,  1883,  was 
celebrated  his  marriage  with  Miss  Elizabeth  Spahr, 
daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Spahr,  who  were 
residents  of  Carlisle,  Pa.  The  family  circle  now 
includes  four  children,  a  son  and  three  daughters: 
Mary,  Edith,  Newton  and  Nora. 

Socially,  Mr.  Kelso  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  has  taken  high  rank  in  the  order, 
belonging  to  Topeka  Commandery  and  Medinah 
Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine.  From  his  boyhood 
he  has  been  an  advocate  of  Republican  principles, 
and  since  attaining  his  majority  he  has  cast  his 
vote  for  the  men  and  measures  of  that  party. 
He  is  an  accurate  and  reliable  scribe,  who  has 
won  his  way  to  his  present  responsible  position 
by  his  own  unaided  efforts.  His  integrity,  indus- 
trious habits  and  systematic  business  methods  in- 
spire the  confidence  of  his  superior  officers,  and 
his  many  admirable  social  qualities  have  gained 
him  numerous  personal  friends. 


WALES  TOBEY 


JALES  TOBEY,  a  leading  citizen  of  Worth 
Township,  claims  New  York  as  the  State 
of  his  nativity,  his  birth  having  occurred 
near  Plattsburg,  on  the  28th  of  September,  1831. 
His  parents  were  Jesse  and  Statira  (DeKalb)  To- 
bey.  The  father,  who  was  born  in  Champlain, 
N.  Y.,  was  an  attorney  by  profession  and  became  a 
large  land-owner  and  iron-founder.  He  traveled 
extensively  through  the  West,  and  in  the  commu- 
nity where  he  lived  was  recognized  as  one  of  its 
most  prominent  business  men.  His  death  oc- 


curred in  Plattsburg,  N.  Y.,  in  July,  1873,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-three  years.  The  Tobey  family  was 
of  English  origin.  Jesse  Tobey,  Sr.,  the  grand- 
father of  Wales,  was  one  of  four  brothers  who  in 
an  early  day  came  to  America.  The  others  set- 
tled in  Connecticut,  Vermont  and  Ohio,  respec- 
tively. Mrs.  Statira  Tobey  was  a  native  of  the 
Empire  State,  but  her  parents  were  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  were  of  German  descent.  Her 
death  occurred  in  1841. 

Wales  Tobey  spent  his  boyhood  days  upon  a 


1 64 


HIRAM  P.  CRAWFORD. 


farm  in  Jay  Township,  Essex  County,  N.  Y., 
and  attended  the  public  schools  and  an  academy. 
Thus  he  acquired  a  good  English  education,  which 
well  fitted  him  for  the  practical  duties  of  life.  At 
the  age  of  nineteen  he  left  home  and  entered  upon 
his  business  career  as  book-keeper  and  salesman 
in  a  mercantile  establishment  in  Newport,  Mich., 
where  he  was  employed  for  three  years.  He  be- 
lieved it  would  be  to  his  advantage  to  begin  bus- 
iness in  the  West,  and  his  judgment  was  not  at 
fault,  as  the  years  have  shown.  He  worked  for 
the  firm  of  E.  B.  &  S.  Ward,  relatives  of  his 
grandmother.  When  the  three  years  had  passed, 
he  went  to  Grand  Haven,  Mich.,  where  he  began 
business  on  his  own  account  as  a  dealer  in  wood, 
furnishing  steamboats  on  the  lake.  In  1851  he 
became  a  resident  of  Milwaukee,  and  thence  went 
to  Strong's  Landing,  Wis.  The  following  spring 
he  came  to  Cook  County,  111.,  settling  in  Worth 
Township.  ' 

In  1856,  Mr.  Tobey  purchased  his  present  farm 
near  Worth  Station.  It  was  then  a  tract  of  wild 
land,  but  he  at  once  began  to  clear  and  cultivate 
it,  and  now  has  a  finely  improved  farm,  supplied 
with  all  modern  accessories  and  conveniences. 
He  has  bought  and  sold  considerable  real  estate, 
and  this  branch  of  his  business  has  also  proved 
to  him  a  good  source  of  income.  For  ten  years 
after  locating  on  his  farm,  his  nearest  postofnce 
was  Blue  Island,  a  distance  of  nine  miles,  but 
through  his  efforts  offices  were  established  at 
Worth,  South  Mount  Forest  and  Grosskopf. 
For  a  year  after  this  result  was  attained  the  mail 


was  brought  from  Blue  Island  by  private  enter- 
prise, for  the  Government  had  not  then  estab- 
lished a  mail  route.  Mr.  Tobey,  in  connection 
with  two  other  men,  supported  the  mail  route  by 
subscription. 

On  the  8th  "of  January,  1858,  Mr.  Tobey  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Van  Horn, 
daughter  of  A.  C.  Van  Horn,  of  Homer,  111.  They 
had  three  children:  John  Dillon,  a  dealer  in  hay, 
grain  and  ice,  in  Chicago;  Emma,  wife  of  F. 
Hepperley,  of  Norfolk,  Neb.;  and  Marion,  wife 
of  John  Elliott,  of  Winside,  Neb.  The  mother 
of  this  family  passed  away  February  14,  1870,  at 
the  age  of  thirty  years.  She  was  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Church. 

Mr.  Tobey  was  married  to  his  second  wife, 
Elizabeth  M.  Burt,  daughter  of  Alvin  Burt,  of 
Westport,  N.  Y.,  January  8,  1874.  She  was  the 
mother  of  one  child,  Charles  Clifford  Tobey. 
She  passed  away  June  14,  1892,  at  the  age  of 
forty-seven  years. 

Mr.  Tobey  attends  the  services  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church  at  Worth,  which  was  built  upon 
land  contributed  by  him.  In  earlier  years  he 
was  a  Republican,  but  since  the  formation  of 
the  Prohibition  party  has  been  identified  with  that 
movement.  He  has  never  sought,  nor  would  he 
accept,  public  office.  He  has  witnessed  the  mar- 
velous development  of  Chicago  and  Cook  County 
for  more  than  forty  years,  and  has  borne  no  small 
part  therein,  ever  striving  to  promote  the  moral 
and  intellectual  growth  of  the  community  as  well 
as  its  material  prosperity. 


HIRAM  PRATT  CRAWFORD 


HIRAM  PRATT  CRAWFORD,  a  real-estate 
dealer  of  Crawford's  Station,  Chicago,  is  a 
native  of  the  Empire  State,  his  birth  having 
occurred  in  Buffalo  on  the  3d  of  January,    1831. 


He  is  a  son  of  Pe:er  Crawford,  whose  biography 
will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  work.  He  at- 
tended the  public  schools  of  Buffalo  and  Chicago. 
At  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  was  established  by  his 


FRANK  H.  NOVAK. 


165 


father  in  a  lumber-yard  in  Marengo;  and  when  the 
railroad  was  extended  to  Belvidere,  he  removed  to 
that  place,  whence  he  afterward  went  to  Rock- 
ford,  111.  In  1855,  he  became  a  resident  of  Gales- 
burg,  where  he  carried  on  business  for  two  years. 
Since  1857,  ne  nas  resided  at  the  old  homestead, 
where  he  is  engaged  in  looking  after  his  exten- 
sive real-estate  interests.  The  original  farm  pur- 
chased by  his  father  has  constantly  increased  in 
value,  and  now  includes  some  of  the  most  valuable 
suburban  property  adjacent  to  the  city. 

In  1870,  Mr.  Crawford  married  Miss  Sarah  A. 
Launt,  daughter  of  Lewis  L,aunt,  of  Hamden, 
Delaware  County,  N.  Y.,  the  birthplace  of  Mrs. 


Crawford.  Three  children  graced  this  union, 
namely:  Sadie  B.,  wife  of  M.  D.  Broadway,  of 
Chicago;  Nettie  S.,  and  Jessie  L.,  deceased.  The 
parents  and  their  children  hold  membership  with 
the  Baptist  Church.  In  his  political  views,  Mr. 
Crawford  is  a  Republican,  andstanchly  advocates 
the  principles  of  that  party.  He  has  filled  vari- 
ous positions  of  trust,  having  been  Assessor,  Tax 
Collector  and  Superintendent  of  Public  Works  in 
Cicero  Township.  Mr.  Crawford  is  a  gentleman 
of  rare  physical  strength  for  one  of  his  years.  He 
is  kindly  in  manner,  hospitable,  and  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  growth  and  progress  of  Chicago. 


FRANK  H.  NOVAK. 


f~RANK  H.  NOVAK,  a  leading  attorney  of 
r^  West  Pullman,  was  born  near  Iowa  City, 
I  Johnson  County,  Iowa,  on  the  i6th  of  No- 
vember, 1862,  and  is  a  son  of  Frank  and  Barbara 
Novak,  who  are  still  living  on  a  farm  near  Iowa 
City.  The  former  is  a  native  of  Vienna,  Austria. 
He  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America  in  1858,  and 
became  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Johnson 
County,  Iowa.  He  is  now  one  of  its  most  ex- 
tensive farmers  and  representative  citizens.  His 
wife,  who  was  born  near  Praug,  Austria,  is  a 
daughter  of  Frank  and  Mary  Hiek,  early  settlers 
of  Lynn  County,  Iowa,  who  emigrated  to  America 
from  Praug,  Austria,  in  1855. 

In  taking  up  the  personal  history  of  our  sub- 
ject, we  present  to  our  readers  the  life  record  of 
one  who  is  both  widely  and  favorably  known  in 
this  section  of  Cook  County.  After  attending 
the  common  schools,  he  entered  the  Iowa  City 
Commercial  College,  from  which  he  was  graduated 
in  the  Class  of  '85.  He  then  engaged  in  teach- 


ing for  several  terms,  and  met  with  good  success 
in  that  line  of  work.  He  afterward  became  a 
student  in  the  Iowa  State  University,  of  Iowa 
City,  and,  on  the  completion  of  the  collegiate 
course,  entered  the  law  department,  having  de- 
termined to  become  a  member  of  the  legal  pro- 
fession. H^e  received  his  diploma  in  1889,  and 
was  thereby  entitled  to  admission  to  the  Bar  and 
to  practice  in  the  federal  courts. 

Immediately  after  completing  his  law  studies, 
Mr.  Novak  opened  an  office  in  Iowa  City,  and 
was  there  engaged  in  business  until  August, 
1893,  when  he  crossed  the  Mississippi  into  Illi- 
nois and  located  at  West  Pullman,  where  he  has 
since  made  his  home,  becoming  the  leading  at- 
torney of  that  growing  suburb,  and  doing  business 
as  a  lawyer  and  loan  and  collection  agent.  He 
is  also  interested  in  real-estate  and  in  live-stock 
investments  near  Iowa  City,  where  the  breeding 
of  English  Shire  horses  and  Red  Polled  cattle  is 
made  a  specialty. 


1 66 


JOHN  J.  LEAHY. 


On  the  28th  of  March,  1890,  Mr.  Novak  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Nellie  M.  Burke, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Burke,  a  resident  of  Oxford, 
Iowa.  The  lady  is  a  native  of  Ottawa,  Illinois. 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  one  child,  Marie 
Barbara. 

The  parents  both  attend  the  Catholic  Church. 
Mr.  Novak  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias 
fraternity,  the  Knights  of  the  Maccabees  and  the 
Order  of  Red  Men.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Democrat, 


and  warmly  advocates  the  principles  of  that  party. 
He  has  held  a  number  of  public  offices,  was  Town- 
ship Clerk  both  in  Lucas  and  Monroe  Townships 
of  Johnson  County,  Iowa,  was  Assessor  of  Mon- 
roe Township,  and  filled  other  positions  of  public 
trust.  Mr.  Novak  is  a  gentleman  of  pleasing 
address,  good  business  judgment  and  marked  pro- 
fessional ability,  making  friends  of  all  with  whom 
he  comes  in  contact  in  either  business  or  social 
relations. 


JOHN  J.  LEAHY,  M.  D. 


(lOHN  j:  LEAHY,  M.  D.,  who  is  successfully 
I  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Le- 
Q)  mont,  was  born  in  April,  1863,  and  is  a  na- 
tive of  County  Limerick,  Ireland.  His  father, 
Thomas  Leahy,  was  a  native  of  Tipperary,  and 
his  mother,  Margaret  Leahy,  of  Kitteely.  The 
Doctor  acquired  his  primary  education  in  the  na- 
tional schools  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  and  then  began 
the  study  of  medicine  in  the  College  of  Surgeons 
in  Dublin,  where  he  remained  for  three  years. 
In  1883,  he  emigrated  from  Ireland,  and  in  Sep- 
tember of  that  year  reached  Chicago,  where  he  be- 
came a  student  in  Rush  Medical  College.  He 
there  spent  two  years,  and  still  another  year  in  the 
Cook  County  Hospital. 

In  April,  1885,  Dr.  Leahy  acted  upon  the  ad- 
vice given  to  the  young  men  of  America  by  the 
sage  of  Chappaqua  and  went  West,  settling  at 
Delmar  Junction,  Clinton  County,  Iowa.  At- 
tracted by  the  inducements  offered  at  Lemont, 
however,  he,  in  the  autumn  of  the  year  1885 
settled  in  this  place,  where  he  has  enjoyed  a  large 
and  constantly  increasing  practice.  Much  of  the 


time  Dr.  Leahy  has  been  employed  by  corpora- 
tions working  large  forces  of  men.  From  1886  to 
1891,  he  was  surgeon  for  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad 
Company,  and  during  the  year  1892  he  was 
physician  and  surgeon  for  the  firm  of  Frazier  & 
Chalmers,  manufacturers  of  mining  machinery  at 
Chicago, where  he  was  busily  engaged,  having  in 
charge  a  thousand  men  and  their  families.  Since 
the  beginning  of  1894,  ne  has  been  physician  and 
surgeon  to  the  Illinois  Stone  Company,  and  also 
to  Section  5  of  the  Drainage  Canal  at  Lemont,  in 
addition  to  his  general  practice. 

In  1887,  Dr.  Leahy  married  Miss  Margaret 
Reardon,  of  Lemont,  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Helen  Reardon,  whose  sketch  appears  elsewhere 
in  this  volume.  Three  bright  and  beautiful  chil- 
dren, two  girls  and  a  boy,  have  blessed  this  un- 
ion. They  are  Clara  Louise,  John  J.  and  Mar- 
ion. Dr.  Leahy's  cheerful  disposition  makes  him 
many  friends,  professionally  and  otherwise,  and 
he  enjoys  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  He  has 
one  brother  in  this  country,  Rev.  Patrick  Leahy, 
of  Lyons,  Iowa. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


c 


CYRUS  H.  McCORMICK. 


CYRUS  HALL  McCORMICK. 


EYRUS  HALL  McCORMICK,  measured  by 
his  achievements  and  their  influence  upon 
mankind,  must  rank  as  one  of  the  greatest 
benefactors  of  modern  times.  This  statement  is, 
perhaps,  a  comprehensive  one,  but  it  is  not  un- 
warranted by  facts,  and  indeed  was  given  an  au- 
thoritative stamp  when,  in  the  latter  years  of  Mr. 
McCormick's  life,  he  was  chosen  a  corresponding 
member  of  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  on 
the  ground  of  his  having  done  more  for  the  cause 
of  agriculture  than  any  other  living  man.  Why 
this  broad  and  generous  tribute  ?  Why  is  the 
name  of  Cyrus  Hall  McCormick  remembered  and 
honored,  and  why  will  his  memory  hold  a  sacred 
niche  in  Fame's  enduring  temple  throughout  all 
coming  time  ?  To  answer  queries  of  this  nature 
we  must  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  life,  the  influ- 
ences, and  the  labors  of  him  concerning  whom 
they  are  asked. 

The  McCormick  family  lived  in  Rockbridge 
County,  Virginia.  They  were  descendants  of  an 
early  settler  in  that  portion  of  the  S.tate,  who  had 
been  invited  thither  by  the  fertile  fields  lying  in 
the  broad  valley  between  the  Shenandoah  and 
Blue  Ridge  mountain  ranges.  It  was  here  that 
Cyrus  Hall  McCormick  was  born  on  the  isth  of 
February,  1809.  His  parents  were  Robert  and 
Mary  Ann  (Hall)  McCormick,  and  their  circum- 
stances, while  perhaps  not  warranting  luxurious 
living,  were,  nevertheless,  conducive  to  comfort 
and  the  peaceful  enjoyments  common  to  that  pe- 
riod. It  was  an  era  when  modern  frivolities  and 
diversions  were  comparatively  unknown,  and 
when  the  hearts  of  men  and  women  found  their 
sweetest  solace  in  the  regularly  recurring  sen-ices 
held  in  the  little  church.  Light  literature  was  there 
unknown,  and  books  of  travel,  history  and  biog- 


raphy were  almost  equally  scarce.  As  a  conse- 
quence, the  Bible  was  much  read  in  the  homes  of 
the  people,  and  its  precepts  were  more  carefully 
instilled  into  the  minds  of  its  students  than  is  com- 
mon in  this  push-and-hurry  age  of  ours.  The 
parents  of  young  McCormick  were  recognized  by 
their  neighbors  as  the  possessors  of  marked  abil- 
ity and  integrity  of  character,  and  their  lives  and 
actions  were  shaped  in  conformity  with  the  best 
ideals  of  Christianity. 

It  was  amid  surroundings  such  as  these  that 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  acquired  those  traits 
which  mark  the  career  of  the  successful  man, 
and  to  which  men  of  all  times  and  of  all  nations 
have  paid  the  tribute  of  their  admiration  and 
their  praise.  This  schooling  of  his  character 
at  home  was  supplemented  by  young  McCor- 
mick's attendance  upon  the  "  Old  Field  "  school, 
where  the  rudiments  of  book  knowledge  were 
acquired,  and  this  was  further  enhanced  by  an 
evident  desire  for  knowledge  not  found  in  books, 
a  knowledge  of  the  practical,  of  the  common  things 
about  him.  Genius  is  rarely  an  accidental  trait, 
and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  natural  environments 
in  which  young  Cyrus  lived  were  shaping  his 
destiny.  His  father  was  a  man  of  more  than  or- 
dinary ability,  himself  a  student  throughout  all  the 
years  of  his  life,  with  an  inclination  toward  in- 
vention, and  indeed  an  inventor  in  fact,  as  sever- 
al useful  devices  are  accredited  to  his  ingenuity 
in  this  line.  He  was  extensively  engaged  in 
farming,  and  had^,  upon  his  premises  both  black- 
smith and  wood-working  shops  for  the  prompt  re- 
pairing of  the  various  farm  implements,  as  occa- 
sion demanded.  He  appears  to  have  been  fond 
of  the  workshop,  and  it  was  but  natural  that  he 
should  give  considerable  time  and  attention  to  the 


1 68 


CYRUS  H.  McCORMICK. 


construction  of  experimental  devices  as  they  sug- 
gested themselves  to  him.  Among  some  of  the 
improvements  resulting  from  his  experiments  were 
a  hemp-breaking  machine,  a  threshing-machine, 
and  a  blacksmith's  bellows.  As  early  as  1809, 
he  conceived  the  idea  of  a  grain-cutting  mechan- 
ism, and  in  the  summer  of  1810  his  conception 
had  assumed  a  tangible  form  and  was  taken  into 
the  field  for  practical  test.  The  cutting  device 
consisted  of  a  system  of  rotary  saws,  revolving  past 
the  edges  of  stationary  knives,  so  as  to  cut  like 
shears.  A  witness  who  saw  its  performance  in 
the  grain  field  described  it  as  "  a  somewhat  fright- 
ful looking  piece  of  machinery  when  moving." 
It  failed  to  meet  the  expectations  of  its  inventor 
and  was  laid  aside,  though  the  idea  of  the  reaper 
kept  possession  of  him  for  several  years  thereafter, 
and  he  in  fact  made  one  or  two  subsequent  at- 
tempts to  perfect  the  machine,  but  without  success. 
To  his  father's  experiments  and  failures  young 
Cyrus  paid  much  attention,  and  it  is  not  un- 
likely that  at  an  early  age  he  brought  himself  to 
believe  that  he  would  some  time  bring  order  out 
of  the  chaos  which  had  marked  the  elder's  reap- 
er-inventing career.  He  had  a  natural  liking  for 
mechanical  inventions,  and  spent  a  goodly  portion 
of  his  time  in  his  father's  workshops,  becoming 
quite  an  adept  in  the  use  of  the  various  tools.  At 
the  age  of  fifteen  he  made  a  grain  cradle,  by  the 
use  of  which  he  was  enabled  to  go  into  the  har- 
vest field  and  keep  pace  with  the  older  laborers. 
A  little  later  he  constructed  a  hill-side  plow,  a 
practical  and  useful  invention,  which  threw  alter- 
nate furrows  either  right  or  left.  This  was  pat- 
ented, but  was  in  turn  superseded  by  his  horizon- 
tal self-sharpening  plow.  It  was  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two  that  he  determined  to  devote  his  en- 
ergies to  the  reaper;  and  with  his  father's  fail- 
ures before  him  plainly  showing  what  was  im- 
practicable, and  perhaps  offering  vague  suggest- 
ions as  to  what  the  practicable  machine  must  be, 
he  dreamed,  he  thought,  and  he  worked.  He  first 
convinced  himself  that  the  principle  adopted  by 
his  father  was  fundamenUil.'y  wrcfg,  he  believing 
that  the  cutting  device  should  give  way  to  a  hori- 
zontal reciprocating  blade,  which  should  operate 
upon  the  grain  in  mass.  Deciding  upon  the  de- 


tails of  such  a  machine,  he  set  to  work  with  his 
own  hands  to  combine  them  in  wood  and  iron. 
He  became  so  deeply  absorbed  in  his  work  that  his 
father,  remembering  his  own  futile  attempts  in  the 
same  line,  sought  to  discourage  the  boy,  telling 
him  that  he  was  wasting  both  his  time  and  talents. 
Happily,  however,  Cyrus  saw  deeper,  and  with 
that  persistence  which  was  an  inborn  trait  of  his 
character,  continued  on  in  his  work,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1831  went  into  a  field  of  grain  with  the 
first  successful  reaper  that  was  ever  built.  The 
distinguishing  features  of  that  machine  were  the 
reciprocating  blade,  operating  in  fixed  fingers;  the 
platform  for  receiving  the  falling  grain ;  the  reel 
to  draw  the  grain  back  to  the  knives;  and  the 
divider,  to  separate  the  grain  to  be  cut  from  that 
left  standing.  These  features  and  their  combina- 
tion must  be  credited  to  the  genius  and  skill  of 
Cyrus  Hall  McCormick.  They  are  found  in  all 
grain-cutting  machines  now  extant,  of  whatso- 
ever name  or  nature,  and  to  dispense  with  them 
"  would  be  to  wipe  every  reaper  out  of  existence." 
The  words  quoted  are  from  "  Knight's  New  Me- 
chanical Dictionary', ' '  compiled  and  edited  by  Ed- 
ward H.  Knight,  A.  M.,  1,1,.  D. ,  in  charge  of 
the  classifications  and  publications  of  the  United 
States  Patent  Office. 

When  the  field  experiment  had  demonstrated 
the  practical  utility  of  his  invention,  it  was  tem- 
porarily relegated  to  a  secondary  place  in  the 
mind  of  its  inventor.  To  enter  at  once  upon  the 
work  of  building  machines  for  general  use  would 
involve  an  expenditure  and  obligation  which,  at 
that  time,  it  was  felt,  could  not  be  assumed;  and 
therefor,  more  perhaps  as  a  stepping-stone  than 
otherwise,  Mr.  McCormick  entered  into  a  partner- 
ship for  the  smelting  of  iron  ore,  a  business  which 
appears  to  have  moved  along  smoothly  and  with 
some  degree  of  success  until  the  panic  of  1837, 
when  it  went  down  in  the  general  crash  which 
carried  with  it  so  many  older  and  more  preten- 
tious enterprises.  Looking  out  upon  the  wreck, 
Cyrus  McCormick  saw  all  material  interests  reced- 
ing from  him;  looking  within,  he  saw  a  sturdy 
young  manhood,  and  felt  the  red  blood  of  ambi- 
tion coursing  through  his  veins.  Little  time  was 
spent  in  repining.  The  first  thing  to  be  done — 


CYRUS  H.  McCORMICK. 


169 


or  at  least  to  be  provided  for — was  the  payment 
of  every  obligation  which  the  firm  had  assumed, 
and  to  this  end  Mr.  McCormick  sacrificed  all  his 
possessions,  including  the  farm  which  his  father 
had  given  him.  Then,  with  his  face  turned  toward 
the  light,  with  faith  in  himself  and  the  reaper, 
he  cast  about  him  for  ways  and  means  for  the 
further  improvement  of  his  machine,  its  manu- 
facture and  sale.  Like  most  stories  of  great  suc- 
cesses, this  is  the  story  of  small  beginnings,  many 
vicissitudes  and  perplexities,  and  some  anxiety; 
but  over  all  the  rainbow  of  hope.  The  shops  of 
the  old  Virginia  farm  were  utilized  as  ' '  factories  ' ' 
during  the  first  few  years,  and,  as  may  be  imag- 
ined, the  annual  output  of  machines  was  insig- 
nificant until  the  year  1845,  when  it  was  decided 
to  start  a  plant  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Arrange- 
ments were  also  made  at  this  time  with  a  firm  at 
Brockport,  New  York,  for  building  the  reaper  on 
a  royalty.  It  was  thought  that  from  these  two 
points  the  East  and  West  could  be  supplied,  but 
the  popularity  of  the  grain  cutter  outran  the  ex- 
pectations of  its  inventor,  and,  to  accelerate  the  de- 
velopment of  the  regions  farther  west,  a  demand 
for  it  sprang  up  and  became  so  general  that  it 
was  decided  to  again  enlarge  the  plant,  increase 
the  facilities,  and  locate  near  the  great  and  grow- 
ing market  of  the  West.  Accordingly,  in  1847,  the 
McCormick  Reaper  Works  became  one  of  the 
great  industries  of  the  young  city  of  Chicago.  In 
1848  seven  hundred  machines  were  built  and  sold, 
and  from  that-time  to  this  the  business  has  shown 
a  steady  growth,  until  its  proportions  are  well 
nigh  amazing.  The  present  capacity  of  the  Mc- 
Cormick Reaper  Works  exceeds  150,000  machines 
every  year;  and,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
India,  there  is  no  grain  and  grass  growing  coun- 
try beneath  the  sun  where  the  McCormick  ma- 
chines are  not  employed  in  garnering  the  crop. 

After  the  assured  success  of  the  reaper  at  home, 
Mr.  McCormick  took  measures  to  bring  it  to  the 
attention  of  the  agriculturists  of  the  Old  World. 
As  an  initial  step  in  this  direction,  the  machine 
was  placed  on  exhibition  at  the  first  World's  Fair, 
held  in  London  in  1851.  It  was  at  a  time  when 
English  eyes  were  given  to  the  casting  of  unfriend- 
ly glances  toward  whatever  emanated  from  Yan- 


keedom,  and  the  McCormick  reaper  was  not  al- 
lowed to  escape  the  ridicule  of  the  press,  the 
London  Times  characterizing  it  as  "a  cross 
between  an  Astley  chariot  and  a  wheelbarrow." 
Before  the  Exposition  season  closed,  however, 
the  reaper  completely  conquered  prejudice  and 
the  Times  made  the  amende  honorable  by  stating 
editorially  that  it  was  ' '  alone  worth  the  entire  ex- 
pense of  the  Exhibition,"  and  the  Great  Council 
Medal  was  awarded  to  Mr.  McCormick  011  the 
ground  of  the  originality  and  value  of  his  inven- 
tion. From  this  moment  fame  and  fortune  were 
assured,  and  there  were  no  fields  either  at  home 
or  abroad  in  which  McCormick  was  not  conquer- 
or. At  the  UniversalExposition  at  Paris,  in  1855, 
he  was  awarded  the  Grand  Prize.  Again  at  Paris  in 
1867  he  gained  the  Grand  Prize  and  decoration  by 
the  Emperor  with  the  Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Hon- 
or. It  was  at  this  time  that  M.  Eugene  Tisseraud, 
Director-General  of  the  Imperial  Domains,  said: 
' '  The  man  who  has  labored  most  in  the  general 
distribution,  perfection  and  discovery  of  the  first 
practical  reaper  is  assuredly  Mr.  McCormick,  of 
Illinois.  Equally  as  a.  benefactor  of  humanity 
and  as  a  skillful  mechanician,  Mr.  McCormick 
has  been  adjudged  worthy  of  the  highest  distinc- 
tion of  the  Exposition."  A  third  triumph  was 
secured  at  Paris  in  1878,  when  the  Grand  Prize 
was  once  more  bestowed  upon  Mr.  McCormick, 
and  he  was  also  honored  by  the  French  Academy 
of  Sciences,  as  was  referred  to  in  the  opening 
paragraph  of  this  sketch.  Many  personal  trib- 
utes might  be  given  illustrating  the  high  regard 
in  which  Mr.  McCormick  was  held,  and  showing 
the  recognition  of  the  value  of  his  invention. 
During  his  life-time  honors  came  to  him  thick  and 
fast,  and  it  is  not  untimely  to  add  here  that  since 
his  death  the  business  which  he  founded,  and  the 
harvesting  machines  which  still  bear  his  name, 
stand  first  and  foremost  in  the  business  and  agri- 
cultural world.  Honors  have  continued  to  come 
to  the  McCormick,  not  the  least  of  which  were 
those  secured  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposi- 
tion 01*1893. 

Cyrus  Hall  McCormick  encountered  obstacles 
which  only  a  matchless  energy  and  ability  could 
have  overcome.  At  the  beginning  of  his  career, 


170 


JOHN  B.  TURNER. 


and  ior  a  long  time  afterwards,  he  was  inconveni- 
enced by  a  lack  of  capital  and  by  his  isolation 
from  centres  of  communication  and  trade.  He 
was  forced  to  overcome  the  opposition  originally 
brought  to  bear  against  all  labor-saving  machines. 
Congress  refused  to  give  him  just  patent  protec- 
tion, for  the  reason  that  his  invention  was  so  val- 
uable that  all  should  be  allowed  to  make  it ! 
But  against  all  these  odds  he  came  out  conqueror. 
Steadily  he  overcame  every  obstacle  and  estab- 
lished his  claim  to  be  A  benefactor  of  the  indus- 
trial world. 

Man's  better  nature,  his  human  side,  his  kind- 
lier, gentler  self,  cannot  be  always  seen  to  advan- 
tage in  the  hurly-burly  of  an  active  business  ca- 
reer, and  it  is  pleasant  to  recall  the  memory  of 
Cyrus  Hall  McCormick  as  he  appeared  to  those 
who  knew  him  in  social  life,  in  his  home,  in  his 
church  relations,  and  in  all  those  varied  walks 
that  lead  away  from  business  and  touch  the  strings 
of  human  hearts.  Mr.  McCormick  had  this  gen- 
tler nature,  and,  while  it  is  not  our  purpose  here 
to  rehearse  the  many  ways  in  which  this  charac- 
teristic evinced  itself,  still  a  sketch  of  his  life 
should  contain  a  brief  mention  of  those  more  con- 
spicuous acts  wherein  are  shown  the  trend  of  his 
benevolence  and  the  munificence  of  his  philanthro- 
py. In  1859,  at  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  held  at  Indianapolis,  he 
made  a  proposition  to  endow  the  professorships  of 
the  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Northwest,  on  condition  that  it  be  located  at  Chi- 


cago. The  conditions  were  accepted,  and  the 
seminary,  which,  in  addition  to  the  original  en- 
dowment, received  from  Mr.  McCormick  numer- 
ous other  magnificent  donations,  is  to-day  a  proud 
monument  to  his  liberality  and  nobility  of  heart. 
On  the  educational  and  religious  lines  of  his  work 
was  also  his  purchase  of  the  Interior,  a  news- 
paper established  in  Chicago  to  represent  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  In  the  hour  of  its  financial 
struggles  he  purchased  it,  placed  it  upon  a  sound 
financial  basis,  and  it  is  to-day  one  of  the  most 
able  and  influential  religious  journals  published. 
He  was  also  a  liberal  contributor  to  various  schools 
and  colleges  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
those  of  his  native  Virginia  coming  in  for  gener- 
ous recognition  at  his  hands. 

In  1858  Mr.  McCormick  married  Miss  Nettie 
Fowler,  daughter  of  Melzar  Fowler,  Esq. ,  of  Jeff- 
erson County,  New  York.  Four  sons  and  three 
daughters  were  born  to  them,  two  cf  whom,  a  son 
and  a  daughter,  died  in  infancy.  The  surviving 
children  are:  Cyrus  Hall  McCormick,  now  Presi- 
dent of  the  McCormick  Harvesting  Machine  Com- 
pany; Mary  Virginia;  Anita,  widow  of  the  late 
Emmons  Elaine;  Harold  and  Stanley. 

Mr.  McCormick  died  on  the  1 3th  of  May,  1884. 
His  life  was  rounded  out  by  something  more  than 
the  three-score  and  ten  years  of  scriptural  allot- 
ment; but  we  live  in  deeds,  not  years,  and,  meas- 
ured by  this  standard,  the  life  of  Cyrus  Hall  Mc- 
Cormick was  long,  and  ever  longer  groweth. 


JOHN  BICE  TURNER. 


flOHN  BICE  TURNER,  founder  of  the  great 
I    railway  system  now  known   as    the  Chicago 
(2)   &  Northwestern,  will  ever  deserve  the  grat- 
itude of  Chicago  for  his  public  spirit  and  perse- 
verance in  carrying  out  his  enterprises  in  the  face 


of  great  financial  and  other  difficulties.  The  pio- 
neers of  Chicago,  whose  number  is  rapidly  grow- 
ing small,  speak  of  him  in  the  most  kindly  and  ap- 
proving terms.  Probably  but  a  very  small  percent- 
age of  the  thousands  who  daily  ride  to  and  from 


JOHN  B.  TURNER. 


171 


the  city  on  the  "Northwestern"  suburban  trains 
ever  consider  the  hardships  endured  by  those  who 
first  undertook  to  construct  a  railway  to  the  West 
from  the  struggling  young  city  by  the  lake.  It 
had  no  double  track  at  first,  and  no  "parlor"  or 
"palace  sleeping"  cars  followed  its  strap  rails. 
The  generation  which  found  a  modern-equipped 
line  ready  for  its  accommodation  can  little  under- 
stand the  conditions  that  obtained  when  John  B. 
Turner  laid  the  first  '  'T' '  rails  in  Illinois. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  born  in  Col- 
chester, Delaware  County,  N.  Y. ,  on  the  I4th  of 
January,  1799,  less  than  a  decade  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  present  United  States  Government. 
His  father,  Elisha  Turner,  died  when  he  was  but 
two  years  old,  and  his  mother  when  he  was  four- 
teen. Her  maiden  name  was  Patience  Coville,  and 
she  was  of  Dutch  origin.  The  Turners  are  of  Eng- 
lish lineage.  Soon  after  his  father's  death,  J.  B. 
Turner  was  adopted  by  David  Powers,  and  passed 
his  youth  on  a  farm  and  about  a  tanyard  operated 
by  his  foster-father,  in  the  meantime  receiving  such 
instruction  as  the  country  schools  of  the  time  af- 
forded. In  1819,  he  married  Miss  Martha  Volun- 
tine,  and  settled  down  at  farming.  Five  years 
later,  he  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  farm  and  pur- 
chased a  mill  and  store,  and  built  a  distillery  at 
Maltaville,  in  Saratoga  County,  which  he  oper- 
ated six  years.  Financial  reverses  caused  him  to 
abandon  these  interests,  and  his  attention  was  first 
turned  to  railroad  construction  in  1835,  when  he 
took  a  contract  to  build  seven  miles  of  the  Ran- 
som &  Saratoga  Railroad.  After  its  completion, 
Mr.  Turner  was  placed  in  charge  of  this  road, 
most  of  whose  trains  were  hauled  by  horses,  of 
which  the  company  owned  thirty  head,  and  he 
constructed  bams  every  ten  miles  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  motive  power.  It  was  on  this 
line,  under  Mr.  Turner's  management,  that  the 
"Champlain,"  an  engine  of  five  tons'  weight,  was 
placed  in  commission,  being  the  second  of  its  kind 
in  use. 

In  November,  1835,  Mr.  Turner,  with  a  part- 
ner, broke  ground  on  the  Delaware  Division  of 
the  New  York  &  Erie  Railroad,  but  was  forced  to 
suspend  operations  when  the  financial  disasters  of 
April,  1837,  crippled  the  owners,  and  the  capital 


of  the  contractors  appeared  to  be  swallowed  up. 
The  subsequent  resumption  of  the  company  re- 
stored to  Mr.  Turner  the  $16,000  which  he  re- 
garded as  lost,  and  with  a  brother-in-law,  John 
Vernam,  he  engaged  in  building  the  Genesee  Val- 
ley Canal.  The  suspension  of  operations  by  the 
State  on  the  canal  in  1840  again  caused  a  heavy 
loss  to  Mr.  Turner,  but  on  the  resumption  of  con- 
struction this  was,  in  part,  restored  to  him.  By 
the  spring  of  1843,  he  had  completed  a  section  of 
the  Troy  &Schenectady  Railroad  with  profit,  and 
he  turned  his  attention  toward  the  growing  West 
as  the  most  desirable  field  for  the  investment  of  his 
capital.  With  his  wife,  he  made  a  trip  as  far 
West  as  the  Mississippi  River,  and  decided  to  lo- 
cate at  Chicago,  returning  East  at  once  for  his 
family. 

The  I5th  of  October,  1843,  found  him  again  in 
Chicago,  and  he  took  up  quarters  at  the  old  Tre- 
niont  House.  His  active  mind  readily  grasped 
the  opportunities  for  investment,  and  one  of  his 
first  moves  was  the  purchase  of  one  thousand 
acres  of  land  near  Blue  Island,  on  which  he  placed 
a  herd  of  sheep,  brought  from  Ohio  in  the  spring. 
An  attempt  at  railroad  building  had  been  made 
as  early  as  1837,  and  a  few  miles  of  strap  rails 
had  been  laid,  terminating  on  the  prairie  not  far 
from  the  present  western  limits  of  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago. In  1847,  Mr-  Turner  and  William  B.  Og- 
den,  the  first  mayor  of  Chicago,  organized  a  com- 
pany to  construct  a  road  westward  from  Chicago, 
and  on  the  5th  of  April  in  that  year,  Mr.  Ogden 
was  elected  President,  and  Mr.  Turner  Acting 
Director  of  the  Chicago  &  Galena  Union  Railroad, 
the  objective  point  being  Galena — a  town  little 
less  than  Chicago  in  size  and  importance  at  that 
time.  Both  the  gentlemen  above  named  were  en- 
thusiastic in  the  interest  of  the  enterprise,  and  by 
their  untiring  labor  in  soliciting  subscriptions  to 
stock  and  securing  right  of  way  from  the  people 
most  benefited  by  its  construction,  said  construc- 
tion was  made  possible.  At  the  election  of  officers 
in  December,  1850,  when  Mr.  Turner  was  made 
President,  the  track  was  completed  beyond  Elgin 
and  reached  Freeport,  where  it  connected  with  the 
Illinois  Central  in  September,  1852. 

By  this  time,  it  had  been  demonstrated  that  the 


172 


E.  F.  L.  GAUSS. 


western  prairies  were  destined  to  support  an  im- 
mense population,  and  attention  was  turned  to  the 
construction  of  the  "Dixon  Air  Line,"  from 
Turner  Junction  west  to  the  Mississippi  River. 
This  was  rapidly  completed  under  Mr.  Turner's 
active  and  able  management,  and  a  portion  of  the 
line  across  the  State  of  Iowa  was  also  completed 
under  his  presidency,  before  he  resigned  in  1858. 
He  continued  an  active  director  of  the  road,  and 
in  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern,  after  the  consol- 
idation of  the  different  lines,  until  his  death.  In 
1853,  he  organized  the  Beloit  &  Madison  Railroad 
Company,  which  became  a  part  of  the  same  sys- 
tem, being  now  a  part  of  the  Madison  Division, 
and  on  the  consolidation,  in  June,  1864,  of  these 
various  lines,  he  was  chairman  of  the  committee 
having  the  arrangements  in  charge,  and  was  af- 
terward a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Chicago  &  Northwestern.  Mr.  Turner  was 
also  a  director  of  the  North  Side  Street  Railroad, 
incorporated  in  February,  1859,  and  continued  to 
hold  stock  during  his  life. 


In  1853,  Mr.  Turner  was  called  upon  to  mourn 
the  death  of  the  wife  who  had  shared  in  his  early 
toils  and  successes,  and  in  1855  he  married  Miss 
Adeline  Williams,  of  Columbus,  Ga.  Three  sons 
and  three  daughters  were  given  to  him.  He  was 
vigorous  and  active  to  the  day  of  his  death,  which 
was  the  26th  of  February,  1871,  more  than  sev- 
enty-two years  of  life  having  been  his  allotted 
time.  The  end  came  peacefully  and  quietly,  and 
on  that  day  Chicago  lost  one  of  her  most  valued 
and  upright  citizens,  who  did  what  he  could  to 
benefit  his  fellows.  On  the  day  of  his  funeral, 
the  offices  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Rail- 
way were  closed  out  of  respect  for  the  "judicious 
and  faithful  counselor,  genial  companion,  consider- 
ate friend  and  Christian  gentleman.  His  devo- 
tion to  the  material  interests  of  the  country  was 
exceeded  only  by  the  patriotism  which  never  lost 
sight  of  the  highest  duties  of  citizenship.  His 
great  works  live  after  him,  and  will  keep  his 
memory  green  forever." 


E.  F.  L.  GAUSS. 


fT  F.  L.  GAUSS  is  First  Assistant  Librarian  in 
rp  the  Chicago  Public  Library,  and  the  responsi- 
I  ble  position  which  he  occupies  finds  in  him  a 
capable  incumbent.  He  is  also  a  patron  of  literature 
and  music,  and  indeed  is  a  friend  to  all  those  arts 
which  are  calculated  to  elevate  and  benefit  man- 
kind. He  claims  Germany  as  the  land  of  his 
birth,  which  occurred  in  Stuttgart  in  1842.  He 
came  of  one  of  the  old  aristocratic  families  of  that 
country,  and  was  reared  accordingly.  The  father 
died  in  1848,  and  the  mother  was  called  to  her 
final  rest  in  1845. 

Mr.  Gauss  whose  name  heads  this  record  at- 
tended school  in  his  native  land  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  in  1859,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he 


crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America,  settling  in  New 
York  City.  When  the  war  for  the  Union  broke 
out,  and  President  Lincoln  called  for  volunteers 
to  aid  in  crushing  the  rebellion  which  threatened 
to  destroy  the  nation,  he  at  once  enlisted,  joining 
the  boys  in  blue  of  Company  K,  First  New  York 
Infantry.  After  two  years  of  valiant  service  he 
was  honorably  discharged,  in  1863. 

Mr.  Gauss  on  leaving  the  army  went  to  Mis- 
souri, where  he  studied  theology  in  the  Missouri 
Evangelical  School,  and  later  he  pursued  his 
studies  in  an  Episcopal  academy  in  Ohio.  In 
1871,  in  St.  Louis,  he  was  ordained  as  a  minister, 
and  was  given  charge  of  the  church  in  Bunker 
Hill,  111.,  where,  as  there  were  many  German 


ROBERT  S.  HILL- 


173 


settlers  in  that  locality,  his  services  were  con- 
ducted in  his  native  tongue.  In  1874  he  went  to 
Europe  in  order  to  complete  his  studies,  and  from 
1875  until  1878  was  a  minister  in  the  State 
Church  of  the  Canton  of  Zurich,  Switzerland.  In 
the  latter  year  he  again  crossed  the  Atlantic  to 
America,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Galena, 
111.,  being  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church  at 
that  place,  of  which  he  continued  in  charge  for 
two  years.  In  1880  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  en- 
gaged in  literary  work  while  in  the  employ  of 
the  Government,  in  which  employ  he  continued 
until  1885.  In  1887  he  entered  the  Chicago  Pub- 
lic Library.  He  was'  afterward  made  First  As- 
sistant Librarian,  and  still  fills  that  position.  He 
also  continues  his  ministerial  work  to  a  limited 
extent,  although  he  accepts  no  pastorates. 

In    1867    Mr.  Gauss  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Henrietta  Stehlin,   and  to  them  has 


been  born  a  family  of  five  children.  The  parents 
and  their  children  are  all  members  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  and  take  a  most  active  in- 
terest in  church  work,  doing  all  in  their  power 
for  its  promotion  and  success. 

Mr.  Gauss  has  won  a  high  reputation  as  a  pub- 
lic speaker,  and  at  one  time  delivered  many  ad- 
dresses in  support  of  the  Republican  party,  the 
principles  of  which  he  warmly  advocates.  He 
has,  however,  never  aspired  to  public  office.  He 
has  also  won  note  as  a  metrical  translater.  He 
is  a  man  of  most  liberal  education,  and  during 
the  famous  Anarchists'  trial  served  as  official  in- 
terpreter. Socially,  he  is  connected  with  the 
Schiller  Club,  of  which  he  is  Secretary,  and  also 
belongs  to  the  Royal  Arcanum,  the  National 
Union  and  the  German  Press  Club,  which  latter 
he  is  now  serving  as  Treasurer.  He  is  also  Pres- 
ident of  the  Chicago  Library  Club. 


ROBERT  S.  HILL. 


ROBERT  S.  HILL,  who  is  successfully  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  law  in  Chicago,  was 
born  in  Buxton,  York  County,  Maine,  on 
the  3ist  of  August,  1851.  His  ancestors  on  his 
father's  side  came  from  England.  Three  brothers 
of  the  name  of  Hill  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  the 
early  English  colonists  and  settled  in  Massachu- 
setts. One  of  them  afterwards  removed  to  the 
district  of  Maine,  and  from  this  branch  of  the  Hill 
family  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  directly  de- 
scended. The  members  of  the  family  were  prom- 
inent land-owners  and  business  men,  and  often 
bore  an  important  part  in  the  events  which  went 
to  make  up  the  history  of  colonial  days.  Mr. 


Hill's  great-grandfather  was  the  owner  of  the 
property  in  Buxton,  Maine,  now  occupied  by  his 
father.  The  grandfather  was  a  resident  of  Bux- 
ton, and  took  part  in  the  War  of  1812,  during 
which  he  was  commissioned  as  an  officer  by  the 
Governor  of  the  Pine  Tree  State.  Another  of  the 
ancestors  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  an  offi- 
cer in  the  Revolution,  and  was  numbered  among 
the  heroes  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  Another 
was  captured  by  the  English  and  taken  to  Can- 
ada, where  he  was  forced  to  live  among  the  Indi- 
ans for  an  entire  winter,  during  which  time  he  was 
subjected  to  great  hardships  and  suffering.  He 
finally  escaped  and  returned  to  his  home  in  Maine, 


ROBERT  S.  HILL. 


much  to  the  surprise  and  pleasure  of  his  wife  and 
family,  who  supposed  him  dead. 

On  his  mother's  side  Mr.  Hill  traces  his  ances- 
try back  to  the  ' '  Mayflower,  ' '  being  descended 
from  Moses  Fletcher,  who  crossed  the  Atlantic 
in  the  vessel  which  brought  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  to 
the  shores  of  the  New  World.  The  latter  was  a 
member  of  the  Council  of  Plymouth,  and  now  lies 
buried  at  Plymouth  Rock,  Massachusetts,  where 
his  name  appears  on  the  monument  erected  in 
memory  of  those  old  heroes. 

Mr.  Hill's  father,  now  retired  from  business 
with  a  competency,  was  an  active  lumberman  and 
farmer  in  Buxton,  Maine.  He  has  always  taken 
a  keen  interest  in  the  religious,  educational  and  po- 
litical matters  pertaining  to  his  town,  state  and 
country.  He  was  a  great  admirer  and  a  warm 
friend  of  the  late  Hon.  James  G.  Elaine. 

The  boyhood  days  of  R.  S.  Hill  were  pleasant- 
ly passed  in  his  native  town,  and  he  was  given 
good  educational  advantages  by  his  father.  After 
leaving  the  common  schools  in  Buxton,  he  at- 
tended Limington  and  Gorham  Academies,  both 
of  Maine,  and  his  first  effort  in  life  after  leaving 
the  latter  institution  was  to  engage  in  school 
teaching  in  his  native  state,  being  then  twenty 
years  of  age.  After  a  brief  and  successful  experi- 
ence as  a  school  teacher,  he  came  to  the  West  with 
his  uncle,  and  entered  Michigan  State  University 
at  Ann  Arbor,  being  graduated  from  the  law  de- 
partment of  that  institution  in  the  Class  of  '  74. 
He  then  returned  to  New  England,  and  for  one 
year  studied  law  in  the  oflice  of  an  attorney  in  Bos- 
ton. The  year  1876  witnessed  his  return  to  the 
West  and  saw  him  located  in  Chicago.  He  im- 
mediately embarked  in  practice,  which  he  has  car- 
ried on  continuously  since.  He  makes  corpor- 
ation law  a  specialty,  and  has  been  very  success- 
ful, winning  many  important  cases.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  he  is  employed  as  attorney  for  a  number 
of  corporations. 

On  the  26th  of  January,  1877,  Mr.  Hill  was 
married  in  Buxton, Maine,  to  Miss  Fannie  S. 
Owen.  Her  ancestors  came  from  England  and 
aided  the  colonies  in  their  struggle  for  iudepen- 


ence,  taking  a  leading  part  in  the  War  of  the  Rev- 
olution. One  of  the  number  was  captured  by  the 
British  in  1807,  taken  on  board  a  man-of-war,  and 
forced  to  serve  as  a  part  of  the  crew.  After  a  few 
weeks'  service,  while  the  ship  was  cruising  off  the 
coast  of  Massachusetts,  he  took  advantage  of  a 
favorable  opportunity,  jumped  overboard,  swam 
safely  ashore  and  returned  home.  To  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hill  have  been  born  five  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Harry  Robert,  who  died  of  diphtheria  in 
1 882 ;  Owen  T. ,  now  a  student  of  the  Fuller  School, 
Hyde  Park;  Helen  M.  and  Alice,  who  attend  the 
same  school;  and  Robert  S.,  a  little  lad  of  three 
and  a-half  years. 

Mr.  Hill  is  a  great  admirer  and  firm  supporter 
of  the  Hon.  Thomas  B.  Reed,  who  is  his 
choice  for  the  presidency.  He  has  known  Mr. 
Reid  all  his  life,  and  on  account  of  a  knowledge  of 
his  character,  ability  and  political  proclivities,  he 
supports  him  as  a  presidential  candidate.  Mr. 
Hill  takes  a  very  warm  interest  in  political  affairs, 
and  labors  earnestly  to  promote  the  growth  and 
insure  the  success  of  his  party.  He  is  recognized 
as  a  good  parliamentarian  and,  because  of  his 
knowledge  of  the  rules  of  parliamentary  usage, 
has  often  been  called  upon  to  preside  over  politi- 
cal meetings  where  trouble  and  turbulence  were 
anticipated,  and  as  such  presiding  officer  has  been 
able,  even  in  very  exciting  meetings,  to  maintain 
order  and  discipline  where  one  less  skilled  would 
have  failed. 

Mr.  Hill  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  Maine.  He 
contributes  liberally  to  benevolent  institutions, 
yet  makes  no  display  of  his  charity.  In  his  tastes 
he  is  domestic  and  enjoys  the  companionship  of  his 
family  much  more  than  that  of  general  society. 
In  his  religious  belief  he  is  liberal,  broad  minded 
and  charitable,  believes  in  his  children  attending 
church  and  Sunday-school  and  having  instilled 
into  their  minds  the  principles  of  Christianity.  In 
both  business  and  social  circles  he  is  well  known 
as  an  honorable,  upright  man,  and  is  held  in  the 
highest  regard  by  his  many  acquaintances  and 
friends. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


^^^ 


JESSE  SPALDING. 


»75 


JESSE  SPALDING 


fl  ESSE  SPALDING  is  a  descendant  of  one  of 
the  oldest  American  families.  The  euviron- 
ment  of  the  New  England  fathers  was  calcu- 
lated to  bring  out  and  develop  all  that  was 
sturdy  and  vigorous  in  both  mind  and  body,  and 
their  descendants  continue  to  manifest  the  traits 
of  character  which  enabled  them  to  survive  the 
hardships  which  they  were  compelled  to  endure, 
and  which  rendered  prosperity  possible  in  the 
face  of  the  most  forbidding  conditions. 

The  town  and  family  of  Spalding  are  known 
to  have  existed  in  Lincolnshire,  England,  in  the 
twelfth  century.  Between  1630  and  1633,  Edward 
Spalding  left  that  town  and  settled  in  Braintree, 
in  the  then  infant  colony  of  Massachusetts.  From 
him  the  line  of  descent  is  traced  through  Joseph, 
Nathaniel,  Joseph,  Joseph  and  John  to  Jesse. 

The  Spalding  family  first  settled  in  southern 
Connecticut,  early  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Its  members  shared  in  the  work  of  subduing  the 
wilderness,  as  well  as  defending  their  homes  from 
the  aboriginal  savages.  Some  of  them  achieved 
distinction  in  the  heroic  defense  of  Fort  Groton, 
Connecticut.  Many  served  in  "King  Philip's 
War,"  and  fifty-two  were  active  in  the  Revolu- 
tion, of  whom  nine  participated  in  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill,  where  one  fell  from  his  dying  horse. 

Joseph  Spalding,  grandfather  of  Jesse,  was 
born  in  Plainfield,  Connecticut.  He  was  an  of- 
ficer of  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  removed  to 
Pennsylvania  in  1780,  settling  on  land  near  Ath- 
ens, Bradford  County,  on  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Susquehanna  River.  This  land  was  claimed  by 
both  Connecticut  and  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr. 
Spalding  was  obliged  to  pay  tribute  to  both  com- 
monwealths before  he  could  secure  a  clear  title. 
This  was  a  great  hardship,  but  he  went  to  work 


with  characteristic  energy,  and  shortly  thereafter, 
despite  all  discouragements,  became  a  prosperous 
farmer  and  leading  citizen  of  the  community. 

John,  father  of  Jesse  Spalding,  was  active  and 
influential  in  Bradford  County  affairs,  and  at  one 
time  occupied  the  office  of  Sheriff,  winning  uni- 
versal approbation  by  the  intrepid  and  vigorous 
manner  in  which  he  discharged  his  official  (and 
often  perilous)  duties  in  a  new  and  somewhat 
lawless  community.  His  wife,  Elizabeth,  was  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  Amos  Prentiss,  a  distinguished 
physician  of  Groton,  Connecticut,  and  a  represen- 
tative of  a  prominent  Colonial  family. 

Jesse  Spalding  was  born  at  Athens,  Pennsylva- 
nia, April  15,  1833.  While  assisting  his  father 
in  farm  work,  he  found  time  to  acquire  such  edu- 
cation as  the  common  schools  and  the  academy 
of  his  native  town  afforded.  On  attaining  his 
majority  he  engaged  in  lumbering  on  the  north 
branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  became  a  woods- 
man and  raftsman.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three 
he  began  to  deal  in  lumber  on  his  own  account, 
and  was  successful.  His  product  was  rafted  to 
Middletown,  Columbia  and  Port  Deposit,  and 
marketed  in  Washington,  Alexandria,  Norfolk 
and  Richmond,  Virginia,  and  other  points. 

Foreseeing  the  rapid  growth  of  the  young  city 
of  Chicago,  he  removed  hither  in  1857,  an(^ 
soon  after  bought  a  sawmill  at  Menekaunee,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Menominee  River,  in  Wiscon- 
sin, where  he  commenced  the  manufacture  of 
lumber.  This  mill  was  burned  in  1870,  rebuilt 
and  burned  in  1871,  rebuilt  in  1872,  and  is  now 
finely  equipped  with  gang,  band  and  circular 
saws  and  modern  machinery,  being  thoroughljr 
complete  in  all  its  appointments.  For  a  time 
business  was  conducted  by  the  firm  of  Wells  & 


I76 


JESSE  SPALDING. 


Spalding,  the  firm  name  later  becoming  Spalding 
&  Porter,  and  subsequently  Spalding,  Houghtel- 
ing  &  Johnson.  In  1871,  the  concern  was  incor- 
porated as  the  Menominee  River  Lumber  Com- 
pany, and  in  1892  Mr.  Spalding  purchased  the 
interest  of  his  partners,  and  has  since  been  the 
sole  owner.  Shortly  after  he  bought  out  the 
New  York  Lumber  Company  at  Menekaunee,  he 
secured  a  milling  property  at  the  mouth  of  Cedar 
River,  about  thirty  miles  above  the  city  of  Me- 
nominee, and  in  1882  he  organized  the  Spalding 
Lumber  Company,  of  which  he  became  President, 
being  at  the  same  time  its  active  manager.  His 
purchases  of  timber-lands  in  Wisconsin  and  Michi- 
gan to  supply  the  mills  of  these  companies  with 
logs  have  aggregated  two  hundred  and  sixty-five 
thousand  acres.  Besides  its  value  for  timber,  this 
land  has  proven  rich  in  iron  ore,  and  three  mines 
are  now  successfully  operated  on  the  property. 
The  output  of  the  mills  at  Cedar  River  is  shipped 
in  boats  owned  by  the  Spalding  Lumber  Com- 
pany direct  to  Chicago,  whence  it  is  distributed 
from  the  Chicago  yards  to  the  western  and  south- 
western markets  in  Illinois,  Iowa,  Nebraska, 
Kansas  and  Missouri.  Lumber  has  also  been  ship- 
ped recently,  in  large  quantities,  direct  from  the 
mills  at  Menekaunee  to  Detroit,  Buffalo,  Roch- 
ester, Albany  and  Boston.  The  companies  of 
which  Mr.  Spalding  is  the  head  are  among  the 
largest  of  their  kind,  and  annually  produce  from 
sixty  to  seventy-five  millions  of  feet  of  lumber. 

Although  he  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  a  pio- 
neer in  the  lumber  business  of  Chicago,  few  men 
have  been  more  closely  identified  with  its  growth 
than  Mr.  Spalding.  In  fact,  his  name  is  indissol- 
ubly  linked  with  the  political,  social  and  business 
interests  of  the  city  and  the  Northwest. 

Mr.  Spalding  is  amply  fitted  by  nature  and 
training  for  the  manipulation  of  large  interests, 
and  his  success  is  in  no  small  degree  due  to  the 
fact  that  he  does  not  despise  small  things.  All 
the  minutiae  of  his  extensive  interests  are  famil- 
iar to  him,  and  his  practical  experience  enables 
him  to  give  attention  to  the  smallest  details.  His 
investments  in  banking  and  other  financial  con- 
cerns are  made  with  the  same  judicious  care,  and 
are  equally  successful  with  his  other  undertak- 


ings. He  is  a  director  in  many  large  corporations 
of  the  city,  and  his  advice  is  frequently  sought  in 
the  conduct  of  many  important  enterprises.  It  is 
not  strange  that  his  fellow-citizens  should  discover 
in  him  a  capable  man  of  affairs;  and  when  the  city 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1871,  he  was  sought  out 
as  one  who  would  be  useful  in  adjusting  public 
business  to  existing  conditions,  and  in  raising 
Chicago  from  its  ashes  and  reviving  business  ac- 
tivity. He  was  three  years  in  the  City  Council, 
and  while  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee, 
he,  by  judicious  management,  aided  in  the  resto- 
ration of  the  city's  financial  credit,  materially 
furthering  the  establishment  of  good  municipal 
government.  In  1861,  when  the  Nation  was 
threatened  with  destruction,  Mr.  Spalding  was 
among  its  most  active  defenders.  He  was  re- 
quested by  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  State  of 
Illinois  to  build  and  equip  barracks  for  the  Gov- 
ernment soldiers  (afterward  known  as  "Camp 
Douglas"),  besides  which  he  built  barracks  the 
following  year  on  the  North  Side  for  returning 
soldiers.  He  furnished  all  the  material  for  these 
structures,  receiving  in  payment  the  State  Audi- 
tor's warrants,  there  being  no  funds  in  the  Treas- 
ury to  be  applied  to  this  purpose. 

Mr.  Spalding  has  been  an  active  worker  in  the 
interests  of  the  Republican  party  from  its  incep- 
tion, because  he  believed  the  weal  of  the  Nation 
depended  upon  the  success  of  the  principles  main- 
tained by  that  party.  He  was  a  personal  friend 
of  Grant,  Arthur  and  Conkling,  as  well  as  other 
now  prominent  National  leaders,  and  gave  coun- 
sel in  many  grave  exigencies.  He  presided  at 
the  unveiling  of  the  Grant  monument  in  Lincoln 
Park.  In  1881  he  was  appointed  by  President 
Arthur  Collector  of  the  Port  of  Chicago,  and  filled 
that  office  in  a  manner  most  acceptable  to  the 
Government  and  the  people  of  the  city.  With 
him  a  public  office  is  a  trust,  to  be  executed  with 
the  same  faithful  care  which  one  bestows  on  his 
own  private  affairs;  and  when  he  was  appointed 
Director  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  on  behalf 
of  the  Government  by  President  Harrison,  he 
made  a  personal  investigation  of  the  property  in 
his  own  painstaking  way,  submitting  the  report  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  This  report,  which 


S.  P.  McCONNELL. 


177 


gave  a  careful  review  of  the  resources  of  the 
country  traversed  by  the  line,  and  its  future  pros- 
pects, was  ordered  printed  by  Congress,  and  com- 
manded careful  attention  from  financiers  and  those 
concerned  in  the  relations  of  the  Pacific  roads  to 
the  Government.  It  was  also  embraced  in  the 
annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railway  Company. 

Mr.  Spalding  was  associated  with  William  B. 
Ogden  and  others  in  the  project  for  cutting  a 
canal  from  Sturgeon  Bay  to  Green  Bay,  by  which 
the  danger  of  navigating  "Death'sDoor"  (as  the 
entrance  to  Green  Bay  is  known)  could  be  avoid- 
ed, as  well  as  saving  a  distance  of  about  one  hun- 


dred and  fifty  miles  on  each  round  trip  between 
Chicago  and  Green  Bay  ports.  This  was  com- 
pleted in  1882  by  the  Sturgeon  Bay  &  Lake 
Michigan  Ship  Canal  and  Harbor  Company,  of 
which  Mr-.  Ogden  was  the  first  President,  suc- 
ceeded on  his  death  by  Mr.  Spalding.  During 
the  first  year  of  its  operations,  745,128  tons  of 
freight  passed  through  the  canal,  and  in  1892 
the  business  amounted  to  875,533  tons.  In  1891 
4,500  vessels  (trips)  passed  through,  and  the 
next  year  the  number  was  5,312.  Congress  hav- 
ing passed  an  act  to  purchase  the  canal  and  make 
it  free  to  all  navigators,  it  was  turned  over  to  the 
United  States  Government  in  1893. 


HON.  SAMUEL  P.  McCONNELL. 


HON.  SAMUEL  PARSONS  McCONNELL 
was  born  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  July  5, 
1849.  His  parents,  John  and  Elizabeth 
(Parsons)  McConnell,  still  reside  at  Springfield. 
James  McConnell,  grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  came  from  County  Down,  Ireland, 
about  1810,  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
gunpowder  in  New  Jersey.  He  afterward  re- 
moved to  Sangamon  County,  Illinois,  where  he 
became  an  extensive  farmer  and  wool-grower. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  to  cultivate  the  prairie 
soil  of  Illinois,  demonstrating  its  fertility  and 
general  advantages  to  his  neighbors.  He  amassed 
considerable  property,  and  died  in  1867. 

John  McConnell  was  born  in  Madison  County, 
New  York,  but  went  with  his  parents  to  Illinois 
in  his  youth.  When  the  United  States  became 
involved'in  civil  strife,  he  recruited  a  company  of 
soldiers,  and  entered  the  military  service  as  a 
Captain,  rising  by  promotion  to  the  rank  of  Gen- 
eral. Since  the  close  of  the  war  he  has  been  en- 
gaged in  the  insurance  business  in  Springfield. 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  McConnell  was  born  in  Connecti- 


cut, and  is  descended  from  English  emigrants  who 
located  there  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  Her  grandfather,  John  Parsons,  was  a 
Captain  in  the  Continental  army. 

Samuel  P.  McConnell  was  educated  at  the 
Springfield  High  School  and  Lombard  University 
at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  graduating  from  the  latter 
institution  in  1871,  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts.  He  read  law  with  the  firm  of  Stewart, 
Edwards  &  Brown,  of  Springfield,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar  in  1873.  In  December  of  the 
same  year,  he  came  to  Chicago,  where  he  has 
since  been  a  prominent  member  of  the  Bar,  and 
has  occupied  an  honorable  position  upon  the 
Bench. 

In  1889  he  was  elected  a  Judge  of  the  Circuit 
Court  of  Cook  County,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused 
by  the  death  of  Judge  McAllister,  and,  upon  the 
expiration  of  the  term  in  1891,  he  was  re-elected. 
In  1894  he  resigned  this  office,  and  resumed  his 
private  practice.  He  was  led  to  take  this  step  by 
the  inadequacy  of  the  salary  paid  a  Circuit  Judge. 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  almost  any  man 


MINER  RAYMOND. 


fitted  to  grace  and  honor  the  Bench  is  able  to  earn 
several  times  the  salary  of  a  Judge  in  private 
practice. 

Among  the  most  prominent  cases  tried  before 
Judge  McConnell  may  be  mentioned  the  first 
Cronin  trial,  the  case  of  Ross  versus  White,  the 
Chicago  City  Railway  Company  versus  Springer, 
and  the  receivership  of  the  J .  H.  Walker  Com- 
pany, in  which  property  to  the  amount  of  five 
millions  of  dollars  was  involved.  His  impartial 
and  equitable  decisions  earned  him  the  respect  of 
attorneys,  jurors  and  litigants,  and  his  departure 
from  the  Bench  was  widely  regretted. 

In  1876  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Rogers, 
daughter  of  Judge  John  G.  Rogers,  of  whom  ex- 
tended mention  is  made  on  other  pages  of  this 
volume.  Judge  and  Mrs.  McConnell  are  the  par- 
ents of  three  children,  named,  respectively,  Julia, 
James  and  Eleanor. 

From  youth  Judge  McConnell  has  been  a  Dem- 
ocrat, departing  from  the  precepts  and  example 
of  his  father.  He  has  never  been  a  candidate  for 


any  other  office  than  that  of  Judge,  though  re- 
peatedly importuned  by  party  managers  to  be- 
come a  political  leader.  Among  the  social  and 
fraternal  associations  into  which  he  has  naturally 
been  drawn,  may  be  mentioned  the  Iroquois,  Lit- 
erary and  Waubansee  Clubs.  While  President  of 
the  first-named  organization,  he  took  a  decided 
position  on  the  silver  question,  which  was  antag- 
onistic to  that  of  many  members,  and  he  felt  it 
incumbent  upon  him  to  resign,  but  this  act 
aroused  such  a  strong  protest  in  the  club,  that  he 
was  induced  to  withdraw  his  resignation. 

He  presided  over  the  city  convention  which  se- 
lected delegates  to  the  State  Democratic  Confer- 
ence, held  at  Springfield  in  June,  1895,  to  deter- 
mine the  attitude  of  the  party  on  the  silver  issue. 
He  was  made  Permanent  Chairman  of  this  con- 
ference, which  wholly  sustained  his  views  upon 
the  question  at  issue.  In  this,  as  in  all  other 
matters  affecting  public  policy,  he  has  been  actu- 
ated by  a  desire  to  promote  the  general  welfare, 
and  without  wish  to  occupy  office. 


REV.  MINER  RAYMOND,  D.  D.,  LL.D. 


REV.  MINER  RAYMOND,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
the  oldest  college  professor  in  the  Methodist 
denomination,  both  in  respect  to  age  and 
length  of  service,  and  one  of  the  oldest  teachers 
of  theology  now  living,  is  a  resident  of  Evanston, 
and  until  a  short  time  since  was  active  in  edu- 
cational work,  in  which  he  had  been  engaged  for 
more  than  sixty  years.  He  is  a  native  of  New 
York  City,  and  was  born  on  the  zgth  of  August, 
1811.  His  father  was  Nobles  Raymond,  and  the 
genealogist  of  this  family  has  traced  its  descent 
from  Raimonde,  Count  of  Toulouse,  France,  and 
demonstrated  that,  on  account  of  its  espousal 
of  the  Huguenot  faith,  its  members  were  expa- 
triated, and  some  fled  to  Essex,  England,  whence 


the  emigration  to  America  occurred.  The  Ray- 
monds became  settlers  in  New  England,  and  now 
a  host  of  this  name,  many  of  them  prominent  in 
commercial  and  educational  affairs,  trace  their 
descent  to  the  two  or  three  who  came  to  the 
colonies  in  very  early  times. 

Nobles  Raymond  married  Hannah  Wood,  and 
they  became  the  parents  of  nine  children,  of 
whom  Miner  was  the  eldest.  Soon  after  his  birth 
his  father  removed  with  his  family  to  the  village 
of  Rensselaerville,  New  York,  and  there  the  boy, 
when  of  school  age,  began  to  receive  the  rudi- 
ments of  his  education,  remaining  in  school  un- 
til twelve  years  of  age.  At  that  time  his  services 
were  required  in  his  father's  shop,  and  he  spent 


MINER  RAYMOND. 


179 


the  following  six  years  in  learning  the  art  of 
making  shoes,  in  which  he  became  so  proficient 
that  his  handiwork  was  second  to  that  of  no  other 
workman  in  style  or  finish.  The  same  rule  of 
doing  well  whatever  he  did  was  as  rigidly  ad- 
hered to  when  he  was  a  mechanic  as  it  has  been 
since  he  has  held  a  position  in  the  forefront  of 
educators. 

The  event  in  his  youth  most  far-reaching  in  its 
results  on  character  and  fortune  was  his  conver- 
sion and  union,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years, 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which 
he  was  to  be  so  conspicuous  and  honored.  His 
father  and  mother  were  faithful  adherents  of  that 
creed.  For  more  than  twenty  years  they  were 
the  only  permanent  residents  of  Rensselaerville 
who  were  connected  with  that  church,  and  their 
house  was  ever  a  home  for  Methodist  ministers. 
The  account  of  the  great  revival  at  Wilbraham, 
Massachusetts,  kindled  in  Miner  Raymond  a  de- 
sire for  knowledge;  it  was  the  turning-point  in  a 
great  life,  starting  him  on  a  new  course  and 
bringing  him  into  intimate  and  helpful  relations 
with  an  educational  institution.  Through  the 
efforts  of  the  Presiding  Elder  of  the  district  in 
which  he  resided,  he  began  his  advanced  educa- 
tion in  the  Wesleyan  Academy  at  Wilbraham, 
then  the  only  Methodist  institution  of  learning  of 
any  magnitude  on  this  continent,  of  which  only 
three  or  four  were  then  in  existence.  Like  many 
another  student,  he  added  to  his  limited  means 
by  the  labor  of  his  hands;  and  the  proceeds  of 
his  work  on  the  bench,  mending  the  boots  and 
shoes  of  his  fellow-students,  helped  to  meet  the 
expenses  incident  to  his  education.  But  this  did 
not  continue  long.  It  was  soon  discovered  that 
he  was  endowed  with  the  gift  of  teaching,  and  he 
was  made  assistant  teacher,  a  position  which  he 
held  for  three  years,  while  still  a  student  in  the 
academy.  His  especial  faculty  for  elucidating 
the  principles  of  arithmetic,  which  were  then 
very  imperfectly  treated  in  the  textbooks,  led  to 
his  selection  as  teacher  of  a  class  of  teachers,  and 
this  was  the  starting  point  of  his  long  career  as 
an  educator. 

Graduating  in  1831,  he  was  immediately  made 
a  member  of  the  faculty,  and  taught  in  that  in- 


stitution with  marked  success  for  ten  years.  In 
1833  his  name  appears  in  the  catalogue  as  usher, 
and  it  was  then  he  began  his  remarkable  peda- 
gogic labors.  In  1834  he  was  advanced  to  the 
charge  of  the  English  department,  where  he 
labored  with  great  success  and  growing  popu- 
larity for  four  years.  During  this  period  he  had 
been  a  diligent  student  and  had  delved  deep  into 
the  mysteries  of  ancient  languages,  the  natural, 
mental  and  moral  sciences,  and  the  higher  mathe- 
matics, for  which  he  discovered  a  taste  and  apti- 
tude. When  the  degrees  were  conferred  by  the 
Wesleyan  University  upon  the  students  he  had 
taught  at  the  academy,  he  received,  in  recogni- 
tion of  his  high  ability  and  efficient  services, 
the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  In  1838 
he  was  promoted  to  the  chair  of  mathematics, 
which  he  filled  with  distinction  for  the  three 
years  he  remained  as  a  teacher  in  the  institution. 

While  yet  engaged  in  teaching,  Professor  Ray- 
mond joined  the  New  England  Conference,  in 
1838,  and  three  years  later  entered  upon  pastoral 
work.  He  served  two  years  at  Worcester,  Massa- 
chusetts, four  years  at  Church  and  Bennett  Street 
Churches,  Boston,  and  in  1847  went  to  Westfield, 
where  he  remained  one  year. 

Upon  the  resignation  of  Robert  Allyn  as  Prin- 
cipal of  the  Wesleyan  Academy,  Professor  Ray- 
mond was  requested  by  the  trustees  to  take  the 
position  at  the  head  of  that  institution.  The 
pastorate  was  the  ideal  life  work  to  which  he  was 
attached  and  for  which  he  had  educated  himself, 
but,  after  mature  consideration,  he  decided  to  put 
aside  preference,  and  accept  what  he  considered 
a  call  of  duty,  and  entered  upon  the  work  with  a 
devotion  and  energy  that  left  a  very  deep  impres- 
sion upon  the  school  at  the  head  of  which  he 
stood. 

The  first  two  or  three  years  of  Dr.  Raymond 
at  Wilbraham  were  tentative  and  preparatory. 
New  buildings  were  necessary  to  the  success  of 
the  school,  and  how  to  get  them  was  a  problem, 
the  solution  of  which  demanded  his  full  strength; 
but  he  met  the  difficulties  and  conquered  where 
most  men  would  have  failed.  In  spite  of  debt 
and  other  obstacles,  he  succeeded  in  erecting 
Fisk  Hall,  in  1851.  In  the  two  years  following 


i8o 


MINER  RAYMOND. 


the  number  of  pupils  greatly  increased,  and  in 
the  year  1853  rose  to  over  six  hundred,  nearly 
double  the  attendance  of  previous  years.  Through 
the  efforts  of  Dr.  Raymond,  Binney  Hall  was 
built,  in  1854.  The  principal  building  of  the 
institution,  including  its  dormitory  and  board- 
ing apartments,  was  destroyed  by  fire  two 
years  later.  Nothing  daunted  by  this  calamity, 
he  set  about  obtaining  the  means  to  rebuild  it  in 
still  nobler  proportions,  and  that  same  year  suc- 
ceeded in  completing  a  structure  costing  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  By  the  act  of  an  incendiary, 
in  1857,  this  structure  was  also  destroyed,  but 
Dr.  Raymond  and  a  few  brave  aids  rose  superior 
to  the  discouragements  that  had  beset  them,  ob- 
tained money  by  popular  subscription,  aroused 
the  friends  of  education  throughout  the  state,  and, 
by  petition  and  strong  personal  influence,  secured 
legislative  aid,  by  which  means  a  third  building, 
more  commodious,  more  beautiful  and  more  cost- 
ly than  its  predecessors,  rose  upon  the  site  of 
their  ruins,  and  to-day  is  the  chief  ornament  of 
this  seat  of  learning,  a  monument  to  the  faith 
and  indomitable  courage  of  Dr.  Raymond. 

In  1864  he  was  elected  to  the  chair  of  system- 
atic theology  in  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  Evans- 
ton,  Illinois,  and  resigned  his  position  at  the 
head  of  the  academy,  which  he  left  enjoying  a 
high  degree  of  prosperity.  Coming  to  Evanston, 
he  entered  upon  a  work  which  his  long  experience 
as  a  teacher,  ripe  scholarship,  and"  devotion  to  his 
profession  have  made  eminently  successful  and 
gratifying  in  its  results.  For  thirty-one  years 
he  filled  a  position  in  which  he  was  eminently 
useful  as  a  teacher,  and  during  three  years  of 
that  time  was  also  pastor  of  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  Evanston.  Soon  after  en- 
tering the  institute,  he  became  convinced  that  he 
was  spending  one-third  of  his  time  in  telling  the 
students  what  the  meaning  of  the  theological 
authors  was.  Then  came  the  determination  to 
write  out  his  lectures  and  make  the  expression 
as  plain  as  possible,  so  that  theology  might  be 
clearly  taught  and  readily  understood.  In  due 
time  appeared  his  "Systematic  Theology,"  in 
three  volumes,  intended  for  students  preparing 
for  the  Methodist  ministry,  which  has  proved  to 


be  a  very  popular  book.  One  distinguished 
authority  is  quoted  as  saying:  "It  is  the  strong- 
est defense  of  Arminianism  we  have  seen."  Be- 
sides his  pastoral  work,  Dr.  Raymond  has  helped 
to  direct  the  work  of  the  church  in  its  national 
councils.  Six  times  he  was  elected  as  a  delegate 
to  the  General  Conferences,  as  follows:  Pitts- 
burgh, in  1848;  Boston,  in  1852;  Indianapolis,  in 
1856;  Buffalo,  in  1860;  Philadelphia,  in  1864; 
and  Brooklyn,  in  1868. 

Dr.  Raymond  was  married,  August  20,  1837, 
to  Elizabeth  Henderson,  of  Webster,  Massachu- 
setts, who  died  September  19,  1877.  Five  chil- 
dren were  born  of  this  union,  all  of  whom  are 
now  living.  Mary  is  the  widow  of  Philip  B. 
Shumway,  the  builder  of  the  Elgin,  Joliet  & 
Eastern  Railroad,  and  now  resides  in  Evanston. 
William  is  in  the  employ  of  that  railroad.  Samuel 
B.  is  a  prominent  citizen  and  prosperous  sugar 
broker  in  Chicago.  James  H.  is  a  well-known 
and  successful  patent  lawyer  in  Chicago.  Freder- 
ick D.  is  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Elgin, 
Joliet  &  Eastern  Railway  Company. 

On  July  28,  1879,  Dr.  Raymond  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Isabella  (nee  Hill),  widow  of  Rev. 
Amos  Binney.  Dr.  Raymond's  domestic  life  has 
been  a  pleasant  one;  his  house  has  been  the  dwell- 
ing-place of  peace  and  happiness.  His  exemp- 
tion from  illness  up  to  the  past  winter,  and  the 
contentment  of  his  mind,  have  conspired  to  pre- 
serve his  physical  vigor,  which  is  evidenced  by 
the  full  head  of  hair,  now  of  flowing  whiteness, 
and  the  clear,  bright  eye  which  lends  vivacity  to 
his  countenance. 

Rev.  David  Sherman,  D.  D.,  author  of  the 
' '  History  of  the  Wejleyan  Academy  at  Wilbra- 
ham,"  has  thus  written  of  Dr.  Raymond: 

' '  His  first  essays  in  teaching  reveal  the  born 
schoolmaster,  destined  to  advance  to  the  fore- 
front. No  one  who  attended  his  classes  can  ever 
forget  his  clear  and  forcible  instructions.  The 
principles  involved  in  the  study  were  seized  upon 
and  traced  onward  through  intricate  problems  as 
in  lines  of  light.  No  one  could  fail  to  see  or  to 
be  carried  with  the  demonstration.  But  his 
superiority  as  a  teacher  was  not  simply  in  the  ex- 
tent and  accuracy  of  his  knowledge,  or  even  in 


JAMES  McMAHON. 


181 


his  ability  to  make  truth  visible;  it  was  rather  in 
that  higher  ability  to  develop  the  student  and  to 
create  in  him  the  capacity  to  investigate  and 
master  truth.  It  was  not  simply  the  amount  of 
knowledge  he  communicated,  it  was  the  way  he 
impressed  himself  upon  other  minds  coming  un- 
der his  instruction.  The  man,  even  more  than 
the  pedagogue,  was  behind  his  utterances." 

The  same  writer,  in  speaking  of  him  as  a 
preacher,  says: 

' '  With  him  religion  was  the  main  considera- 
tion, and  his  convictions  on  the  subject  were 
deep  and  strongly  expressed.  He  spoke  with 
the  demonstration  of  the  spirit  and  power.  If 
his  prayers  and  exhortations  were  thoughtful  and 
intellectual,, they  were,  at  the  same  time,  intense 


and  fervid,  enlisting  the  emotions  of  the  heart  as 
well  as  the  accurate  formulations  of  the  brain. 
*  *  *  *  Though  gifted  with  large  capacity 
for  astute  and  accurate  thought,  he  was  gladly 
heard  by  the  people,  because  his  logic  usually 
came  to  a  white  heat.  To  the  religious  people  of 
Wilbraham  he  was  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  the 
oracle.  No  other  principal,  certainly  after  Dr. 
Fisk,  obtained  so  firm  and  enduring  a  hold  upon 
the  people  as  Miner  Raymond." 

What  was  said  in  those  days  may  be  repeated 
with  emphasis  concerning  his  labors  in  later 
years,  when  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  full  intel- 
lectual strength  and  the  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence gained  in  more  than  half  a  century  of  con- 
tinuous mental  activity. 


JAMES  McMAHON. 


(TAMES  McMAHON.  Few  people  in  Evan- 
I  ston  are  as  well  known,  or  regarded  with  as 
(*/  much  sincere  respect  and  admiration,  as  the 
subject  of  this  notice  and  his  excellent  wife. 
During  their  residence  of  over  thirty  years  in 
Cook  County,  they  have  been  almost  constantly 
identified  with  charitable  and  philanthropic  en- 
terprises, and  have  won  the  friendship  of  both 
rich  and  poor  to  an  unusual  degree. 

Mr.  McMahon  was  born  at  Belfast,  Ireland, 
June  4,  1813.  He  is  a  son  of  Alexander  Mc- 
Mahon and  Mar>7  Ann  Douglass,  both  of  whom 
were  of  the  stanch  Scotch- Irish  blood  which  has 
ever  been  active  in  promoting  the  best  interests 
of  mankind.  Alexander  McMahoii  was  the  de- 
scendant of  a  family  which  had  been  for  many 
generations  engaged  in  the  linen  trade.  Two  of 
his  brothers  were  extensive  merchants  at  Belfast, 
Ireland,  and  amassed  a  fortune  there.  Alexander 
turned  his  attention  to  agriculture,  and  in  1819 
came  to  America.  After  living  for  a  time  near 


Watertown,  New  York,  he  removed  to  a  farm  near 
Kingston,  Canada,  upon  which  he  resided  for  fifty 
years,  departing  this  life  in  1883,  at  the  age  of 
ninety-three  years.  He  was  the  father  of  fourteen 
children,  of  whom  James  was  the  eldest.  He  was 
an  honorable  and  thrifty  business  man,  and  accu- 
mulated a  competence,  in  the  enjoyment  of  which 
his  later  years  were  spent.  He  and  his  wife  were 
devout  Presbyterians.  The  latter  died  at  King- 
ston, several  years  later  than  her  husband. 

James  McMahon  enjoyed  excellent  educational 
advantages,  pursuing  courses  of  study  success- 
ively at  Andover  Academy;  Cheshire  Academy,  at 
Cheshire,  Connecticut;  and  Washington  (now 
Trinity)  College,  at  Hartford,  Connecticut.  His 
parents  designed  to  fit  him  for  the  Presbyterian 
ministry.,  but,  while  a  student  at  Washington 
College,  he  became  converted  to  the  Episcopal 
faith,  and  abandoned  his  theological  studies,  to 
their  great  disappointment.  While  a  young  man, 
he  spent  considerable  time  in  travel,  visiting  Eu- 


182 


JAMES  McMAHON. 


rope  three  times,  and  becoming  quite  familiar 
with  the  ways  of  the  world  and  its  business 
methods.  In  1849,  in  company  with  a  party  of 
young  men  of  his  acquaintance,  he  went  to  Cali- 
fornia, by  way  of  the  Isthmus.  He  remained 
three  years  in  that  state,  during  which  time  he 
mined  successively  at  Hangtown,  American  Val- 
ley and  Big  Bar,  and  also  recovered  his  health, 
which  had  become  considerably  impaired  before 
his  departure  from  the  East.  At  the  last-named 
mines  he  gained  a  rich  reward  for  his  labors,  and 
thence  returned  to  the  East,  again  making  the 
voyage  by  way  of  the  Isthmus,  a  regular  line  of 
steamers  having  been  established  since  he  first 
made  the  journey. 

He  landed  at  New  Orleans,  thence  went  to  Dal- 
las County,  Alabama,  where  he  purchased  an  ex- 
tensive cotton  plantation  with  a  retinue  of  slaves, 
and  had  just  established  a  profitable  business 
when  the  Civil  War  broke  out.  On  account  of  his 
political  views,  he  found  it  impracticable  to  re- 
main there,  and  in  1860  he  was  obliged  to 
abandon  his  property  and  remove  to  the  North. 
He  located  in  Chicago,  where  he  became  asso- 
ciated with  the  insurance  agency  of  Thomas  B. 
Bryan,  and  continued  to  carry  on  that  line  of 
business  for  a  number  of  years,  representing  the 
Mutual  Life,  the  Mutual  Benefit  and  the  Equit- 
able Life  Insurance  Companies.  His  business 
ventures  were  fairly  successful,  and  he  had  accu- 
mulated -considerable  property  when  the  great  fire 
of  1871  visited  the  city.  Most  of  what  he  saved 
from  that  disaster  was  swept  away  by  the  panic 
of  1873.  At  the  latter  date  he  moved  to  Evans- 
ton,  and  for  a  few  years  conducted  a  restaurant 
in  Davis  Street.  Since  1882  he  has  filled  the  of- 
fice of  Township  Supervisor,  being  re-elected 
each  season  without  opposition.  In  addition  to 
his  official  duties,  he  acts  as  a  purchasing  agent 
for  Evanston  merchants,  making  regular  trips  to 
Chicago  in  their  interests. 

He  is  a  thirty-second-degree  Mason,  and  is 
held  in  the  highest  regard  by  his  brethren  of  that 
order,  from  whom  he  has  received  many  testimo- 
nials. He  first  joined  Oriental  Lodge,  and  is 
now  identified  with  Evans  Lodge,  Evanston 
Chapter,  Evanston  Commandery  and  Oriental 


Consistory,  his  duties  as  Tyler  of  these  several 
bodies  taking  up  considerable  of  his  time. 

Mr.  McMahon  was  married,  in  1865,  to  Martha 
Cornelia  Converse,  daughter  of  Samuel  Augustus 
and  Anna  (Easton)  Converse,  of  Stafford,  Con- 
necticut. Mr.  Converse,  who  was  a  descendant 
of  the  French  Huguenots  who  located  in  America 
during  the  Colonial  period,  died  in  Connecticut, 
at  the  extreme  old  age  of  ninety-three  years.  He 
was  an  influential  citizen  of  Stafford,  and  a  pen- 
sioner of  the  War  of  1812.  Mrs.  McMahon  came 
to  Chicago  in  1860,  and  was  associated  with  Mrs. 
Mary  A.  Livermore  in  conducting  the  great  San- 
itary Fair.  Mr.  McMahon  was  also  one  of  the 
promoters  of  this  undertaking,  and  sold  thousands 
of  tickets  in  its  support.  Though  not  blessed 
with  children  of  their  own,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mc- 
Mahon have  adopted  and  partially  reared  several 
children,  one  daughter,  Harriet  Wilmina,  having 
been  a  member  of  the  family  from  infancy.  She 
was  first  married  to  Professor  W.  W.  Graves,  an 
instructor  in  the  Northwestern  University,  and 
since  his  death  has  become  the  wife  of  Edwin 
O'Malley,  of  Chicago.  Jennie,  another  adopted 
daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McMahon,  is  now  Mrs. 
Cameron,  of  Winnipeg,  Manitoba. 

When  he  first  located  in  Chicago  Mr.  McMahon 
resided  on  the  South  Side,  near  the  home  of 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  became  his  intimate 
friend.  He  helped  to  organize  St.  Mark's  Church, 
on  Cottage  Grove  Avenue,  and  was  for  some 
years  one  of  its  most  active  and  influential  mem- 
bers. He  served  four  years  as  Superintendent  of 
Trinity  Mission,  and  he  and  his  wife  have  been 
communicants  of  St.  Mark's  Church  of  Evanston 
since  removing  to  that  city.  Previous  to  the 
Great  Rebellion,  he  was  a  Democrat,  but  since 
coming  to  Chicago  has  been  a  consistent  Repub- 
lican. He  is  a  life  member  of  the  Masonic  Vet- 
erans' Association  of  Chicago,  and  during  the 
war  acted  as  agent  for  the  numerous  Masonic 
charities  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  securing  relief 
and  transportation  for  many  indigent  members  of 
the  order  belonging  to  the  Union  army.  The 
retrospection  of  his  long  and  useful  life  may  well 
afford  comfort  and  satisfaction  in  his  declining 
years. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


JONATHAN  CLARK 


JONATHAN  CLARK. 


JONATHAN  CLARK. 


(JONATHAN  CLARK,  prominent  among  Chi- 
I  cago  contractors  and  builders,  was  born  at 
O  West  Walton,  in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  Eng- 
land, May  28,  1828.  His  parents  were  William 
and  Christina  Clark,  and  his  father  died  when 
Jonathan,  the  eldest  of  four  children,  was  only 
seven  years  old.  At  the  age  of  eight  he  was  put 
to  work  herding  sheep  on  the  Norfolk  commons 
and  keeping  the  birds  off  the  fields  of  grain,  for 
which  he  received  two  shillings  (fifty  cents)  per 
week.  He  went  out  to  service  on  a  farm  at  twelve 
years  of  age.  His  earnings  during  the  last  year 
of  service  he  saved  to  pay  his  way  to  America. 
Previous  to  that  time  he  had  contributed  his 
wages  to  the  support  of  his  widowed  mother  and 
his  younger  brothers. 

On  the  2ist  of  September,  1848,  Mr.  Clark 
sailed  from  England,  and  arrived  in  Chicago  on 
the  2jth  of  November,  via  New  York,  being  nearly 
ten  weeks  on  the  journey.  He  came  by  way  of 
the  Lakes  directly  to  Chicago,  penniless  and 
friendless,  but  resolute  and  ready  for  whatever 
came.  His  first  employment  was  hauling  wood 
into  Chicago.  The  winter  was  very  severe,  and 
he  froze  his  feet,  and,  through  the  dishonesty  of 
his  employer,  he  lost  his  wages.  In  the  spring 
of  1849  he  worked  six  weeks  for  Jefferson  Mun- 
son,  of  Downer's  Grove,  and  then  returned  to 
Chicago  and  became  an  apprentice  to  P.  L.  Up- 
dyke  and  John  Sollitt,  with  whom  he  spent  three 
years,  learning  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner, 
and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  receiving'the 
sum  of  $200  for  his  services.  He  spent  six  months 
as  a  journeyman,  and  then  began  contracting  on 
his  own  account,  and  was  successful,  accumulat- 


ing money  from  the  start.  By  saving  his  earn- 
ings, he  was  able  to  pay  his  brother's  passage  to 
America  in  1849,  an<i  in  l&5°  the  two  brought 
over  the  remainder  of  the  family. 

In  1860,  in  company  with  his  brother,  Mr. 
Clark  went  overland  to  Denver,  where  they 
fitted  up  the  first  express  building  and  the  post- 
office.  After  spending  the  summer  there,  they 
returned  in  the  fall  by  team,  as  they  had  gone. 
On  the  Platte  River  Mr.  Clark's  horse  was  stolen, 
and  while  trying  to  recover  it,  he  traveled  on 
foot  in  the  night,  and  was  surrounded  by  wolves, 
barely  escaping  with  his  life.  The  thief  was 
captured,  and  Mr.  Clark's  companions  wanted  to 
try  him,  but  as  that  meant  conviction  and  hang- 
ing, he  refused  to  allow  it,  and  the  offender  was 
permitted  to  accompany  the  outfit  to  Omaha,  and 
to  go  unpunished.  In  1867  Mr.  Clark  was  ap- 
pointed by  Gov.  Oglesby  to  superintend  the  con- 
struction of  Illinois  buildings  at  the  Paris  Expo- 
sition. There  the  United  States  Government, 
recognizing  his  worth,  secured  his  services  in  the 
Department  of  Works,  and  appointed  him  assist- 
ant to  the  Superintendent  of  the  American  por- 
tion of  the  exposition.  Before  returning  to  the 
United  States,  he  visited  his  old  home  and  por- 
tions of  Switzerland  and  Germany. 

During  the  years  he  was  engaged  in  contract- 
ing, Mr.  Clark  did  an  immense  business,  and 
erected  many  residences,  stores  and  business 
houses.  Among  them  were  the  Bowen  Block, 
McCormick  Hall  Block,  Kingsburg  Music  Hall, 
Kingsburg  Block,  the  Chicago  Water  Works, 
Bigelow  Hotel,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation building  and  Academy  of  Design,  the 


184 


GEORGE  G.  CUSTER. 


Brother  Jonathan  building  and  the  First  National 
Bank  building.  The  reconstruction  of  the  Chi- 
cago Water  Works  was  the  first  job  he  did  after 
the  fire,  and  the  embers  were  still  hot  when  he 
began  work  on  it.  The  Bigelow  Hotel  occupied 
the  site  of  the  present  postoffice,  and  disappeared 
in  the  great  fire.  Mr.  Clark  was  both  builder 
and  owner  of  the  Academy  of  Design,  which  was 
the  first  building  ever  erected  in  Chicago  for  a 
fine-arts  exhibit. 

In  1852  Mr.  Clark  married  Miss  Alice  Sarde- 
son,  a  native  of  Lincolnshire,  England,  but  then  a 
resident  of  Chicago.  Of  the  marriage,  five  chil- 
dren were  born  and  all  are  now  living  in  Chicago. 
They  are:  Euna,  the  wife  of  Shea  Smith,  of  Shea 
Smith  &  Co.;  F.  W.;  George  T.;  Retta  M.,  now 
the  wife  of  Dr.  Kauffman,  of  Chicago;  and  J.  Y. 
The  sous  F.  W.  and  G.  T.  are  members  of  the  firm 
of  Jonathan  Clark  &  Sons  Co.,  contractors,  who 
have  erected  many  buildings,  notable  among 
which  are  the  Art  Institute  and  the  Government 
buildings  at  Ft.  Sheridan.  •  The  senior  member  of 


this  firm  is  not  now  actively  connected  with  the 
company,  but  is  employed  in  erecting  and  manag- 
ing buildings,  of  which  he  has  about  a  score,  built 
on  ground  held  on  ninety-nine-year  leases. 

Mr.  Clark  is  a  Republican,  a  member  of  the 
Union  League  and  Sunset  Clubs,  and  a  Thirty- 
second  Degree  Mason,  in  which  order  he  has  held 
many  high  offices.  He  attends,  but  is  not  a  mem- 
ber of,  Dr.  Thomas'  Church.  In  his  later  years 
he  has  traveled  largely  through  the  United  States, 
including  the  Pacific  Coast  and  Florida.  He  has 
a  fruit  farm  and  an  elegant  residence  at  Fn..tland 
Park,  in  the  latter  State. 

Jonathan  Clark  is  numbered  among  the  men 
who  have  made  Chicago,  and  given  it  the  char- 
acter which  it  bears.  Through  trials,  by  perse- 
verance and  an  honest  course,  he  has  risen  to 
prominent  place  in  the  city  which  he  has  made 
his  residence  for  almost  half  a  century,  and  where 
he  is  an  honored  citizen,  who  bears  his  years 
with  dignity,  and  grows  old  gracefully  in  the 
midst  of  a  large  circle  of  devoted  friends. 


GEORGE  GRANGER  CUSTER. 


f2fEORGE  GRANGER  CUSTER,  who  is  now 

b  serving  as  Auditor  of  the  City  Board  of  Ed- 
ucation, was  born  on  the  6th  of  December, 
1838,  in  Sanford,  Edgar  County,  Illinois.  His 
father's  ancestors  bore  the  name  of  Granger,  and 
came  from  England  to  America,  locating  in  Con- 
necticut. His  father  was  a  physician,  and  in 
Newark,  Ohio,  married  Nancy  Link.  His  death 
occurred  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-eight  years, 
and  soon  after  our  subject,  then  a  child  of  six 
months,  was  taken  for  adoption  by  Isaac  D.  Cus- 
ter,  of  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  whose  name  he 
then  assumed.  He  found  in  his  foster-father  a 
kind-hearted  and  liberal  man,  who  could  not  have 


treated  an  own  son  with  more  kindness  and  con- 
sideration. The  maternal  ancestors  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  were  of  French  origin,  and  on 
emigrating  to  the  New  World  settled  in  Freder- 
icksburg,  Virginia,  about  the  middle  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  From  there  the  maternal  grand- 
father with  his  family  removed  about  the  year 
1825  to  Newark,  Ohio. 

When  George  was  a  child  of  six  years,  the 
Custer  family  removed  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
and  for  five  years  he  attended  Wyman's  private 
school.  Soon  after  he  accompanied  his  father  on 
a  trip  to  California,  where  they  remained  for  one 
year.  Mr.  Custer  went  to  the  West  to  see  the 


GEORGE  G.  CUSTER. 


185 


country,  and  took  his  adopted  son  on  account  of 
his  poor  health.  The  result  of  the  trip  proved  the 
wisdom  of  the  father,  as  the  son  became  a  strong, 
hearty  boy,  and  now  enjoys  a  vigorous  manhood. 
He  made  the  journey  across  the  plains  on  horse- 
back, leaving  St.  Louis  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1850,  on  the  steamboat  "Princeton,"  and.,  arriv- 
ing at  old  Ft.  Kearney,  Nebraska,  fifteen  days 
later.  There  they  remained  until  the  early  part 
of  May,  when,  the  grass  having  grown  sufficiently 
to  furnish  feed  for  horses  and  mules,  they  re- 
sumed their  journey.  They  were  eighty-six  days 
in  making  the  trip  from  the  Missouri  River  to 
Hangtown,  now  Placerville,  California.  Their 
next  resting-place  was  Sacramento,  from  whence 
they  went  to  San  Francisco.  They  suffered  the 
usual  hardships  and  privations  incident  to  the 
trip  across  the  plains  in  days  of  the  gold  excite- 
ment, being  sometimes  for  days  with  very  small 
rations  of  food,  and  only  water  sufficient  to  moisten 
the  lips;  but,  notwithstanding,  no  illness  fell  to  the 
lot  of  father  or  son  during  the  trip  to  and  from 
California.  Mr.  Custer  had  no  mining  experi- 
ences, for  he  was  then  too  young  to  dig  for  gold. 
After  a  sojourn  of  a  few  months  in  California,  he 
returned  home,  by  way  of  the  Isthmus,  stopping 
on  the  way  at  the  island  of  Jamaica  and  in  New 
York  City,  from  whence  he  came  West,  by  way 
of  the  Hudson  River  to  Albany,  thence  to  Buffalo 
by  rail,  by  lake  to»Chicago,  by  canal  to  La  Salle, 
and  on  the  steamer  "Robert  Fulton"  to  St.  Louis. 
Mr.  Custer  then  attended  Jones'  College  until 
eighteen  years  of  age,  and  resided  in  St.  Louis 
until  1854,  when  the  family  removed  to  a  farm 
near  Davenport,  Iowa.  In  the  fall  of  1855,  he 
returned  to  St.  Louis  and  accepted  a  position  as 
assistant  book-keeper  in  the  retail  grocery  house 
of  Ellis  &  Hutton,  at  that  time  the  largest  estab- 
lishment of  the  kind  in  the  city.  In  the  summer 
following  he  returned  to  Davenport  and  entered 
the  employ  of  Thomas  H.  McGee,  wholesale 
grocer,  as  chief  clerk  and  book-keeper,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1857  took  charge  of  the  office  of  the 
Burtis  House,  then  the  best-equipped  hotel  west 
of  Chicago.  After  a  few  months  he  was  taken 
sick  and  returned  to  the  farm,  where  he  remained 
until  coming  to  Chicago,  in  April,  1862. 


In  the  mean  time  Mr.  Custer  was  married.  On 
the  4th  of  October,  1860,  he  wec'ded  Miss  Sarah 
Ann  Kelly,  of  Davenport.  The  lady  was  born  in 
Mt.  Carmel,  near  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  September  7, 
1842.  Her  father,  Daniel  C.  Kelly,  a  native  of 
Cincinnati,  is  now  living  in  Davenport,  Iowa, 
where  the  foster-father  of  this  subject  also  resides. 
They  are  aged  respectively  eighty  and  eighty- 
three  years,  and  still  active  and  in  good  health. 
Four  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  Custer  and 
his  wife:  Tillie,  who  is  now  the  wife  of  Robert  J. 
Clark,  and  has  one  child;  Hattie  Winchell,  wife 
of  William  G.  R.  Bell;  Sadie  Belle;  and  George  G. 

On  leaving  the  farm  in  Iowa,  Mr.  Cutter  came  to 
Chicago  and  accepted  a  position  as  assistant  com- 
mercial reporter  on  the  Morning  Post,  edited  by  J. 
W.  Sheahan,  with  which  he  was  connected  for  a 
year.  He  then  entered  the  employ  of  Hobbs,  Oli- 
phant  &  Co. ,  commission  merchants,  and  at  the  end 
of  three  years  started  in  business  for  himself  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Olcott,  Lash  &  Co. ,  in  the 
same  line  of  business.  This  venture  proved  un- 
successful, on  account  of  the  credit  given  country 
customers.  Mr.  Custer  then  engaged  in  the 
brokerage  business,  but  during  the  great  fire  again 
met  with  losses,  after  which  he  spent  three  years 
with  Hall  &  Winch,  sash  and  door  manufacturers. 
He  then  returned  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  was 
quite  successful  in  business  for  several  years,  but 
at  length  lost  his  fortune  in  a  "big  corner." 

At  that  time  Mr.  Custer  left  the  city,  removing 
to  Nevada,  Illinois,  where  he  took  charge  of  an 
elevator  owned  by  A.  M.  Wright  &  Co.  On  his 
return  in  1880,  he  accepted  a  position  with 
James  H.  Drake  &  Co.,  commission  merchants, 
with  whom  he  remained  for  a  year  and  a-half, 
when  failing  health  forced  him  to  abandon  that 
work.  Farm  life  had  previously  proved  benefi- 
cial, and  he  again  resorted  to  that  cure,  carrying 
on  agricultural  pursuits  until  his  health  was  re- 
stored. Once  more  he  entered  the  employ  of 
Hall  &  "Winch,  with  whom  he  continued  until 
the  death  of  the  junior  partner,  when  the  business 
was  closed  out.  He  \vr.s  then  with  the  firm  of 
Garvey  &  Jenkinson  until  they  retired  from  busi- 
ness. 

In  May,  1886,  Mr.  Custer  became   Auditor  of 


i86 


WILLIAM  WEST. 


the  Board  of  Education,  and  has  been  unani- 
mously re-elected  since  that  time.  He  was  the 
candidate  for  the  office  of  Assessor  of  West  Chi- 
cago, on  the  Democratic  ticket,  in  1871,  but 
never  sought  political  preferment,  although  he 
took  an  active  part  in  politics  in  early  life.  He  is 
known  as  a  conservative  Democrat.  Socially,  he 
is  connected  with  the  Royal  Arcanum  and  the 
Royal  League,  and  is  the  First  Vice-Presideut  of 
the  California  Pioneers.  In  early  life  he  joined 
the  Baptist  Church,  but  as  its  doctrines  were  not 
in  accordance  with  his  broad  and  liberal  views,  he 


joined  the  Third  Unitarian  Church,  and  was,  until 
his  removal  from  the  West  to  the  South  Side,  one 
of  its  active  and  respected  members.  He  is  so- 
cially inclined,  possessed  of  a  genial  nature  and 
pleasant  disposition.  He  is  popular  among  his 
acquaintances,  and  is  one  who  makes  and  retains 
friends.  He  possesses  a  sanguine  temperament, 
is  an  energetic  worker  and  not  easily  discouraged. 
Fond  of  home  and  family,  he  is  true  to  those  who 
rely  upon  him,  and  his  faithfulness  and  sterling 
worth  have  won  him  warm  regard. 


WILLIAM  WEST. 


|t>  QlLLIAM  WEST,  one  of  the  enterprising 
\  A  /  citizens  of  Cook  County,  now  successfully 
V  V  engaged  in  farming  on  section  30,  Niles 
Township,  is  numbered  among  the  early  settlers 
of  the  State,  having  come  to  Illinois  with  his 
parents  in  1836.  He  is  a  native  of  Yorkshire, 
England,  born  on  the  2ist  of  June,  1814.  His 
father,  James  West,  was  born  in  Shipton,  Eng- 
land, in  1768,  and  died  in  the  fall  of  1838,  two 
years  after  his  emigration  to  America.  His  wife 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Jane  Hodgen,  and  was 
a  daughter  of  Thomas  Hodgen,  a  shoe-maker  of 
Great  Husband,  England.  As  above  stated, 
James  West,  accompanied  by  his  family,  bade 
adieu  to  friends  and  native  land  and  sailed  for 
America  in  the  good  ship  "Sylvenus  Jenkins," 
which  brought  him  to  New  York  after  an  un- 
eventful voyage  of  thirty-one  days.  He  was  de- 
tained in  New  York  quite  a  while  on  account  of 
the  sickness  of  a  relative,  John  Dewes,  but  at 
length  resumed  his  journey  and  traveled  toward 
the  setting  sun  until  he  reached  Cook  County. 
He  became  the  first  settler  of  Jefferson  Township, 
and  it  was  his  intention  to  purchase  a  claim  as 


soon  as  the  land  came  into   market,  but   death 
frustrated  his  plans. 

William  West  pre-empted  a  quarter-section  of 
land  in  JeSerson  Township,  on  which  he  resided 
until  1856,  when  he  came  to  Niles  Township,  his 
present  home.  One  of  the  most  important  events 
of  his  life  occurred  in  1843,  when  was  celebrated 
his  marriage  with  Mrs.  Isabella  Mosley,  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  Kendel,  who  was  a  native  of  York- 
shire, England,  and  a  farmer  by  occupation. 
Mrs.  West  was  born  in  \orkshire,  December  18, 
1821,  and  died  January  28,  1864.  Their  union 
was  blessed  with  four  sons  and  five  daughters, 
and  five  of  the  number  are  still  living,  namely: 
William,  who  was  born  June  n,  1850,  and  now 
resides  in  Chicago;  Mary  Jane,  who  was  born 
April  27,  1852,  and  is  the  wife  of  Robert  Robin- 
son, of  Avondale;  Isabella  E.,  who  was  born 
August  27,  1857,  and  is  the  wife  of  John  Proctor, 
a  resident  of  Arlington  Heights;  Martha  Ann, 
who  was  born  February  20,  1860,  is  the  widow 
of  Emil  Haag,  and  resides  in  Niles;  and  Edward, 
who  was  born  January  18,  1864,  and  is  now  en- 
gaged in  the  flour  and  feed  business  in  Chicago. 


J.  D.  TOBEY. 


187 


In  1866,  Mr.  West  was  again  married,  his  second 
union  being  with  Mrs.  Frances  Ollinger,  who  is 
now  deceased. 

Mr.  West  cast  his  first  vote  for  William  Henry 
Harrison  and  has  voted  at  each  Presidential  elec- 
tion since  that  time.  He  now  affiliates  with  the 
Democracy,  but  from  1860  until  1892  supported 
the  Republican  candidates.  He  received  no  spe- 
cial advantages  in  life,  his  school  privileges  being 


obtained  previous  to  his  tenth  year,  and  his  edu- 
cation from  that  time  was  acquired  through  con- 
tact with  the  world.  He  had  no  capital  or  influ- 
ential friends  to  aid  him  in  business,  and  the  suc- 
cess which  has  crowned  his  efforts  is  the  just  re- 
ward of  his  own  labors.  As  a  citizen  he  is  pub- 
lic-spirited and  progressive  and  devoted  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  community,  and  by  those  who 
know  him  he  is  highly  respected. 


JOHN  D.  TOBEY. 


(TOHN  DILLON  TOBEY,  who  is  doing  an 
extensive  business  as  a  dealer  in  hay  and 
grain  in  Chicago,  was  born  at  Worth  Sta- 
tion, Cook  County,  on  the  3d  of  September, 
1859,  and  is  a  son  of  Wales  and  Elizabeth  Tobey, 
who  are  represented  on  another  page  of  this  work. 
He  spent  his  early  boyhood  days  upon  his  father's 
farm,  and  acquired  his  education  in  the  district 
school  of  the  neighborhood  and  in  the  High  School 
of  Blue  Island.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  left 
home  with  $2.85  in  his  pocket.  From  that  time 
he  has  made  his  own  way  in  the  world  unaided, 
and  the  success  he  has  achieved  is  therefore  due 
entirely  to  his  own  efforts.  He  began  work  as  a 
farm  hand,  receiving  $15  per  month  in  compen- 
sation for  his  services.  With  his  first  season's 
wages  he  bought  a  half-interest  in  a  threshing- 
machine,  and  the  following  winter  started  a  hay 
press. 

Fifteen  months  after  leaving  home,  Mr.  Tobey 
had  accumulated  $3,300,  besides  a  hay-press, 
teams,  etc.  In  connection  with  his  other  work 
he  also  did  road  contracting  in  Worth  Township. 
For  one  year  after  coming  to  Chicago  he  was  in 
the  employ  of  Nelson  Morris  &  Co. ,  buying  sup- 
plies of  feed  for  the  stock.  Since  1886  he  has 
engaged  in  his  present  business  as  a  dealer  in  hay 
and  grain  at  No.  309  Twenty-sixth  Street.  He  al- 


so handles  ice.  His  business  has  steadily  in- 
creased in  volume,  until  it  has  now  assumed  ex- 
tensive proportions,  and  on  the  ist  of  June,  1894, 
the  J.  D.  Tobey  Hay  and  Grain  Company  was  in- 
corporated. Of  this  Mr.  Tobey  is  president  and 
general  manager.  For  some  years  he  has  been 
the  best  known  dealer  in  his  line  on  the  south  side 
and  is  now  the  largest  retail  dealer  in  the  United 
States.  He  also  deals  in  city  real  estate  and 
farm  property,  and  has  invested  to  some  extent  in 
western  lands. 

On  the  loth  of  September,  1885,  Mr.  Tobey 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Clara  M.  Burt. 
The  lady  is  a  native  of  Westport,  Essex  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Alvin  Burt.  Their 
union  has  been  blessed  with  one  child,  Gracie. 
They  also  lost  two  sons  who  died  in  infancy 
within  two  weeks  of  each  other. 

Mr.  Tobey  takes  considerable  interest  in  civic 
societies,  and  is  a  member  of  Golden  Rule  Lodge 
No.  726,  A.  F.  &  A.  M. ;  a  life  member  of  Chi- 
cago Commandery  No.  19,  K.  T. ;  and  also  be- 
longs to  Medinah  Temple  and  the  Mystic  Shrine; 
to  Acacia  Club;  to  America  Lodge  No.  271,  K. 
P. ;  Longfellow  Lodge  No.  708,  R.  A. ;  George 
B.  McClellan  Council  of  the  National  Union; 
Chicago  Heavy-Weight  Base  Ball  Club,  the  Sud- 
seite  Turngemeiude,  and  several  other  social  and 


188 


ALEXANDER  McDANIEL. 


insurance  orders.  He  votes  with  the  Republican 
party,  but  has  never  sought  or  desired  political 
preferment,  in  fact  has  several  times  refused  pub- 
lic office.  Physically,  Mr.  Tobey  is  the  picture 


of  health  and  strength.  He  is  of  a  social,  genial 
nature,  and  is  a  gentleman  of  rare  business  abil- 
ity, having  attained  success  through  good  judg- 
ment, ready  decision  and  energetic  determination. 


ALEXANDER  McDANIEL 


Gl  LEXANDER  McDANIEL,  of  Wilmette,  is 
LJ  now  living  a  retired  life,  enjoying  a  rest  which 
/  I  he  has  truly  earned  and  richly  deserves.  He 
has  for  many  years  resided  in  Cook  County,  and 
is  so  widely  and  favorably  known  that  he  needs 
no  special  introduction  to  the  readers  of  this  vol- 
ume. This  work  would  be  incomplete  without 
the  record  of  his  life,  which  is  as  follows:  He 
was  born  February  13,  1815,  in  Bath,  Steuben 
County,  New  York,  and  is  a  son  of  Daniel  Mc- 
Daniel,  who  was  of  Scotch  descent,  but  was  born 
in  the  State  of  New  York  and  made  farming  his 
life  work.  He  married  Rachel  Taner,  a  lady  who 
was  born  and  reared  in  the  Mohawk  Valley,  and 
was  a  descendant  of  the  Mohawk  Dutch.  They 
became  the  parents  of  seven  children,  four  sons 
and  three  daughters. 

Alexander  McDaniel  is  the  eldest  son.  The 
days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  were  spent  in  his 
parents'  home  and  he  became  familiar  with  all  the 
duties  of  farm  life.  He  aided  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  old  homestead  until  he  had  attained  his 
majority,  when  he  started  out  for  himself,  and, 
leaving  the  East  upon  the  tide  of  emigration  which 
was  steadily  moving  westward,  he  came  to  Chica- 
go, arriving  in  this  city  on  the  2yth  of  May,  1836. 
Here  he  worked  until  the  I4th  of  August,  when 
he  went  to  New  Trier  Township,  spending  sever- 
al days  looking  up  lands  on  the  Ouilmette  Indian 
reservation.  He  then  returned  to  Chicago,  where 
he  continued  until  October,  when  he  again  came 
to  New  Trier  Township,  and  pre-empted  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  Government  land  where 


the  town  of  Winnetka  now  stands.  The  land  in 
the  reservation  had  not  then  been  surveyed.  Mr. 
McDaniel  deposited  the  price  of  the  property  with 
the  Government  agent  until  it  should  be  surveyed 
and  placed  upon  the  market,  which  was  four 
years  later.  He  built  a  log  cabin,  one  of  the  first 
four  houses  which  stood  between  Chicago  and  the 
present  site  of  Winnetka,  and  there  he  kept  bach- 
elor's hall  for  four  years.  The  only  neighbors  he 
had  for  the  first  year,  except  Erastus  Patterson, 
were  Indians,  and  he  was  the  only  young  man  in 
that  locality.  Speaking  of  the  Indians,  he  said 
the  Ouilmettes  were  quite  enlightened  and  good 
neighbors,  always  being  peaceable.  Mr.  McDan- 
iel purchased  three  forty-acre  tracts  of  land,  pay- 
ing the  usual  price  of  $1.25  per  acre,  and  forty 
at  twenty  shillings  per  acre.  Upon  this  land  a 
part  of  the  town  of  Evanston  now  stands.  When 
he  first  came  to  Cook  County  there  were  only 
three  small  log  cabins  north  of  Chicago,  and  many 
of  the  now  thriving  villages  and  cities  had  not 
sprung  into  existence,  while  the  work  of  progress 
and  civilization  seemed  hardly  begun. 

On  the  ayth  of  November,  1842,  an  important 
event  in  the  life  of  Mr.  McDaniel  occurred,  his 
marriage  with  Miss  Emeline  Huntoon.  The  la- 
dy was  born  in  Champlain,  New  York,  March  n, 
1824,  and  is  a  daughter  of  George  W.  and  Lucin- 
da  (Bowler)  Huntoon,  whose  family  numbered 
ten  children.  The  father  was  a  ship  carpenter, 
and  was  born  in  Vermont,  December  9,  1791. 
The  mother  was  born  January  9,  1796.  With 
their  family  they  came  to  Cook  County  in  1840, 


W.  R.  DERBY. 


189 


settling  on  the  present  site  of  South  Evanston. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  McDaniel  became  the  parents  of  six 
children.  Jane,  who  was  the  wife  of  William 
H.  Kinney,  Postmaster  of  Wilmette,  is  now  de- 
ceased; Ellen,  widow  of  A.  B.  Balcam,  resides 
with  her  parents;  Charles,  who  enlisted  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  and  served  three  years  in  the  Eighth 
Illinois  Cavalry,  is  now  a  carpenter  and  contractor 
of  Wilmette;  George  is  interested  in  mining  in 
Colorado;  Henry  is  a  policeman  of  Wilmette; 
and  William  Grant  is  a  fireman  on  the  North- 
Western  Railroad. 

Mr.  McDaniel  exercises  his  right  of  franchise 
in  support  of  the  Republican  party.  His  first  vote 
was  cast  on  the  4th  of  May,  1837,  for  William 
B.  Odgen,  first  mayor  of  Chicago,  and  his  first 
presidential  vote  supported  William  Henry  Harri- 
son. Soon  after  the  village  of  Wilmette  was  start- 
ed, he  was  appointed  the  first  Postmaster,  hold- 
ing the  office  for  nineteen  successive  years,  when 
he  resigned  in  favor  of  Mr.  Kinney,  the  present 
incumbent.  He  has  never  sought  or  desired  po- 


litical preferment,  his  time  and  attention  being 
largely  occupied  by  his  business  interests.  His 
wife,  a  most  estimable  lady,  holds  membership 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  takes 
an  active  part  in  its  work  and  upbuilding.  For 
twenty-six  years  Mr.  McDaniel  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Wilmette.  His  first  home  at  this  place, 
located  on  Center  Avenue,  was  the  fourth  house 
built  in  the  town,  and  in  it  he  resided  for  twen- 
ty-three years.  In  1891,  he  erected  a  more  sub- 
stantial and  modern  dwelling  on  the  same  street, 
and  there  spends  his  declining  days.  He  has  wit- 
nessed almost  the  entire  growth  and  development 
of  the  county,  the  best  interests  of  the  communi- 
ty ever  find  in  him  a  friend,  and  his  hearty  sup- 
port and  co-operation  are  given  to  those  enter- 
prises which  are  calculated  to  advance  the  gener- 
al welfare.  His  sterling  worth  and  strict  integri- 
ty have  made  him  a  leading  citizen  of  the  com- 
munity and  one  well  worthy  of  representation  in 
this  volume. 


WILLIAM  R.  DERBY. 


fDQlLUAM  R.  DERBY,  who  was  for  many 

\  A  I  years  prominently  identified  with  the  his- 
Y  V  tory  of  this  community,  was  numbered 
among  the  honored  pioneer  settlers,  having  be- 
come a  resident  of  Cook  County  in  1834.  He 
was  born  in  Dorset,  Bennington  County,  Ver- 
mont, on  the  1 7th  of  March,  1805,  and  was  a 
son  of  Sylvester  Derby,  whose  birth  occurred  in 
the  same  locality  in  1780.  In  1816  the  father 
removed  with  his  family  to  Genesee  County,  New 
York,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  ninety  years. 

William  Derby  spent  the  first  sixteen  years  of  his 
life  at  his  parents'  home,  and  then  began  to  learn 
the  trade  of  a  wool  carder  and  dresser,  which  he 


followed  for  nine  years.  He  later  engaged  in  the 
hotel  business  for  nearly  two  years,  and  in  1834 
he  emigrated  westward  to  try  his  fortunes  on  the 
broad  prairies  of  Illinois.  He  settled  on  section 
34,  township  37,  range  n,  about  three  miles 
southeast  of  the  village  of  Lemont.  At  that 
time  there  were  only  two  houses  between  Joliet 
and  Chicago.  The  latter  place  was  a  small  vil- 
lage, and  the  most  far-sighted  could  not  have 
dreamed  of  the  prominence  and  importance  which 
were  to  make  it  the  metropolis  of  the  West  and 
one  of  the  important  cities  of  the  world.  Mr. 
Derby  had  for  neighbors  a  brother-in-law,  Jere- 
miah Luther,  Orange  Chauncy  and  Joshua  Smith, 
all  natives  of  Vermont  except  Mr.  'Luther,  who 


W,  R.  DERBY. 


was  born  in  New  York.  When  Mr.  Derby  came 
to  Cook  County  he  had  a  span  of  horses,  harness 
and  wagon,  some  household  effects  and  $40  in 
money.  He  disposed  of  his  team  in  order  to  pay 
for  his  land  when  it  came  into  market,  and  he 
was  thus  enabled  to  purchase  one  hundred  and 
forty  acres.  It  was  wild  land,  but  with  charac- 
teristic energy  he  began  its  development,  and  in 
course  of  time  transformed  it  into  a  fertile  farm. 
He  built  a  log  house,  in  which  he  lived  for  about 
twenty-five  years,  and  then  erected  a  two-story 
brick  residence,  which  he  made  his  home  until 
1879,  when  he  sold  his  farm  (then  containing 
two  hundred  acres)  and  removed  to  Lemont. 

Mr.  Derby  was  married  on  the  28th  of  June, 
1830,  in  Castile,  New  York,  to  Miss  Eliza  N. 
Luther.  Together  they  traveled  life's  journey  for 
about  half  a  century.  On  the  5th  of  April,  1880, 
Mrs.  Derby  was  called  to  the  home  beyond.  She 
was  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her  and  her  friends 
were  many,  By  their  marriage  were  born  four 
children,  of  whom  two  are  now  living.  Sylvester 
L-,  the  elder,  was  born  in  Castile,  New  York, 
September  18,  1836,  and  at  a  very  early  age  was 
brought  to  Lemont,  where  he  has  since  made  his 
home.  He  graduated  from  the  high  school  of 
Chicago,  and  during  his  early  business  career 
followed  farming,  but  in  1879  he  disposed  of  his 
land  and  removed  to  Lemont,  where  he  embarked 
in  the  lumber  trade,  and  also  in  the  manufacture 
of  lumber  in  Michigan.  His  standing  as  a  busi- 
ness man  is  above  reproach.  His  systematic 
methods,  his  enterprise  and  his  fair  and  honor- 
able dealing  have  gained  him  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  all  with  whom  he  has  been  brought 
in  contact.  He  enjoys  a  liberal  patronage,  and 
has  a  well-equipped  lumber-yard.  On  the  24th 
of  September,  1855,  lje  was  married  to  Charlotte 
D.  Russell,  of  Dover,  New  Hampshire,  and  to 
them  were  born  five  children,  four  yet  living, 
namely:  Mrs.  Ida  E.  Brown,  Sylvester  O.,O.  R. 
and  J.  A.  L.  The  three  sons  are  associated  with 
their  father  in  the  lumber  trade.  They  are  thor- 
ough business  men,  of  sterling  integrity,  and  the 
firm  is  one  of  prominence  in  the  community. 


Sylvester  L.  Derby  has  been  honored  with  sev- 
eral offices  of  trust,  the  duties  of  which  have 
ever  been  discharged  with  promptness  and  fidel- 
ity. In  politics  he  is  a  Republican.  In  1892  he 
was  President  of  the  Illinois  Retail  Lumber  Deal- 
ers' Association.  Although  he  is  now  nearing 
his  sixtieth  birthday,  he  is  still  hale  and  hearty 
as  a  young  man  of  twenty-five,  and  is  recognized 
as  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Lemont. 

John  T.  Derby,  the  younger  son  of  William  R. 
Derby,  was  born  in  Lemont,  October  29,  1840, 
acquired  his  early  education  in  a  log  schoolhouse 
at  Gooding's  Grove  and  later  was  graduated  from 
Castile  University.  He  began  life  as  a  school 
teacher  in  the  town  of  Palos,  Cook  County,  and 
for  several  years  continued  teaching  in  Cook  and 
Will  Counties.  He  studied  law  with  Judge  J.  P. 
Atwood,  of  Chicago,  where  he  was  admitted  to 
the  Bar,  and  in  1 873  was  chosen  Assistant  County 
Superintendent  of  Schools  under  George  D.  Plant, 
which  position  he  held  until  the  close  of  Mr.  Plant's 
official  term.  He  was  the  first  City  Attorney  of 
Lemont,  and  was  a  member  of  its  first  Board  of 
Education.  On  the  7th  of  May,  1862,  was  cele- 
brated his  marriage  with'  Clara  H.  Dakin,  of 
Millerton,  Dutchess  County,  New  York,  and  by 
their  union  were  born  three  children,  of  whom 
Nettie  E.  and  Edward  D.  are  now  living.  Mrs. 
Derby  died  February  i,  1885,  and  in  1886  Mr. 
Derby  married  Miss  Abbie  E.  Jones,  of  Du  Page, 
Will  County,  Illinois.  He  is  at  present  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  law,  and  is  a  radical  temper- 
ance man,  who  supports  by  his  ballot  the  Prohi- 
bition party. 

William  R.  Derby,  whose  name  heads  this 
record,  was  an  advocate  of  Democratic  principles 
and  was  often  called  to  office  by  his  fellow-towns- 
men. He  served  as  Supervisor,  was  also  Justice 
of  the  Peace  for  five  years,  was  Township  Treas- 
urer sixteen  years  and  Township  Clerk  for  sev- 
eral years.  In  these  various  offices  he  was  ever 
true  and  faithful.  All  who  knew  him  respected 
him  for  his  upright  life  and  straightforward  deal- 
ings and  for  a  public  and  rjrivate  career  which 
were  alike  above  reproach. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


L.  A.  BUDLONG. 


.  191 


LYMAN  A.  BUDLONG. 


j  YMAN  ARNOLD  BUDLONG  is  a  highly 
It  representative  type  of  all  that  constitutes  a 
[_2r  well-ordered  life.  He  is  descended  from  an 
ancestry  which  dates  back  to  the  crucial  period 
of  American  history — back  to  that  period  when 
the  principles  of  liberty,  involving  perfect  freedom 
of  conscience — first  began  to  crystallize  and  take 
form  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  a  brave  and  reso- 
lute people,  from  whom,  as  a  nation,  has  been 
inherited  that  priceless  legacy  of  liberty  which  is 
so  distinctively  American. 

From  the  best  evidence  extant,  Francis  Bud- 
long,  the  founder  of  his  family,  came  to.  this  coun- 
try some  time  during  the  seventh  decade  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  effected  a  settlement  in 
the  province  of  Rhode  Island.  Here,  in  1669, 
he  married  Mrs.  Rebecca  Howard  (nee  Lippit), 
of  Warwick,  Rhode  Island.  It  was  in  the  year 
1675  that  Massasoit,  the  renowned  chieftain  of  the 
Wampanoags,  died  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Philip.  Urged  by  his  young  warriors,  Philip 
disregarded  the  treaty  of  his  father,  which  had 
been  kept  by  him  for  fifty  years,  and  inaugurated 
a  war  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  whites 
and  recovering  his  hunting  grounds.  For  a  year 
flame  and  the  scalping-knife,  in  the  hands  of  a 
merciless  foe,  wrought  the  destruction  of  more 
than  six  hundred  houses,  while  nearly  one  thou- 
sand men  fell  in  battle,  and  scores  of  women  and 
children  came  tinder  the  tomahawk  of  the  infuri- 
ated savages.  During  this  struggle,  known  in 
history  as  King  Philip's  War,  the  family  of 
Francis  Budlong,  save  one,  was  massacred — an  in- 
fant boy  having  been  spared.  This  little  one  was 


given  a  home  in  the  family  of  Mr.  John  Lippit, 
its  uncle,  by  whom  it  was  reared,  and  from 
this  rescued  waif  descended  the  numerous 
Budlongs  widely  scattered  throughout  the  coun- 
try. Tradition  asserts  that  they  are  of  French 
origin,  probably  of  Huguenot  blood,  as,  a  little 
previous  to  that  time,  a  great  number  of  Hugue- 
nots had  fled  from  France  to  our  shores  to  seek 
a  place  where  they  could  exercise,  without  hind- 
rance, the  privilege  of  free  conscience. 

Lyman  A.  Budlong  is  of  the  seventh  generation 
in  direct  descent  from  Francis,  the  founder  of  the 
family  in  America.  His  paternal  grandfather 
and  great-grandfather  bore  the  name  of  Samuel, 
and  gallantly  served  in  the  Continental  army 
during  the  war  for  independence,  the  former  as  a 
drummer  boy  and  the  latter  as  a  private  soldier. 
The  parents  of  Mr.  Budlong  were  Joseph  S.  (born 
March  i,  1804)  and  Mary  Ann  (Arnold,  born 
April  20,  1804)  Budlong,  both  of  whom  were  born 
in  Rhode  Island,  where  their  lives  were  passed. 
The  father  died  March  14,  1887,  and  the  mother 
departed  this  life  January  5,  1894. 

Mary  Ann  (Arnold)  Budlong  was  of  the  sev- 
enth generation  from  William  Arnold,  a  native  of 
Cheselbourne,  England,  who  settled  in  Provi- 
dence Plantations  (now  Rhode  Island)  in  early 
colonial  days.  Her  parents  were  Ephraim  and 
Waity  (Warner)  Arnold,  the  former  being  a  son 
of  Simon  and  Hannah  (Chapman)  Arnold. 

Of  Joseph  S.  Budlong's  ten  children,  nine 
grew  to  maturity  and  reared  families.  In  order 
of  birth,  they  are  as  follows:  James  Arnold  (now 
deceased);  Albert,  who  died  in  childhood;  Will- 


192 


L.  A.  BUDLONG. 


iara  Henry,  a  resident  of  Jersey  City,  New  Jersey ; 
Lyman  Arnold,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Mary 
Elizabeth,  who  became  the  wife  of  William 
Johnston,  of  Washington,  Vermont,  and  died  in 
1862;  Abbie  Stone  and  Catherine  Rhodes  (twins), 
the  former  now  the  widow  of  Horace  Bates,  of  Bel  - 
lingham,  Massachusetts — the  latter  the  wife  of 
Daniel  Burlingatne,  of  Cranston,  Rhode  Island; 
Waity  Warner,  who  married  William  Tyler,  of 
Brooklyn,  New  York;  Joseph  Arnold,  a  resident 
of  Cook  County,  Illinois  (see  sketch  in  this  work); 
and  Simeon,  who  resides  in  Cumberland,  Rhode 
Island. 

It  was  in  the  picturesquely  rural  town  of 
Cranston,  Rhode  Island,  that  Lyman  A.  Bud- 
long  was  born,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1829. 
In  the  public  school  of  his  native  town  he  was 
taught  the  rudimentary  branches  of  learning, 
and  subsequently  he  attended  a  seminary  where 
a  wider  course  of  study  was  entered  upon.  When 
he  was  eighteen  years  old  he  was  competent  to 
teach,  and  for  five  years  he  was  successfully  en- 
gaged in  that  work  during  the  winter  months, 
devoting  the  rest  of  the  year  to  farm  labor.  His 
first  school  lasted  for  a  term  of  four  months,  for 
which  he  received  twelve  dollars  per  month,  all  of 
which  he  gave  to  his  father.  Subsequent  to  at- 
taining his  majority  he  attended  a  few  terms  of 
school,  which  rounded  out  his  education,  making 
him  highly  proficient  in  the  range  of  his  studies — 
and  it  is  to  the  thoroughness  of  his  educational 
training  that  is  due  in  large  measure  his  success 
in  life. 

Equally  painstaking  had  he  been  in  acquiring 
a  thorough  knowledge,  in  all  its  details,  of  gar- 
dening. From  his  youth  he  was  a  connoisseur  in 
plant-culture.  He  learned  plant  life  as  he  learned 
books,  by  concentrated  effort  and  intelligent  ap- 
plication. It  is  in  the  combination  of  this  mental 
and  physical  training,  directed  by  a  high  aim, 
that  enabled  him  to  overcome  adverse  conditions, 
and,  eventually,  to  reach  the  goal  of  successful 
accomplishment. 

His  marriage  with  Miss  Louise  L.  Newton,  of 
Norwich,  Vermont,  was  celebrated  October  6, 
1856.  Mrs.  Budlong  was  born  in  Norwich,  Ver- 
mont, January  i,  1833,  and  is  a  daughter  of 


George  and  Orella  (Snow)  Newton,  natives  of 
Vermont,  the  former  being  a  son  of  Dr.  Israel 
Newton,  who  served  through  the  Revolutionary 
war.  To  George  and  Orella  (Snow)  Newton 
were  born  two  sons  and  four  daughters,  as  fol- 
lows: Cyril  C.  (now  deceased),  who  married  Re- 
becca McConachie,  by  whom  he  had  three  chil- 
dren— Emily,  George  and  Mary;  Louise  L.  (Mrs. 
L.  A.  Budlong);  Lucy  Amelia,  widow  of  Mr. 
Lewis  Wilson;  Mary  A.,  widow  of  Orlando  Tal- 
cott;  Ellen  E. ,  wife  of  W.  N.  Spring,  of  Le  Mars, 
Iowa;  and  George  P.,  now  deceased. 

Mr.  Budlong,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  contin- 
ued to  reside  in  his  native  place  until  1857,  when, 
realizing  that  a  constant  narrowing  of  environ- 
ment was  taking  place  in  the  East,  he  decided  to 
seek  in  the  West  a  field  of  operations  where  no 
restraint  upon  ambition  from  cramped  surround- 
ings existed.  He  selected  Cook  County  as  the 
most  promising  field  for  contemplated  operations. 
His  working  capital  was  small,  but  that  in  nowise 
checked  the  ardor  of  his  ambitious  spirit,  although 
it  necessitated  beginning  in  a  small  way  and  on 
leased  land.  To  increase  his  revenue,  he  taught 
a  country  school  near  his  home  during  the  winter 
of  1858-59,  and  in  the  two  following  winters  he 
taught  in  the  neighboring  county  of  Du  Page. 
The  balance  of  the  time  was  employed  in  garden- 
ing for  the  Chicago  market.  His  income,  though 
limited,  was  more  than  enough  to  meet  his  ex- 
penses, and  the  surplus  was  employed  in  extend- 
ing his  operations.  In  1861  he  located  on  part 
of  the  estate  he  now  occupies — that  of  the  late  Dr. 
Foster — and  has  made  market-gardening  his  life's 
work. 

He  is  the  pioneer  of  the  West  in  the  pickling 
business.  His  original  plant  was  established  im- 
mediately after  his  arrival  in  Cook  County,  the 
first  output  being  four  hundred  bushels.  From 
this  modest  beginning  has  grown  his  present 
mammoth  business,  the  annual  product  of  his 
present  plant  being  one  hundred  thousand  bush- 
els of  pickles,  one  hundred  thousand  bushels  of 
onions,  and  fifty  thousand  bushels  of  other  kinds 
of  market  vegetables.  This  vast  amount  is 
grown  on  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  which  is 
tilled  on  the  highest  scientific  principles.  When 


L.  A.  BUDLONG. 


193 


he  located  upon  this  land,  less  than  forty  acres  of 
a  tract  of  six  hundred  was  tillable.  More  than 
one  hundred  acres  was  a  labyrinth  of  bog  and 
quagmire,  and  the  rest  could  be  made  arable  only 
by  an  extensive  system  of  drainage.  Every  acre 
has  been  reclaimed,  subdued  and  brought  to  the 
highest  state  of  perfection.  In  addition  to  the 
best  drainage  facilities,  he  has  fitted  up  two 
pumping  stations,  with  the  best  of  modern  appli- 
ances, to  carry  off  the  surplus  water  in  wet  sea- 
sons, when  ordinary  drainage  is  insufficient.  One 
of  these  is  located  on  a  low  tract  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  and  the  other  drains  a  quarter- 
section,  their  capacity  being  five  thousand  gallons 
a  minute,  each. 

During  the  harvesting  season — from  July  15  to 
September  15 — he  employs  an  average  of  eight 
hundred  people,  and  from  one  to  two  hundred 
during  the  balance  of  the  year.  All  his  products 
are  justly  celebrated  for  superior  quality,  his  well- 
known  brands  being  sufficient  guaranty  of  their 
high  excellence.  A  large  part  is  sold  direct  to 
the  jobbing  trade  in  most  of  the  states  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  while  no  inconsiderable  quan- 
tity is  sold  from  wagons  in  the  city  to  the  retail 
trade. 

Mr.  Budlong's  career  furnishes  an  illustration 
of  the  results  to  be  obtained  by  a  clear  and  well- 
defined  purpose.  He  is  not  a  theorist,  but  a  calm, 
practical  man,  who  reaches  conclusions  through  a 
process  of  reasoning  peculiar  to  men  of  methods 
and  ripe  experience.  His  well-defined  power  of 
application  is  particularly  noticeable,  and  he  is 
the  possessor  of  marked  administrative  abilities. 
For  many  years,  until  his  sons  became  competent, 
under  his  tutelage,  to  bear  a  part  of  the  burden 
of  cares  arising  from  a  large  business,  he  person- 
ally superintended  the  operations  of  the  various 
departments,  carrying  in  his  mind  the  innumer- 
able details. 

Although  his  life  has  been  one  of  ceaseless 
activity,  he  has,  withal,  retained  intact  those 
pleasing  social  qualities  which  have  made  him  so 
deservedly  popular  with  all.  His  nature  is  thor- 
oughly democratic,  and  he  caters  to  none  because 
of  wealth  or  social  position.  The  laboring  man 
upon  his  estate  is  treated  with  the  same  kindly 


consideration  he  would  accord  to  a  king.  He  is 
one  of  the  most  companionable  of  men,  and,  hav- 
ing been  a  close  observer  of  passing  events,  and  a 
student  as  well,  he  is  an  interesting  and  instruct- 
ive conversationalist. 

In  early  life  Mr.  Budlong's  political  preferment 
was  for  the  Democratic  party,  but,  being  always 
an  adherent  of  the  principles  which  gave  birth  to 
the  Republican  party,  he  cast  off  his  fealty  to  the 
former  in  1 860,  since  which  he  has  zealously  sup- 
ported Republican  men  and  measures.  With  local 
public  affairs  he  has  been  prominently  identified, 
having  always  taken  an  active  and  leading  part  in 
whatever,  in  his  judgment,  best  subserved  the 
public  good.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  vill- 
age of  Jefferson  he  was  elected  a  trustee,  in  which 
capacity  he  has  since  served  several  times.  He 
was  also  the  first  to  be  elected  to  the  position  of 
Mayor  of  the  village.  He  held  the  office  of 
school  director  twenty-eight  consecutive  years, 
until  the  village  was  merged  in  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago. He  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Masonic 
order,  being  a  charter  member  of  Providence 
Lodge  No.  711,  of  Jefferson,  in  which  he  accept- 
ably served  many  years  as  Worshipful  Master. 
He  is  also  identified  with  Corinthian  Chapter, 
Apollo  Commandery  and  Oriental  Consistory, 
of  Chicago. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Budlong  became  the  parents  of 
five  children,  namely:  Mary  L.,  wife  of  A.  L. 
Jones,  of  Mokena,  Illinois;  Edward  L.;  Lyman 
A.  (deceased);  Joseph  J.,  and  Laura  W.,  wife  of 
H.  H.  Chester,  of  Evanston,  Illinois. 

All  the  children  reside  near  their  father,  in 
pleasant  homes,  all  worthily  reflecting  much 
credit  upon  their  parents  by  the  correctness  of 
their  lives.  Mr.  Budlong  is  essentially  domestic, 
and  derives  much  pleasure  from  the  associations 
of  the  home  circle,  which  has  been  enlarged  by 
the  arrival  of  thirteen  grandchildren.  His  modern, 
well-appointed  home  is  replete  with  all  that  a 
cultivated  taste  can  suggest,  and  here  he  is  spend- 
ing the  evening  of  his  days  in  the  quiet  content- 
ment of  a  successful  and  well-ordered  life.  His 
three- score  and  seven  years  rest  lightly  on  his  com- 
pact frame,  time  having  made  but  slight  impres- 
sion upon  his  rugged  constitution. 


I94 


REV.  C.  F.  EBINGER. 


REV.  CHRISTIAN  F.  EBINGER. 


REV.  CHRISTIAN  FREDERICK  EBIN- 
GER,the  first  minister  of  the  Evangelical  As- 
sociation ordained  in  Illinois,  was  numbered 
among  the  first  permanent  settlers  of  Cook  Coun- 
ty. He  took  up  his  home  in  what  is  now  the 
town  of  Niles  in  1834.  He  was  the  youngest 
son  of  John  and  Katharine  Ebinger,  and  was 
born  February  8,  1812,  near  the  city  of  Stuttgart, 
Germany.  He  was  well  educated  in  his  native 
place,  and  reared  to  the  occupation  of  florist  and 
gardener.  For  a  number  of  years  he  had  charge 
of  a  flower  garden  of  King  William  of  Wurtem- 
berg. 

In  1831,  John  Ebinger,  with  his  wife  and  three 
sons  and  one  daughter,  came  to  the  United 
States  and  located  at  Detroit,  Michigan.  Early 
in  1834  he  set  out  for  Chicago,  and  in  May  of 
that  year  he  pre-empted  eighty  acres  of  land  on 
the  Indian  trail  leading  to  Milwaukee,  which  was 
subsequently  occupied  by  a  plank  road.  He 
built  a  one-story  log  cabin,  twenty-four  by  four- 
teen feet  in  ground  dimension,  and  began  life  in 
true  pioneer  style.  His  children  were:  Frederick, 
John,  Elizabeth  (who  became  the  wife  of  John 
Plank),  and  Christian  F.,  all  of  whom  are  now 
deceased. 

Christian  F.  Ebinger  had  just  attained  his 
majority  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to  the 
United  States.  February  12,  1834,  at  Ann  Ar- 
bor, Michigan,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Barbara 
Ruehle,  who  was  born  August  n,  1812,  in 
Indebach,  near  Stuttgart,  Germany.  Her  par- 
ents were  Joseph  and  Barbara  (Schwegler) 
Ruehle.  Her  mother  died  when  Mrs.  Ebinger 


was  eight  years  of  age,  and  after  her  death  her 
father  married  Eva  Magdaline  Allmeudinger. 
Mrs.  Ebinger  came  to  America  in  1832,  with  her 
father  and  stepmother.  They  settled  at  Ann 
Arbor,  Michigan,  where  the  father  died  only  six 
weeks  after  their  arrival.  She  continued  to  re- 
side with  her  stepmother  until  her  marriage,  and 
then  set  out  with  her  husband  to  accompany  the 
latter' s  parents  to  Chicago.  All  their  belongings 
were  placed  in  a  light  wagon,  in  which  the  old 
people  rode,  while  the  young  couple  made  their 
honeymoon  trip  on  foot,  the  journey  consuming 
three  weeks.  They  camped  at  night,  with  the 
blue  canopy  of  heaven  for  a  cover,  and  father  and 
son  took  turns  in  guarding  their  resting-place 
against  possible  surprises  by  Indians  or  wild 
beasts. 

Christian  F.  Ebinger  was  reared  in  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  but  in  1840  he  became  identified 
with  the  Evangelical  Association,  The  follow- 
ing year  he  was  ordained  as  a  preacher,  and 
acted  in  that  capacity  until  his  death.  He  oc- 
casionally supplied  the  pulpit  for  other  ministers, 
but  never  became  an  itinerant.  He  followed 
farming,  and  was  industrious  and  careful  in  his 
business  methods,  and  was  successful.  He  took 
a  lively  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  was  a  friend 
to  education.  He  served  as  school  trustee  for 
many  years,  and  held  nearly  all  the  offices  of  the 
township,  being  its  first  assessor  and  overseer  of 
the  poor,  and  was  many  years  supervisor.  He 
died  in  1879,  after  a  useful  career,  and  his  funeral 
was  one  of  the  most  notable  in  the  community 
where  he  was  the  pioneer  settler. 


ADOLPH  ARNDT. 


195 


His  family  included  thirteen  children,  of  whom 
ten  reached  maturity,  namely:  Christian,  a  resi- 
dent of  Niles;  Mary,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Henry  Giffert,  and  died  in  1860.  (Her  husband 
was  a  Union  soldier,  and  died  from  injuries  re- 
ceived in  the  Civil  War.  He  was  the  father 
of  William  Giffert,  now  assessor  of  the  West 
Town  of  Chicago.)  Henry,  now  deceased;  Eliza- 
beth, who  was  the  wife  of  William  Neff,  and  is 
deceased;  Margaret,  wife  of  Louis  Grafius,  of 
Chicago;  Daniel,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fifteen; 
Sarah,  widow  of  William  Weathers,  now  resid- 
ing with  Mrs.  Ebinger;  Louise,  wife  of  William 
Grafius,  of  Chicago;  Caroline,  Mrs.  M.  J.  Good, 
of  the  same  city;  and  William  R.,  a  resident  of 
Aurora,  Illinois. 

From  the  inception  of  the  Republican  party  in 
1856,  Mr.  Ebinger  was  one  of  its  stanchest  sup- 
porters. In  the  early  years  of  his  residence  in 
Niles  he  dispensed  a  generous,  open-handed 
hospitality  to  all  comers,  although  he  did  not 
keep  a  hotel.  The  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the 
country  were  his  friends,  because  he  treated  them 
with  uniform  kindness,  and  were  often  enter- 
tained at  his  home.  He  was  intimately  ac- 


quainted with  Blackhawk,  whom  he  often  enter- 
tained, and  who  is  described  by  Mrs.  Ebinger  as 
a  man  of  fine  appearance,  who  spoke  English 
readily,  and  dressed  in  civilized  costume. 

Mrs.  Ebinger  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
talkers  upon  early  history  in  Chicago,  although 
she  has  never  mastered  the  English  language, 
and  converses  freely  with  visitors,  relating  many 
interesting  reminiscences.  She  has  nearly  com- 
pleted the  eighty-fifth  year  of  her  age,  and  still 
assists  with  the  labors  of  the  household,  and  con- 
trols the  management  of  an  extensive  farm.  Her 
sister-in-law,  the  wife  of  Frederick  Ebinger, 
was  a  resident  of  Fort  Dearborn,  having  come 
from  Ann  Arbor  as  companion  to  Mrs.  Wilcox, 
wife  of  the  general  in  command  of  the  fort.  At 
the  social  functions  which  Mrs.  Ebinger  attended 
at  the  fort,  she  danced  to  the  music  of  the  only 
violin  within  a  hundred  miles.  For  some  years 
after  her  settlement  with  her  husband  in  Niles, 
there  were  no  houses  between  their  home  and  the 
village  of  Chicago,  and  the  nearest  residence  to- 
ward Milwaukee  was  seven  miles  away.  Her 
vision  of  Chicago,  bounded  by  Fort  Dearborn  and 
the  World's  Fair,  is  one  now  enjoyed  by  very  few. 


ADOLPH  ARNDT. 


GlDOLPH  ARNDT,  a  market-gardener  of 
LJ  South  Evanston,  is  a  representative  Ger- 
/  1  man-American,  who  has  resided  in  Cook 
County  for  nearly  half  a  century.  He  was  born 
in  Schmolda,  Prussia,  June  n,  1843,  and  is  a  son 
of  Frederick  and  Anna  Marie  Arndt,  natives  of 
the  same  place.  They,  with  their  family  of  six 
children,  came  to  America  in  1854,  landing  at 
New  York,  whence  they  came  direct  to  Chicago, 
arriving  July  4  of  that  year.  They  located  at 
Rosehill  and  engaged  in  farming  on  rented  land. 
About  six  weeks  after  their  arrival  Mrs.  Arndt 


died  of  cholera.  Mr.  Arndt  continued  farming 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  a  number  of 
years  ago. 

Adolph  attended  school  for  some  time  in  Rose- 
hill  and  received  a  limited  education.  He  was 
reared  tQ  farming  and  gardening,  which  have  been 
his  life  work,  and  in  which  work  he  is -still  en- 
gaged, operating  about  twenty-five  acres.  His 
father  died  before  he  was  of  age,  therefore  he 
early  learned  to  depend  upon  himself,  and  is 
practically  a  self-made  man,  having  acquired  his 
valuable  property  by  his  own  industry.  In  1868 


PETER  BISDORFF. 


he  bought  twenty  acres  of  land  in  sections  19  and 
24,  Evanston  Township.  This  was  new  and  un- 
improved land,  which  he  cleared  and  improved 
himself. 

Mr.  Arndt  has  always  taken  a  lively  interest 
in  political  affairs.  He  supports  the  Democratic 
party,  and  has  held  the  offices  of  highway  com- 
missioner and  village  trustee  of  South  Evanston. 
May  12,  1869,  he  married  Miss  Mary,  daughter 
of  Peter  Muno,  whose  biography  appears  on  an- 


other page  of  this  work.  They  have  a  family  of 
ten  children,  namely:  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Michael 
Becker;  Peter,  who  married  Nettie  Eiden,  and 
resides  at  Edgewater;  Henry,  Charles,  Christian, 
Mary,  Joseph,  William,  Minnie  and  Theresa; 
two  children  died  in  infancy.  All  in  this  family 
are  members  of  Saint  Nicholas'  Roman  Catholic 
Church  of  South  Evanston.  Mr.  Arndt  is  a 
good  citizen,  who  encourages  every  worthy  enter- 
prise. 


PETER  BISDORFF, 


("\ETER  BISDORFF,  an  eminently  respectable 
LX  citizen  and  successful  market-gardener,  was 
[$  born  January  8,  1841,  near  the  city  of  Lux- 
emburg, Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Kath- 
arine Bisdorff,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of  the 
same  locality. 

The  father  was  a  man  of  superior  intelligence, 
and  had  the  advantage  of  attending  the  best 
schools  and  colleges  of  Germany.  His  superior 
qualifications  were  recognized  by  his  government, 
and  he  was  given  the  important  position  of  For- 
ester to  the  Crown,  a  place  of  honor  and  trust, 
which  he  filled  many  years  to  the  entire  satisfac- 
tion of  his  sovereign. 

Peter  Bisdorff,  whose  name  heads  this  article, 
passed  the  years  of  his  minority  in  his  native 
land,  where  he  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the 
splendid  German  school  system  and  obtained  a 
good  education.  In  1861,  just  after  turning  to 
his  twentieth  year,  he  went  out  from  the  parental 
home  to  secure  a  home  and  fortune  for  himself  in 
America.  After  an  uneventful  voyage  he  disem- 
barked at  New  York,  and  at  once  made  his  way 
to  Wisconsin,  locating  near  Mineral  Point. 

In  1862  he  came  to  Chicago,  where  he  had 
relatives,  and  at  once  began  in  earnest  to  lay  the 
foundations  for  a  successful  career.  He  faith- 


fully served  one  employer  four  years  and  another 
two.  His  savings  had  been  carefully  laid  by, 
and  he  was  now  enabled  to  open  the  business  of 
market-gardening  on  his  own  account,  although 
in  a  small  way  and  on  leased  land.  He  had 
patience  and  perseverance,  and  each  year  added 
somewhat  to  his  cash  account,  and  in  1870  he 
was  able  to  buy  two  lots  near  Halsted  Street. 
This  ground  he  cultivated  most  successfully 
eighteen  years,  and  then  traded  for  land  on 
Argyle  Street,  where  he  now  resides,  and  is 
engaged  in  gardening.  At  present  he  is  the 
owner  of  six  acres  of  land,  five  of  which  are 
devoted  to  cultivation  of  all  kinds  of  vegetables 
for  the  city  market. 

His  career  illustrates  very  aptly  what  can  be 
accomplished  in  the  long  run,  without  capital  at 
the  start.  Constant  effort,  intelligently  directed, 
has  won  for  Mr.  Bisdorff  that  which  he  set  out  to 
acquire,  namely,  a  competency  to  maintain  him  in 
comfort  after  his  working  days  are  over.  Al- 
though his  life  has  been  a  busy  one,  he  has  all 
this  time  kept  himself  thoroughly  posted  on  cur- 
rent topics  of  the  day,  and  is  in  touch  with  the 
spirit  of  the  times.  In  politics  he  is  independent, 
catering  to  no  party,  and  is  dominated  by  none, 
but  votes  as  his  best  judgment  directs  him.  His 


C.  H.  CEPERLY. 


197 


political  interest  stops  at  the  exercise  of  suffrage, 
and  he  is  in  no  sense  an  office  seeker. 

He  was  married  January  2,  1868,  to  Miss  Anna 
Leider,  a  native  of  Wisconsin,  who  has  borne 
him  nine  children:  William,  Nicholas,  John, 
Katharine,  Peter,  Mary,  Barbara,  George  and 
Joseph.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bisdorff  and  all  of  their 
children  are  members  of  St.  Mathias'  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  are  among  its  liberal  sup- 
porters. 

Mrs.  Bisdorff  is  the  second  daughter  of  William 
and  Katharine  (Michael)  Leider,  natives  of  Lux- 


emburg, who  came  to  America  in  1848,  and 
settled  in  Ozaukee  County,  Wisconsin.  Mrs. 
Bisdorff  was  born  there  July  14,  1849.  The 
family  included  the  following  children:  Mathias, 
Margaret  (now  deceased),  Anna,  Nicholas,  John, 
Katharine,  Samuel,  George,  Theodore  and  Bar- 
bara. Mathias  and  John  live  in  Wisconsin,  and 
all  the  others  are  residents  of  Chicago.  Katha- 
rine is  the  wife  of  John  Schiller,  and  Barbara,  of 
Peter  Funk.  The  mother  of  this  family  died  in 
1875,  and  the  father  survived  her  twelve  years, 
dying  in  1887. 


CORNELIUS  H.  CEPERLY. 


CORNELIUS  HENRY  CEPERLY,  presi- 
I  (  dent  of  the  Old  Settlers'  Society  of  Rogers 
Vj  Park,  is  a  native  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
born  October  31,  1841,  in  the  town  of  Root, 
Schoharie  County.  He  is  the  youngest  child  of 
Barnard  and  Dolly  (Russell)  Ceperly,  both  of 
whom  were  born  in  the  same  State,  descendants 
of  the  early  Dutch  settlers  of  that  region.  They 
had  a  family  of  thirteen  children,  eleven  of  whom 
grew  to  maturity,  and  of  this  number  five  are  liv- 
ing at  this  writing,  namely:  David,  of  Chicago; 
Daniel,  a  farmer  of  Gilmore  City,  Floyd  County, 
Iowa;  Hannah,  widow  of  John  A.  Oliver,  and  a 
resident  of  West  Monroe  Street,  Chicago;  Clara, 
wife  of  William  Russell,  of  Clarksville,  Butler 
County,  Iowa,  and  the  subject  of  this  notice. 
The  father  died  in  New  York,  and  the  mother  came 
.West  to  settle  with  her  sons  about  1846,  and  lo- 
cated on  a  farm  in  Northfield  Township,  this  county. 

Here  Cornelius  H.  Ceperly  grew  to  manhood, 
and  received  a  fair  education  in  the  common 
school,  which  he  attended  in  the  winter  months 
— his  time  being  occupied  with  the  duties  of  the 
farm  in  summer. 

August  9,    1862,    he  enlisted   as   a  soldier  in 


Company  G,  One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth  Illi- 
nois Volunteer  Infantry,  and  served  until  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  Union  was  assured,  participating  in 
all  the  engagements  in  which  his  regiment  fought. 
He  never  shirked,  was  never  wounded  or  sick, 
but  was  always  on  duty  at  his  post,  until  he  was 
discharged,  June  20,  1865,  at  Memphis.Tennessee. 

On  his  return  from  the  field,  he  took  up  the 
arts  of  peace  where  he  had  left  them,  engaging 
for  a  short  time  in  farming.  He  then  resumed 
his  practice  in  carpenter  work,  in  which  he  had 
had  some  experience  prior  to  going  to  the  war, 
and  became  master  of  the  trade.  About  1868  he 
began  contracting  and  building  on  his  own  ac- 
count, in  which  he  continued  with  gratifying 
results  to  himself  and  patrons,  until  June,  1895. 
Since  that  time  he  has  acted  as  building  inspector 
in  the  service  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  his  pub- 
lic duties  are  discharged  with  the  same  care  and 
fidelity  which  always  characterized  his  work. 
The  East  End  School  and  many  of  the  residences 
at  Rogers  Park  were  erected  by  him,  and  his 
work  testifies  to  his  integrity  and  skill. 

In  politics  he  is  an  ardent  Republican,  and  his 
first  presidential  vote  was  cast  for  Abraham  Lin- 


198 


MICHAEL  WEBER. 


coin  in  1864.  He  served  several  terms  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board  of  Rogers  Park,  and  was 
one  term  its  president.  He  takes  a  lively  interest 
in  the  success  of  his  part}-,  which  he  believes  to 
be  devoted  to  the  protection  and  service  of  the 
public  interests,  in  which  he  aims  to  labor  per- 
sonally. He  is  a  regular  attendant  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  of  which  his  family  are 
communicants,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Arcanum,  Loyal  League  and  Cumberland  Post 
No.  737,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

April  10,  1866,  Mr.  Ceperly  was  married  to 
Miss  Frances  J.  Kerr,  a  native  of  Roscoe,  Winne- 
bago  County,  Illinois,  a  daughter  of  Charles  and 


Ann  (Larkin)  Kerr,  the  former  a  native  of  Scot- 
land, and  the  latter  of  England.  Mr.  Kerr  died 
February  14,  1874,  his  good  wife  having  passed 
away  November  8,  1873. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ceperly  are  the  parents  of  a  son 
and  five  daughters,  namely:  Clara,  wife  of 
Calistus  Ennis,  of  Chicago;  Cornelia,  wife  of  R. 
M.  Simon,  the  present  recorder  of  Cook  County; 
Walter,  who  resides  with  his  parents;  Alice  (Mrs. 
John  Jones) ,  of  Rogers  Park ;  Lydia  and  Ruby , 
at  home.  Mr.  Ceperly  is  a  frank  and  genial  gen- 
tleman, whom  it  is  a  'pleasure  to  meet,  and  his 
friends  are  numbered  by  those  who  meet  him  in 
any  of  the  relationships  of  life. 


MICHAEL  WEBER. 


WEBER,  a  real-estate  dealer 
residing  at  No.  3766  North  Hermitage 
Avenue,  Chicago,  has  been  a  resident  of 
Cook  County  for  forty-five  years.  He  was  born 
January  3, 1827,  in  Ebersheim,  near  Mainz,  Rhein- 
Hessen,  Germany,  and  reared  to  farm  life  there, 
receiving  a  good  education.  February  22,  1852, 
he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Anna  Maria 
Baer,  who  was  born  in  Oberolm,  near  Mainz. 
About  two  weeks  after  their  marriage  they  bade 
adieu  to  home  and  friends,  and  set  out  for  far 
America,  to  seek  a  new  home  and  make  their 
fortune. 

They  came  direct  to  Cook  County  and  located 
in  the  town  of  Ridgeville,  where  Mr.  Weber 
bought  the  land  on  which  he  now  resides.  Some 
thirty  years  later  his  brother  Mathiascame;  three 
years  later  his  sister,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Thart;  and 
five  years  ago,  his  brother,  John  Weber,  came  to 
this  country  and  located  in  Chicago,  but  their  par- 
ents remained  in  Germany,  where  they  died  several 
years  ago.  After  his  arrival  in  Cook  County  Mr. 


Weber  devoted  his  energies  to  farming  and 
gardening,  and  by  industry  he  acquired  a  hand- 
some property.  At  one  time  he  owned  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six  acres  of  valuable  land,  and 
he  also  invested  considerable  in  city  property.  In 
the  Great  Fire  of  1871  he  lost  about  eighteen 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  property,  but  he  was 
not  discouraged,  and  renewed  his  activity  in  bus- 
iness. After  this  disaster  he  gave  up  farming,  and 
in  company  with  his  son,  Bernard  F.  Weber,  en- 
gaged in  real-estate  transactions,  which  they  con- 
ducted successfully  several  years. 

During  the  last  eight  years  Mr.  Weber  has  con- 
fined his  operations  to  the.  disposal  of  his  own 
land.  He  occupies  a  beautiful  residence,  which 
he  built  in  1891.  It  is  supplied  with  all  the  mod- 
ern improvements,  and  elegantly  furnished,  and 
he  and  his  good  wife  live  in  happy  contentment, 
surrounded  by  all  the  comforts  of  life  and  many 
of  its  luxuries.  They  began  life  in  a  humble  way, 
amid  the  primitive  surroundings  of  the  pioneer 
days,  and  have  earned,  by  their  own  prudence 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

flNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


MATHIAS  MANN 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


MATHIAS  MANN. 


199 


and  good  management,  the  blessings  which  they 
enjoy.  Their  family  includes  a  son  and  two 
daughters,  all  comfortably  settled  near  them, 
namely:  Bernard  F.  (see  biography  elsewhere  in 
this  work);  Margaret,  wife  of  Max  Sorgatz;  and 
Gertrude,  Mrs.  Fred  Kellner,  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Weber  has  fulfilled  the  public  duties  of  a 
good  citizen,  having  served  seven  years  as  com- 
missioner of  highways.  In  political  matters  he 


acts  with  the  Democratic  party.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  are  among  the  faithful  members  of  Saint 
Henry's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  to  whose  sup- 
port they  are  liberal  contributors.  In  all  the 
years  of  his  residence  in  Cook  County,  Mr.  Weber 
has  borne  an  important  part  in  the  development  of 
city  and  country,  and  by  his  fair  dealings  and  up- 
right character  has  won  the  confidence  and  re- 
spect of  many  friends. 


MATHIAS  MANN. 


[ATHIAS  MANN,  an  old  settler  and  real- 
estate  dealer  of  Rogers  Park,  is  a  native 
of  Chicago,  born  February  16,  1844.  His 
parents  were  Tillman  and  Katherine  (Earth) 
Mann,  both  of  whom  were  born  and  reared  in 
Prussia  and  married  there  before  coming  to  the 
United  States. 

The  name  Mann  is  of  English  origin.  The  fam- 
ily was  founded  in  Germany  by  the  great-grand- 
father of  our  subject,  who  was  a  veterinary  sur- 
geon by  profession,  and  went  to  Germany  during 
the  early  Napoleonic  wars.  The  grandfather  of 
Mathias  was  also  a  veterinary  surgeon,  and  his 
father,  Tillman  Mann,  served  in  the  German 
Army  as  a  horseshoer.  Tillman  Mann  had  two 
children,  Nicholas  and  Mary,  when  he  came  to 
Chicago  and  settled  on  the  North  Side,  in  1842. 
They  traveled  by  water  over  the  whole  distance 
from  the  Fatherland.  From  New  York  they 
went  by  the  Hudson  River  to  Albany,  and  thence 
on  the  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  where  they  took 
ship  for  Chicago,  arriving  in  this  city  on  the  Na- 
tional holiday,  July  4. 

For  four  years  Mr.  Mann  labored  in  a  brick 
yard  in  Chicago,  and  by  saving  his  earnings  lie 
was  then  enabled  to  purchase  land  which  soon 
made  him  independent.  He  bought  twenty-six 


acres  on  section  31  of  Ridgeville  Township,  and 
engaged  in  farming  and  gardening.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  born  while  the  family  resided 
in  Chicago,  and  a  daughter,  Barbara,  came  at 
the  farm  home.  All  are  still  living  except  Mary. 
The  father  died  January  26,  1872,  and  was  sur- 
vived more  than  ten  years  by  his  wife,  who  passed 
away  September  10,  1882.  Mr.  Mann  was  suc- 
cessful in  life,  and  found  opportunity  to  give 
some  attention  to  the  conduct  of  public  affairs. 
He  was  chosen  by  his  fellow-citizens  to  fill  vari- 
ous official  positions. 

Mathias  Mann  succeeded  to  the  possession  of 
the  homestead,  and  continued  farming  and  gar- 
dening until  1895,  when  he  platted  Mann's  Addi- 
tion to  Rogers  Park,  and  is  now  engaged  in  dis- 
posing of  the  same  and  in  the  transaction  of  a 
general  real-estate  business.  His  sound  and 
practical  judgment  and  general  intelligence  fit 
him  for  the  transaction  of  this  kind  of  business. 

In  politics  Mr.  Mann  is  a  stanch  Democrat, 
and  takes  an  active  part  in  the  control  of  local 
affairs.  He  has  served  as  trustee  of  the  village 
of  Rogers  Park  four  years,  was  school  director 
six  years,  and  acted  as  judge  of  election  in  1896. 
He  is  a  public-spirited  and  progressive  citizen, 
and  takes  a  lively  interest  in  all  matters  pertain- 


200 


J.  A.  BUDLONG. 


ing  to  the  public  welfare.  He  has  been  a  di- 
rector in  Saint  Henry's  Roman  Catholic  Church 
many  years. 

April  23,  1868,  Mr.  Mann  was  married  to  Miss 
Margaret  Muno,  a  native  of  Prussia,  who  came 
to  this  country  in  infancy  with  her  parents,  Peter 
and  Mary  K.  Muno,  of  whom  mention  is  made  at 
length  on  another  page  of  this  volume.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Mann  were  born  the  following  children: 
Mary  K.,  wife  of  Joseph  Trausch,  of  Rogers 
Park;  Katharine  M. ,  who  became  the  wife  of  J. 


P.  Jaeger,  and  died  in  1893,  leaving  one  child; 
Henry,  Elizabeth,  Birdie  and  Edward.  Mrs. 
Mann  died  April  13,  1885. 

Mr.  Mann  has  spent  almost  his  entire  life  in 
Rogers  Park,  and  has  not  only  witnessed  the 
growth  and  development  of  this  beautiful  suburb, 
but  has  contributed  his  share  to  its  advancement, 
and  is  reckoned  among  its  most  worthy  citizens. 
In  1894  he  visited  Europe  and  spent  about  three 
months  in  traveling  among  the  interesting  scenes  of 
the  Old  World. 


JOSEPH  A.  BUDLONG. 


(JOSEPH  ALBERT  BUDLONG,  a  prosper- 
I  ous  florist  of  Chicago,  is  a  native  of  Rhode 
(*/  Island,  born  March  17,  1841,  at  Cranston. 
He  is  a  son  of  Joseph  S.  and  Mary  Ann  (Arnold) 
Budlong,  extended  mention  of  whom,  and  their 
ancestry,  is  made  in  the  sketch  of  L.  A.  Budlong, 
on  other  pages  of  this  volume. 

Mr.  Budlong's  boyhood  was  passed  under  the 
parental  roof,  the  public  schools  affording  him  the 
only  means  of  an  education,  which,  though  mea- 
ger in  scope,  had  the  merit  of  thoroughness.  In 
the  great  school  of  business  experience,  and 
through  reading  and  observation,  he  has  acquired 
a  knowledge  of  men  and  things  which  makes  him 
an  intelligent  and  useful  citizen.  His  father's 
occupation  was  market-gardening,  and  young 
Joseph  was,  early  in  life,  introduced  to  an  expe- 
rience between  the  rows  of  growing  plants.  He 
was  thus  employed  until  after  passing  his  major- 
ity, when  he  decided  upon  a  change  of  occupation 
and  location,  and  went  to  Providence,  Rhode  Is- 
land, following  the  carpenter's  trade  two  years. 

In  1862  he  came  to  Cook  County  and  joined  his 
brother,  Lyman  A.,  who  had  settled  here  five 
years  before,  in  the  gardening  and  pickling  busi- 
ness. From  his  brother  he  obtained  employment 


on  a  salary,  remaining  with  him  three  years.  The 
country  was  low  and  almost  continuously  wet, 
and  this,  with  other  causes,  gave  rise  to  condi- 
tions which  developed  in  him  a  serious  rheumatic 
ailment,  causing  intense  suffering,  and  he  was 
eventually  compelled  to  return  to  the  East.  In 
Brooklyn,  New  York,  he  secured  a  clerkship  with 
another  brother,  who  was  a  merchant,  and  while 
thus  engaged  he  became  acquainted  with  Miss 
Teresa  Smith,  to  whom  he  was  married  February 
i,  1866.  She  is  a  native  of  Brooklyn,  daughter 
of  William  and  Priscilla  (Timms)  Smith,  both  of 
whom  were  born  in  London,  England. 

Shortly  after  his  marriage  he  returned,  with 
his  wife,  to  Cook  County.  Leasing  land  from 
his  brother,  he  began  gardening  upon  his  own 
responsibility,  and  continued  successfully  two 
years.  He  then  entered  into  a  co-partnership 
with  his  brother  in  the  gardening  industry,  and 
from  a  small  beginning,  they  developed  gradually 
one  of  the  largest  enterprises  of  its  kind  in  the 
West.  This  business  relation  between  the  broth- 
ers was  happy  in  conduct  and  results  and  was 
continued  seventeen  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
period  it  was  dissolved  by  mutual  consent. 

The  efforts  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  had 


CHARLES  SMITH. 


201 


been  so  well  directed  that  he  was  able  to  buy  ten 
acres  of  ground,  which  he  leased  to  another,  who 
built  greenhouses  for  the  cultivation  of  vegeta- 
bles. Upon  the  expiration  of  this  lease,  Mr. 
Budlong  assumed  personal  control  and  vigorously 
set  about  the  cultivation  of  his  own  land.  He 
extended  the  lines  by  erecting  new  greenhouses, 
and  entered  quite  extensively  upon  the  produc- 
tion of  all  kinds  of  garden  vegetables,  being  thus 
engaged  for  a  number  of  years.  For  the  past  ten 
years  he  has  grown  flowers  exclusively,  princi- 
pally roses  and  carnations  for  the  cut-flower  trade. 
This  business,  under  his  wise  management,  has 
been  lucrative  and  has  grown  to  great  propor- 
tions. There  are  now  upon  his  estate  eighteen 
greenhouses,  each  having  an  area  eighteen  by 
two  hundred  feet,  and  one  thirty  by  three  hun- 
dred feet  in  size.  The  product  is  something 
enormous  and  is  rapidly  disposed  of  through  the 
commission  houses  of  the  city.  His  is,  probably, 
one  of  the  largest  individual  businesses  of  the 
kind  in  the  country,  and  it  stands  as  the  strong- 


est evidence  that — now,  as  ever — success  can  be 
won  by  intelligent  direction,  supplemented  by 
persistent  and  tireless  effort. 

To  Mr.  Budlong  and  his  estimable  wife  have 
been  born  three  children.  Albert  Henry,  the 
eldest,  is  married  and  resides  near  his  father, 
having  two  children.  The  second  died  in  early 
childhood.  The  youngest,  Florence  M.,  is  the 
wife  of  John  Spellman,  of  Kvanston,  and  the 
mother  of  one  child. 

Mr.  Budlong' s  political  affiliation  is  with  the 
Republican  party.  He  is  prominently  identified 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  being  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  Providence  Lodge  No.  711,  of  Jefferson. 
He  maintains  good  standing  in  Corinthian  Chap- 
ter, Royal  Arch  Masons,  Apollo  Commandery, 
Knights  Templar,  and  Oriental  Consistory,  of 
this  city.  As  no  one  can  reach  these  exalted  de- 
grees who  is  not  of  well-known  probity  and  abil- 
ity, his  standing  in  this  great  order  is  sufficient 
testimonial  of  his  standing  in  the  community 
which  has  been  so  long  his  home. 


CHARLES  SMITH. 


/TjHARLES  SMITH,  one  of  the  progressive 
I  (  and  successful  German-American  citizens  of 
\J  Cook  County,  is  deserving  of  honorable 
mention  among  those  who  left  home  and  native 
land,  with  all  the  endearing  associations  sur- 
rounding one's  birthplace,  to  make  a  home  and  a 
name  in  the  midst  of  strangers,  whose  language 
and  customs  were  as  strange  as  their  faces.  He 
was  born  February  26,  1854,  near  Hamburg, 
Schlesvvig-Holstein,  Germany  (then  part  of  Den- 
mark). His  parents,  Asmusand  Maria  Schmidt, 
were  born  and  lived  at  the  same  place  until  the 
death  of  the  mother.  Some  years  after  this  sad 


event,  the  father  came  to  Chicago,  and  died  at  the 
home  of  the  son  whose  name  heads  this  notice, 
in  1891. 

Charles  Smith  received  a  good  education  in  his 
native  language  and  was  early  accustomed  to  the 
labors  of  the  farm.  He  is  made  of  the  superior 
material  which  is  not  satisfied  to  sit  down  in  idle 
contentment  or  drift  with  the  current  of  events 
listlessly.  He  was  not  satisfied  with  his  environ- 
ment and  opportunities,  and  early  determined  to 
emigrate  to  that  free  country  across  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  of  which  he  had  read  and  heard.  In  1871 
he  arrived  here,  a  poor  boy  of  seventeen  years, 


202 


J.  G.  FENN. 


yet  rich  in  a  good,  sound  mind  and  healthy  body, 
with  strong  reliance  upon  himself  and  hopes  of 
the  future.  When  he  reached  Chicago  he  had 
about  a  dollar  left,  but  he  immediately  went  to 
work  as  a  gardener,  and  continued  diligently  at 
work  and  saving  his  earnings  until  he  had  accu- 
mulated enough  to  begin  business  for  himself  in 
a  small  way. 

For  a  few  years  he  tilled  leased  land,  and  by 
industry  and  careful  management  was  able  in 
time  to  purchase  ground.  In  1886  he  bought 
seven  acres  of  land  on  Touhy  Avenue,  Rogers 
Park  (Chicago),  and  is  now  very  comfortably 
situated,  with  a  pleasant  home  and  substantial 
furnishings.  Here  dwells  a  united  and  happy 
family.  May  2,  1877,  Mr.  Smith  was  married 
to  Miss  Sophia  Sobey,  who  was  born  April  21, 
1854,  in  Wemorby,  Sweden.  Her  parents  died 
when  she  was  but  fourteen  years  old,  and  she 
came  to  America  at  eighteen,  and  has  never  re- 
gretted the  fortune  which  brought  her  here. 


Three  children  complete  the  family  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Smith,  namely:  Frederick,  born  July  25, 
1878;  Helen,  October  3,  1882;  and  Lulu,  March 
3,  1888.  Carl,  born  May  19,  1881,  died  at  the 
age  of  eleven  months.  Though  they  are  faithful 
believers  in  the  faith  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  on 
account  of  the  distance  from  any  house  of  worship 
of  that  denomination,  they  are  accustomed  to  at- 
tend the  Methodist  Church  services. 

Mr.  Smith  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  fellow- 
citizens,  as  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  he  was 
several  times  elected  to  the  responsible  position 
of  trustee  in  the  village  of  West  Ridge  while 
that  corporation  existed.  He  is  not  bound  to 
any  political  party,  and  is  wont  to  use  his  best 
efforts  in  securing  honest  and  competent  men  to 
administer  public  affairs,  regardless  of  party  dis- 
tinctions. By  upright  practices  and  diligent  at- 
tention to  business  he  has  gained  the  respect  of 
all  who  know  him  and  an  independent  position  in 
the  world. 


JOHN  G.  FENN. 


(JOHN  GEORGE  FENN,  a  representative 
\  German-American  citizen  who  has  now  re- 
Q)  tired  from  active  life,  has  been  a  resident  of 
Chicago  since  1853,  and  now  makes  his  home  in 
that  portion  of  the  city  known  as  Rogers  Park. 
He  was  born  October  22,  1825,  in  Kreis  Unten 
Franken,  Bavaria,  and  is  the  son  of  Charles  and 
Margaret  (Stratz)  Fenn.  The  father  was  a  cooper 
in  his  native  land,  and  in  1853,  with  his  wife 
and  six  children,  came  to  the  United  States. 
Disembarking  in  New  York  on  July  10  of  that 
year,  he  proceeded  by  rail  to  Buffalo,  New  York, 
by  boat  to  Detroit,  and  thence  by  rail  to  Chicago. 


He  died  in  1860,  and  his  wife  survived  him  nine- 
teen years.  Their  children,  in  order  of  birth, 
were:  John  George,  whose  name  heads  this 
sketch;  Charles;  John  and  Christian,  who  are 
now  deceased;  Margaret,  wife  of  Charles  Schmidt, 
residing  in  Wisconsin,  and  Barbara,  who  is  also 
deceased. 

John  George  Fenn  was  reared  in  Bavaria,  where 
he  received  the  liberal  education  accorded  to  every 
German  child,  and  became  master  of  the  cooper's 
trade,  which  he  followed  until  he  came  to  Chi- 
cago. The  capital  of  the  entire  family  on  its  ar- 
rival here  consisted  of  about  one  hundred  dol- 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

HNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


REV.  F.  N.  R.    PKRRY 


REV.  F.  N.  R.  PERRY. 


203 


lars.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  soon  found  em- 
ployment in  a  lumber  yard,  and  was  so  industri- 
ous and  careful  of  his  earnings  that  he  was  en- 
abled to  go  into  business  on  his  own  account  after 
three  years.  At  that  time  he  opened  a  restaurant 
at  No.  229  North  Clark  Street,  and  continued 
there  three  years,  when  he  bought  a  lot  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  same  street,  and  built  a 
business  block,  which  he  immediately  occupied. 
In  the  Great  Fire  of  1871  he  lost  all  his  posses- 
sions, including  this  building  and  two  houses, 
for  which  he  recovered  a  very  little  insurance. 
However,  he  had  credit  and  friends,  and  im- 
mediately proceeded  to  rebuild,  and  continued 


the  business  about  eight  years  on  the  same  site. 
At  the  end  of  this  period,  owing  to  failing  health, 
he  was  forced  to  give  up  business,  and  since  1879 
he  has  been  living  a  retired  life  at  his  present 
home.  He  has  never  taken  much  interest  in 
political  contests,  and  is  content  to  leave  to  others 
the  struggles  of  practical  politics. 

August  31,  1863.  he  was  married  to  Elizabeth 
Gundermann,  a  native  of  Hesse-Darmstadt,  who 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1854.  She  remained 
in  New  York  City  two  years  and  then  came  to 
Chicago.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fenn  are  Lutherans  in 
religious  faith.  The  former  is  a  member  of  the 
Ancient  Order  of  Druids  and  the  Sons  of  Hermann. 


REV.  FRANK  N,  R.  PERRY. 


REV.  FRANK  NOEL  RANSOM  PERRY, 
pastor  of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes 
at  Ravenswood,  is  a  representative  of  a  prom- 
inent pioneer  family  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  His 
maternal  grandfather  was  Noel  Le  Vasseur,  who 
was  in  Chicago  when  it  was  but  a  hamlet.  He 
was  the  first  settler  at  Bourbonnais  Grove,  in  Kan- 
kakee  County.  He  donated  the  site  of  Saint  Vi- 
ator's College,  and  was  long  connected  with  the 
growth  and  development  of  that  section  of  the 
State.  Noel  Le  Vasseur  came  to  Chicago  with 
Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  who  was  his  warm  personal 
friend,  and  who.  upon  the  death  of  Le  Vasseur, 
went  to  Bourbonnais  Grove  to  attend  his  funeral. 
Father  Perry  is  the  son  of  Albert  S.  Perry,  who 
came  to  Illinois  from  Bridgeport,  Connecticut. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  and  his  brother,  Ed- 
ward H.  Perry,  are  the  only  surviving  members 
of  the  family  of  Albert  S.  Perry. 

Rev.   Frank  N.    Perry  was  born  in  Kankakee, 


Illinois,  February  9,  1862.  He  pursued  a  class- 
ical course  of  study  at  the  College  of  Saint  Viator's 
and  his  theological  course  in  Saint  Mary's  Sem- 
inar}', at  Baltimore,  Maryland.  He  was  ordained 
a  priest  June  16,  1887,  and  for  about  eight  years 
succeeding  his  ordination  he  was  assistant  priest 
at  Holy  Name  Cathedral  in  Chicago. 

The  first  religious  services  in  the  parish  of  which 
Father  Perry  now  has  charge  were  conducted  by 
Father  Coughlin  at  Bennett  Hall,  on  the  first 
Sunday  in  March,  1892.  Services  were  held 
there  until  October  of  the  same  year,  when  the 
present  church  edifice  was  ready  for  occupancy. 
In  May,  1893,  on  account  of  ill-health,  Father 
Coughlin  resigned  pastoral  charge  of  the  parish, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Father  Perry.  The  church 
was  dedicated  October  1 5th  of  the  same  year.  In 
May,  1895,  the  priest's  residence  was  completed. 
The  parish,  though  comparatively  young,  is  in  a 
prosperous  condition. 


204 


R.  F.  DILGER. 


ROBERT  F.  DILGER. 


ROBERT  FRANK  DILGER,  a  market-gar- 
dener of  Chicago,  residing  at  No.  4183  North 
Clark  Street,  is  a  native  of  Cook  County, 
born  January  13,  1859.  He  is  the  second  son  of 
Frank  Paul  and  Charlotte  (Wollner)  Dilger. 

Frank  P.  Dilger  was  born  at  2  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  April  2,  1828,  in  Dorndorf,  Koen- 
igreich,  Wurtemberg,  Germany,  and  died  at  Rose- 
hill,  Cook  County,  Illinois,  December  26,  1872, 
at'n  o'clock  A.  M.  Charlotte  Wollner,  born 
March  7,  1831,  in  Teszin,  Mecklenburg-Schwer- 
in,  Germany,  died  at  2:30  o'clock,  November  24, 
1869,  at  Rosehill.  Mr.  Dilger  came  to  America 
in  1852,  and  located  immediately  at  Chicago. 
Mrs.  Dilger  came  with  her  parents  to  Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin,  in  1851,  and  the  next  year  removed 
to  Chicago.  They  were  married  in  this  city,  No- 
vember 29,  1856.  All  their  children  were  born  at 
Rosehill,  as  follows:  Frank  P.,  August  26,  1857; 
Robert  F.,  January  13,  1859;  Sophia,  April  21, 
1861;  Mathias  P.,  December  10,  1862;  Anna  Ma- 
ria, December  12,  1864.  The  last-named  is  the 
wife  of  William  Volk,  a  grocer  of  Chicago.  Ma- 
thias is  a  florist  at  Waukegan,  Illinois. 

Frank  P.  Dilger  enjoyed  good  educational  ad- 
vantages in  his  native  land,  and  there  learned  the 
carpenter's  trade.  On  arriving  in  this  country  he 
continued  as  a  journeyman  for  a  short  time,  and 
then  began  the  erection  of  buildings  by  contract. 
Many  of  the  farm  buildings  in  the  former  town- 
ship of  Lake  View,  in  Niles  Township,  and  at 
Gross  Point,  were  erected  by  him.  He  built  the 
first  Saint  Henry's  Church  at  what  is  now  High 


Ridge.  In  connection  with  his  building  opera- 
tions, he  carried  on  farming  and  gardening,  where 
the  son  whose  name  heads  this  article  now  re- 
sides. At  one  time  he  owned  a  park  at  Rosehill 
Cemetery,  which  he  exchanged  in  1860  for  eight 
acres  of  land,  a  part  of  which  is  now  owned  by 
Robert  F.  Dilger.  He  took  a  commendable  in- 
terest in  public  affairs,  but  never  sought  an  offi- 
cial position.  He  died  at  the  age  of  forty-five 
years,  in  1872,  having  survived  his  wife  nearly 
four  years.  She  passed  away  November  24, 
1869.  She  was  identified  with  the  German  Lu- 
theran Church,  while  he  was  a  devoted  member 
of  Saint  Henry's  Catholic  Church. 

Robert  F.  Dilger  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  and  has  ever  been  an  intelligent  reader 
and  observer.  He  is  well  informed  on  the  ques- 
tions that  engage  public  minds,  and  is  a  public- 
spirited  and  progressive  citizen.  He  grew  to 
manhood  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  he  lives, 
and  enjoys  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  con- 
temporaries. Believing  that  the  Republican  party 
is  the  exponent  and  advocate  of  the  truest  and 
best  principles  of  public  policy,  as  compared  with 
other  political  organizations,  he  has  ever  been 
found  among  its  most  faithful  adherents. 

While  a  boy  Mr.  Dilger  worked  eight  years  for 
Mr.  Nicholas  Kransz,  of  whom  extended  mention 
is  made  in  this  volume.  After  arriving  at  matu- 
rity, he  spent  three  years  in  the  seed  store  of  J. 
C.  Vaughan,  a  well-known  seedsman  and  florist 
of  Chicago.  He  has  been  self-sustaining  since 
the  age  of  thirteen  years,  and  is  essentially  a  self- 


H.  E.  ROUNDS. 


205 


made  man.  Being  careful  of  his  earnings,  he  was 
able,  on  leaving  the  service  of  Mr.  Vaughan,  to 
establish  himself  in  business,  and  has  continued 
ever  since  with  gratifying  success. 

November  24,  1887,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Maggie  Riedel,  daughter  of  Charles  and  Kathar- 
ine (Weber)  Riedel,  natives  of  Germany.  Mrs. 
Dilger's  parents  now  reside  at  De  Pere,  Wiscon- 
sin. She  is  the  second  of  their  six  children.  The 


others  were:  Mary,  who  died  at  the  age  of  seven 
years;  Charles,  now  a  resident  of  Tacoma,  Wash- 
ington; Edward,  now  deceased;  Carrie  and  Lou- 
ise, the  latter  also  deceased.  Mrs.  Dilger  is  the 
mother  of  three  children,  namely:  Alois,  Elmer 
and  Robert  Walter.  The  family  is  not  connected 
with  any  church  organization,  but  is  respected 
and  esteemed  as  among  the  best  moral  elements 
of  the  community. 


HORACE  E.  ROUNDS. 


HORACE  E.  ROUNDS,  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  Rogers  Park  News-Herald,  is  a  native 
of  Enosburg,  Vermont,  born  September  29, 
1838.  He  is  a  son  of  Lester  and  Aurilla  (Parker) 
Rounds,  the  former  being  a  native  of  Canada,  and 
the  latter  of  Vermont.  The  Rounds  family  is 
descended  from  English  and  Irish  ancestry. 

Lester  Rounds  was  a  gentleman  of  good  edu- 
cation, acquired  in  the  schools  and  seminaries  of 
Vermont  and  New  York.  He  moved  to  the 
West  in  1840,  with  his  family,  and  settled  in 
South  port  (now  Kenosha),  Wisconsin,  in  which 
locality  he  was  among  the  first  settlers.  His  fine 
attainments  made  him  a  desirable  acquisition  to 
the  little  frontier  settlement,  where  he  was  one  of 
the  pioneer  school  teachers.  In  1844  he  moved 
to  Ceresco  (now  Ripon),  Wisconsin,  founded  by 
the  "Fourierites,"  a  society  of  the  community 
order,  originated  by  Francois  Marie  Charles 
Fourier,  a  French  Socialist,  whose  plans  for  so- 
cial reform  were  never  successfully  realized. 
While  living  in  Ceresco,  Mr.  Rounds  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster,  which  position  he  held  until 
the  phalanx  went  to  pieces  in  1848. 

In  1850,  he,  with  three  others  (his  brother,  J. 
M.  Rounds,  William  Starr  and  W.  C.  Dickerson) 


founded  the  village  of  Eureka,  Wisconsin.  Here 
Mr.  Rounds,  or  "Uncle  Lester,"  as  he  was 
familiarly  called,  established  himself  in  a  general 
mercantile  business,  in  which  he  achieved  con- 
siderable success.  Being  fitted  by  nature  and  ed- 
ucation for  leadership,  he  became  a  sort  of  public 
functionary,  holding  many  local  offices,  such  as 
postmaster,  justice  of  the  peace  and  administrator 
of  estates.  In  his  early  life  he  was  an  ardent  Whig, 
and  later  espoused  the  principles  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  being  one  of  its  most  radical  de- 
fenders. He  was  a  man  of  great  goodness  of 
heart,  and  few  men  had  a  greater  popularity  at 
home  than  "Uncle  Lester."  To  him  and  his  de- 
voted wife  were  born  five  children,  namely:  Ster- 
ing  P. ,  at  one  time  public  printer  of  the  United 
States  Government,  and  a  gentleman  of  the  high- 
est attainments,  who  died  in  1887,  aged  nearly 
sixty  years;  Rhoda  A.  (Mrs.  Alberts.  Bolsten, 
of  Sugar  Grove,  Illinois) ;  Horace  E. ;  Edward 
Q. ,  who  died  at  the  age  of  three  years;  and 
Florence,  who  died  in  infancy.  Lester  Rounds 
died  in  1888,  at  the  age  of  eighty  four  years,  and 
Mrs.  Rounds  in  1882,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five 
years. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  year  and  a- 


206 


H.  E.  ROUNDS. 


half  old  when  his  parents  settled  at  the  present 
site  of  Kenosha,  Wisconsin,  and  received  his  ed- 
ucation in  Eureka,  in  such  branches  as  were 
taught  in  district  schools.  In  1854,  when  fif- 
teen years  of  age,  he  came  to  Chicago,  then  a 
city  of  only  sixty-five  thousand  people,  to  learn 
the  printer's  trade  in  the  office  of  his  brother 
Sterling,  who  was  then  proprietor  of  the  most 
important  job  printing  establishment  in  the  city. 
He  remained  here  six  years,  and  thoroughly 
mastered  the  intricacies  of  the  printer's  art,  also 
acquiring  some  proficiency  in  writing  for  the 
Chicago  Sunday  Leader  and  Rounds'  Printers' 
Cabinet. 

The  discovery  of  gold  at  Pike's  Peak  made  him 
ambitious  of  acquiring  wealth  by  the  '  'short  cut, ' ' 
and  in  1860  he  started  for  that  Eldorado  in 
charge  of  a  train  of  six  wagons  drawn  by  oxen, 
carrying  mining  machinery  and  supplies.  Forty- 
five  days  were  consumed  going  from  St.  Joseph 
to  the  Gregory  mining  camp.  He  remained  a 
year  and  a-half  in  Russell  Gulch,  meeting  with 
poor  success,  and  finally  sold  the  mill  and  ma- 
chinery for  about  one-fifth  of  its  cost.  He  was  a 
member  of  a  law  and  order  committee,  which 
had  for  its  object  the  trial  and  punishment  of  the 
many  criminals  who  infested  the  mining  camps, 
and  assisted  in  preserving  order  at  the  execution 
of  one  criminal  and  in  flogging  another  for 
heinous  crimes. 

From  there  he  went  to  Denver,  Colorado,  and 
with  his  brother,  Sterling  P. ,  bought  a  quarter 
interest  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  News,  remaining 
there  eighteen  months.  In  1863  he  sold  to  Gov. 
John  Evans,  returned  to  Chicago,  and  shortly 
after  went  to  Eureka,  Wisconsin,  where  he  joined 
his  father  in  the  mercantile  business,  after  being 
rejected  as  a  volunteer  for  the  Union  army  on  ac- 
count of  a  temporary  physical  disability. 

In  June,  1864,  he  tried  again  with  better  suc- 
cess and  enlisted  in  Company  C,  Forty-first  Wis- 
consin Volunteer  Infantry,  a  hundred-day  regi- 
ment, which  went  at  once  to  Memphis,  Tennes- 
see, in  the  vicinity  of  which  it  became  actively 
engaged  in  desultory  warfare  with  marauding 
bands  of  the  enemy,  under  General  Forrest,  and 
other  bushwhacking  bands.  He  was  at  Memphis 


when  the  rebel  General  Forrest  raided  that  city, 
and  took  part  in  the  hot  skirmish  that  followed. 
He  served  a  month  longer  than  his  enlisted  term. 

Returning  to  Eureka,  he  resumed  business 
vt  ith  his  father  for  a  time,  then  established  the 
Eureka  Journal,  the  first  and  only  paper  the  town 
ever  had,  conducting  the  enterprise  one  year. 
During  this  year,  1867,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Hattie  N.,  daughter  of  LaFayette 
and  Lucy  M.  Parker,  of  Racine,  Wisconsin. 
Subsequent  to  this  event,  he  went  to  Oshkcsh, 
Wisconsin,  and  established  the  Oshkosh  Journal, 
having  for  a  partner  Hiram  Morley.  This  vent- 
ure proved  fairly  successful,  and  after  five  years 
of  unremitting  toil  in  building  up  a  circulation 
and  acquiring  a  good  advertising  patronage,  the 
business  was  sold  to  the  Oshkosh  Northwestern. 
Returning  to  Chicago  in  1873,  he  again  took  a 
position  with  his  brother,  Sterling  P.,  with  whom 
he  was  associated  for  ten  years.  In  1884  he  ac- 
cepted the  assistant  editorship  of  Peck' s  Son, 
published  at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  which  po- 
sition he  ably  filled  for  two  years,  doing  a  large 
share  of  the  literary  work.  Succeeding  this,  he 
established  a  job  printing  office  in  Milwaukee, 
which  he  conducted  until  1891,  which  year  dates 
the  establishment  of  his  present  paper  at  Rogers 
Park,  the  News-Herald,  which  is  considered  to 
be  one  cf  the  essential  fixtures  of  the  place. 

Mr.  Rounds  is  a  member  of  Cumberland  Post, 
No.  737,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  of  which 
he  has  been  quartermaster  ever  since  its  forma- 
tion, except  one  year,  when  he  was  commander. 
He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  cast  his  first 
vote  for  the  lamented  Lincoln  when  a  candidate 
for  his  second  term. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rounds  have  been  born  four 
children,  three  of  whom  are  living:  Elinor,  wife 
of  Howard  D.  McLeod,  of  Muskegon,  Michigan; 
La  Fayette  and  Aurilla.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Rounds  are  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  and  take  an  active  interest  in  religious 
works.  It  can  be  truthfully  said  that  much  of 
the  progress  made  by  the  handsome  and  thriving 
suburb  of  Rogers  Park  is  due  in  considerable 
part  to  the  publicity  given  it  by  the  News- 
Herald. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


WILLIAM  S.  JOHNSTON 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT' 


W.  S.  JOHNSTON. 


207 


WILLIAM  S.  JOHNSTON. 


p  QlLLIAM  SKEA  JOHNSTON,  the  well- 
\  A  /  known  carriage  manufacturer  of  Oak  Park, 
V  V  comes  of  that  sturdy,  God-fearing  Scotch 
lineage  which  has  given  so  many  substantial  citi- 
zens to  all  the  newer  parts  of  the  world.  He  was 
born  January  12,  1841,111  the  parish  ofOrphir, 
in  the  Orkney  Islands.  His  parents  were  John 
and  Janet  (Skea)  Johnston.  The  former  was 
born  in  the  Shetland  Islands,  where  his  ancestors 
had  lived  for  many  generations.  His  father  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  the  Orkney  Islands, 
where  the  son  became  a  blacksmith.  Mrs.  Janet 
Johnston  died  in  1847.  She  was  the  mother  of 
nine  children,  as  follows:  John,  who  died  in  Lon- 
don in  1848;  James,  now  residing  in  Oak  Park, 
Illinois;  Janet  (Mrs.  Joseph  Haloro),  who  still 
lives  in  the  Orkney  Islands;  Thomas,  a  blacksmith 
in  Stockton,  California;  Magnus,  who  died  in 
childhood;  William  S.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Andrew,  a  blacksmith  and  carriage  builder,  re- 
siding in  Chicago;  Archibald,  who  died  in  the 
West  Indies  in  1867;  and  one  who  died  in  infancy. 
John  Johnston  married,  as  his  second  wife,  Miss 
Katherine  Wilson,  who  became  the  mother  of 
four  children,  of  whom  the  following  is  the  rec- 
ord: Ann  (Mrs.  David  Scott)  died  in  Edin- 
burgh, Scotland;  John  resides  in  Oak  Park;  David 
died  in  the  Orkney  Islands,  where  Mary  (Mrs. 
Peter  Turn's)  still  resides. 

William  S.  Johnston  learned  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith  in  his  father's  shop,  where  he  worked 
until  he  reached  his  majority.  His  educational 
advantages  were  very  limited,  but  he  has  largely 
made  up  for  the  lack  of  early  advantages  by  the 
use  of  rare  business  judgment  and  strong  common 


sense.  In  the  year  1862  he  engaged  with  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  to  go  to  York  Factory, 
located  about  four  miles  from  Hudson  Bay,  for 
five  years.  There  he  did  various  kinds  of  black- 
smith work  for  the  Indians,  in  the  interest  of  the 
above  company,  such  as  making  traps,  spears 
and  axes,  and  repairing  their  guns  and  other  im- 
plements. For  this  work  he  received  thirty-six 
pounds  a  year  and  fifty  acres  of  land  at  the  end  of 
the  five  years.  At  the  end  of  his  term  of  service 
he  received  a  grant  of  a  piece  of  land  near  Winni- 
peg, though  at  that  time  it  was  still  a  wilderness. 
This  he  sold  and  engaged  for  another  year  with 
the  same  company  at  Fort  Pelley,  in  what  is  now 
Manitoba.  He  subsequently  journeyed  down  the 
river  to  York  Factory,  where  he  took  passage  to 
London.  Thence  he  went  to  his  old  home,  and 
after  a  short  visit,  removed  to  Edinburgh,  where 
he  remained  eighteen  months,  working  at  his  trade. 
In  1870  he  resolved  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the 
United  States,  and,  having  previously  married, 
he  came  to  New  York,  whence  he  continued  his 
way  to  Wilmington,  Will  County,  Illinois,  where 
he  worked  for  about  one  and  a-half  years.  He  re- 
moved in  1872  to  Oak  Park  and  opened  a  carriage 
and  horse-shoeing  shop  on  Lake  Street,  in  a 
building  which  had  previously  been  used  as  a 
carpenter  shop.  Though  he  received  much  oppo- 
sition and- even  threats  from  others  in  the  same 
line  of  work,  he  remained  at  his  post  and  soon 
saw  his  business  begin  to  prosper.  After  five 
years  he  erected  a  fine  building,  near  the  same  lo- 
cation, and  continued  the  business  until  1886. 
During  that  year  he  built  a  more  commodious 
structure  on  Harlem  Avenue,  and  in  1887  opened 


208 


W.   H.  REEDY. 


a  carriage  shop,  taking  his  two  sons  into  partner- 
ship. This  shop  is  complete  in  every  detail,  and 
is  equipped  for  doing  all  work  connected  with  car- 
riage and  wagon  building.  He  has  also  built  a 
number  of  dwelling  houses  at  Oak  Park. 

November  19,  1869,  Mr.  Johnston  was  married 
in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  to  Miss  May  Linklator 
Scarth,  daughter  of  John  Stuart  Scarth  and  May 
Linklator.  Mrs.  Johnston,  who  is  a  lady  of  cult- 
ure and  refinement,  was  born  at  Kirkwall,  in  the 
Orkney  Islands,  a  town  famous  for  its  monument 
to  the  Covenanters  who  suffered  martyrdom  near 
there,  as  well  as  for  St.  Magnus'  Cathedral,  the 
oldest  institution  of  its  character  in  Scotland. 

John  S.  Scarth  was  the  son  of  a  British  soldier, 
and  was  born  on  board  a  man-of-war  en  route  to 
France  from  Malta,  where  his  father  had  been 
stationed.  The  latter  served  twenty-one  years  in 
the  army,  participating  in  the  Battle  of  Waterloo 
and  many  other  engagements,  and  finally  retired 
upon  a  pension.  John  S.  Scarth  learned  the 
tailor's  trade,  but  spent  most  of  his  life  as  an  in- 
structor in  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  for 


which  art  he  had  a  peculiar  talent.  For  forty 
years  he  was  precentor  at  St.  Magnus'  Cathedral. 
He  died  in  Liverpool,  England,  in  1888,  aged 
seventy-nine  years.  His  wife,  who  was  descend- 
ed from  an  old  Orkney  family,  died  at  the  same 
place  in  1875. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnston  have  been  the  parents 
of  six  children,  of  whom  two  died  in  childhood. 
The  others  are:  Ellen  (.Mrs.  Peter  L.  Petersen), 
of  River  Forest;  Lillie,  who  is  at  home  with  her 
parents;  John  and  Archibald,  associated  in  busi- 
ness with  their  father.  Two  nieces,  Adelaide  and 
Flora,  have  also  been  adopted  into  the  family. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnston  were  members  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  and  are  now  connected  with 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Oak  Park.  In 
1893  they  made  a  visit  to  their  old  home  in  the 
Orkney  Islands,  and  also  to  many  other  points  of 
interest  in  England  and  Scotland.  Fraternally 
Mr.  Johnston  is  connected  with  Harlem  Lodge 
No.  540,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons, 
and  with  General  Grant  Council  No.  916,  Royal 
Arcanum,  both  of  Oak  Park. 


WILLIAM  H.  REEDY. 


HENRY  REEDY,  an  enterpris- 
ing  young  business  man  of  Chicago,  was 
born  in  Rock  Island,  Illinois,  September  10, 
1861,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Mary  (Graham) 
Reedy.  John  Reedy  was  born  at  Manaugh,  near 
Silvermines,  County  Tipperary,  Ireland,  and  his 
wife  was  a  native  of  the  same  country.  He  came 
to  America  in  1851,  stopping  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
where  he  learned  the  trade  of  machinist.  Three 
years  later  he  went  farther  West,  and  after  living 
temporarily  at  Muscatine,  Iowa;  St.  Louis,  Mis- 
souri, and  other  places,  finally  settled  at  Rock 
Island,  Illinois,  where  he  worked  at  his  trade  in 
the  Deere  Plow  Works  until  1872.  In  that  year 


he  removed  to  Chicago,  which  has  since  been  his 
home.  From  1872  to  1889  he  was  engaged  in  the 
Reedy  Elevator  Works,  and  since  that  time  has 
been  retired.  Mrs.  Mary  Reedy  died  in  Chicago 
April  20,  1897,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years. 
She  was  a  faithful  member  of  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Name  (Cathedral),  in  which  the  family  has 
worshipped  for  many  years. 

Nine  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Reedy,  of  whom  two  died  in  childhood.  The 
others  are:  William  H.,  of  whom  this  article  is 
written;  Mary,  Mrs.  C.  O.  Foltz,  Antioch,  Illi- 
nois; John  T.,  employed  in  the  store  of  A.  H. 
Abbott,  Chicago;  James  W.,  a  machinist  in  the 


T.  L.  HUMPHREVILLE. 


209 


works  of  the  Reedy  Elevator  Company;  Henry 
J.,  connected  with  the  Board  of  Trade  firm  of 
Swartz  &  Dupee;  Kate,  Mrs.  O.  J.  Walsh,  of 
Chicago;  and  Graham  D.,  bookkeeper  in  the  of- 
fice of  the  Reedy  Elevator  Company. 

William  H.  Reedy,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
attended  the  public  schools  of  Rock  Island  and 
also  of  Chicago.  In  1877  he  left  school  and  the 
following  year  entered  the  employ  of  Gardner, 
Stone  &  Company,  a  Board  of  Trade  firm  of  Chi- 
cago, with  whom  he  remained  one  year.  In 
1879  he  became  bookkeeper  in  the  office  of  his 
uncle,  J.  W.  Reedy,  who  was  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  passenger  and  freight  elevators. 
On  the  organization  of  The  Reedy  Elevator 
Manufacturing  Company  in  1885,  J.  W.  Reedy 
became  president  and  W.  H.  Reedy  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  that  concern.  In  1889  the  former 
died  and  his  sister  succeeded  to  his  office,  but 
the  latter  still  retains  the  offices  held  by  him. 
The  business  was  established  in  1864  and  has  an 
extensive  trade  in  the  West,  Northwest  and 
South,  and  has  a  branch  in  New  York  City. 

September   18,    1889,  Mr.  Reedy   was  married 


to  Miss  Clara  Downey,  who  was  born  in  Liver- 
pool, England,  and  is  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Mathilda  Sophia  (Fowler)  Downey.  This  union 
has  been  blessed  by  four  children,  named  in  order 
of  birth,  Marie,  Clara,  Leo  and  Marguerite.  The 
family  is  connected  with  St.  Luke's  Roman 
Catholic  Church  of  River  Forest.  That  beauti- 
ful village  has  been  its  home  since  1891,  and  since 
1893  it  has  occupied  the  elegant  residence  which 
was  completed  in  that  year.  Mr.  Reedy  has 
been  a  Democrat  in  all  National  questions,  but 
in  local  affairs  he  is  independent  of  party  prejudice. 
He  has  always  been  much  interested  in  athletics, 
being  himself  well  developed  physically.  In 
former  years  he  devoted  considerable  attention  to 
rowing,  having  been  a  member  of  two  well-known 
boat  clubs,  the  Delaware  and  the  Iroquois.  He 
was  also  at  one  time  an  enthusiastic  hand-ball 
player,  and  for  several  years  was  interested  in 
the  game  of  base  ball  in  a  semi-professional  way. 
In  1878  he  was  one  of  the  .first  amateur  pitchers 
in  Chicago  to  throw  the  curved  ball,  which  had 
been  introduced  by  professionals  the  previous 
season. 


THOMAS  L.   HUMPHREVILLE. 


'HOMAS  LIBERTY  HUMPHREVILLE 
is  one  of  the  best  known  citizens  of  the 
village  of  River  Forest,  whose  long  years 
of  professional  labor  have  extended  his  acquaint- 
ance throughout  Cook  County.  His  lineage  is 
traced  from  some  of  the  oldest  and  most  esteemed 
New  England  families,  his  ancestors  on  the 
paternal  side,  who  were  doubtless  of  English 
origin,  having  first  settled  in  this  country  in  the 
vicinity  of  West  Haven,  Connecticut. 

His  grandfather,  Lemuel  Humphreville,  was 
one  of  five  brothers  who  resided  in  that  locality. 
He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation  and  served  some 


time  in  the  Continental  army,  contracting  rheu- 
matism from  exposure  on  the  battlefield,  on  ac- 
count of  which  he  was  granted  a  furlough  and 
went  home  to  recuperate.  While  he  was  there 
his  neighbors,  who  were  nearly  all  tories,  at- 
tacked his  house  at  night  with  stones  and  clubs, 
breaking  out  the  doors  and  windows,  and  mak- 
ing it  uninhabitable  for  the  time  being.  His  son, 
Lemuel,  then  a  lad  of  seven  years,  was  knocked 
senseless  by  a  stone.  Lemuel  Humphreville, 
senior,  married  a  Miss  Beecher,  a  member  of  the 
family  from  which  sprang  the  noted  Brooklyn 
divine  of  that  name.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Humphre- 


210 


T.  L.  HUMPHREVILLE. 


ville  reared  a  family  of  seven  daughters  and  two 
sons,  most  of  whom  were  noted  for  their  great 
longevity,  two  of  the  daughters  reaching  the  age 
of  ninety-eight  years,  and  another,  Anna  Peck, 
surviving  to  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  three. 

Liberty  Humphreville,  the  second  son  of  this 
worthy  couple,  was  born  at  Northfield,  Litch- 
field  County,  Connecticut,  his  birthday  being 
identical  with  that  of  the  nation,  July  4,  1776,  on 
account  of  which  fact  he  was  so  named  by  his 
patriotic  father.  While  a  young  man  he  re- 
moved to  Chenango  County,  New  York,  and 
thence  to  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Pompey,  Onondaga 
County,  New  York.  His  death,  which  was 
caused  by  an  accident  in  the  hay-field,  occurred 
July  20,  1818.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Milly  Marsh,  survived  until  1857,  passing 
away  in  Delphi,  New  York,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
seven  years.  She  was  also  a  native  of  Litchfield 
County,  Connecticut,  and  her  parents,  Thomas 
Marsh  and  Polly  Peck,  became  early  settlers  in 
Pompey,  New  York.  Besides  Mrs.  Humphre- 
ville, their  family  included  a  daughter,  Sally,  and 
three  sons,  Edward,  Hiram  and  Thomas  Horatio. 
The  last-named,  who  was  an  attorney  by  profes- 
sion, was  for  some  years  a  resident  of  Chicago. 
Liberty  and  Milly  Humphreville  were  the  parents 
of  two  sons  and  two  daughters:  Charles  L.,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years;  Lucena, 
Mrs.  Charles  Jones,  who  died  in  River  Forest, 
Illinois,  in  1895,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years; 
Olive,  wife  of  Dr.  Eli  Cook,  who  died  in 
Delphi,  New  York;  and  Thomas  Liberty. 

The  last-named  was  born  at  Pompey,  New 
York,  July  16,  1817.  His  early  boyhood  was 
passed  upon  a  farm,  the  time  being  varied  with 
attendance  at  the  country  school  and  one  or  two 
terms  at  a  select  school.  In  the  seventeenth 
year  of  his  age  he  turned  his  back  upon  his  home 
and  early  associations,  determined  to  seek  his 
fortune  in  the  western  wilds  of  Michigan,  a  point 
which  seemed  as  remote  at  that  time  as  China  or 
Japan  are  to  the  people  of  Chicago  at  the  present 
day.  With  all  his  possessions  packed  in  a  small 
hand  satchel,  he  made  the  journey  from  Syracuse 
to  Buffalo  by  way  of  the  Erie  Canal.  At  the 
latter  city  he  met  a  former  school-mate,  whose 


hospitable  reception  served  to  alleviate  the  pangs 
of  homesickness  which  he  had  begun  to  feel,  and 
permitted  him  to  continue  the  journey  with  a 
cheerful  heart.  The  steamer  "Daniel  Webster" 
bore  him  from  Buffalo  to  Detroit,  whence  he 
traveled  by  stage  to  Saline,  Michigan,  a  frontier 
town,  in  which  his  uncle,  Thomas  H.  Marsh, 
was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.  At  the  lat- 
ter's  suggestion  he  determined  to  fit  himself  for 
that  profession,  but  in  the  mean  time  was  obliged 
to  become  a  clerk  in  a  general  store  in  order  to 
earn  a  livelihood.  He  spent  several  years  in  that 
way,  pursuing  his  legal  studies  by  night,  and  at 
odd  intervals,  often  burning  his  tallow  candle  or 
dip  until  3  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Once  each 
year  during  her  lifetime,  he  made  the  journey  to 
New  York  to  visit  his  mother.  In  1843  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Ann  Arbor,  and  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  thereafter  he  was  engaged  in  legal 
practice  in  that  city  and  the  adjacent  towns,  re- 
taining his  residence  at  Saline.  He  was  subse- 
quently employed  by  mercantile  houses  in  New 
York  City  to  attend  to  their  legal  business  through 
the  West,  his  operations  extending  to  several 
States. 

In  1863  he  located  in  Chicago,  where  he  has 
ever  since  been  engaged  in  general  practice.  His 
first  office  was  on  Randolph  Street,  and  at  the 
time  of  the  city's  destruction  by  fire,  eight  years 
after  his  arrival,  his  place  of  business  was  at  No. 
87  Washington  Street.  At  that  time  he  had  an 
elegant  residence  on  the  lake  shore,  at  Whitney 
Street  (now  Walton  Place),  which,  with  its  con- 
tents, was  also  destroyed.  He  and  his  family 
barely  escaped  with  a  horse  and  buggy,  taking 
such  few  articles  as  they  could  carry  and  fifteen 
dollars  in  cash.  Driving  to  the  country  on  the 
north-west  side  of  the  city,  they  encamped  on  the 
prairie  for  the  first  night,  amid  thousands  of  other 
homeless  refugees.  Many  victims  of  that  awful 
holocaust  who  had  less  reason  to  feel  discouraged 
than  Mr.  Humphreville,  gave  up  in  despair,  but 
though  then  past  fifty  years  of  age,  he  set  res- 
olutely about  the  task  of  retrieving  his  fortunes 
and  providing  a  home  for  his  family.  In  a  few 
days  he  secured  the  use  of  a  building  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Green  and  Van  Buren  Streets,  which  served 


DELOS  HULL. 


211 


for  a  time  the  double  purpose  of  office  and  resi- 
dence, the  office  portion  being  shared  with  several 
other  attorneys.  Old  and  new  clients  began  to 
seek  his  services,  and  a  prosperous  practice  was 
soon  established.  Since  May  27,  1881,  his  home 
has  been  at  River  Forest, 'and  for  twelve  years 
past  he  has  served  as  police  magistrate  of  that 
village.  The  high  regard  in  which  he  is  held  by 
members  of  his  profession  and  the  uniform  fair- 
ness of  his  decisions  cause  many  cases  to  be 
brought  to  his  court  for  adjudication  from  all 
parts  of  the  city  and  county. 

Mr.  Humphreville  was  married  December  3 1 , 
1843,  at  Saline,  Michigan,  to  Miss  Ann  Eliza 
Oliphant,  a  native  of  Barnegat,  New  Jersey. 
She  died  in  April,  1846,  leaving  one  daughter, 
Anna  Eugenia,  now  the  wife  of  R.  M.  Van  Ars- 
dale,  of  New  York  City.  Mr.  Humphreville  was 
again  married,  July  16,  1848,  the  bride  being 
Mary  Ann  Gurley,  daughter  of  Dr.  Royal 
and  Sally  (Post)  Gurley,  of  Saline,  Michigan. 
This  lady  was  born  in  Ontario  County,  Michigan, 
and  died  at  River  Forest,  Illinois,  June  20,  1885, 
aged  nearly  fifty-two  years.  She  bore  her  hus- 


band five  sous,  named  respectively,  James  Royal, 
Torrence  Liberty,  Erasmus  Darwin,  Gurley  Mc- 
Clellan  and  Louie  D.  The  second  son  is  engaged 
in  business  at  Fondis,  Elbert  County,  Colorado, 
and  all  the  others  reside  in  Cook  Count}-. 

Mr.  Humphreville  has  always  been  a  consistent 
Democrat.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for 
Martin  Van  Buren  in  1840,  and  recalls  many  in- 
teresting reminiscences  of  that  famous  "hard 
cider"  campaign.  He  was  postmaster  at  Saline, 
Michigan,  for  eight  years  or  more,  receiving  his 
official  commission  from  President  Tyler.  Mr. 
Humphreville  also  served  several  terms  as  Cir- 
cuit Court  Commissioner  in  Washtenaw  County, 
Michigan.  In  1885  he  was  appointed  postmaster 
at  River  Forest  by  President  Cleveland,  holding 
that  office  until  its  consolidation,  four  years  later, 
with  the  Oak  Park  office.  Though  nearly  eighty 
years  of  age,  he  is  still  as  sprightly  and  active  as 
most  men  of  forty  or  fifty.  The  dignified  and 
honorable  course  which  he  has  always  pursued, 
whether  acting  in  an  official  capacity  or  in  that 
of  a  private  citizen,  causes  him  to  be  universally 
esteemed. 


DELOS  HULL, 


0ELOS  HULL,  one  of  the  most  patriotic  and 
public-spirited  citizens  of  Oak  Park,  was 
born  at  Lafayette,  Onondaga  County,  New 
York,  April  12,  1842.  Heisason  of  EdwardH. 
Hull  and  Maria  Van  Valkenburgh,  the  former  of 
•whom  was  born  at  Truxton,  Cortland  County, 
New  York,  November  i,  1806,  and  died  at 
Lombard,  Illinois,  May  22,  1878.  He  learned  his 
father's  trade,  that  of  miller,  and  afterwards  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  business  at  De  Ruyter,  New 
York.  Later  he  read  law  with  A.  Scott  Sloan, 
since  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Wisconsin, 
and  also  with  H.  C.  Miner,  at  De  Ruyter,  New 


York.  In  1852  he  headed  a  company  of  sixteen 
emigrants  who  went  to  California  by  way  of  the 
isthmus.  There  he  engaged  in  mining  for  two 
years,  and  afterwards  operated  a  grist  mill  at  San 
Jose,  an  enterprise  which  proved  quite  remunera- 
tive. In  the  spring  of  1856  he  returned  to  New 
York,  and  the  next  fall  came  to  Illinois,  making 
his  home  at  Lombard,  where  he  practiced  law 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  filled  a 
number  of  public  offices  in  Du  Page  County,  in- 
cluding those  of  district  attorney,  clerk  of  the 
circuit  court  and  county  recorder. 

The  ancestry  of  this  family  has  been  traced  to 


212 


DELOS  HULL. 


Tristram  Hull,  who  came  from  Hull,  England,  in 
1632,  and  settled  on  Nantucket  Island.  He  was 
a  sea-faring  man  and  commanded  a  merchant  ves- 
sel. He  and  his  people  were  Quakers  and  suf- 
fered their  share  of  the  persecution  which  was 
accorded  to  their  sect  in  those  days.  One  of  his 
female  relatives  was  burned  at  the  stake  for  "her- 
esy" on  the  public  square  of  Boston.  John  Hull, 
one  of  the  descendants  of  Tristram  Hull,  laid  out 
the  city  of  Hudson,  New  York,  at  which  place 
his  son,  George,  the  father  of  Edward  Hull,  was 
born  in  1787.  George  Hull  died  at  Oak  Park  in 
1886,  lacking  only  six  months  of  being  one  hun- 
dred years  old.  His  mother,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Anna  Haight,  reached  the  age  of  ninety-four 
years.  Sallie  Barnard,  who  became  the  wife  of 
George  Hull,  was  the  daughter  of  a  sea  captain, 
who  was  a  relative  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  Her 
mother's  maiden  name  was  Myrick. 

Mrs.  Maria  Hull  was  born  at  Canaan,  Colum- 
bia County,  New  York,  in  August,  1812.  The 
names  of  her  parents  were  Lambert  Van  Valken- 
burgh  and  Freelove  Aylesworth.  Mr.  Van  Valk- 
enburgh  was  a  scion  of  one  of  the  Knickerbocker 
families,  and  became  a  prominent  farmer  near 
Lockport,  Niagara  County,  New  York,  where  he 
settled  about  1820.  Mrs.  Hull  is  now  living  at 
Oak  Park,  having  reached  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-five  years.  She  is  the  mother  of  five  sons 
and  one  daughter  who  survived  the  period  of 
childhood.  Of  these,  George  Henry  and  Frank- 
lin are  now  deceased;  Thomas  M.  is  a  well-known 
citizen  of  Wheaton,  Illinois;  Dewitt  C.,  who 
served  two  years  in  Company  D,  Seventeenth 
New  York  Cavalry,  died  in  July,  1865,  from 
disease  contracted  in  the  service;  Delos  is  a  twin 
brother  of  the  last-named;  and  Sally  J.  is  the 
widow  of  Liberty  Jones,  and  now  resides  at  Oak 
Park. 

Delos  Hull  was  six  years  old  when  the  family 
removed  to  De  Ruyter,  New  York,  where  he  at- 
tended the  public  schools  and  the  Seventh  Day 
Baptist  Seminary.  In  June,  1858,  he  came  to 
Lombard,  Illinois,  and  continued  his  studies  for  a 
time.  His  first  business  experience  was  acquired 
as  clerk  in  a  general  store  in  Lombard,  and  in 
1860  he  began  teaching  in  the  country  schools 


near  that  village.  The  next  spring  he  became  a 
bookkeeper  in  the  first  steam  laundry  opened  in 
Chicago,  but  abandoned  that  occupation  to  go  to 
the  defense  of  his  country,  enlisting  on  the  2oth 
of  August,  1861,  in  Company  H,  Eighth  Regi- 
ment Illinois  Cavalry,  known  as  Farnsworth's 
Black  Abolition  Regiment.  He  served  in  the  Ar- 
my of  the  Potomac  during  his  entire  service,  being 
in  almost  constant  activity  until  July  21,  1865, 
when  he  was  honorably  discharged.  He  partici- 
pated in  nearly  all  of  the  engagements  of  that 
army,  including  many  cavalry  fights  and  a  num- 
ber of  general  battles,  among  which  may  be  men- 
tioned Williamsburgh,  Fredericksburg,  Antietam, 
Gettysburg,  South  Mountain,  and  the  Seven  Days' 
Campaign  in  the  Wilderness.  The  next  morning 
after  the  battle  of  South  Mountain  his  regiment 
was  sent  out  to  Boonesboro  to  reconnoiter,  and 
unexpectedly  encountered  a  force  of  four  thousand 
Confederates,  which  they  defeated  in  a  hand  to 
hand  fight,  by  the  use  of  seven-shooting  carbines, 
which  had  then  just  been  introduced,  and  took  the 
enemy  considerably  by  surprise.  It  was  in  this 
conflict  Mr.  Hull  was  struck  by  a  spent  ball,  which 
was  stopped  by  a  diary  in  his  pocket,  but  escaped 
serious  injury  throughout,  which  seems  almost 
miraculous,  considering  the  many  dangers  to  which 
he  was  exposed. 

Upon  the  return  of  peace  he  was  employed  for 
about  one  year  by  the  American  Express  Compa- 
ny in  Chicago,  and  in  the  fall  of  1866  he  went  to 
Lockport,  New  York,  where  he  was  in  the  employ 
of  his  uncle,  D.  A.  Van  Valkenburgh.  Two  years 
later  he  returned  to  Lombard  and  engaged  in 
farming  and  dairying.  But  he  was  of  too  active 
and  enterprising  a  spirit  to  be  long  contented  in 
that  occupation.  In  the  fall  of  1870  he  became 
assistant  bookkeeper  in  the  Chicago  office  of  the 
Weed  Sewing  Machine  Company,  and  soon  after 
took  charge  of  its  city  business.  One  year  later 
he  became  the  state  agent  of  that  concern  for  Min- 
nesota, making  his  headquarters  at  St.  Paul.  He 
afterwards  traveled  for  three  years  as  special  rep- 
resentative of  the  company,  and  about  1876  start- 
ed an  independent  city  agency  in  Chicago  in 
company  with  J.  VV.  Kettlestrings.  He  subse- 
quently became  traveling  representative  of  the 


A.  H.  PRESTON. 


213 


clothing  house  of  Charles  P.  Kellogg  &  Company, 
which  connection  was  continued  until  his  appoint- 
ment, June  i,  1889,  to  the  office  of  postmaster 
at  Oak  Park,  a  position  which  he  held  until  April, 
1 894.  During  the  previous  year  he  had  purchased 
the  coal  business  of  Johnston  &  Company,  at  that 
village,  to  which  he  has  since  devoted  most  of  his 
time  and  attention.  Under  his  management  the 
trade  has  grown  to  considerable  proportions,  and 
besides  doing  an  extensive  retail  business,  which 
employs  a  number  of  men  and  teams,  a  wholesale 
office  was  established  in  Chicago,  May  i,  1897. 
He  is  also  president  of  the  Oak  Park  Business 
Men's  Association. 

December  31,  1868,  Mr.  Hull  was  married,  at 
Oak  Park,  Illinois,  to  Amelia  E.  Whaples,  daugh- 
ter of  Reuben  Whaples,  one  of  the  pioneers  of 


northern  Illinois.  Of  three  children  born  to  this 
union,  two  sons  died  in  infancy,  the  only  survivor 
being  a  daughter,  Mabel  L.,  now  the  wife  of 
George  Sinden,  of  Oak  Park.  Mr.  Hull  is 
a  member  of  the  First  Congregational  Church 
of  Oak  Park;  and,  being  naturally  of  a  social 
and  genial  nature,  has  affiliated  with  a  num- 
ber of  fraternal  organizations,  among  which 
may  be  mentioned  the  Masonic  order,  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic,  and  the  Royal  League.  He  has  al- 
ways been  a  stanch  Republican,  but  has  never 
filled  any  elective  office.  Embodying  the  phys- 
ical vigor  and  unswerving  devotion  to  principle 
which  distinguished  many  of  his  progenitors,  he 
commands  the  respect  and  admiration  of  all  with 
whom  he  comes  in  contact. 


AUGUSTUS  H.  PRESTON. 


GJUGUSTUS  HITCHCOCK  PRESTON  en- 
I  \  joys  the  unique  distinction  of  being  the  old- 
/  i  est  locomotive  engineer  (measured  in  years 
of  continuous  service)  whose  headquarters  is 
Chicago.  He  has  been  in  the  railway  train  serv- 
ice for  about  forty -five  years,  and  since  1855  has 
been  employed  as  an  engineer  on  the  lines  now  in- 
cluded in  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  system. 
During  all  this  time  he  has  never  lost  a  whole 
month  nor  been  suspended  for  any  cause.  He 
has  covered  in  all  about  2,200,000  miles,  and 
though  by  the  rules  of  the  company  he  was 
entitled  to  retire  on  a  pension  several  years  since, 
he  is  still  hale  and  hearty,  and  continues  to  cover 
his  daily  route  with  the  regularity  of  clock-work. 
Mr.  Preston  was  born  at  Atwater,  Ohio,  De- 
cember i,  1831,  the  names  of  his  parents  being 
Justus  and  Sina  (Hall)  Preston.  The  ancestorsof 
Justus  Preston  were  among  the  colonial  emigrants 
who  came  from  England  and  settled  in  this  coun- 


try in  1635.  He  was  born  near  Meriden,  Con- 
necticut, where  his  father  died  about  ten  years 
subsequent  to  his  birth.  The  boy  learned  the 
trade  of  wheel-wright.and  during  the  War  of  1812 
spent  about  three  months  in  military  service, 
being  employed  in  defense  of  the  New  England 
coast.  He  subsequently  removed  to  Atwater, 
Ohio,  and  followed  his  trade  there  for  a  number 
of  years.  Thence  he  removed  his  family  and  ef- 
fects with  ox-teams  to  Illinois  in  1837. 

He  settled  at  Sycamore,  DeKalb  County,  near 
which  place  he  bought  a  large  tract  of  land  from 
the  United  States  Government  and  engaged  in 
farming.  He  was  a  natural  mechanic,  and  made 
most  of  his  agricultural  implements,  besides 
erecting  his  farm  buildings.  His  first  house  at 
this  place,  which  was  built  of  logs  and  roofed  with 
split  shingles,  did  not  contain  a  single  nail.  He 
died  June  2,  1847,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years. 
He  was  a  man  of  simple  tastes,  who  concerned 


2I4 


A.  H.  PRESTON. 


himself  but  little  with  public  affairs.  He  was 
married  at  Meriden,  Connecticut,  to  Lodema 
Brockett,  who  died  at  Atwater,  Ohio,  about  1827, 
leaving  one  son,  Jared,  a  farmer  now  residing  at 
Genoa,  Illinois.  Mr.  Preston's  second  wife  was  a 
Miss  Hall,  of  Wallingford,  Connecticut,  to  whom 
he  was  united  January  18,  1829.  She  died  Feb- 
ruary 26,  1869,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years. 
She  was  the  mother  of  six  children,  as  follows: 
Henry,  who  died  at  Genoa,  Illinois,  in  February, 
1868,  in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his  age;  Au- 
gustus H.;  Charles;  George;  Norman  and  Eliza- 
beth, Mrs.  De  Witt  Greene.  The  last-named 
lives  in  Chicago,  the  two  youngest  sons  live  at 
Sycamore,  and  Charles  at  Genoa,  Illinois. 

Augustus  H.  Preston  spent  most  of  his  boy- 
hood upon  his  father's  farm.  While  driving 
thence  to  Chicago  in  June,  1847,  he  saw  a  loco- 
motive for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  near  the  pres- 
ent village  of  Oak  Park.  The  following  fall  he 
came  to  the  city  and  began  to  learn  the  black- 
smith trade,  in  the  shop  of  Hollingsworth  & 
Pierce,  which  stood  on  the  east  side  of  Canal 
Street,  between  Randolph  and  Lake  Streets,  west 
of  which  was  then  along  stretch  of  open  prairie. 
In  July,  1852,  he  began  work  on  the  Michigan 
Central  Railroad,  as  a  fireman,  and  on  the  24th 
of  June  of  the  following  year,  entered  the  employ 
of  the  Chicago  &  Galena  Union  Railroad.  Two 
years  later  he  was  promoted  to  the  position  of 
engineer,  in  which  capacity  he  was  first  employed 
on  a  gravel  train  at  Sterling,  Illinois.  For  two 
years,  beginning  in  1857,  he  drew  an  accommo- 
dation train  between  that  place  and  Fulton,  haul- 
ing all  the  freight  and  passengers  between  those 
points.  After  this  he  was  placed  in  charge 
of  passenger  trains  between  Chicago  and  Fulton, 
and  since  the  consolidation  of  the  road  with  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  in  1864,  has  been  al- 
most constantly  employed  on  passenger  trains. 
For  several  years  he  spent  two  weeks  of  each 
month  drawing  the  pay-car  over  the  entire  sys- 
tem. From  1865  to  1890  he  drew  nearly  all  the 
special  fast  trains  sent  out  over  the  road.  In 
June,  1866,  he  hauled  a  special  fast  excursion 
train  to  Omaha  and  return,  for  the  officials  of  the 
road,  and  two  months  later  took  a  party  of  editors 


to  Omaha  on  another  fast  run.  In  June,  1876, 
he  took  the  Jurrett  &  Palmer  Special  Fast  Con- 
tinental Train  from  Chicago  to  Clinton,  covering 
the  distance  of  140  miles  in  two  hours  and  thirty 
minutes,  stopping  eight  minutes  for  water.  This 
was  the  fastest  time  made  by  the  train  on  any  di- 
vision between  New  York  and  San  Francisco. 
In  the  period  covered  by  the  World's  Fair  Mr. 
Preston  covered  96,000  miles  and  carried  100,000 
passengers.  During  his  connection  with  this 
system  he  has  drawn  material  for  the  construction 
of  about  1 50  miles  of  its  lines,  and  for  three  months 
drew  a  passenger  train  between  Clinton  and 
Marshalltown,  Iowa,  when  there  was  not  a  house 
along  the  route. 

Mr.  Preston  was  married  September  8,  1856, 
to  Eliza,  daughter  of  Dorastus  and  Juliet  (Saf- 
ford)  Wright,  of  Elgin,  Illinois.  Mrs.  Preston 
was  born  at  Malone,  New  York,  and  came  to 
Illinois  with  her  parents  in  1849.  Her  father, 
who  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  was  born  at  Fair- 
field,  Vermont,  and  died  at  Nelson,  Illinois,  in 
1864,  aged  sixty-six  years,  his  remains  being  in- 
terred at  Elgin.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were  of 
English  lineage,  and  sprang  from  some  of  the 
earliest  Vermont  families.  Mrs.  Juliet  Wright 
died  at  Elgin  in  1863,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three 
years.  She  was  born  at  Cambridge,  Vermont, 
and  was  a  daughter  of  Eric  Safford,  whose  father, 
David  Safford,  served  as  an  officer  in  the  Con- 
tinental Army. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Preston  are  the  parents  of  five 
children,  of  whom  the  following  is  the  record: 
Frank  D.  is  an  engineer  on  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad,  living  at  Oak  Park;  Harry  W., 
who  lives  at  Danville,  Illinois,  holds  a  similar 
position  on  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  Rail- 
road; Juliet  is  the  wife  of  C.  H.  Haight,  of  New 
York  City;  Percy  C.  is  a  fireman  on  the  Chicago 
&  Northwestern  Railroad,  residing  at  Elgin,  Illi- 
nois; and  Jessie  M.  is  still  with  her  parents.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Preston  are  communicants  of  Grace 
Church  (Episcopal)  of  Oak  Park,  and  the  for- 
mer is  a  member  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Loco- 
motive Engineers  and  of  the  Masonic  order,  be- 
ing identified  with  Harlem  Lodge  No.  540,  and 
Cicero  Chapter  No.  180. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


WILLIAM  BEYE 


WILLIAM  BEYE. 


215 


WILLIAM    BEYE. 


(3  QlLLIAM  BEYE.  In  the  death  of  William 
\Al  ^eye>  which  occurred  at  his  home  in  Oak 
V  V  Park,  April  10,  1897,  Cook  County  lost  a 
patriotic  and  exemplary  citizen,  and  the  city  of 
Chicago  lost  an  energetic  and  useful  business  man. 
Though  an  alien  by  birth,  he  was  a  thorough  rep- 
resentative of  American  principles  and  senti- 
ments, and  no  citizen  of  the  United  States  could 
have  been  more  loyal  to  the  traditions  of  this 
country. 

He  was  born  in  Halle,  Duchy  of  Brunswick, 
Germany,  May  12,  1841.  He  was  the  son  of 
Henry  and  Hannah  (Bummer)  Beye,  his  father's 
name  being  probably  of  French  origin.  Henry 
Beye  was  the  proprietor  of  a  stone  quarry  which 
furnished  material  for  buildings.  He  died  in 
Halle,  in  the  fall  of  1886,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three 
years.  He  was  a  prominent  citizen,  interested 
in  public  affairs,  of  temperate  habits,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mrs.  Hannah 
Beye  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years,  in  1857, 
leaving  four  children,  namely:  Hannah  (Mrs. 
Wiechert),  former  wife  of  C.  Lember,  who  was 
killed  near  Stover,  Missouri,  soon  after  the  Civil 
War  commenced.  (He  was  a  Union  soldier  and 
was  killed  by  a  guerrilla.)  Henry,  who  died  Sep- 
tember 13,  1895.  in  Marshall  Count)',  Iowa,  at 
the  age  of  sixty  years;  William;  and  Fred,  who 
still  lives  at  the  old  homestead  in  Germany.  Hen- 
ry Beye,  senior,  married  a  second  time,  having 
one  daughter,  now  Mrs.  Eiler,  of  Marshall  Coun- 
ty, Iowa. 

William  Beye  lived  in  his  native  country  until 
he  was  fifteen  years  old,  receiving  a  common- 
school  education.  In  1856  he  came  to  the  United 
States,  locating  in  Elk  Grove  Township,  Cook 
County,  with  his  cousin,  Louis  Albright.  He 


spent  the  next  few  years  in  farm  work,  attending 
school  in  winter.  In  September,  1861,  he  en- 
listed in  Company  D,  Eighth  Illinois  Cavalry, 
and  was  mustered  out  in  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. After  serving  two  and  one-half  years,  he 
re-enlisted  in  the  same  company.  He  took  part 
in  the  battles  of  Williamsburg  and  Fair  Oaks, 
when  Companies  F  and  D  acted  as  body  guard  of 
General  Keyes  throughout  the  seven-days  fight. 
On  the  last  day  of  this  campaign,  the  troops  on 
the  James  River  were  overtaken  by  a  terrific  thun- 
derstorm, and  many  of  the  men  thought  the  last 
day  of  the  world  had  come.  On  reaching  Alex- 
andria, they  were  joined  by  Pope's  returning 
army.  The  next  fight  was  at  South  Mountain, 
where  they  met  Allen  Pinkerton,  who  brought 
news  of  the  surrender  of  Harper's  Ferry.  During 
the  week  between  South  Mountain  and  Antietam, 
there  was  almost  constant  fighting.  His  regi- 
ment held  a  bridge  leading  towards  Sharpsburg, 
under  fire  of  a  Confederate  battery.  Mr.  Beye 
took  part  in  the  review  of  the  army  by  President 
Lincoln,  soon  after  which  General  Burnside  took 
command.  After  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg 
they  were  sent  further  South,  and  guarded  the  ex- 
treme left  of  the  army  during  the  following  winter. 
In  June,  1863,  Mr.  Beye  was  at  Chancellorsville 
under  General  Hooker.  During  Lee's  invasion 
of  Pennsylvania,  they  came  almost  every  day  into 
active  service. 

On  the  second  day  of  Gettysburg  Mr.  Beye  was 
left  a  target  for  many  rebel  bullets,  in  an  open 
field,  having  been  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
company.  Before  the  battle  closed,  his  regiment, 
with  others,  was  sent  to  Boonesboro,  to  intercept 
the  retreat  of  the  enemy.  They  had  constant 
fighting  for  a  week,  when  Leerecrossed  the  Poto- 


216 


A.  A.   KNAPP. 


mac.  After  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  they  were 
alternately  driving  and  being  driven,  till  the  two 
armies  confronted  each  other  on  the  Rappahan- 
nock,  in  the  second  battle  of  Fredericksburg.  In 
the  spring  of  1864  his  brigade  was  employed  in 
keeping  the  guerrillas  in  subjection  in  Lowdon 
Valley.  During  General  Early's  advance  upon 
Washington,  in  the  summer  of  1864,  they  were 
employed  in  the  defense  of  that  city.  From  this 
time  until  Lee's  surrender,  their  headquarters  were 
at  Fairfax  Court  House.  They  received  the  news 
of  Lincoln's  assassination  about  one  o'clock  on  the 
morning  following  its  occurrence,  with  orders  to 
guard  all  roads  and  ferries.  The  regiment  acted 
as  an  escort  at  his  funeral,  soon  after  which  they 
were  sent  by  way  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Rail- 
road to  Parkersburg,  Virginia,  thence  down  the 
Ohio  River  to  Saint  Louis,  where  they  were  mus- 
tered out. 

Returning  to  Illinois,  Mr.  Beye  attended  the 
Elgin  Academy  one  winter,  then  entered  Bryant 
&  Stratton's  Business  College,  and  obtained  a  sit- 
uation in  the  county  treasurer's  office,  where  he 
remained  sixteen  years.  For  twelve  years  he  was 
left  in  complete  charge,  as  assistant  treasurer,  un- 
der eight  different  heads  of  that  department.  His 
reliability  in  discharging  the  duties  of  that  respon- 
sible position  was  so  generally  recognized  that  the 
bondsmen  of  each  successive  treasurer,  during 
this  time,  required  his  retention  in  that  place. 


In  the  spring  of  1883  Mr.  Be}^e  entered  into 
partnership  with  James  H.  Heald,  forming  the 
grain  and  commission  firm  of  William  Beye  & 
Company.  In  the  following  winter  they  were 
joined  by  J.  C.  Howell,  the  firm  becoming  Howell, 
Beye  &  Company,  which  firm  continued  to  do 
business  until  1889,  when  Mr.  Beye  withdrew  and 
became  a  stockholder  in  the  well-known  McNeill 
&  Higgins  Company,  wholesale  grocers,  and  he 
was  identified  with  it  until  his  death.  He  was 
also  to  some  extent  interested  in  banking  in  the 
city. 

In  1878  he  was  married  to  Miss  Nellie  C.  Lom- 
bard, of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  they  had 
eight  children,  who  are  still  living,  namely:  Han- 
nah C. ;  Marian  and  William,  junior,  who  are" 
students  at  Oak  Park  High  School;  Cudworth, 
Howard,  Edward  Lawrence,  Elizabeth  and  Hel- 
en J. 

The  family  of  William  Beye  has  lived  in  Oak 
Park  since  1884,  and  attends  the  Unity  Church  in 
that  village.  Mr.  Beye  was  always  a  Republican 
in  politics.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Oak  Park 
Club,  which  he  served  as  president,  and  of  Phil 
Sheridan  Post,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  For 
a  number  of  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  board 
of  education  in  Oak  Park. 

After  a  very  short  illness  Mr.  Beye  died,  as  above 
noted,  at  his  home,  No.  242  Maple  Avenue,  in 
Oak  Park. 


ALBERT  A    KNAPP. 


Gl  LBERT  ASA  KNAPP,  a  well-known  busi- 
I_l  ness  man  of  Oak  Park ,  was  born  in  the  town 
/  I  of  York,  Du  Page  County,  Illinois,  January 
20,  1852,  and  is  a  son  of  Asa  Knapp,  of  whom  an 
extended  notice  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
He  spent  his  boyhood  on  his  father's  farm,  and 
attended  the  district  school.  Later  he  became  a 


student  at  Wheaton  College,  and  after  completing 
his  studies  returned  to  the  farm.  From  1872  to 
1882  he  carried  on  a  cotton  plantation  at  Athens, 
Alabama.  In  the  latter  year  he  again  took  up 
farming  in  Du  Page  Count}-,  which  he  continued 
until  1891,  when  he  removed  to  Oak  Park  and 
opened  a  livery  business.  He  is  still  engaged  in 


ASA  KNAPP. 


217 


that  vocation,  which  has  proved  very  lucrative 
and  successful,  he  having  one  of  the  most  finely 
equipped  stands  of  the  kind  in  Cook  County. 

July  20,  1876,  Mr.  Knapp  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Ellen  Sabin,  who  was  born  in 
Schaumburg,  Cook  County,  Illinois.  Mrs.  Knapp 
is  a  daughter  of  John  and  Laura  (Aldridge) 
Sabin,  who  came  from  Susquehanna  County, 
Pennsylvania,  to  Schaumburg,  Illinois,  in  1845, 


being  among  the  early  settlers  of  that  locality. 
John  Sabin  was  a  native  of  Connecticut.  Five 
children  have  blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Knapp,  as  follows:  Asa  Lee,  Grace,  Earl,  Hattie 
and  Owen.  All  are  at  home,  and  all  except  the 
eldest  and  the  youngest  are  in  school.  Fra- 
ternally, Mr.  Knapp  is  a  member  of  Court  Oak 
Park  No.  3119,  Independent  Order  of  Foresters. 
In  politics  he  is  an  ardent  Republican. 


ASA  KNAPP. 


(S\  SA  KNAPP,  an  early  pioneer  of  DuPage 
LJ  County,  Illinois,  who  was  for  over  twenty 
/  I  years  a  resident  of  Cook  County,  was  born  at 
Pine  Plains,  Dutchess  County,  New  York,  March 
ii,  1811,  and  died  at  Melrose  Park,  Illinois, 
August  23,  1896.  The  Knapp  family  is  of  Ger- 
man origin,  but  has  been  located  in  America  for 
several  generations.  The  father  and  grandfather 
of  the  subject  of  this  notice,  each  of  whom  bore 
the  name  of  Asa,  were  natives  of  Connecticut, 
and  became  farmers  in  Dutchess  County,  New 
York. 

Asa  Knapp,  of  whom  this  sketch  is  written, 
spent  his  boyhood  on  his  father's  farm  and  grew 
to  be  a  fine  specimen  of  physical  manhood.  He 
also  acquired  a  practical  knowledge  of  business 
affairs  and  was  well  fitted  to  lead  a  pioneer  life. 
Having  reached  his  thirtieth  year  he  resolved  to 
invest  his  savings  in  a  region  where  land  was 
cheap,  and  to  aid  in  the  development  of  the  Great 
West.  Accordingly,  in  1837  he  removed  to  the 
prairies  of  DuPage  County,  where  he  purchased  a 
claim  to  a  half-section  of  land  in  the  town  of 
York,  for  which  he  paid  five  hundred  dollars. 
Two  years  later,  when  the  survey  was  made,  he 
was  obliged  to  pay  one  dollar  and  a-quarter  per 
acre  in  addition,  to  the  United  States  Government. 
This  land  was  soon  brought  under  cultivation 


and  he  rapidly  acquired  more.  At  one  time  he 
had  one  thousand  acres  and  was  able  to  give  a 
finely  improved  farm  to  each  of  his  three  sons,  be- 
sides retaining  the  original  homestead.  He  was 
a  persistent,  hard-working  man,  and  though  a 
part  of  his  land  was  rented  he  always  gave  it  care- 
ful supervision.  He  took  an  active  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  the  town  and  county  and  held  sev- 
eral offices  of  trust  and  honor,  being  supervisor  of 
the  town  of  York  in  1854,  and  serving  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  DuPage  County  Board  of  Commission- 
ers in  1846-47-48. 

Wishing  to  give  his  children  better  educational 
advantages,  Mr.  Knapp  removed  in  1861  to  Oak 
Park,  where  he  resided  about  two  years.  He  then 
returned  to  his  old  home,  but  in  1876  retired  from 
active  farm  life,  removing  to  Melrose  Park.  There 
he  spent  his  declining  years,  still  giving  personal 
attention  to  his  business  affairs  and  retaining  his 
health  and  strength  until  a  short  time  before  his 
death. 

October  10,  1841,  Mr.  Knapp  was  married  to 
Philura  Plummer,  daughter  of  Caleb  and  Polly 
(Webster)  Plummer.  Caleb  Plummer  was  born 
in  Vermont,  March  31,  1780,  and  removed  to 
Alden,  Erie  Count}',  New  York,  where  he  mar- 
ried and  where  his  daughter  Philura  was  born 
August  6,  1818.  He  died  there  November  29, 


218 


GEORGE  NORDENHOLT. 


1840.  His  wife  was  born  March  3,  1783,  and 
died  in  DuPage  County,  Illinois,  August  2,  1853. 
Eight  children  blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Knapp,  one  of  whom  died  in  childhood.  Of  the 
others  the  following  is  the  record:  Phoebe  (Mrs. 
John  J.  Dooley)  resides  in  Baker  City,  Oregon; 
Emma  (widow  of  Henry  Vernon)  resides  in 
Wheaton,  Illinois;  Hattie  and  Evelyn  reside  at 
Melrose  Park;  Albert  A.  and  William  P.  are 


citizens  of  Oak  Park;  and  Charles  Elmer  is  secre- 
tary of  Price  Brothers  Printing  Company,  of 
Minneapolis,  Minnesota.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Knapp 
celebrated  their  golden  wedding  October  10,  1891, 
surrounded  by  many  friends  and  relatives.  Both 
were  members  of  the  First  Congregational  Church 
of  May  wood,  Mrs.  Knapp  having  united  with 
that  denomination  while  a  resident  of  Oak  Park. 
The  latter  departed  this  life  March  28,  1895. 


GEORGE  NORDENHOLT. 


NORDENHOLT,  a  well-known 
j_  business  man  of  Oak  Park,  at  present  presi- 
VU  dent  of  the  Cicero  and  Proviso  Ice  Company, 
has  been  for  many  years  prominently  connected 
with  the  business  and  real-estate  interests  of  the 
suburbs  of  western  Cook  County.  He  was  born 
near  the  seaport  city  of  Bremen,  Germany,  No- 
vember 30,  1855,  and  is  the  only  son  of  Frederick 
and  Margherita  (Wragge)  Nordenholt.  The  fa- 
ther, who  was  a  mason  by  trade,  died  when  his 
son  was  three  years  old.  Besides  the  son,  the 
family  consisted  of  one  daughter,  Mary,  now 
Mrs.  Louis  Stahmer,  of  River  Forest.  Mrs. 
Nordenholt,  who  afterwards  married  Diedrich 
Barkemeyer,  died  in  Germany  in  1888,  aged 
sixty-two  years.  Mr.  Barkemeyer  is  now  living 
in  Oak  Park,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years. 

George  Nordenholt  received  the  common-school 
education  of  his  native  land,  and  when  about 
fourteen  years  of  age  was  apprenticed  to  learn  the 
baker's  trade.  This  he  accomplished  in  three 
years,  and  for  about  two  years  traveled  in  various 
parts  of  Germany.  He  then  became  baker  on 
one  of  the  vessels  of  the  North  German  Lloyd 
line  of  ocean  steamers,  and  continued  in  this 
work,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  short  in- 
tervals, until  1878.  His  first  trip  to  America 
was  in  1872,  when  he  made  a  short  stop  in  New 


York  City.     In  all  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  eighty- 
six  times. 

In  1878  he  removed  permanently  to  the  United 
States,  locating  in  Chicago,  where  he  worked  at 
his  trade  nearly  two  years.  At  about  this  time 
he  began  to  recognize  the  advantages  of  Oak 
Park  as  a  location  for  a  bakery,  and  wishing  to 
establish  himself  where  he  could  receive  the  full 
benefit  of  his  own  efforts  and  business  manage- 
ment, he  concluded  to  locate  in  that  suburb. 
With  a  small  amount  of  money  which  he  had  ac- 
cumulated, he  opened  a  bakery,  and  for  some 
time  he  was  able  to  do  all  the  work  with  the  help 
of  a  boy.  But  as  the  patronage  increased,  more 
help  was  required,  so  that  when  the  business 
passed  into  other  hands  it  employed  eighteen 
men  and  three  girls.  Having  acquired  a  com- 
petency, and  wishing  to  retire  from  active  labors, 
Mr.  Nordenholt  sold  the  bakery  in  1895  to  Mr. 
Albert  Burgess,  by  whom  it  is  still  operated. 
After  a  few  months  of  leisure,  Mr.  Nordenholt 
found  that  idleness  was  not  in  accord  with  his 
enterprising  nature,  and  in  looking  for  something 
to  employ  his  time,  hit  upon  a  bankrupt  ice  com- 
pany, which  he  concluded  might  be  put  upon  a 
paying  basis  by  judicious  management.  He  there- 
fore incorporated  a  new  company,  under  the  name 
of  the  Cicero  and  Proviso  Ice  Company,  of  which 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


JOHN  D.  WALLER,  M.  D. 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


J.  D.  WALLER. 


219 


he  became  the  president.  Under  his  able  super- 
vision the  enterprise  has  been  very  successful, 
and  its  business  is  still  growing.  In  the  season 
of  1896  four  thousand  tons  of  ice  were  sold. 
New  ice  houses  and  barns  have  been  erected ,  and 
new  wagons  and  machinery  purchased,  all  of  the 
best  to  be  obtained.  Sixteen  horses  are  used  to 
distribute  the  ice,  and  the  industry  gives  employ- 
ment to  about  twenty  men  during  the  season. 

Aside  from  the  pursuit  of  his  regular  business, 
the  subject  of  this  notice  has  been  equally  suc- 
cessful in  handling  and  improving  real  estate. 
His  dealings  in  that  line  have  covered  a  wide 
area,  including  Melrose  Park,  May  wood,  River 
Forest,  Harlem  and  Oak  Park.  It  has  been  his 
custom  to  improve  his  holdings  as  far  as  possible, 
and  he  has  erected  many  houses  and  other  build- 
ings. In  1895  he  built  the  elegant  modern  resi- 
dence, at  the  corner  of  Chicago  Avenue  and 
Marion  Street,  which  is  the  family  home.  Be- 
sides this  he  still  owns  a  residence  in  Oak  Park, 
two  in  River  Forest  and  a  fine  brick  store  build- 
ing in  Harlem. 


April  28,  1883,  Mr.  Nordenholt  was  married 
to  Miss  Mary  E.  Burkhardt,  who  was  born  in 
Hesse-Cassel,  Germany,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
August  and  Elizabeth  (Middendorf)  Burkhardt. 
The  family  emigrated  from  the  Fatherland  to 
England,  whence  in  1873  they  came  to  Chicago. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burkhardt  now  reside  in  Harlem. 
Five  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Nordenholt,  named  in  order  of  birth,  George  D., 
Louis  B.,  Arnold,  Bertha  B.  and  Walter  Wash- 
ington. The  third  died  in  childhood.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  family  are  regular  attendants  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Oak  Park. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  hearty  supporter 
of  the  Republican  party,  but  takes  active  part  in 
public  affairs  only  when  his  services  are  necessary 
to  carry  some  important  measure.  He  is  devoted 
to  his  home  and  family,  and  allows  no  outside 
affairs  to  crowd  out  his  domestic  interests.  His 
chief  recreation  is  a  few  weeks  of  hunting  and 
fishing  each  year.  He  usually  spends  his  vaca- 
tion in  northern  Wisconsin,  and  in  his  home  are 
many  trophies  proving  his  skill  as  a  sportsman. 


JOHN  D.  WALLER. 


(JOHN  DUKE  WALLER,  M.  D.,  a  leading 
I  member  of  the  medical  profession  in  Oak 
Q)  Park,  was  born  in  Maysville,  Kentucky,  April 
6,  1852.  He  is  the  son  of  Hon.  Henry  Waller, 
whose  biography  is  given  elsewhere  in  this  work . 
John  D.  Waller  attended  the  public  schools  of 
Chicago.  His  health  failing,  he  engaged  in  busi- 
ness and  eventually,  through  his  own  efforts, 
prepared  himself  for  the  study  of  medicine  and 
entered  Rush  Medical  College,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  1883.  In  1882  he  began  to  practice, 
as  assistant  physician  in  the  insane  asylum  at 
Jacksonville,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  for  five 
and  one-half  years.  While  there  he  was  one  time 


president  of  the  Morgan  County  Medical  Society. 
In  May,  1888,  he  came  to  Oak  Park,  where  he 
has  since  remained,  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
medicine,  to  which  he  has  given  his  exclusive  at- 
tention, and  in  which  he  has  been  eminently  suc- 
cessful, having  frequent  calls  to  all  the  neighbor- 
ing suburbs.  Dr.  Waller  was  married  in  1888 
to  Miss  Katherine,  daughter  of  Rev.  William 
Short,  D.  D.,  a  Methodist  preacher,  who  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Illinois  Female  College  in  Jacksonville 
for  a  period  of  eighteen  years.  Mr.  Short  is  now 
superintendent  of  the  Illinois  Institute  for  the 
Education  of  the  Blind,  at  Jacksonville. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Waller  are   the  parents  of  three 


22O 


G.  M.  DAVIS. 


children,  namely:  Judith  Car}',  Marie  Short, 
and  Katherine.  Dr.  Waller  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Oak 
Park.  He  is  a  member  of  Siloam  Commandery 
of  Knights  Templar,  of  Oriental  Consistory,  the 
National  Union,  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  a  charter  member  of  the  Oak  Park  Club, 
a  prominent  member  of  the  Masonic  order,  and 


of  a  number  of  other  orders.  Though  reared 
amidst  the  precepts  and  traditions  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  he  began  at  an  early  age  to  have  in- 
dependent and  liberal  ideas  concerning  the  ques- 
tions of  public  policy,  and  for  the  past  twenty 
years  he  has  supported  the  Republican  party, 
though  his  political  activity  does  not  extend  be- 
yond the  casting  of  his  own  ballot. 


GEORGE  M.  DAVIS. 


EEORGE  MORTIMER  DAVIS,  an  influen- 
tial citizen  of  Austin,  and  a  successful  busi- 
ness man  of  Chicago,  was  born  at  Eaton, 
Madison  County,  New  York,  August  25,  1844. 
His  parents,  Richard  Mowry  Davis  and  Rowena 
Wells  Davis,  both  sprang  from  families  which 
were  conspicuous  in  the  early  history  of  the 
United  States.  Richard  M.  Davis  was  born  to 
Nathaniel  and  Sophronia  (Johnson)  Davis,  in 
Erieville,  New  York,  and  was  a  millwright  by 
trade,  also  working  at  pattern- making.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  nearly  seventy-seven  years,  at  Ham- 
ilton, New  York,  December  31,  1889.  In  1858, 
while  working  at  making  patterns,  in  Utica,  New 
York,  Mr.  Davis  wrote  on  a  slip  of  paper,  which 
he  nailed  between  two  pieces  of  lumber,  "When 
you  find  this,  I  will  be  in  kingdom  come."  It 
was  found  by  workmen  a  few  months  after  his 
death,  but  no  one  in  the  foundry  at  that  time 
knew  who  the  writer  was.  Mrs.  R.  W.  Davis 
was  born  in  Erieville,  New  York,  and  died  at 
Eaton,  New  York,  November  4,  1872,  at  the  age 
of  nearly  fifty -eight  years.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
Barker  Wells  and  Fanny  Stillman.  The  parents 
of  the  last-named  were  John  Stillman  and  Mary 
Potter,  the  latter  a  lineal  descendant  of  Ichabod 
Potter,  who  was  born  in  Portsmouth,  Rhode 
Island,  in  1637.  His  descendants  in  direct  line 
to  Mrs.  Stillman  were  named  respectively, 


Thomas,  Thomas  and  George.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Davis'  children  were:  Frances  C.  (Mrs.  James  P. 
Marsh,  of  Chicago),  Helen  Celeste  (Mrs.  Walter 
Morse,  of  Eaton,  New  York)  and  George  M. 

George  M.  Davis  lived  at  Eaton,  New  York, 
until  nearly  grown  to  manhood.  At  fifteen  years 
.  of  age,  he  began  to  learn  the  machinist's  trade. 
After  two  years  he  went  to  Binghamton,  New 
York,  where  he  worked  in  a  gun  factory  which 
was  engaged  in  filling  contracts  for  the  United 
States  Government.  Later  he  worked  in  a  gun 
factory  in  Watertown,  and  then  in  Ilion,  New 
York.  In  1865  he  went  to  Oil  City,  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  from  there  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  After 
spending  six  months  in  that  city,  he  came  to 
Chicago,  in  1866. 

On  his  arrival  he  began  the  business  of  mak- 
ing steam  gauges,  his  first  location  being  on 
Washington  Street  near  Fifth  Avenue.  He 
has  ever  since  been  engaged  in  that  line  of  busi- 
ness, with  which  he  now  includes  different  special- 
ties in  steam  fittings,  many  of  which  are  his  own 
invention.  He  originated  the  idea  of  an  auto- 
matic air  valve  for  steam  radiators  and  first  intro- 
duced the  use  of  the  same  in  steam-heated 
buildings.  He  afterwards  devised  an  automatic 
steam  regulator  for  reducing  the  pressure  of  steam 
used  for  heating  purposes;  also  a  patent  steam 
trap,  and  many  other  appliances  now  in  general 


H.   H.   HUNT. 


221 


use;  while  in  some  cases  he  has  anticipated  a  de- 
mand for  articles  sure  to  be  appreciated  at  some 
future  time. 

This  enterprise  has  always  prospered,  as  have 
others  in  which  he  is  interested.  Since  1870  he 
has  been  located  at  Austin,  and  since  1894  he  has 
owned  the  electric  light  plant  in  that  place.  He 
is  a  director  of  the  Prairie  State  National  Bank  of 
Chicago,  is  extensively  interested  in  silver  mines 
in  Mexico,  and  is  a  member  of  the  March-Davis 
Bicycle  Company,  Chicago. 

December  31,  1867,  he  married  Miss  Henrietta, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Ira  and  Frances  Dales,  of  Chica- 
go. Dr.  Ira  Dales  was  born  at  Courtright,  Dela- 
ware County,  New  York.  His  parents  were  John 
and  Sarah  (Cavin)  Dales,  the  latter  a  cousin  of 
Alexander  Hamilton,  the  eminent  statesman  and 
financier.  Three  of  the  nine  sons  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Dales  became  physicians.  Dr.  Ira  Dales 
was  married  at  Monticello,  New  York,  to  Frances 
Coit.  He  practiced  a  number  of  years  at  Port 
Jervis,  New  York,  and  in  1854  came  to  Illinois, 
locating  at  Aurora,  where  his  death  occurred  two 
years  later.  Mrs.  Frances  Dales,  who  is  now 
over  eighty  years  of  age,  has  lived  at  Austin  since 
1871.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Joseph  Coit 
and  Mary  Voris.  Dr.  Coit,  whose  family  was 
of  English  lineage,  served  as  a  surgeon  in  the 
Texan  army  during  the  war  between  that  State 


and  Mexico,  and  died  in  that  service.  Mary 
Voris  was  born  on  Long  Island.  Her  ancestors 
were  among  the  old  Knickerbocker  families  which 
came  from  Holland. 

Mrs.  Davis  was  born  in  Monticello,  New  York. 
She  is  the  mother  of  two  sons,  Walter  Edgar, 
manager  of  the  March- Davis  Bicycle  Company, 
Chicago;  and  George  Coit,  a  student  of  mechan- 
ical engineering  at  Michigan  State  University, 
Ann  Arbor,  Michigan.  The  family  is  identified 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Austin,  and  its 
members  are  recognized  at  leaders  in  the  most 
progressive  public  movements  of  that  suburb. 
Mr.  Davis  is  an  ex-president  of  "The  Oaks,"  the 
principal  social  club  of  that  village,  in  which  he 
has  taken  a  lively  interest.  He  was  a  charter 
member  of  the  Park  Lodge,  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows,  and  has  passed  through  all  the 
chairs  therein.  Always  a  Republican,  his  only 
official  service  has  been  in  the  capacity  of  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Education  at  Austin,  of  which 
he  is  now  the  oldest  member.  During  his  connec- 
tion with  that  body  the  number  of  teachers  em- 
ployed has  increased  from  four  to  more  than  fifty, 
and  it  is  largely  due  to  the  wise  and  far-seeing 
policy  adopted  by  himself  and  his  colleagues  that 
the  schools  of  that  place  are  acknowledged  to  be 
among  the  most  efficient  and  progressive  in  the 
State. 


HARRISON  H.  HUNT. 


HARRISON  HOBART  HUNT,  a  veteran  of 
the  great  Civil  War,  was  identified  with  im- 
portant business    interests    in    Chicago  for 
nearly  a  score  of  years,  and  led  an  exemplary  and 
useful  life  in  both  civil  and  military  affairs,  which 
amply  entitles  him  to  commemoration  in  this  rec- 
ord.   He  was  born   at  Orange,  Franklin  County, 
Massachusetts,  July    8,    1845,    and  died  at  Oak 
Park,  Illinois,  June  15,  1893.     The  names  of  his 


parents  were  Rodney  Hunt  and  Margaret  Parker. 
Rodney  Hunt,  who  was  a  scion  of  an  old  New 
England  family,  was  born  at  Ashburnham,  Mas- 
sachusetts. For  over  thirty  years  he  was  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  woolen  mill  machinery  at 
Orange,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  passed  away  at 
that  place. 

After  leaving  the  public   schools,  Harrison  H. 
Hunt  pursued  a  course  at  a  business  college  at 


222 


H.   H.   HUNT. 


Poughkeepsie,  New  York.  When  only  seventeen 
years  of  age  he  enlisted  in  the  Fifty-second  Regi- 
ment, Massachusetts  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
served  one  year  as  an  orderly  under  General 
Grover,  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  He  took 
part  in  General  Butler's  expedition  against  Fort 
Gibson,  and  in  the  subsequent  Vicksburg  cam- 
paign. 

After  his  term  of  enlistment  expired  he  went 
to  Boston  and  became  a  bookkeeper  in  a  whole- 
sale paper  house.  In  1867  he  went  to  Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  was  employed  for  a  time  by 
Josiah  A.  Noonan  &  Company,  wholesale  paper 
dealers.  He  afterwards  did  a  commission  busi- 
ness in  hides  and  wool  in  that  city,  and  from 
there  removed  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  whence  he 
traveled  through  Ohio,  Illinois  and  other  West- 
ern States,  in  the  interests  of  the  wholesale  paper 
firm  of  Moore,  Wilstach  &  Moore.  Still  later 
he  became  a  traveling  representative  of  a  firm  of 
safe  manufacturers  in  that  city.  Returning  to 
Milwaukee  in  1871,  he  spent  the  next  year  in  the 
United  States  Internal  Revenue  service.  He  then 
returned  to  Orange,  Massachusetts,  where  for 
three  following  years  he  was  connected  in  business 
with  his  father. 

In  1875  Mr.  Hunt  located  in  Chicago,  believ- 
ing that  this  rapidly  growing  city  presented  the 
best  field  for  putting  to  practical  use  the  knowl- 
edge gained  by  his  previous  varied  experience. 
Here  he  first  became  a  salesman  for  F.  P.  Elliott 
&  Company,  wholesale  paper  dealers.  From  the 
time  of  his  arrival  in  this  city  he  gave  his  exclu- 
sive attention  to  this  branch  of  business  and  upon 
severing  his  connection  with  the  above-named 
firm  entered  into  an  engagement  with  McCann, 
Fitch  &  Converse,  which  lasted  about  three  years. 
Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  McCann  he  purchased  the 
interest  formerly  held  by  that  gentleman  and  the 
firm  became  Fitch,  Hunt  &  Company,  under 
which  name  the  enterprise  continued  five  or  six 
years.  In  1887  Mr.  Hunt  sold  his  interest  in 
this  concern,  after  which  he  became  the  head  of 
the  house  of  H.  H.  Hunt  &  Company,  which 
continued  to  do  a  prosperous  wholesale  paper 
business  during  the  balance  of  his  life.  His  com- 
mercial transactions  were  always  conducted  with 


the  utmost  integrity,  and  his  relations  with  pat- 
rons and  contemporaries  were  such  as  reflected 
great  credit  upon  his  character. 

On  the  3oth  of  August,  1870,  at  Milwau- 
kee, Wisconsin,  occurred  the  wedding  of  Mr. 
Hunt  and  Miss  Annie  E.  Mower,  daughter  of 
Samuel  F.  and  Anna  C.  (Litch)  Mower.  Samuel 
F.  Mower,  who  was  a  dealer  in  butter,  eggs  and 
cheese  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  was  born  at 
Worcester,  and  died  at  Newton,  in  the  same 
State,  January  16,  1856,  having  reached  the  age 
of  fifty-three  years.  His  father,  Ebenezer  Mower, 
who  was  a  farmer  at  Worcester,  reached  the  great 
age  of  one  hundred  years.  After  the  death  of  her 
first  husband,  Mrs.  Anna  C.  Mower  married 
Gen.  Harrison  C.  Hobart,  and  they  removed 
to  Wisconsin,  living  for  a  number  of  years  at 
Chilton,  and  later  at  Milwaukee,  in  that  State. 
General  Hobart,  who  still  resides  in  the  last- 
named  city,  has  long  been  distinguished  in  the 
military  and  political  affairs  of  the  State  of  Wis- 
consin. Mrs.  Hobart  died  at  Milwaukee  August 
ii,  1896,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years.  She 
was  born  at  Bradford,  Vermont.  Her  maternal 
grandfather,  John  House,  was  one  of  the  original 
proprietors  of  the  town  of  Hanover,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  built  the  first  two-story  house  in  that 
place.  During  the  Revolutionary  War  he  was 
very  active  in  the  cause  of  American  Independ- 
ence and  in  the  course  of  the  conflict  served  as 
captain  of  three  different  companies  of  New 
Hampshire  troops.  He  participated  in  engage- 
ments at  Saratoga,  White  Plains  and  Ticonderoga, 
and  shared  the  horrors  and  privations  of  the  ter- 
rible winter  at  Valley  Forge. 

Since  1876  Mr.  Hunt  had  been  a  resident  of 
Oak  Park,  and  that  attractive  suburb  is  still  the 
home  of  his  family,  which  includes,  besides  his 
widow,  a  son,  Rodney,  who  is  a  student  at  Rush 
Medical  College,  Chicago,  and  a  daughter  named 
Helen  A.  The  family  has  long  been  identified 
with  Grace  Church  (Episcopal),  of  Oak  Park, 
and  Mr.  Hunt  was  a  member  of  Phil  Sheridan 
Post  No.  615,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  He 
was  a  charter  member  of  Garden  City  Council, 
Royal  Arcanum,  but  afterwards  united  with 
General  Grant  Council  at  Oak  Park. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


J.  N.  GAGE. 


223 


JOHN  N.  GAGE. 


(JOHN  NEWTON  GAGE.  The  subject  of 
I  this  sketch  was  born  in  Pelham,  New  Ramp- 
ed shire,  May  30,  1825,  unto  Nathan  and  Me- 
hitable  (Woodbury)  Gage.  Being  brought  up 
on  a  farm,  a  fact  which  holds  true  of  most  of  our 
leading  pioneer  citizens,  his  early  educational  ad- 
vantages were  limited  to  such  common  schools  as 
the  ubiquitous  energy  so  characteristic  of  New 
England  Puritans  and  their  descendants  had  at 
that  early  date  made  possible  at  the  scene  of  his 
nativity.  At  about  twenty  years  of  age,  he  put 
forth  his  "best  foot"  in  taking  the  first  step  upon 
his  pathway  through  life,  and  though  he  often 
found  the  way  beset  with  difficulties,  yet  he  was 
always  found  bravely  and  tirelessly  at  work,  per- 
forming his  tasks  as  a  man  and  Christian  in  the 
best  of  the  light  given  unto  him. 

His  first  independent  work  was  in  the  Waltham 
(Massachusetts)  Cotton  Company's  Mills,  where, 
in  he  later  became  overseer  in  its  weaving-room. 
After  a  period  of  eight  years  of  such  service,  mak- 
ing it  his  determination  to  come  West,  he  took 
private  evening  lessons  in  bookkeeping,  so  as  not 
to  interfere  with  the  discharge  of  his  paid  duties, 
which  he  finally  resigned  to  others  (and,  we  fain 
believe,  less  competent)  hands.  He  set  out  for 
Chicago,  the  distant  but  much-sought  El  Dorado 
of  our  country  at  that  time,  which  he  first  saw, 
spread  out  in  a  panorama  almost  as  Nature's  God 
had  made  it,  in  the  spring  of  1857. 

He  soon  met  with  co-operative  energies  in  the 
persons  of  Christopher  C.  and  Daniel  Webster, 
with  whom  he  directly  entered  into  articles 
of  partnership,  establishing  one  of  the  earliest 
wholesale  and  retail  millinery  houses  of  our  city, 
known  then  by  the  firm  style  of  Webster  &  Gage, 


their  first  place  of  business  being  located  on  Lake 
Street.  Having  the  misfortune  of  being  burned 
out  in  1857,  they  re-opened  at  No.  78  Lake  Street, 
where  they  continued  until  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Websters,  about  1868.  Mr.  Gage  took  into  a 
new  partnership  formed  at  that  time  a  brother, 
Seth  Gage,  and  a  nephew,  Albert  S.  Gage,  under 
the  new  name  of  Gage  Brothers  &  Company,  a 
name  retained  to  this  day  (after  a  brief  interval  of 
change  to  A.  S.  Gage  &  Company),  by  which  the 
house  has  continued  to  grow  and  remain  known 
throughout  the  entire  West  and  Northwest. 

Being  burned  out  by  the  Great  Fire,  they  set  up 
temporarily  in  A.  S.  Gage's  private  house,  until 
they  were  enabled  to  re-open  for  a  period  of  two 
months  in  a  temporary  structure  upon  the  Lake 
Front.  From  this  location  they  removed  to  Wa- 
bash  Avenue,  near  Jackson,  thence  to  the  corner 
of  Madison  Street  and  Wabash  Avenue,  where 
the  trade  still  finds  them  profitably  busy,  one  of 
the  noted  houses  of  the  city. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  sold  out  to  his  part- 
ner, A.  S.  Gage,  about  1878.  Thereafter,  though 
in  excellent  health,  he  lived  a  life  of  respected  re- 
tirement until  the  sad  event  of  his  demise  from 
blood  poisoning,  following  upon  what  seemed  to 
be  a  trivial  complaint,  June  1 1,  1887,  &t  h'3  man- 
sion house,  No.  1 308"  Michigan  Avenue,  whence 
his  remains  were  borne  to  the  family  lot  in  Oak- 
wood  Cemetery. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  resolutions 
adopted  by  the  Directors  of  the  Wright  &  Law- 
ther  Oil  and  Lead  Manufacturing  Company  on 
this  sad  occasion: 

"WHEREAS,  Death  having  taken  from  us  our 
esteemed  fellow-member  and  Vice-President,  Mr. 


224 


J.  N.  GAGE. 


John  N.  Gage,  one  of  the  founders  of  this  com- 
pany, who  died  June  n,  1887,  it  is  hereby 

"Resolved:  That  in  the  death  of  Mr.  John  N. 
Gage  the  company  has  suffered  an  irreparable 
loss.  Appreciating,  as  we  do,  his  worth  as  a 
man,  his  careful,  just  and  conservative  business 
methods,  we  can  never  fully  fill  his  place  in  the 
Company's  affairs; 

"Resolved:  That  the  heartfelt  sympathy  of  each 
and  every  member  of  this  Board  is  felt  for  his 
family  in  their  great  loss  and  affliction;  and  that 
a  copy  of  these  Resolutions  be  sent  to  them,  and 
also  spread  upon  the  records  of  this  Company. ' ' 

In  politics  he  was  an  inflexible  Republican, 
always  casting  his  ballot,  but  as  carefully  avoid- 
ing any  approach  towards  active  politics.  In  re- 
ligious faith  he  was  liberal,  having  for  many 
years  attended  Dr.  Ryder's  church,  St.  Paul's 
Universalist,  whose  pastor  held  and  was  held  in 
mutual  esteem  from  as  far  back  as  the  early  '6os. 

And  so,  with  little  variety  or  romance,  lived 
and  died  one  of  the  sturdiest,  most  useful  of  our 
citizens.  Subsequent  generations,  with  more  lei- 
sure and  wealth,  may  develop  more  elegance  and 
refinement;  but  to  men  of  Mr.  Gage's  virile  stamp 
the  city  of  Chicago  (as  well  as  the  entire  West, 
yes,  in  truth,  all  new  countries)  owes  the  founda- 
tion stones  of  future  greatness  and  prosperity. 
Without  the  first  courses  of  masonry  there  can 
never  be  builded  high  superstructures,  with  or- 
nate, elaborate  and  admirable  dome  and  spire. 
What  Washington,  Jefferson,  the  Adamses  and 
others  were  to  the  infant  colonies,  straggling  for 
very  existence  and  recognition  as  an  independent 
nation,  such  were  Mr.  Gage  and  his  associates  to 
Chicago.  Most  of  them  are  now  gathered  to 
their  fathers,  but  their  deeds  are  immortal.  That 
Chicago  is  now  the  wonder  and  envy  of  the  world 
is  mainly  owing  to  the  persistent,  honest  efforts 
early  and  late  of  such  citizens  as  Mr.  Gage  fitly 
typifies. 

Mr.  Gage  married,  December  15,  1849,  at  the 
scene  of  his  nativity,  Miss  Martha  Webster,  by 
whom,  fortunately,  he  left  one  child,  a  sou,  to 
bear  his  esteemed  name,  Frank  Newton  Gage, 
who  was  born  July  24,  1853.  After  receiving  a 
good  education  in  Chicago,  he  entered  his  father's 
store,  but  later  withdrew,  and  is  at  present  an 
active  member  of  the  Stock  Exchange.  He  mar- 


ried, in  1889,  Olive  E.  Lewis,  of  this  city,  who 
has  borne  him  a  son,  John  Newton  Gage,  named 
for  his  grandfather,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Martha  Webster  is  a  daughter  of  Enoch  and 
Betsy  Webster  (relatives  before  marriage)  born  in 
Haverhill,  Massachusetts.  Enoch  was  a  son  of 
Caleb  Webster,  of  Revolutionary  fame.  Betsy  was 
a  daughter  of  Stephen  Webster.  Mrs.  Gage  is  thus 
related  through  both  her  parents  to  the  greatest 
of  America's  statesmen  and  orators,  Daniel  Web- 
ster, of  Marshfield,  Massachusetts.  She  is  also 
related  to  the  famous  Mrs.  Dustin,  of  Colonial 
times.  Captured  by  Indians,  who  dashed  out 
the  brains  of  her  sleeping  babe,  she  was  marched 
miles  into  the  wilderness.  While  her  captors 
were  asleep,  she  loosened  her  fetters,  and,  having 
slain  every  colored  face  of  them,  safely  made  her 
return  home,  as  set  out  in  graphic  early  historical 
authorities.  Of  all  the  heroines  of  "good  old 
colony  times, ' '  and  there  were  thousands  of  such, 
it  has  always  appeared  that  she  was  queen  of 
them  all  by  this  single  episode. 

The  family  of  Gage  (which  is  of  Norman  ex- 
traction) derives  its  descent  from  one  De  Gaga 
(Gauga  or  Gage),  who  accompanied  William 
the  Conqueror  into  England  in  1066.  After  the 
"Conquest"  he  was  rewarded  by  a  large  grant  of 
land  in  the  forests  of  Dean,  Gloucester  County, 
adjacent  to  which  he  fixed  his  abode  and  erected 
a  family  seat  at  Clerenwell  (otherwise  Clarewell). 
He  also  built  a  large,  mansion  house  in  the  town 
of  Chichester,  wherein  he  died,  and  was  buried 
in  the  neighboring  abbey.  His  posterity  re- 
mained in  the  vicinity  for  many  generations,  in 
credit  and  esteem,  of  whom  there  were  Barons  in 
Parliament  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  The  line 
from  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  has 
been  traced  as  follows:  John  Gage  had  a  son, 
John  Gage,  born  1408;  married  Joan  Sudgrove. 
Their  son  was  Sir  John,  knighted  1454;  married 
Eleanor  St.  Clere;  died  September,  1486.  Will- 
iam, Esquire,  born  1456;  married  Agnes  Bolney. 
Their  son,  Sir  John,  born  1480,  knighted  May 
22,  1541;  married  Phillippa  Guilderford;  died 
April  28,  1557.  Their  eldest  son,  Sir  Edward, 
knighted  by  Queen  Mary,  married  Elizabeth 
Parker.  Their  son,  John,  Esquire  (eldest  of  nine 


E.  McK. 


225 


sons),  thirty  years  old  at  his  father's  death;  heir 
to  fifteen  manors  and  other  Sussex  lands.  John 
(nephew)  made  Baronet  March  26,  1622;  married 
Penelope,  widow  of  Sir  George  Treuchard;  died 
October  3,  1633. 

John  (second son),  of  Stoneham,  Suffolk  Coun- 
ty, England,  came  to  America  with  John  Win- 
throp,  Jr.,  landing  at  Salem  June  12,  1630;  in 
1633  one  of  twelve  proprietors  of  Ipswich;  wife 
Anna  died  in  June,  1658;  married  (2d)  Mary 
Keyes,  November,  1658;  moved  to  Rowley  1664.; 
held  many  responsible  offices  of  trust  and  fidelity 
in  Ipswich  and  Rowley,  in  which  latter  place  he 
died  in  1673.  Daniel  (second  son)  married 


Sarah  Kimball  in  1675;  died  November  8,  1705. 
Daniel,  born  March  12,  1676;  married  Martha 
Burbank,  March  9,  1697;  settled  on  the  batiks  of 
the  Merrimac  River,  on  the  main  road  to  Me- 
thuen,  where  the  old  Gage  House,  the  oldest  in 
town,  still  stands.  Died  March  14,  1747.  Dan- 
iel (third  son),  born  April  22,  1708,  removed  to 
Pelham,  New  Hampshire;  died  September  24, 
1775.  David  (fourth  son),  born  August  9,  1750. 
Nathan  (fifth),  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  whose  son  and  grandson,  enumerated 
herein,  bring  the  record  up  to  the  extraordinary 
number  of  seventeen  consecutive  male  generations. 


EDWARD  McK.  TEALL. 


[~~DWARD  McKINSTRY  TEALL.  The  de- 
j^  velopment  of  the  insurance  business  has  kept 
|_  pace  with  the  growth  of  other  commercial 
enterprises  and  has  assumed  such  magnitude  and 
variety,  and  become  so  complex  and  at  the  same 
time  so  vital  to  life  and  property,  that  it  must  now 
be  regarded  as  one  of  the  important  industries  of 
the  United  State.  The  last  few  years  have  seen 
reductions  in  the  rates  of  insurance,  and  corres- 
ponding advantages  to  property-holders,  in  Chi- 
cago, in  consequence  of  the  rapid  development  of 
the  art  of  constructing  fire-proof  buildings  and 
the  great  improvement  in  the  facilities  for  check- 
ing and  extinguishing  fires.  These  important 
changes,  which  are  still  in  progress,  require 
prompt  attention  and  action  by  the  companies 
doing  business  here,  for  competition  is  just  as 
fierce  in  this  line  of  business  as  in  any  other.  In 
fact,  the  sharp,  but  honorable,  rivalry  among  in- 
surance men  has  developed  a  number  of  experts 
in  the  business,  men  with  sufficient  mental  pene- 
tration to  foresee  the  result  of  changed  conditions, 
and  sufficient  executive  ability  to  carry  out  such 


methods  as  are  most  likely  to  secure  favorable 
results. 

Among  the  most  successful  and  systematic 
manipulators  of  this  art  is  the  gentleman  whose 
name  heads  this  notice.  His  birth  occurred  at 
Albany,  New  York,  July  27,  1839,  his  parents 
being  Edward  McKinstry  Teall  and  Eliza  Perry. 
The  founder  of  the  family  in  America  was  Oliver 
Teall,  who  came  from  England  and  settled  at 
New  Haven,  Connecticut,  about  1723.  His  fa- 
ther had  been  Apothecary  General  to  the  British 
army,  serving  under  the  Duke  of  Marlborough 
during  the  reigns  of  William  I.  and  Queen  Anne. 
Prudence,  the  wife  of  Oliver  Teall,  who  came 
with  him  to  America,  died  at  Killingsworth,  Con- 
necticut, June  24,  1780.  Oliver  Teall,  second 
son  of  this  Couple,  married  Ruth  Hurd  and  set- 
tled at  Killingsworth.  He  served  as  a  Surgeon 
in  the  British  Army  during  the  French  and  In- 
dian War,  and  also  during  the  War  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution,  maintaining  his  loyalty  to  the 
crown  throughout  his  life.  Five  of  his  sons, 
Timothy,  Titus,  Oliver,  Joseph  and  Nathan, 


226 


E.  McK.  TEALL. 


served  in  the  Continental  army.  Father  and 
sons  were  mutually  antagonized  by  their  loyalty 
to  their  respective  causes,  and  never  became  rec- 
onciled. Another  son,  named  Benjamin,  having 
lost  an  eye  during  his  childhood,  was  thus  inca- 
pacitated for  military  service  and  did  not  partici- 
pate in  the  conflict. 

Oliver  Teall  (third)  was  born  in  Middletown, 
Connecticut,  January  i,  1759.  When  only  six- 
teen years  old  he  enlisted  under  General  Putnam, 
Captain  Gale's  company,  and  afterward  served 
in  Captain  Hyde's  company,  which  was  success- 
ively stationed  at  Fort  Trumbull  and  at  Provi- 
dence, Rhode  Island.  He  was  subsequently  as- 
signed to  Colonel  Sommers'  command  at  Ger- 
mantown,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  one  of  the 
devoted  band  which  endured  the  historic  hard- 
ships of  Valley  Forge,  where  his  brother  Titus 
died  of  smallpox.  Later  in  the  war  he  was  sta- 
tioned at  West  Point  and  on  the  Highlands.  He 
acted  as  guard  to  General  Washington  and  his 
family  while  they  attended  church.  After  peace 
came  he  married  Susan,  daughter  of  Col.  Brin- 
ton  Paine,  of  Dutchess  County,  New  York. 
They  settled  at  Upper  Hillsdale,  Columbia  Coun- 
ty, New  York,  where  he  became  a  prosperous, 
farmer.  They  were  the  parents  of  twelve  chil- 
dren. His  death  occurred  at  Albany  on  the  i8th 
of  September,  1842,  aged  eighty-two  years. 

Col.  Brinton  Paine,  who  was  an  officer  of  the 
Continental  army,  was  a  descendant  of  Stephen 
Paine,  who  came  to  Massachusetts  in  1638,  and 
became  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  colony, 
He  was  one  of  the  chief  contributors  to  the  pros- 
ecution of  the  Indian  wars.  His  son  Stephen 
was  present  at  the  great  swamp  fight  in  which 
King  Philip's  band  was  exterminated. 

Edward  M.  Teall,  Sr.,  was  a  son  of  Oliver 
Teall,  third.  He  became  a  prominent  merchant 
of  Albany,  and  was  also  proprietor  of  one  of  the 
first  lines  of  boats  on  the  Erie  Canal.  He  did  a 
general  forwarding  business,  and  the  Chicago 
American  of  April  9,  1839,  the  first  issue  of  a 
daily  paper  in  this  city,  contained  his  business 
advertisement.  He  was  for  many  years  influen- 
tial in  New  York  politics.  Eliza  Perry  was  born 
at  I^enox,  Massachusetts.  Her  father,  Freder- 


ick Perry,  who  was  a  son  of  a  clergyman,  was  a 
native  of  Connecticut.  He  was  a  graduate  of 
Williams  College,  and  became  a  cotton  manufac- 
turer at  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  received  his 
primary  education  in  private  schools,  and  after- 
ward became  a  student  in  the  academy  of  Albany. 
In  the  spring  of  1857  he  came  to  Chicago  and 
soon  after  secured  employment  as  a  clerk  in  the 
insurance  office  of  Higginson  &  James.  This  line 
of  business  was  then  in  its  infancy,  and  the  most 
sanguine  enthusiasm  could  not  have  foreseen  the 
extent  to  which  that  industry  would  be  developed. 
He  went  to  work' with  a  will,  and  his  fidelity, 
thoroughness  and  aptitude  soon  won  the  confi- 
dence and  good-will  of  his  employers.  In  1863  he 
became  one  of  the  partners  of  the  firm  of  Alfred 
James  ^&  Company,  which  continued  to  transact 
business  for  about  three  years.  Their  place  of 
business  was  at  the  southeast  corner  of  South 
Water  and  Clark  Streets,  which  location  was  the 
center  of  the  insurance  business  at  that  time. 
He  afterward  formed  a  partnership  with  Freder- 
ick P.  Fisher,  a  relation  which  continued  for  ten 
years,  during  one  of  the  most  important  eras  of 
the  insurance  business  in  the  West.  At  the  end 
of  that  period  the  present  firm  of  Edward  M. 
Teall  &  Company  was  formed,  Cyrus  A.  Hardy, 
a  trusted  clerk  of  the  former  firm,  being  the  jun- 
ior member.  Mr.  Teall  is  one  of  the  Directors 
of  the  Westchester  Fire  Insurance  Company  of 
New  York,  and  in  addition  to  serving  the  local 
interests  of  that  corporation  the  firm  represents 
several  leading  insurance  companies  of  other 
cities.  The  business  in  its  charge  is  conserva- 
tively and  honorably  conducted,  and  the  firm  en- 
joys the  confidence  of  the  public  and  of  under- 
writers to  a  remarkable  degree.  Mr.  Teall  is 
President  of  the  Chicago  Fire  Underwriters'  As- 
sociation, and  has  been  for  a  number  of  years. 

On  the  nth  of  June,  1862,  Mr.  Teall  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Katherine  Mead,  of  New  York  City, 
daughter  of  Isaac  H.  Mead  and  Rachel  Van  Voor- 
hees  Demorest.  Mrs.  Teall's  maternal  grand- 
father was  also  a  native  of  New  York  City,  being 
a  scion  of  a  very  old  and  well-known  family  of 
that  municipality.  Mr.  Teall  has  been  for  many 


A.  G.  BURLEY. 


227 


years  a  member  of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Chicago,  in  which  he  officiates  as  Trustee  and 
Elder.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Illinois  Club, 
and  Deputy  Governor  of  the  Society  of  Colonial 
Wars  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  which  he  helped 
to  organize.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Illinois 
Society  of  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  and 
still  preserves  the  Teall  coat-of-arms  granted  to 
the  family  by  George  I.  in  1723.  He  has  been 


often  urged  to  enter  the  arena  of  politics,  has 
been  tendered  important  nominations  by  the  Re- 
publican party,  of  which  he  is  an  active  and  dis- 
tinguished member,  but  prefers  to  devote  himself 
to  his  business,  home  and  social  duties.  For  rec- 
reation, he  and  his  wife  have  always  spent  the 
summer  at  their  beautiful  farm  and  summer  home 
in  the  Berkshire  Hills,  Stockbridge,  Massachu- 
setts. 


ARTHUR  G.  BURLEY. 


GJRTHUR  GILMAN  BURLEY.  The  year 
I  I  1812  is  a  national  epoch,  for  at  that  time 
/  |  the  United  States,  for  a  second  time  within 
the  easy  memory  of  man,  started  in  to  chastise 
the  British  Lion.  What  events  of  world-wide 
significance  have  transpired  during  those  more 
than  eighty  intervening  years  !  To  think  of  it  is  * 
like  a  dream:  to  have  predicted  it,  would  have  re- 
sulted in  that  day  in  an  inquirendo  de  lunico  pro- 
ceeding concerning  the  lack  of  brain  matter  in  the 
bold  transgressor  of  common  sense  who  should 
prophesy.  Two  years  later,  Robert  Fulton  was 
making  his  (the  very  first)  steamboat  trial  upon 
the  Hudson  River.  Then  came  steam  as  applied 
to  locomotives,  which  has  done  more  than  any- 
thing else  in  so  rapidly  opening  up  the  great  in- 
terior and  West  of  our  immense  country,  where- 
as, before,  ox-carts  and  canal-boats  were  the 
most  approved  forms  of  transportation  of  chattels, 
prior  to  the  advent  of  the  "prairie  schooner," 
which  shortly  preceded  the  "Union  Pacific." 
The  telegraph,  reapers,  thousandfold  manufac- 
tories, electric  light  and  locomotion  (not  to  men- 
tion scores  of  other  wonderful  economic  and  utili- 
tarian inventions  of  more  recent  date  within  the 
present  century),  all  cry  out  that,  in  point  of 
actual  comfort  and  intelligent  means  of  effecting 


business  ends,  the  world  has  since  that  year  1812 
done  almost  more  than  had  been  done  in  the 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  years  which  had  pre- 
ceded. And  all  this  within  the  memory  of  liv- 
ing men;  yes,  within  the  memory  of  one  now  liv- 
ing in  our  midst,  who,  wonderful  to  relate,  like 
Gladstone,  an  octogenarian,  is  still  in  the  harness 
of  active  business  life.  We  who  live  in  Chicago 
know  what  that  means  in  this  day.  Honor  to 
whom  honor  is  due  ! 

Arthur  Gilman  Burley,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  in  the  aforesaid  year  of  1812, 
upon  the  fourth  day  of  October,  at  Exeter,  New 
Hampshire,  unto  James  and  Charlotte  I.  (Gilman) 
Burley,  his  father  being  the  Cashier  of  the  Exeter 
Bank. 

The  Burleys  are  regarded  Down  East  as  '  'good 
stock;"  that  seems  to  be  the  prevailing  opinion 
in  our  city,  from  all  that  is  thus  far  known  of 
them  in  our-midst.  The  first  by  the  name  who 
came  to  our  shores  was  Giles  Burley,  who,  with 
his  wife,  Elizabeth,  settled  at  Ipswich,  Massachu- 
setts, in  the  year  1648.  Here,  in  1664,  he  took 
the  proper  oath  and  became  a  "commoner."  He 
was  also  a  "planter,"  and  lived  eight  years  of 
his  useful  life  upon  Brooke  Street  of  that  ancient 
town,  and  owned  "Division  Lot  No.  105,  on 


228 


A.  G.  BURLEY. 


Great  Hill,  Hogg  Island,"  in  that  vicinage.  He 
had  a  son,  Andrew  Btirley,  who  was  born  at 
Ipswich,  September  5,  1657.  The  latter  married 
Mary,  a  daughter  of  the  rather  celebrated  Roger 
Conant.  Upon  the  death  of  his  father,  while  in 
childhood,  he  was  bound  out  (as  was  the  old  cus- 
tom) to  one  John  Brown.  He  was  called  in 
records  "husbandman  and  yeoman,"  and  bore  the 
rather  dignified  title  of  '  'Cornet. ' '  He  had  a  son , 
Hon.  Andrew  Burley,  who  was  born  at  Ipswich 
in  June,  1694.  His  career  was  replete  with  hon- 
ors, including  among  others  the  positions  of  Jus- 
tice of  the  Court  of  Sessions  and  Representative 
to  the  State  Legislature  in  the  years  1741  and 
1742.  He  acquired,  and  left  intact,  a  large  es- 
tate. He  was  twice  married;  first,  to  Lydia 
Pengry,  by  whom  he  had  six  children;  secondly, 
to  Mrs.  Hannah  Burnham.  He  had  a  son,  An- 
drew Burley,  Jr.,  who  married  a  Mrs.  Hannah 
Cogswell  (a  daughter  of  his  father's  wife).  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1742,  and  lived 
on  Brooke  Street  in  Ipswich  (near  the  location 
of  his  first  American  progenitor) ,  upon  land  for- 
merly granted  to  Governor  Dudley's  son  Samuel. 

He  left  a  son,  James  Burley,  who  was  by  trade 
a  cabinet-maker,  also  an  officer  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  The  latter  married  Susannah  ' 
Swazey,  and  died  in  Exeter,  New  Hampshire, 
leaving  a  son,  James  Burley,  Jr.,  who  has  been 
already  noticed  as  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Arthur  Gilman  Burley  received  for  his  educa- 
tion the  best  that  the  common  schools  of  his  na- 
tive Exeter  had  to  offer,  which  information  was 
somewhat  rounded  out  by  a  supplementary  year  at 
the  Exeter  Academy.  He  resolutely  turned  his 
young  face  toward  the  distant  West  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three,  reaching  his  future  home,  Chi- 
cago, on  the  seventeenth  day  of  May,  1835. 
(Sixty  long  years  ago.  Imagine  the  appearance 
at  that  time  of  the  country  which  is  at  present 
covered  by  our  fair  city  !  How  many  of  the 
comers  of  that  day  are  yet  in  the  flesh  ?) 

Mr.  Burley  first  worked  as  clerk  for  John  Hoi- 
brook  in  a  boot  and  shoe  shop  for  about  two 
years.  In  1837  he  went  to  New  York  City,  to 
buy  for  his  brother-in-law,  Stephen  F.  Gale,  a 


stock  of  books  and  stationery  (one  of  the  very 
first  to  be  imported  among  us),  and  remained  with 
Mr.  Gale  for  about  two  years  following. 

In  1838  the  crockery  business  of  the  North- 
west was  founded  by  Mr.  Burley,  who  bought 
from  the  State  Bank  of  Illinois  a  stock  of  such 
goods,  his  place  of  trade  being  then  located  at 
the  corner  of  La  Salle  and  Lake  Streets.  He 
has  been  in  that,  business  ever  since,  a  period  of 
over  fifty-seven  years,  and  is  now  regularly  on 
duty  at  the  old  stand. 

He  was  burned  out  in  1842,  and  then  moved  to 
No.  105  Lake  Street,  later  to  No.  175  on  the  same 
thoroughfare,  where,  in  1852,  he  was  joined  by  a 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  John  Tyrrell,  who  came  on 
from  New  Hampshire  to  enter  into  a  partnership. 
This  still  continues  in  operation,  being  incor- 
porated under  the  firm  style  and  name,  "Burley 
&  Tyrrell,  Importers  and  Dealers  of  Crockery, 
Chicago." 

They  had  built  their  own  quarters  at  No.  48 
Lake  Street  about  1857,  but,  fortunately,  had 
disposed  of  the  same  before  the  time  of  the  Great 
Fire  in  1871.  They  still  had  their  store  located 
therein,  which,  of  course,  went  up  in  smoke  and 
down  to  the  ground  in  ashes.  After  this  fire 
they  had  a  temporary  office  at  the  corner  of  State 
and  Sixteenth  Streets;  then  occupied  a  store  for 
about  three  years  at  the  corner  of  Van  Buren  and 
Wabash;  then  removed  to  No.  83  State  Street;  and 
finally  to  Nos.  42,  44  and  46  Lake  Street,  which 
premises  they  continue  to  occupy  at  this  time. 
Having  found  it  cheaper  to  rent,  they  have  never 
cared  to  build. 

Mr.  Burley  also  had  the  misfortune  of  having 
his  home  burned  up  in  1874,  when  he  was  living 
below  Harrison  Street.  He  is  now,  as  for  a  long 
time,  cosily  situated  at  No.  1620  Indiana  Avenue. 

Although  an  unostentatious  man,  Mr.  Burley 
has  been  a  very  prominent  figure  in  social  and 
business  matters  for  very  many  years.  Few  in- 
deed, if  any,  can  antedate  him  in  this  relation. 
He  aided  in  the  formation  of  the  First  Unitarian 
Church  (since  called  the  Messiah)  in  1836,  one 
of  the  oldest  and  foremost  in  the  entire  North- 
west, and  of  which  he  has  always  been  a  most  in- 
terested and  conspicuous  member. 


R.  R.  CLARK 


229 


In  politics,  he  has  always  been,  since  the  days 
of  the  Whigs  were  no  more,  a  consistent  Re- 
publican, but  in  no  sense  or  wish  a  public  charac- 
ter. A  true  exemplifier  of  the  best  principles  of 
Free  Masonry,  with  which  he  affiliated  as  early 
as  1848,  he  has  never  cared  to  go  to  the  height 
of  degrees  his  proficiency  and  long  service  would 
have  richly  entitled  him  to,  and  undoubtedly  have 
brought  choice  flowers  of  honor  in  their  train, 
but  he  has  been  Treasurer  of  Oriental  Lodge  for 
forty-two  years.  He  was  also  for  a  time  much 
interested  in  the  mysteries  of  Odd-Fellowship. 

Not  at  heart  a  club  man,  he  has  nevertheless 
been  a  member  of  the  Calumet,  as  he  is  at  present 
upon  the  roll  of  the  Chicago  Club.  Very  do- 
mestic in  habits,  he  is  not  frequently  found  in  the 


circle  of  club  habitues.  In  public  affairs  and 
whatever  promotes  the  business  and  social  good 
and  welfare  of  the  community,  Mr.  Burley  always 
is  an  interested,  and  usually  a  participating,  citi- 
zen. Young  in  enthusiasm,  certainly  he  bears 
his  laurel  of  years  gracefully,  as  we  will  sincerely 
hope  he  may  long  live  to  do. 

Upon  the  twenty -fourth  day  of  September,  1849, 
Mr.  Burley  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Welthy- 
an  Loom  is  Harmon,  who  comes  of  a  good  old- 
time  Down-East  family.  It  is  regretted  that  no 
children  have  been  born  to  them  to  perpetuate 
the  name  and  further  the  noble  traits  the  family 
has  conspicuously  borne  up  to  this  time  in  the 
history  of  our  country. 


ROBERT  R.  CLARK. 


ROBERT  RODMAND  CLARK,  an  early  resi- 
dent of  Lake  View,  now  a  part  of  Chicago, 
is  descended  from  English  ancestors  and  was 
born  in  Clarkson,  Monroe  County,  New  York, 
May  24,  1831.  His  great-grandfather,  William 
Clark,  came  from  England  and  located  first  on 
the  Hudson  River,  at  Albany,  New  York,  later  re- 
moving to  the  Mohawk  Valley.  He  was  pos- 
sessed of  some  means,  and  dealt  in  realty  during 
his  residence  in  America.  His  son  William  had 
large  holdings  of  lands  and  farms  in  central  New 
York,  and  was  one  of  the  first  American  import- 
ers of  Morocco  leather,  having  his  headquarters 
at  Utica,  New  York,  his  native  place.  He  was 
among  the  first  settlers  of  Monroe  County,  and 
the  town  of  Clarkson  was  named  for  him  and 
another  settler  of  the  same  name,  though  no  rela- 


tive, who  located  there  in  the  same  year.  He 
died  there  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  Five 
of  his  seven  children,  four  sons  and  a  daughter, 
grew  to  maturity. 

The  third  of  these,  William  L.  Clark,  born  in 
Utica,  was  about  twenty  years  old  when  his  par- 
ents moved  to  Clarkson.  He  married  Cornelia 
Stewart,  a  native  of  Wyoming  County,  New 
York.  Her  parents,  Daniel  and  Sallie  (Fish) 
Stewart,  were  children  of  native  Scotch  parents, 
and  were  born  in  Chemung  County,  New  York. 
She  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-two  years,  passing 
away  at  the  home  of  her  son  in  Lake  View  in 
1886.  William  L.  Clark  was  an  extensive  fann- 
er, but  lost  heavily  in  speculation  in  later  life. 
He  was  an  upright  man,  and  reached  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years,  dying  in  Lake  View  in  1876. 


230 


R.  R.  CLARK. 


He  was  affiliated  with  the  Universalist  Church, 
while  his  wife  adhered  to  the  Presbyterian  teach- 
ings of  her  fathers.  They  were  the  parents  of 
three  children.  The  eldest,  Sallie,  is  the  widow 
of  George  B.  Marsh,  now  residing  in  Chicago; 
and  the  youngest,  Laura,  is  the  wife  of  Charles 
L.  Bassett,  ot  LaPorte,  Indiana. 

Robert  R.  Clark  is  the  second  child  of  his  par- 
ents. He  combines  in  a  happy  degree  the  sturdy 
qualities  of  physical  and  mental  make-up  of  his 
ancestors.  When  a  mere  boy  he  determined  to 
recover  his  father's  lost  homestead  as  a  home  for 
his  parents,  and  before  he  had  reached  the  age  of 
twenty  years  had  accomplished  his  purpose. 
Previous  to  the  age  of  sixteen  years  he  had  the 
educational  advantages  afforded  by  the  common 
schools,  and  he  then  went  to  Michigan,  where  he 
found  employment  as  a  school  teacher.  Return- 
ing for  a  short  time  to  the  home  farm,  he  became, 
in  his  eighteenth  year,  check  clerk  on  board  the 
steamer  "Empire  State,"  plying  between  Buffalo 
and  Chicago,  then  the  finest  vessel  on  the  Lakes. 
He  was  subsequently  on  board  the  "Wisconsin" 
one  year,  and  returned,  as  chief  clerk,  to  the 
"Empire  State,"  where  he  continued  five  years. 
He  also  served  on  the  "Southern  Michigan"  and 
"Western  Metropolis, "  all  these  boats  being  the 
property  of  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern 
Railroad.  The  last  two  only  ran  from  Buffalo  to 
Monroe  or  Toledo,  where  they  connected  with 
that  portion  of  the  railroad  completed  from  Chi- 
cago to  those  points.  Mr.  Clark  was  on  board 
the  steamer  "Northern  Indiana"  when  it  burned 
on  Lake  Erie,  one  beautiful  morning,  off  Point 
au  Place,  with  a  loss  of  between  four  and  five 
hundred  passengers.  Being  a  good  swimmer, 
he  remained  on  board  until  the  fire  had  swept  to 
the  stern  of  the  vessel  (because  of  its  propulsion 
toward  the  shore),  and  after  entering  the  water 
saved  several  passengers  by  giving  up  to  them 
doors  which  he  had  wrenched  from  the  staterooms 
for  his  own  use.  He  was  finally  picked  up  by  a 
boat  bound  for  Buffalo,  and  made  his  regular 
trip  out  of  that  port  on  another  vessel  the  night 
of  the  same  day.  When  the  "Golden  Gate"  was 


wrecked  on  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  Erie  Harbor, 
a  short  time  later,  Mr.  Clark  was  on  board,  and 
was  saved  with  all  the  rest  save  one,  who  tried 
to  swim  ashore  in  the  midst  of  the  wreckage.  The 
wreck  was  continually  swept  by  the  waves,  but 
it  was  safer  than  the  choppy  bay,  full  of  the 
floating  cargo  of  the  "Golden  Gate."  All  who 
remained  on  board  were  safely  conveyed  to  shore 
by  a  Government  vessel  in  the  morning.  With 
the  exception  of  one  year,  which  was  spent  as  re- 
ceiver in  charge  of  the  ticket  office  at  Buffalo, 
Mr.  Clark  continued  in  the  marine  service  until 
he  settled  in  Chicago  in  1857. 

Having  made  some  successful  investments  in 
Chicago  during  his  previous  visits  here,  he  de- 
cided to  settle  here,  a  resolution  which  was,  prob- 
ably, strengthened  by  his  marriage,  in  1857,  to 
one  of  Chicago's  fair  daughters.  This  was  Miss 
Blanche,  only  daughter  of  the  late  Daniel  Elston, 
one  of  Cook  County's  most  worthy  and  honored 
pioneers.  In  1859  Mr.  Clark  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  fuel  trade,  and  later  dealt  in  lumber, 
but  his  chief  occupation  has  been  the  handling  of 
realty.  For  the  last  twenty  years  he  has  made  a 
specialty  of  leasing  residence  property  to  others 
who  would  improve  it,  and  has  been  largely  in- 
strumental in  building  up  what  was  formerly  a 
.  suburb  known  as  Lake  View,  now  a  part  of  the 
great  metropolis  in  name  as  well  as  in  fact.  He 
has  naturally  taken  a  keen  interest  in  the  moral 
and  material  welfare  of  that  section,  and  has  act- 
ively participated  in  the  government  of  the  town 
and  village  of  Lake  View.  In  political  affilia- 
tion he  is  found  with  the  Democratic  party  on 
national  issues.  In  religious  belief  he  is  ex- 
ceedingly liberal,  and  very  independent  in  all 
thought  and  action.  His  early  experience  taught 
him  self-reliance,  and  his  history  should  serve  as 
a  worthy  example  to  the  ambitious  young  man. 
He  is  still  the  owner  of  the  old  homestead  in  New 
York.  Mr.  Clark  is  fond  of  hunting,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Poygan  Shooting  Club,  whose 
members  spend  much  of  the  duck-hunting  season 
on  Lake  Poygan,  in  Wisconsin. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


G.  M.  PULL-MAN. 


231 


GEORGE  MORTIMER  PULLMAN. 


(3  EORGE  M.  PULLMAN  was  born  in  Brocton, 

bChautauqua  County,  New  York,  March  3, 
1831,  and  is  the  third  child  of  James  Lewis 
and  Emily  Caroline  Pullman.  The  father  was  a 
native  of  Rhode  Island.  Emily  C.  Pullman  was 
the  daughter  of  James  Minton,  of  Auburn,  New 
York.  She  was  a  good  wife  and  mother,  and 
assisted  her  husband  in  implanting  in  the  minds 
of  their  children  the  best  moral  principles,  while 
inculcating  habits  of  industry'  and  careful  study. 
The  father  was  a  builder  and  house-mover,  and 
George  early  began  to  observe  his  methods,  while 
assisting  in  his  operations.  Some  very  useful  ap- 
pliances of  the  business  are  the  invention  of  the 
elder  Pullman.  He  died  in  1853,  and  the  respon- 
sibility of  head  of  the  family  fell  upon  George, 
who  was  the  eldest  unmarried  son.  Through 
almost  forty  years  of  her  widowhood,  he  was  the 
stay  and  loving  aid  of  his  mother,  who  passed 
away  in  May,  1892,  after  seeing  all  her  seven  chil- 
dren occupying  responsible  and  useful  positions 
in  life. 

Royal  H.,  the  first-born,  is  pastor  of  the  First 
Universalist  Church  of  Baltimore.  His  interest 
in  public  affairs  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that 
he  was  the  candidate  of  his  party  for  Congress  in 
1890.  Albert  B.,  who  died  in  1893,  occupied  up 
to  1882  responsible  positions  in  the  Pullman 
Palace  Car  Company,  which  is  the  creation  of  his 
younger  brotli-.r,  George.  James  M.  Pullman, 
D.  D.,  is  pastor  of  the  Universalist  Church  at 
Lynn,  Massachusetts,  the  leading  parish  of  that 
sect  in  America.  Charles  L.  was,  until  Septem- 
ber, 1894,  contracting  agent  for  the  Pullman  Com- 
pany, but  is  now  engaged  in  other  business  in 
Chicago;  and  Frank  W.  was  Assistant  United 
States  District  Attorney  of  New  York,  where  he 
died  in  1879.  Helen  A.  is  the  wife  of  George 


West,  of  New  York;  and  Emma  C.  is  the  wife  of 
Doctor  William  F.  Fluhrer,  chief  surgeon  of  Belle- 
vue  Hospital,  New  York. 

George  M.  Pullman  was  always  of  a  practical 
turn  of  mind,  and  was  a  diligent  student  of 
branches  which  were  calculated  to  fit  him  for  a 
business  life.  He  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  a  com- 
mon-school education,  and  is  remembered  as  an 
industrious  and  hard-working  pupil.  At  the  age 
of  fourteen,  he  undertook  to  sustain  himself,  his 
first  employment  being  that  of  a  clerk  at  $40  per 
year.  Neither  his  remuneration  nor  his  tastes  or 
habits  were  likely  to  lead  him  into  dissipation, 
and  he  seems  to  have  done  his  work  with  credit 
to  himself  and  satisfaction  to  his  employer.  At 
the  end  of  the  year  he  joined  his  eldest  brother, 
who  had  a  cabinet-making  shop  at  Albion,  New 
York.  This  pursuit  was  well  calculated  to  pre- 
pare him  for  the  subsequent  conduct  of  the  larg- 
est building  and  furnishing  enterprise  in  the 
world,  though  he  was,  probably,  wholly  uncon- 
scious of  his  future  at  that  time.  He  persevered 
and  was  faithful,  because  it  was  part  of  his  nature, 
as  well  as  the  natural  result  of  his  teachings  and 
early  surroundings.  He  continued  in  the  cabinet 
work  until  the  death  of  his  father,  in  1853.  The 
long  illness  of  the  head  of  the  family,  who  wasted 
away  in  gradual  decline,  had  exhausted  the  means 
of  the  common  purse,  so  that  the  widow  was  con- 
fronted with  the  necessity  of  providing  for  her- 
self and  her  minor  children.  In  doing  this,  she 
was  not  left  to  battle  alone,  for  her  son  George  at 
once  took  up  the  responsibility  of  head  of  the 
household  and  relieved  her  of  financial  burdens. 
The  Erie  Canal  was  about  to  be  enlarged,  and 
the  commissioners  had  asked  for  bids  for  raising 
or  removing  many  buildings  along  its  banks. 
Young  Pullman  was  the  successful  bidder  on  some 


232 


G.  M.  PULLMAN. 


of  these  contracts,  and  so  well  did  he  manage  his 
enterprise  that  he  was  enabled  to  maintain  the 
family  in  comfort,  and  arrived  in  Chicago  in  1859 
with  a  capital  of  $6,000  as  the  result  of  his  sav- 
ings. About  this  time  the  courts  decided  that 
Chicago  had  the  power  to  grade  the  streets,  and 
he  quickly  found  ample  employment  in  raising 
the  buildings  to  correspond  with  the  grade. 
Probably  but  few  of  the  modern  residents  of  the 
city  know  that  the  streets  of  the  South  Side  are 
some  ten  feet  above  the  original  prairie  level,  and 
that  the  buildings  standing  in  1856  had  to  be 
raised  that  distance  to  meet  the  street  level.  In 
1860  Mr.  Pullman  was  occupying  a  lot  of  two 
hundred  feet  front,  at  the  corner  of  Washington 
and  Franklin  Streets,  with  his  machinery  and  ap- 
pliances, and  a  small  one-story  building  for  an  of- 
fice. He  was  full  of  the  spirit  of  push  and  prog- 
ress which  animated  Chicago  in  those  days,  and 
did  not  hesitate  to  enter  upon  undertakings  of 
great  magnitude.  Among  these  was  the  lifting 
of  the  entire  block  of  brick  buildings  facing  the 
north  side  of  Lake  Street,  between  Clark  and  La 
Salle.  This  was  successfully  accomplished  by 
the  aid  of  six  thousand  jackscrews,  without  in- 
terruption to  the  business  conducted  in  the  struc- 
tures, or  the  breaking  of  a  single  pane  of  glass 
or  a  yard  of  plaster. 

A  recent  writer  says:  "  His  true  mission  was 
the  creation  of  the  sleeping-car  system.  * 
Nowhere  else  has  the  matter  of  splendid,  ingen- 
ious, artistic  appliances  for  indoor  comfort  been 
carried  to  such  a  pitch  as  in  the  devising  and 
constructing  of  the  palace  car,  of  which  thousands 
have  been  built;  and  each  year,  if  not  each  day 
and  each  car,  brings  a  studied  advance  on  its  pre- 
decessor. *  *  Giving  his  days  to  labor 
and  his  nights  to  restful  travel,  a  man  may  spread 
his  field  of  usefulness  over  a  continent,  without 
the  sapping  of  his  strength  or  the  shortening  of 
his  days." 

The  idea  of  the  sleeping-car  came  to  him  one 
night  while  observing  his  fellow  train-passengers 
buying  head-rests  from  a  vendor  to  mitigate  the 
discomfort  of  an  all-night  ride.  Soon  after,  he 
took  passage  on  one  of  the  ' '  night  cars ' '  of  the 
time,  and  while  seeking  repose  on  the  comfortless 


shelf  provided,  evolved  the  idea  of  the  modern 
sleeper.  His  knowledge  of  cabinet-making  here 
came  to  his  aid,  and  he  met  and  overcame  many 
difficulties  in  the  preparation  of  a  model.  The 
general  plan  varied  but  little  from  the  present 
form,  having  comfortable  berths  that  could  be  put 
away  during  the  day,  leaving  a  coach  suitable  for 
day  travel.  In  1859  he  secured  from  the  Chicago 
&  Alton  Railway  two  old  passenger  coaches  to 
experiment  with,  and  in  an  unused  railway  shed, 
on  the  present  site  of  the  Union  Passenger  Station 
at  Chicago,  he  worked  to  realize  his  idea,  wholly 
at  his  own  expense.  The  result  was  the  first 
pair  of  real  "sleepers"  in  the  country,  which 
were  put  in  successful  operation  on  the  night 
trains  between  Chicago  and  St.  Louis. 

This  result  did  not  deter  him  from  an  undei- 
taking  which  he  had  for  some  time  contemplated, 
namely,  a  trip  to  the  gold  fields  of  Colorado. 
After  three  years  of  mining,  he  returned  to  Chi- 
cago very  little  richer  in  purse,  but  with  addi- 
tions to  his  stock  of  experience.  He  now  set  to 
work  to  improve  his  original  design  of  sleeping- 
cars,  which  no  one  had  had  the  shrewdness  to 
take  advantage  of  during  his  absence.  The  cars 
which  he  had  remodeled  were  too  small  and  not 
of  sufficient  strength  to  carry  out  his  ideas,  and 
he  set  to  work  to  construct  one  especially  for  the 
purpose.  The  car  must  be  higher,  the  berths 
wider,  and  more  taste  and  elegance  employed  in 
its  furnishing.  At  an  expenditure  of  one  year's 
time  and  $18,000  in  money,  he  produced  the  first 
real  ' '  palace  car. ' '  It  was  named  the  ' '  Pioneer, ' ' 
and  is  now  stored  in  honorable  retirement  at 
Pullman;  but  it  was  found  to  be  too  high  to  go 
under  some  of  the  viaducts  spanning  the  rail- 
roads, and  the  wide  steps  would  not  pass  the 
platforms  of  many  stations.  It  began  to  look  as 
ii  he  must  build  a  railroad  to  accommodate  his 
invention.  Just  at  this  time  the  body  of  the 
martyred  President,  Lincoln,  was  to  be  brought 
from  Washington  to  his  native  state,  and  the 
obstacles  to  the  passage  of  the  ' '  Pioneer  ' '  were 
removed,  in  order  that  it  might  be  employed  in 
that  sad  funeral  journey.  It  formed  a  part  of 
the  train  which  took  the  body  to  its  last  resting- 
place  at  Springfield.  From  that  time  the  eastern 


G.  M.  PULLMAN. 


233 


roads  were  open  to  it  and  its  counterparts.  The 
present  wide  use  of  the  Pullman  sleepers,  in 
Europe  as  well  as  in  .America,  is  too  well  known 
to  need  comment.  The  history  of  the  Pullman 
Palace  Car  Company  is  almost  as  well  understood, 
though  many  who  enjoy  the  facilities  for  comfort- 
able travel  afforded  by  it  know  little  of  the  labors 
of  its  founder  in  establishing  a  happy  and  desira- 
ble home  for  its  employes  at  Pullman. 

The  history  of  the  great  strike  at  Pullman  and 
among  railway  employes  in  1894  is  also  now  a 
matter  of  history.  During  its  progress  Mr.  Pull- 
man maintained  a  dignified  and  consistent  atti- 
tude, notwithstanding  much  harsh  and  unjust 
criticism;  and  the  course  of  the  Pullman  Com- 
pany in  that  struggle  has  been  generally  vindi- 
cated. 

The  Nation,  in  its  issue  of  November  22,  1894, 
refers  to  the  general  feeling  that  the  existence  of 
the  Government  and  of  society  itself  was  at  stake 
in  this  strike,  and  that  to  give  in  to  the  strikers 
at  that  point,  or  at  any  point,  would  have  been  a 
deadly  blow  to  liberty  and  the  rights  of  property  ; 
and  says:  "  What  account  of  the  circumstances 
accompanying  this  strike,  which  was  not  so  much 
a  strike  as  a  social  convulsion,  can  be  complete 
if  it  leaves  out  the  intense  anxiety  of  the  best 
citizens  lest  a  fatal  surrender  of  principle  should 
be  made?"  *  *  *  "  There  were  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  the  best  American  citizens  who  re- 
joiced with  great  joy  at  that  critical  moment  that 
Mr.  Pullman  was  unyielding;"  and  "Americans 
abroad  anxiously  scanned  the  fragmentary  des- 
patches and  prayed  fervently  that  Mr.  Pullman 
would  at  any  rate  stand  firm." 

Mr.  Pullman  has  been  identified  as  an  initial 
force  with  other  large  enterprises  than  the  Palace 
Car  Company,  of  which  he  is  the  head.  Among 
these  may  be  mentioned  the  Metropolitan  Ele- 
vated Railway  of  New  York,  which  was  con- 
structed in  the  face  of  determined  and  powerful 
opposition.  He  has  taken  an  active  interest  in 
the  project  for  the  construction  of  a  canal  across 
the  isthmus  of  Nicaragua.  Another  work  in 
which  he  rendered  great  public  sen-ice  was  in  the 
distribution  of  relief  funds  after  the  great  fire  of 
1871.  At  the  earnest  appeal  of  Mayor  Mason, 


he  accepted  the  charge  of  disbursements  as  trus- 
tee, which  was  accomplished  without  the  loss  of 
a  dollar,  though  to  the  detriment  of  his  private 
interests  through  consumption  of  his  time. 

In  private  life  Mr.  Pullman  is  a  patron  of  art 
and  literature,  and  a  supporter  of  elegance  and 
refinement  in  society.  In  1867  he  married  Miss 
Hattie  A.,  daughter  of  James  Y.  Sanger  (whose 
biography  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work).  Two 
daughters,  who  are  active  in  philanthropic  and 
religious  work,  and  twin  sons  complete  the  fam- 
ily. They  are:  Florence  Sanger;  Harriet  S., 
now  the  wife  of  Francis  J.  Carolan;  George  M., 
Jr. ,  and  Walter  Sanger. 

It  has  been  Mr.  Pullman's  happy  privilege  to 
erect  for  the  Universalist  Society  at  Albion,  New 
York,  a  memorial  of  his  parents,  in  the  form  of 
a  handsome  and  substantial  church  edifice.  It 
is  built  of  dark  brown  Medina  stone,  125x80  feet 
in  ground  dimensions,  with  perfect  furnishings 
and  decorations.  On  the  right  and  left,  as  one 
enters  the  auditorium,  are  placed  the  bronze 
medallion  portraits  of  Mr.  Pullman's  father  and 
mother.  They  were  designed  by  Sculptor  Carl 
Rohl  Smith,  of  Chicago.  They  are  oval,  two 
feet  five  inches  by  one  foot  nine  inches,  and 
framed  in  a  narrow  moulding,  ornamented  with 
pearls.  The  tablet  inscription  is  as  follows: 

Erected  by  a  Son 

as  a 
Memorial  to  His  Father, 

JAMES  LEWIS  PULLMAN, 

In  Recognition  of  His  Love  and  Work  for   the 
Universalist  Church  and  Its  Faith, 

and 
In  Memory  of  His  Mother, 

EMILY  CAROLINE  PULLMAN, 

One  with  Her  Husband  in  the  Joys  and  Hopes  of 

Religion. 
Dedicated  January,  1895. 

It  is  inclosed  in  a  lx>rder  composed  of  a  wreath 
of  ivy,  the  symbol  of  affection.  A  beautiful  me- 
morial window  is  in  the  west  transept. 

The  dedicatory  services  were  held  on  the  last 
day  of  January,  1895,  the  sermon  being  delivered 
by  Rev.  R.  H.  Pullman,  of  Baltimore.  At  the 
installation  of  the  pastor,  on  the  same  day,  the 


234 


C.'G.  HUTCHINSON. 


Rev.  James  M.  Pullman,  of  Lynn,  Massachusetts, 
preached  the  installation  sermon,  when  the  Rev. 
Charles  Fluhrer,  D.  D.,  late  of  Grand  Rapids, 
Michigan ,  was  made  pastor.  Others  who  officiated 


in  the  services  were  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  H.  Eaton, 
D.  D.,  of  New  York;  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  K.  Mason, 
D.  D.,  of  Buffalo;  and  the  Rev.  Asa  Saxe,  D.  D., 
of  Rochester. 


CHARLES  G.  HUTCHINSON. 


QHARLES  GROVE  HUTCHINSON,  a  pro- 

1 1  gressive  and  energetic  business  man  of  Chi- 
vj  cago,  was  born  in  Williamsville,  Erie  Coun- 
ty, New  York,  January  24,  1847,  and  is  a  son  of 
William  H.  Hutchinson  and  Jane  Grove.  The 
Hutchinson  family,  which  is,  doubtless,  of  Eng- 
lish origin,  located  in  the  Connecticut  Colony  as 
early  as  the  seventeenth  century.  Joseph,  the 
father  of  William  H.  Hutchinson,  served  through 
the  War  of  1812,  as  lieutenant  of  a  compan}'  of 
Connecticut  troops.  He  took  part  in  the  campaign 
about  Fort  Erie  and  Buffalo,  and  the  close  of  the 
war  found  him  stationed  at  Detroit.  Soon  after  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  he  resigned  his  commission 
and  settled  in  western  New  York.  His  sojourn 
in  this  locality  during  the  war  had  revealed  to 
him  its  pre-eminent  advantages  as  an  agricult- 
ural country.  For  many  years  he  was  landlord 
of  the  Mansion  House  at  Williamsville.  His 
death  occurred  in  Chicago  in  1877,  at  the  a&e  °f 
seventy-nine  years. 

William  H.  Hutchinson,  who  was  born  in  Leb- 
anon, Connecticut,  removed  with  his  family  to 
Chicago  in  the  spring  of  1849.  Soon  after  com- 
ing to  this  city  he  began  the  manufacture  of  soda 
water,  which  he  continued  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  six- 
ty-five years.  His  place  of  business  was  at  the 
corner  of  Randolph  and  Peoria  Streets,  where  he 
erected  a  large  factory,  which  escaped  destruction 
in  the  Great  Fire.  The  family  residence,  at  the 


corner  of  North  State  and  Erie  Streets,  was  swept 
away  in  that  conflagration.  His  prompt  loan  of 
a  quantity  of  soda-water  boxes,  which  afforded 
admirable  pigeon-holes  at  the  time,  enabled  the 
postoffice  to  resume  the  distribution  of  the  mails 
with  little  delay  after  the  fire.  He  was  ever  a 
public-spirited  citizen  and  an  enthusiastic  ad- 
herent of  the  Democratic  part}-,  contributing 
much  of  his  time  as  an  organizer  and  worker  for 
its  success,  though  always  refusing  to  be  himself 
a  candidate  for  any  office. 

Mrs.  Jane  (Grove)  Hutchinson  was  born  in  New 
York.  Her  father,  who  was  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, was  of  Dutch  descent.  The  name  was 
originally  written  Groff.  While  returning  from 
a  visit  to  Mackinaw,  in  1856,  Mrs.  Hutchinson 
became  a  victim  of  one  of  the  saddest  disasters 
which  ever  occurred  upon  Lake  Michigan,  being 
one  of  the  passengers  of  the  ill-fated  steamer 
"  Niagara,"  which  burned  off  Port  Washington, 
Wisconsin.  She  was  the  mother  of  four  sons: 
Chester  M.,  of  Hawthorne,  Cook  County,  Illi- 
nois; William  A.,  who  is  in  the  United  States 
revenue  service  at  Port  Townsend,  Washington; 
and  George  C.  and  Charles;  G.,  both  of  whom  are 
residents  of  Chicago.  William  H.  Hutchinson 
was  married  a  second  time,  to  Miss  Mary  M. 
Warner,  of  Williamsville,  New  York,  and  they 
became  the  parents  of  two  sons,  Douglas  and 
Eugene,  the  latter  of  whom  is  now  deceased,  and 
the  former  resides  in  Chicago. 


G.  M.  ROGERS. 


235 


Charles  G.  Hutchinson  attended  the  Washing- 
ton School  of  Chicago  until  he  was  fifteen  years 
old,  after  which  he  was  a  student  for  four  years  at 
the  Military  Academy  at  Fulton,  Illinois.  After 
the  close  of  the  Civil  War — there  being  no  further 
promise  of  demand  for  military  service — he  re- 
turned to  Chicago,  and  became  identified  with 
his  father's  business,  which  he  continued  to  con- 
duct for  some  time  after  the  death  of  its  founder. 
In  1879,  in  company  with  his  brother,  George  C. 
Hutchinson,  he  established  a  factory  for  the  pro- 
duction of  bottlers'  supplies  and  extracts,  under 
the  firm  name  of  W.  H.  Hutchinson  &  Son,  which 
is  still  retained.  Two  years  later  the  present 
factory  on  Desplaines  Street  was  built,  and  about 
forty  men  are  employed  therein.  The  subject  of- 
this  notice  is  also  identified  with  several  other  im- 
portant industries.  He  is  a  stockholder  and 
Treasurer  of  the  Independent  Brewing  Associa- 
tion, and  President  of  the  Chicago  Fountain  Soda 
Water  Company.  He  is  one  of  the  stockholders 


of  the  Coit  Paint  Company  (incorporated) ,  and  is 
the  inventor  and  patentee  of  the  Hutchinson 
Spring  Bottle  Stopper,  a  unique  and  useful  ap- 
pliance, which  has  come  into  almost  universal  use. 
Mr.  Hutchinson  is  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  being  identified  with  D.  C. 
Cregier  Lodge,  Washington  Chapter,  Chicago 
Commander}',  Knights  Templar,  Oriental  Con- 
sistory and  Medinah  Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine. 
Like  his  father,  he  has  been  a  life-long  Democrat, 
but  never  seeks  public  position.  He  is  an  en- 
thusiastic and  successful  sportsman,  and  makes 
frequent  excursions  to  the  woods  of  Northern 
Wisconsin  for  the  purpose  of  indulging  his  taste 
for  fishing  and  hunting.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Eagle  River  Fishing  and  Shooting  Club,  and  of 
the  Cumberland  Gun  Club,  two  of  the  leading 
sportsmen's  organizations  of  Chicago.  In  all  his 
business  and  social  relations  he  is  deservedly  pop- 
ular, through  his  genial  and  social  disposition 
and  his  kind  and  courteous  manners. 


GEORGE  M.  ROGERS. 


MILLS  ROGERS  is  not  only  dis- 

btinguished  as  one  of  the  foremost  attorneys 
and  jurists  of  Chicago,  but  has  given  much 
study  and  careful  attention  to  the  leading  public 
questions  of  the  day.  He  is  well  versed  in  prob- 
lems relating  to  political  economy  and  municipal 
reform,  and  his  views  are  never  narrowed  by  con- 
siderations of  party  policy,  nor  are  his  expressions 
colored  by  mere  personal  or  mercenary  motives. 
His  professional  integrity  and  his  reputation  as 
a  citizen  have  been  equally  well  maintained,  and 
no  modern  record  of  Chicago's  representative  men 
would  be  complete  without  some  notice  of  his 
achievements. 


Mr.  Rogers  was  born  at  Glasgow,  Kentucky, 
on  the  sixteenth  day  of  April,  1854,  and  is  a 
son  of  the  Hon.  John  Gorin  Rogers  and  Arabella 
E.  Crenshaw,  extended  notice  of  whom,  together 
with  the  genealogy  of  their  families,  is  given 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  but  four  years  old  when  the  family 
came  to  Chicago.  He  was  educated  at  the  public 
schools  and  the  Chicago  University,  supplement- 
ing the  instruction  so  received  by  a  course  at  Yale 
College,  from  which  famous  institution  he  was 
graduated  in  1876.  He  began  his  legal  studies 
in  the  office  of  Crawford  &  McConnell,  and  con- 
tinued the  same  in  the  Union  College  of  Law — 


236 


G.  M.  ROGERS. 


now  the  law   department   of  the  Northwestern 
University. 

In  1878  he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  began 
practice  in  partnership  with  Samuel  P.  McConnell, 
a  well-known  barrister,  since  one  of  the  Judges  of 
'the  Circuit  Court  of  Cook  County.  During  the 
continuance  of  this  partnership  he  was  chosen  at- 
torney for  the  Citizens'  Association,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  committee  which  prepared  and 
secured  the  passage  of  the  original  reform  city 
election  law.  He  also  personally  prepared  the 
primary  election  law,  which  was  adopted  verbatim 
by  the  committee  of  the  association  having  that 
subject  in  charge,  and  was  presented  to  the  Legis- 
lature for  adoption.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  this 
bill  was  in  charge  of  Senator  Crawford  during  its 
passage,  it  became  known  as  the  ' '  Crawford 
Election  Law." 

His  services  in  behalf  of  this  association  could 
not  fail  to  attract  attention  to  his  signal  ability  as 
a  lawyer  and  a  statesman,  and  caused  his  ap- 
pointment as  Assistant  City  Attorney.  This  po- 
sition he  filled  with  such  credit  that,  in  1886,  he 
was  appointed  City  Prosecuting  Attorney,  but  ow- 
ing to  the  ill-health  of  his  wife,  which  demanded 
that  he  should  travel  with  her,  he  resigned  the 
office  in  April  of  the  following  year.  After  return- 
ing to  the  city  he  was  appointed,  in  November, 
1887,  to  the  office  of  Assistant  United  States  At- 
torney, but  resigned  that  position  in  the  following 
March,  to  re-engage  in  private  law  practice. 
With  this  business  he  has  combined  that  of  real- 
estate  and  loans,  and  his  transactions  have  grown 
to  such  volume  as  to  require  the  assistance  of 
several  clerks. 

On  the  ist  of  February,  1889,  he  was  ap- 
pointed :i  Master  in  Chancery  of  the  Circuit  Court 
of  Cook  County,  and  has  discharged  the  duties  of 
that  judicial  office  with  such  candor  and  im- 
partiality as  to  earn  and  receive  the  approbation 
of  courts,  attorneys  and  litigants. 

In  1893  it  was  deemed  advisable  by  the  leading 
lawyers  of  Chicago  to  take  some  practical  steps 
toward  the  separation  of  judicial  affairs  from  the 
contamination  of  political  interests.  With  this 
end  in  view,  they  placed  in  nomination  eight 
candidates  for  judicial  positions,  who  were  equally 


divided  in  political  affiliations  between  the  two 
leading  parties.  Mr.  Rogers  received  the  highest 
vote  of  any  candidate  before  the  Bar  Association 
—the  total  number  being  1346,  out  of  which  he 
received  1222.  This  nomination  came  to  him 
without  any  solicitation  on  his  part,  and,  although 
the  "  party  machine"  which  dominated  the  Dem- 
ocratic convention  prevented  the  endorsement 
of  his  nomination,  which  he  made  no  effort  to 
secure,  his  endorsement  by  the  members  of  the 
Bar,  who  were  influenced  by  no  political  consid- 
erations, but  by  a  desire  to  elevate  the  judiciary 
and  purify  the  administration  of  justice,  was  re- 
garded as  a  far  greater  compliment  than  an  elec- 
tion as  a  candidate  of  any  political  party  could 
have  been. 

On  the  3d  of  June,  1884,  Mr.  Rogers  was  mar- 
ried to  Philippa  Hone  Anthon,  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Hone  Anthon,  of  New  York  City,  whose 
family  is  conspicuous  for  the  large  number  of 
eminent  professional  men  among  its  members. 

Mr.  Rogers  is  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Iro- 
quois  Club,  and  among  the  other  clubs  with 
which  he  is  prominently  identified  may  be  men- 
tioned the  Illinois,  University  and  Law  Clubs. 
In  the  fall  of  1888  he  united  with  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  in  which  his  father  had 
been  one  of  the  leading  spirits,  and  he  has  repre- 
sented his  lodge  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois. 
In  1882  he  made  a  foreign  tour  in  company  with 
his  brother,  who  was  suffering  from  ill-health, 
and  visited  the  principal  cities  and  other  points 
of  interest  in  Europe.  His  active  mind  and  keen 
observation  could  not  fail  to  make  this  trip  of 
value  to  him  in  broadening  his  experience  and 
extending  his  knowlege  of  men  and  the  affairs  of 
the  world. 

For  a  number  of  years  after  beginning  his  pro- 
fessional career,  he  was  prominent  in  the  political 
counsels  of  the  Democratic  party.  In  1880  he 
was  nominated  as  the  candidate  of  his  party  for 
State  Senator.  His  personal  popularity  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  that  the  usual  Republican 
majority  of  two  thousand  in  his  district  was  re- 
duced to  eight  hundred.  For  some  time  he  was 
Vice- President  of  the  Cook  County  Democratic 
Committee,  and  labored  diligently,  though  in 


ROBERT  HERVEY. 


23? 


vain,  to  bring  about  some  needed  reforms  in  the 
organization  and  methods  of  the  party.  Becom- 
ing displeased  with  the  methods  of  politicians,  he 
became  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Iroquois 
Club,  which  was  established  for  the  purpose  of 


exerting  an  influence  in  National  politics,  leaving 
local  strife  to  those  whose  taste  led  in  that  direc- 
tion, and  he  was  elected  one  of  its  first  Vice- 
Presideuts. 


ROBERT  HERVEY,  LL.  D. 


ROBERT  HERVEY,  LL.  D.,  who  was  for 
nearly  forty  years  a  familiar  figure  in  Chi- 
cago court  rooms,  was  born  in  Glasgow, 
Scotland,  August  10,  1820.  He  is  a  son  of  Alex- 
ander and  Elizabeth  (Gibson)  Hervey.  The  fa- 
ther was  a  son  of  Robert  Hervey,  who  founded  a 
mercantile  establishment  at  Glasgow,  in  which 
Alexander  succeeded  him.  The  business  career 
of  the  latter  was  cut  short  by  his  death,  when  his 
son  Robert  was  but  eleven  years  of  age.  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Hervey  afterward  came  to  America,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  resided  with  her  son  in 
Chicago.  She  died  at  Brockville,  Canada,  in 
1862. 

Robert  Hervey  was  educated  in  his  native  city, 
first  at  a  grammar  school  and  later  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Glasgow.  While  at  this  institution  he 
began  the  study  of  medicine,  and  the  knowledge 
thus  obtained  was  of  great  use  to  him  in  subse- 
quent legal  practice.  With  this  information  he 
often  surprised  courts,  as  well  as  expert  witnesses. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he  went  to  Canada, 
intending  to  enter  into  mercantile  business  in 
connection  with  uncles  who  were  residing  there. 
By  the  advice  of  one  of  the  latter,  however,  he  de- 
cided to  study  law,  and  became  a  student  of  Hen- 
ry Sherwood,  of  Brockville,  afterward  the  Attor- 
ney-General of  Ontario.  When  this  gentleman 
removed  to  Toronto,  Mr.  Hervey  accompanied 
him  to  that  city,  where  he  was  admitted  to  prac- 
tice in  1841.  He  then  opened  an  office  at  Otta- 
wa, then  called  By  town,  the  eastern  terminus  of 
the  Rideau  Canal,  which  had  recently  been  com- 
pleted. He  continued  his  legal  business  at  Otta- 


wa until  1852,  when  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  has 
since  been  continuously  in  legal  practice  here. 

He  first  opened  an  office  in  partnership  with 
Buckner  S.  Morris  and  Joseph  P.  Clarkson,  at 
the  southeast  corner  of  Lake  and  Clark  Streets, 
in  the  same  building  where  Judge  Thomas  Drum- 
mond  then  held  United  States  Court.  Mr.  Her- 
vey subsequently  took  James  R,  Hosmer  into 
partnership  for  a  time,  and  in  May,  1858,  became 
a  partner  of  Elliott  Anthony — since  a  distin- 
guished Judge  of  the  Superior  Court.  Mr.  A.  T. 
Gait  was  afterward  admitted  to  this  firm,  and 
for  many  years  the  firm  of  Hervey,  Anthony  & 
Gait  was  one  of  the  best  known  in  Chicago.  Mr. 
Hervey 's  early  partner,  Joseph  Clarkson,  was  a 
brother  of  Bishop  Clarkson,  who  was  then  Rector 
of  St.  James'  Church  on  the  North  Side,  and 
afterward  became  Bishop  of  Nebraska. 

Mr.  Hervey  has  practiced  in  all  courts,  from 
Justices'  up  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  to  which  latter  he  was  admitted  in  1873, 
and  has  been  employed  on  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant criminal  cases  in  Cook  County.  The  first 
of  these  was  in  1855,  when  he  defended  Patrick 
Cunningham,  accused  of  killing  a  policeman. 
This  case  created  a  great  sensation  in  Chicago,  but 
Mr.  Hervey  secured  a  change  of  venue  to  Wau- 
kegan,  where  the  minds  of  the  jurors  were  less 
prejudiced  than  in  Chicago,  and  his  client  was 
sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  eight  years  for 
manslaughter.  The  adroit  and  skillful  manage- 
ment of  the  defendant's  attorney  saved  the  latter 
from  a  death  sentence  and  established  the  law- 
yer's reputation.  Though  he  has  defended  some 


ROBERT  HERVEY. 


notorious  criminals,  none  of  his  clients  have  ever 
been  executed.  He  was  attorney  for  some  of  the 
aldermen  and  Cook  County  Commissioners  who 
were  accused  of  "boodling,"  and  all  his  clients 
were  acquitted. 

One  of  the  most  important  cases  taken  up  by 
the  firm  of  Hervey  &  Anthony  was  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  consolidation  of  the  Chicago  &  Galena 
Union  Railroad  Company  with  the  Chicago  & 
Northwestern  Railroad  Company,  a  deal  which 
was  manipulated  by  the  directors  of  the  respect- 
ive roads  to  the  dissatisfaction  and  alleged  dis- 
advantage of  the  stockholders  of  the  former  road, 
who  had  not  been  consulted  in  the  matter.  The 
contest  was  finally  settled  by  payment  of  dam- 
ages to  the  plaintiff  stockholders  of  the  Chicago 
&  Galena  Union. 

For  six  years  past  Mr.  Hervey  has  been  afflict- 
ed with  ill-health,  which  has  confined  him  to  his 
house  and  prevented  his  attendance  at  court  or 
social  gatherings.  While  his  health  permitted 
him  to  do  so,  he  attended  the  Episcopal  Church. 
Since  1865  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  having  joined  Blaney  Lodge  at  that 
date.  While  a  young  man  he  joined  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  at  Ottawa,  and  be- 
came the  Noble  Grand  of  Ottawa  Lodge  No.  1 1. 
His  connection  with  this  order  was  abandoned, 
however,  on  his  coming  to  the  United  States, 
though  he  has  often  regretted  this  action.  While 
a  citizen  of  Canada  he  was  quite  an  active  politi- 
cian, and  spent  considerable  of  his  time,  energy 
and  money  in  the  effort  to  help  shape  local  affairs. 
His  uncle,  who  realized  the  futility  of  this  course, 
exacted  a  promise  from  young  Hervey  on  coming 
to  Chicago,  that  he  would  not  mingle  in  the  pol- 
itics of  the  United  States.  This  pledge  has  been 
faithfully  observed,  and  he  did  not  become  a  voter 
until  1887. 

In  1852  he  became  a  member  of  St.  Andrew's 
Society,  an  organization  in  which  he  has  ever 
taken  an  active  interest,  and  has  probably  done 
as  much  for  its  promotion  as  any  single  member. 
He  has  served  as  President  of  the  society  for  six 
terms.  The  object  of  this  association  is  to  relieve 
the  distress  of  the  unfortunate  among  the  coun- 
trymen and  women  of  its  members,  and  it  has 


come  to  be  one  of  the  leading  charitable  institu- 
tions of  the  city.  In  the  winter  of  1865,  during 
which  there  was  much  suffering  to  be  relieved 
among  the  poor  and  unfortunate,  the  funds  of  the 
society  became  exhausted,  and,  at  the  request  of 
his  friends,  Mr.  Hervey  prepared  and  delivered  a 
lecture  on  Robert  Burns  at  the  old  Metropolitan 
Hall.  The  receipts  of  this  lecture  netted  the 
society  about  $450.  This  address  met  such  pop- 
ular approval  that  it  was  afterward  several  times 
repeated  in  other  places.  In  1883  the  faculty  of 
Wesleyan  University  at  Bloomington,  Illinois, 
invited  him  to  deliver  this  lecture,  together  with 
an  address  to  the  graduating  class  of  that  institu- 
tion. This  request  was  cheerfully  complied  with, 
and  as  a  token  of  their  appreciation  of  this  effort 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  was  conferred  upon 
him  by  the  university.  Another  lecture  on 
Walter  Scott,  which  he  delivered  several  years 
later  at  the  same  hall,  also  netted  the  society  a 
handsome  sum.  In  1865  he  helped  organize  the 
Caledonian  Club,  and  was  chosen  its  first  Chief, 
a  position  which  he  filled  several  years. 

Mr.  Hervey  was  first  married  to  Miss  Maria 
Jones,  daughter  of  Dunham  Jones,  a  farmer  near 
Brockville,  Canada,  who  removed  thither  from 
the  United  States  during  the  Revolutionary  War, 
on  account  of  his  loyalty  to  the  British  Crown. 
Mrs.  Maria  Hervey  fell  a  victim  to  the  cholera  in 
1854.  In  1861  Mr.  Hervey  was  again  married, 
to  Frances  W.  Smith,  a  native  of  Rochester,  New 
York,  and  his  present  helpmate.  Her  mother, 
who  is  now  Mrs.  T.  B.  Bishop,  is  a  native  of 
England,  and  resides  in  Chicago,  aged  over  eighty 
years.  Mr.  Hervey  has  three  children.  Alexan- 
der is  a  farmer  near  Charleston,  Missouri.  Rob- 
ert is  the  manager  of  an  extensive  lumber  com- 
pany at  Tonawanda,  New  York;  and  Sophia  is 
the  wife  of  Sidney  F.  Jones,  of  Toronto,  Ontario. 
For  twenty-four  years  past  Mr.  Hervey  lias  lived 
near  the  lake  shore,  on  Twenty -fifth  Street,  hav- 
ing moved  to  that  location  a  short  time  previous 
to  the  great  Chicago  Fire,  and  thereby  avoided 
becoming  one  of  its  victims.  In  this  pleasant  lo- 
cation his  most  recent  years  have  been  altogether 
spent,  and  here  his  friends  always  receive  a  hearty 
welcome. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


AUGUST  BECK 


AUGUST  BECK. 


239 


AUGUST  BECK. 


(3|  UGUST  BECK,  for  nearly  forty  years  an 
f  I  active  business  man  of  Chicago,  and  one  of 
/  1  the  city's  most  popular  German- American 
residents,  passed  away  at  his  home  in  that  city, 
on  the  morning  of  March  5,  1897.  Mr.  Beck  had 
not  only  a  distinct  and  pleasing  personality,  but 
he  had  as  well,  in  happily  blended  combination, 
a  nicety  and  precision  of  mental  adjustment  that 
made  him  at  all  times,  and  under  all  circumstan- 
ces, the  master  of  every  business  complication. 

He  was  born  August  8,  1830,  at  Steinbach,  in 
the  Grand  Duchy  of  Hessen,  and  was  descended 
from  a  family  which  has  included  among  its  mem- 
bers, in  the  last  century,  a  number  of  men 
high  in  the  political  and  official  circles  of  Ger- 
many. His  father,  Frederick  Wilhelm  Beck,  was 
born  July  29,  1800,  in  Bersrad,  Grand  Duchy  of 
Hessen,  and  was  a  school  teacher,  being  employed 
previous  to  1840  in  Grosskarben,  and  thereafter, 
until  1870,  at  Giessen,  where  he  died  in  1883. 
Here  was  celebrated  in  1875  the  golden  wedding 
anniversary  of  himself  and  his  estimable  wife,  in 
the  presence  of  all  their  children.  February  13, 
1825,  Mr.  Beck  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Sang,  who  was  born  November  17,  1807,  in 
Sauerbach,  Hessen.  She  died  in  1877,  in  her 
seventieth  year. 

August  Beck  was  educated  at  the  gymnasium 
of  Giessen,  and  when  eighteen  years  old  entered 
the  employ  of  a  leaf  tobacco  house  at  Mannheim. 
Later  he  was  with  G.  W.  Gail  &  Company,  of 
Giessen,  manufacturers  of  tobacco,  with  whom  he 
continued  several  years.  In  1854  he  came  to  the 
United  States  and  entered  the  branch  house  of  the 
same  company  at  Baltimore. 

He  came  to  Chicago  in  1855,  and  July  17  of 
that  year  he  began  business  under  the  firm  name 
of  August  Beck  &  Company,  handling  tobacco  at 
wholesale  and  manufacturing  cigars.  The  latter 


part  of  the  business,  however,  he  soon  abandoned. 
In  1857  he  entered  into  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
Carl  Wirth,1  under  the  style  of  Beck  &  Wirth. 
After  the  death  of  Mr.  Wirth  the  concern  was  in- 
corporated in  1881,  Mr.  Beck  becoming  president. 
In  this  capacity  he  labored  with  untiring  zeal  to 
promote  his  business  interests,  in  which  he  was 
eminently  successful. 

The  disastrous  conflagration  of  1 87 1  swept  away 
almost  his  entire  fortune  of  about  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  But  he  was  not  disheartened 
by  this  catastrophe.  To  him  this  was  but  an  in- 
cident in  his  career,  and  the  iron-like  quality  of 
the  man  asserted  itself.  On  the  ashes  of  his  for- 
tune, he  resolutely  set  about  re-organizing  his 
affairs.  His  integrity  and  probity  of  character 
had  been  thoroughly  established  in  his  fourteen 
years  of  ceaseless  business  activity,  and  the  great 
confidence  which  he  enjoyed  in  commercial  circles 
is  attested  by  the  fact  that  on  the  day  after  the 
Great  Fire  he  received  from  the  well-known  firm 
of  C.  F.  Tag  &  Son,  of  New  York,  a  telegram 
authorizing  him  to  draw  upon  them  for  seventy- 
five  thousand  dollars. 

With  everything  gone  but  his  good  name,  he 
established  himself  squarely  on  the  principles  of 
his  high  code  of  honor,  scorning  to  take  advan- 
tage of  his  creditors  by  forcing  a  liquidation  of  his 
indebtedness  at  a  discount,  as  many  did.  He 
steadfastly  refused  to  make  any  proposition  of 
settlement  on  a  compromise  basis.  For  years  he 
toiled  early  and  late,  with  an  eye  single  to  one 
purpose — that  of  recovering  from  his  losses;  and 
in  time  he  paid  every  creditor  in  full,  with  inter- 
est, declining  every  other  settlement.  He  trav- 
eled extensively  throughout  the  territory  in 
which  he  sold  goods,  and  thereby  laid  the  solid 
foundation  of  the  success  of  the  present  firm, 
largely  upon  personal  acquaintance  with  jobbers 


240 


J.  A.  REIS. 


and  merchants  of  the  retail  trade.  In  1892  he  laid 
aside  the  active  cares  of  his  large  business — his 
son-in-law,  Otto  C.  Schneider,  purchasing  his 
interest.  The  latter  insisted,  however,  upon  Mr. 
Beck  retaining  the  title  of  president  in  the  cor- 
poration, which  he  did. 

Mr.  Beck  traveled  extensively  abroad,  and 
crossed  the  ocean  ten  times,  to  visit  his  beloved 
Fatherland.  His  love  for  the  country  of  his  na- 
tivity in  no  sense  detracted  from  his  loyalty  to  the 
land  of  his  adoption.  He  was  thoroughly  Ameri- 
can in  his  views,  and  loved  the  institutions  of  this 
country,  and  he  enjoyed  thoroughly  and  to  the 
fullest  extent  the  liberties  and  advantages  all  en- 
joy in  common  in  this  favored  land.  His  family 
connections  in  Germany  are  of  the  highest  order. 
His  eldest  brother,  William  Beck,  in  Darmstadt, 
enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  a  Privy  Councillor 
to  the  Grand  Duke  ofHessen.  His  brother-in- 
law,  at  Mayence,  has  been  a  member  of  the  Ger- 
man Reichstag,  and  his  youngest  brother,  Charles 
Beck,  whose  place  of  residence  is  in  Havana, 
Cuba,  has  the  honor  of  representing  different 
countries  as  Consul  to  "The  Pearl  of  the 
Antilles." 

Mr.  Beck  was  Consul  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of 
Hessen  at  Chicago,  from  1866  to  1871,  and  when 
he  retired  from  that  service  was  decorated  by  the 
Grand  Duke  with  the  "Ritterkreuz  of  the  Order 
of  Philip  the  Magnanimous. ' '  He  was  an  hon- 
ored member  of  the  Germania  Club  of  Chicago, 


and  was  a  supporter  of  the  Republican  party  in 
American  politics,  but  was  not  a  politician,  al- 
ways declining  to  become  a  candidate  for  political 
preferment. 

In  1857  he  was  married  to  Miss  Louise  Ger- 
lach,    of  Frankfort-on-the-Main.       She    died  in 

1893,  leaving   three  children,   namely:  William 
C.,  Charles  F.,   and  Emily,  the  wife  of  Otto  C. 
Schneider. 

Mr.  Beck's   last  continental  trip  was  made  in 

1894,  upon  which  occasion  he  visited  Egypt  and 
other  remote  lands.     While  on  the  African  conti- 
nent his  health   became  impaired,    but  he  was 
greatly  benefited  by  a  sojourn  of  several   weeks 
in  the  pure  air  of  the  mountains  of  Switzerland. 
Upon  his  return  from  this  trip  he  lived  a  quiet 
life,  at  his  comfortable  home  on  La  Salle  Avenue, 
surrounded  by  his  children  and  grandchildren,  to 
whom  he  was  devotedly  attached.    He  was  one  of 
the  most  companionable  of  men,  and  his  con- 
genial, sunny  nature  always  made  all  who  came 
into  his    presence  feel  at   ease.       He   was  well 
informed  and  a  pleasing  conversationalist.     His 
leisure  hours  were  whiled  away  at   his   favorite 
pastime,  the  intricate  game  of  skat,  at  which  he 
was  considered  an  expert  player.     Said  one  who 
knew  him  well:   "His  loyalty  to  friends,  the  per- 
fect simplicity  and  frankness  of  his  character,  and 
the  total  absence  of  affectation  and  outward  dis- 
play made  him  an  exceptionally  good  friend  to  all 
who  enjoyed  his  confidence. ' ' 


JOSEPH  A.  REIS. 


(JOSEPH  ADAM  REIS,  of  Rogers  Park,  is  a 
I  carpenter  and  builder,  also  a  florist,  and  was 
(•/  born  in  Monroe  County,  Illinois.  On  the 
maternal  side  he  is  descended  from  the  oldest 
German  family  in  the  State.  The  Reis  family 
was  founded  in  this  State  by  his  father,  Peter  A. 


Reis,  who  was  born  in  Rhenish  Bavaria  about 
1838,  and  came  to  this  country  when  a  small  boy 
with  his  parents,  Peter  and  Margaret  Reis,  lo- 
cating in  Monroe  County,  where  the  parents  died, 
and  where  Peter  A.  Reis  still  resides. 

On  the  maternal  side,  Joseph   A.   Reis  is  de- 


JOHN  BERG. 


241 


scended  from  an  old  German  family  that  was 
founded  in  this  country  in  the  early  part  of  this 
century  by  his  great-grandfather,  Joseph  Platz, 
who  came  from  Rhenish  Bavaria,  and  settled  near 
New  Orleans,  Louisiana.  Joseph  Platz,  the  ma- 
ternal grandfather  of  Mr.  Reis,  came  to  Illinois 
when  a  boy,  with  his  mother  and  two  half-broth- 
ers, the  family  settling  at  Columbia,  Monroe 
County. 

On  reaching  manhood  he  became  the  owner  of 
the  first  stone  quarry  and  lime  kilns  in  the  State. 
He  died  in  1871,  leaving  a  family  of  four  daugh- 
ters, Deborah,  the  mother  of  Mr.  Reis,  being  the 
second. 

Peter  A.  and  Barbara  Reis  have  ten  children, 
all  of  whom  are  living.  'Joseph  A.  is  the  only 
member  of  the  family  who  lives  in  Cook  County. 
He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Colum- 
bia, and  learned  the  carpenter  trade  with  his  uncle, 


spending  his  vacations  working  at  the  trade,  and 
one  year  after  graduating  from  school.  After 
learning  the  trade  he  worked  as  a  journeyman 
several  years.  For  some  years  he  was  foreman 
for  Mr.  Kinney,  of  Evanston.  In  1892  he  en- 
gaged in  the  production  of  vegetables  in  green- 
houses, but  two  years  ago  turned  the  business 
into  the  growing  of  flowers  for  the  city  market. 
He  is  also  engaged  in  contracting  for  building 
greenhouses. 

September  16,  1884,  he  married  Margaret 
Muno,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Margaret  (Pink) 
Muno.  They  have  seven  children,  namely:  Mar- 
garet, Agnes,  Clarence,  Elizabeth,  Arthur,  Hen- 
rietta and  Joseph.  All  are  members  of  Saint 
Henry's  Church.  Mr.  Reis  is  a  Democrat  in 
politics,  but  has  never  sought  office.  He  is  an 
intelligent,  reading  man,  and  a  useful  member  of 
society. 


JOHN  BERG. 


3OHN  BERG,  of  Bowmanville,  is  one  of  the 
old  residents  of  Chicago.  He  was  born-  in 
Germany,  January  18,  1825,  and  is  a  son  of 
Nicholas  Berg.  In  1840  he  emigrated  to  the 
United  States,  being  the  only  member  of  his  fath- 
er's family  who  came  to  America.  He  spent  a 
short  time  in  Indiana  before  locating  permanently 
in  Chicago.  Being  without  means  or  influential 
friends,  he  was  obliged  to  accept  any  kind  of  em- 
ployment as  a  means  of  earning  an  honest  living. 
By  carefully  saving  his  earnings  he  was  enabled 
to  buy  a  team  and  wagon,  and  for  some  years  did 
an  express  business.  For  a  few  years  he  kept  a 
buffet  on  Clark  Street,  in  Lake  View. 

In  1871  he  bought  two  acres  of  land  in  Bow- 
manville, and  started  a  small  grocery  store,  where 
his  sons  are  now  conducting  the  large  business 
that  has  grown  from  that  small  beginning.  About 


two  years  later  he  added  a  saloon  to  his  grocery 
business,  and  here  continued  to  do  a  profitable 
trade  until  1894,  when  he  turned  the  business 
over  to  his  sons,  and  has  since  been  living  in 
retirement. 

His  business  career  was  characterized  by  indus- 
try, enterprise  and  fair  dealing.  In  public  affairs 
he  has  taken  a  considerable  interest.  In  National 
and  State  elections  he  usually  acts  with  the  Re- 
publican party,  while  in  local  concerns  he  is  found 
supporting  the  men  best  qualified  for  administra- 
tive positions.  He  served  several  years  on  the 
board  of  trustees  of  Jefferson  Township,  and  a 
number  of  years  as  justice  of  the  peace,  and  is  at 
the  present  time  a  notary  public. 

Mr.  Berg  and  his  family  are  members  of  Saint 
Mathias'  Roman  Catholic  Church.  He  has  been 
twice  married,  h;s  first  wife  dying  without  issue. 


242 


RICHARD  RUvSK. 


April  21,  1854,  lie  married  Miss  Mary  Nernberg, 
a  native  of  Germany.  To  this  union  nine  chil- 
dren have  been  born,  namely:  Mary,  wife  of 
Peter  Gort;  Anna,  now  Mrs.  August  Goetz,  of 
Bowmanville;  Theresa,  wife  of  Edward  Munz,  of 
West  Pullman;  Katharine,  wife  of  John  Sumnick, 
of  Chicago;  William,  a  grocer  of  Bowmanville, 


who  married  Elizabeth  Penning,  by  whom  he  has 
two  children,  Andrew  and  Peter  (twins),  both  in 
business  at  Bowmanville.  John  Adam  married 
Miss  Alvina  Singstock;  and  Susie,  the  youngest 
of  the  family,  is  the  wife  of  Elmer  Clark. 
Andrew  Berg  married  Helen  Miller,  and  Peter, 
his  twin  brother,  married  Miss  Jennie  Brown. 


RICHARD  RUSK. 


RICHARD  RUSK  has  been  a  resident  of  Cook 
County  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He 
was  born  February  28,  1838,  in  County 
Armagh,  Ireland,  and  is  a  son  of  Alexander  and 
Elizabeth  (Fair)  Rusk,  the  former  born  in  Scot- 
land and  the  latter  in  County  Armagh,  Ireland. 
Mrs.  Rusk  died  in  Ireland,  June  20,  1859,  the 
very  day  that  Richard  Rusk  landed  in  the  United 
States.  After  the  death  of  his  wife  Alexander 
Rusk  went  to  Australia  and  remained  three 
years,  returned  to  Ireland,  and  after  spending 
three  years  there,  came  to  America,  bringing 
with  him  his  three  daughters.  He  located  near 
Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  and  bought 
twelve  acres  of  land,  part  of  General  Lee's  farm. 
After  the  heavy  oak  timber  was  cleared  off  the 
land,  he  planted  it  with  peach  trees,  and  spent 
most  of  the  remainder  of  his  life  there.  Mr. 
Rusk  lived  the  last  five  years  of  his  life  in  George- 
town, where  he  died  about  1873.  The  family 
consisted  of  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  namely: 
George,  who  died  in  Ireland;  Richard,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  notice;  William,  now  living  in  Wash- 
ington, District  of  Columbia;  Samuel,  of  Cali- 
fornia; Margaret  and  Jane,  twins,  the  former  de- 
ceased, and  the  latter  living  in  Washington;  Lucy 
and  Elizabeth. 

Richard  Rusk  was  educated  in  the  national 
schools  of  Ireland.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  years, 
he  began  to  learn  the  trades  of  carpenter  and 


wagon  maker.  He  was  apprenticed  for  the  term 
of  seven  years,  but  after  working  five  years  and 
a-half  with  no  pay,  he  became  tired  of  it,  and  ran 
away  to  work  for  another  man,  who  paid  him  four- 
pence  a  day,  about  fifty  cents  a  week.  He  was  an 
ambitious  youth,  and  with  even  these  small  earn- 
ings he  was  able  to  save  enough  to  buy  himself 
clothing  for  two  years  and  his  passage  to  America. 

In  May,  1859,  he  sailed  from  Belfast,  arriving 
two  days  later  in  Liverpool ,  and  started  the  same 
night  for  America,  in  the  sailing  ship  "White 
Star,"  having  on  board  nine  hundred  and  eighty 
emigrants.  After  an  uneventful  voyage  of  five 
weeks  he  landed  in  New  York,  and  from  there 
he  went  by  way  of  Albany  to  Rutland,  Vermont, 
to  visit  a  cousin.  He  worked  in  Vermont  at  his 
trade  two  years,  and  then,  in  1862,  went  to  New 
York,  and  from  there  to  Washington,  where  he 
worked  at  his  trade  in  a  Government  shop  one 
year.  He  was  transferred  to  the  field  and  em- 
ployed in  repairing  ambulances  and  buggies, 
which  he  continued  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
with  the  exception  of  two  months  when  he  was 
ill.  He  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Government 
at  the  time  of  the  assassination  of  President  Lin- 
coln, and  attended  his  funeral. 

After  the  war,  Mr.  Rusk  opened  a  wagon  shop 
at  No.  22  West  Washington  Street,  Chicago,  and 
did  a  successful  business.  He  next  went  to  Rut- 
land, La  Salle  County,  Illinois,  and  built  a  new 


L.  C.  WEMPLE. 


243 


wagon  shop  and  carried  on  a  successful  business 
nearly  three  years.  In  1869  he  came  to  Cook 
County  and  bought  ten  acres  of  land  in  sections  1 1 
and  1 2  Jefferson  Township, and  engaged  in  garden- 
ing. He  leased  three  hundred  acres  of  the  Jack- 
son farm  and  carried  on  farming  also.  He  now 
owns  thirty  acres  of  the  same  land,  and,  besides 
the  farm,  owns  a  fine  business  block  on  Lincoln 
and  Graceland  Avenues,  Chicago. 

On  Christinas  day  of  1864,  in  Washington,  Mr. 
Rusk  married  Miss  Margaret  Wallace.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Rusk  had  eight  children,  seven  of  whom  are 


now  living.  They  are:  Charles,  who  lives  on 
Belmont  Avenue;  John;  William;  David;  Anna, 
wife  of  John  Flood;  Mary,  now  Mrs.  James  Shea, 
of  Rogers  Park;  and  Margaret,  wife  of  Arthur 
Bairstow. 

Mr.  Rusk  has  always  shown  great  interest  in 
the  prosperity  of  his  adopted  country,  and  is  a 
progressive  citizen.  He  usually  acts  with  the 
Republican  party,  but  always  supports  the  man 
he  considers  most  fit  for  an  office,  whether  local 
or  national.  The  family  is  identified  with  the 
Episcopal  Church. 


LEONARD  C   WEMPLE. 


I  EONARD  CARL  WEMPLE,  of  Rogers 
1C  Park,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Fonda,  Mont- 
l_y  gomery  County,  New  York,  February  9, 
1836.  He  is  the  son  of  Jacob  Van  Alstine  and 
Eleanor  (Veeder)  Wemple.  His  ancestors  were 
Holland  Dutch,  and  both  families  were  founded 
in  America  before  the  Revolutionary  War.  Jacob 
Van  Alstine,  the  great-great-grandfather  of  Leon- 
ard Wemple,  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  for 
Independence  and  was  present  at  the  surrender 
of  Burgoyne. 

In  1848,  when  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
twelve  years  of  age,  the  family  came  to  Chicago. 
Jacob  V.  A.  Wemple  was  a  manufacturer  of 
threshing  machines,  and  obtained  the  third  patent 
granted  by  the  United  States  Government  on  a 
machine  for  threshing  and  separating  the  grain 
from  the  straw  and  chaff.  He  carried  on  the 
manufacture  of  machines  in  Chicago  until  1859, 
when  he  failed  in  business.  He  then  went  to 
Winnebago  County,  in  this  State,  and  engaged  in 
farming,  on  land  previously  purchased.  Subse- 
quently he  removed  to  a  farm  in  Branch  County, 
Michigan,  where  he  died  in  1873,  and  his  good 
wife  died  seven  years  later.  They  had  a  family 


of  fourteen  children,  three  of  whom  died  in 
childhood.  The  following  grew  to  maturity,  and 
four  are  living  at  this  writing:  Caroline,  John; 
Leonard  C. ,  the  subject  of  this  article;  Maria 
Jane,  deceased;  Virginia  Catherine,  deceased; 
Lavina,  deceased;  Elizabeth,  deceased,  and  Eu- 
gene. These  are  among  the  heirs  of  the  cele- 
brated Trinity  Church  property  of  New  York. 

Leonard  C.  Wemple  was  fairly  educated  in 
private  schools  in  Chicago.  He  was  early 
trained  in  his  father's  shop,  and  became  an  ex- 
pert workman  in  both  wood  and  iron,  and  has  all 
his  life  followed  that  form  of  mechanics.  For 
nearly  half  a  century  he  has  been  a  resident  of 
Chicago,  with  the  exception  of  some  months 
which  he  spent  in  California,  on  two  different  oc- 
casions. No  better  testimonial  of  his  ability  as  a 
workman,  of  his  reliability  and  good  habits  can 
be  formed  than  the  fact  that  for  the  past  fourteen 
years  he  has  been  in  the  employ  of  the  William 
Deering  Harvester  Company,  of  Chicago,  as  a 
pattern-maker,  a  position  which  he  still  occupies. 

March  23,  1864,  Mr.  Wemple  married  Miss 
Ruth,  daughter  of  Philip  G.  and  Anna  (Austin) 
Whelden.  She  was  born  in  Rensselaer  County, 


244 


H.  C.    HANSEN. 


New  York,  and  came  to  Illinois  with  her  parents 
when  a  child,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  Boone 
County.  Her  parents  were  natives  of  the  Empire 
State,  and  had  five  children,  namely:  Charles G., 
Elizabeth,  Ruth,  Nathaniel  G.  and  Isaiah.  The 
mother  died  when  Mrs.  Weniple  was  five  years  of 
age.  A  few  years  later  Mr.  Whelden  married 
Miriam  Harriet  Austin,  sister  of  his  first  wife, 
and  they  became  the  parents  of  three  children — 
Harriet  Ann,  Philip  G.  and  Jabez.  After  coming 
to  this  State  Mr.  Whelden  engaged  in  farming  in 


Boone  County,  until  he  retired  from  active  busi- 
ness and  became  a  resident  of  Rockford,  where  he 
died  in  June,  1895,  his  wife  having  been  dead  five 
years. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wemple  were  born  three  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Willis  Grant,  an  engineer  on  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway;  Clarence 
Nelson,  also  in  the  employ  of  the  same  railroad 
company;  and  Ada  Louise.  Mr.  Wemple  is  a 
Republican  in  political  opinion,  and  is  a  regular 
attendant  of  the  Methodist  Church. 


HENRY  C    HANSEN. 


HENRY  CHRISTIAN  HANSEN,  a  promi- 
nent business  man  of  Oak  Park  and  Chi- 
cago, was  born  at  Waygaard,  near  Tondern, 
Schleswig-Holstein,  October  8,  1840.  As  far  as 
known,  nearly  all  his  progenitors  have  been  noted 
for  longevity  and  physical  vigor.  His  grandfa- 
ther, Daniel  Hansen,  was  born  at  Leek,  in  the 
same  State,  March  19,  1766.  He  was  engaged  in 
mercantile  business  at  Waygaard  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  life.  In  this  enterprise  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  only  son,  Hans  Johann  Diedrich, 
who  became  the  father  of  Henry  C.  Hansen. 
Hans  J.  D.  Hansen  was  born  at  Waygaard,  Oc- 
tober 8,  1802,  and  died  in  the  same  place  in  1851, 
at  the  age  of  forty-nine  years,  one  month  and 
three  weeks.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Anna  Sonnichsen,  died  there  in  1893,  having  at- 
tained the  age  of  ninety-two  years.  She  was  born 
at  Nord  Waygaard  and  was  the  eldest  in  a  family 
of  eleven  children. 

Henry  C.  Hansen  is  the  youngest  .of  six  chil- 
dren born  to  his  parents,  and  the  only  represen- 
tative of  the  family  in  the  United  States.  He 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
place,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years  entered  a 


mercantile  establishment  at  Niebull,  where  he 
spent  five  years  in  learning  the  details  of  that 
business,  serving  four  years  of  this  time  without 
wages.  He  was  afterward  employed  in  other 
cities,  and  spent  one  year  in  a  large  wholesale  and 
retail  dry-goods  house  at  Hamburg. 

After  the  close  of  the  War  of  1866  he  came  to 
America  and  spent  the  next  year  in  a  grocery 
and  market  at  Wheeling,  West  Virginia.  He 
then  came  to  Chicago,  where  he  was  first  employed 
in  a  retail  grocery  store  on  Chicago  Avenue. 
He  was  afterwards  connected  with  dry-goods 
houses  in  that  city,  and  in  1873  removed  to  Oak 
Park,  where  he  purchased  a  stock  of  general 
merchandise  and  carried  on  that  line  of  trade  for 
the  next  fourteen  years.  Since  that  time  he  has 
devoted  most  of  his  attention  to  the  real-estate 
and  loan  business,  maintaining  an  office  for  that 
purpose  in  Chicago.  Having  acquired  considerable 
property  in  the  city  and  suburbs,  its  care  now  oc- 
cupies most  of  his  time.  He  has  always  taken 
an  active  interest  in  movements  calculated  to 
promote  the  development  of  Oak  Park  and  ad- 
jacent suburbs.  He  was  one  of  the  first  men  in- 
terested in  the  construction  of  the  Cicero  &  Pro- 


SIVERT  HOLLESEN. 


245 


viso  Electric  Railroad,  and  was  for  a  time  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  directors  of  that  corporation. 
This  organization  built  the  first  line  of  electric 
road  in  Cook  County,  and  has  since  constructed 
a  number  of  other  lines,  connecting  the  city  with 
most  of  the  West  Side  suburbs.  He  was  also  one 
of  the  prime  movers  in  the  organization  of  the 
Ogden  Street  Railway  Company,  which  was 
formed  for  a  similar  purpose.  In  1892  he  became 
one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Oak  Park  State 
Bank,  and  has  ever  since  been  vice-president  of 
that  thriving  institution.  He  has  several  times 
served  the  town  of  Cicero  in  official  capacities, 
having  filled  the  office  of  collector  for  one  year, 
and  that  of  trustee  four  years.  In  political  action 
he  has  always  been  unbiased  by  party  prejudice, 
and  supports  such  men  and  measures  as  he  be- 
lieves to  be  in  the  best  interests  of  the  country. 
In  1872  he  was  a  warm  supporter  of  Horace 
Greeley  for  the  presidency,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  thereafter  sustained  the  national  Democratic 
ticket.  In  1896  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  con- 
vention at  Indianapolis  which  nominated  John  M. 
Palmer  for  the  presidency,  but,  becoming  con- 
vinced that  the  business  interests  of  the  country 


could  be  best  served  in  that  manner,  he  cast  his 
ballot  for  William  McKinley.  Though  reared 
in  the  Lutheran  faith,  he  has  never  affiliated  with 
any  religious  or  social  organization  since  coming 
to  the  United  States. 

He  was  married  in  March,  1874,  to  Catharine 
Gaugler,  daughter  of  Moritz  Gaugler,  of  whom 
further  notice  appears  on  another  page  of  this 
book.  Mrs.  Hansen  was  born  in  Chicago,  and 
has  developed  unusual  skill  in  painting  and  wood- 
carving.  Among  many  other  things,  she  has 
designed  and  executed  a  fire  screen  of  combined 
carved  and  embroidery  work  which  has  attracted 
considerable  attention  as  a  remarkable  amateur 
production.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Gesellschaft 
Erholung,  a  charitable  organization  in  Chicago, 
and  pieces  of  carving  contributed  by  her  have 
realized  good  prices  for  the  benefit  of  that  society. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hansen  have  two  sons,  Moris  and 
Edward,  both  of  whom  are  graduates  of  the  Oak 
Park  High  School,  and  the  latter  of  Bryant  and 
Stratton's  Business  College.  The  elder  son  is  an 
amateur  painter  of  ability,  and  no  guest  of  this 
family  can  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  skill  dis- 
played in  the  handiwork  of  its  members. 


SIVERT  HOLLESEN. 


DIVERT  HOLLESEN,  an  industrious,  pro- 
7\  gressive  and  successful  citizen  of  North 
\~)  Chicago,  was  born  August  10,  1849,  in 
Schleswig-Holstein,  Germany  (then  a  part  of 
Denmark).  His  parents,  John  and  Mary  Chris- 
tina Hollesen,  were  natives  of  that  place,  where 
they  passed  their  entire  lives.  The  father  died 
in  1856,  and  the  mother  iri  1892. 

Sivert  Hollesen  grew  to  manhood  in  his  native 
land  and  received  a  fair  education,  which  is  as- 
sured to  every  citizen  of  that  country.  He  was 
early  accustomed  to  the  duties  of  farm  life;  but 


has  always  spent  his  leisure  time  in  reading  and 
studying,  and  is  thoroughly  well  informed  on  the 
topics  which  engage  the  attention  of  the  people  of 
the  present  day.  He  writes  and  reads  rapidly  in 
the  Danish,  Norwegian  and  English  languages, 
and  speaks  the  German  tongue  fluently. 

In  1871  he  came  to  the  United  States,  by  way 
of  Leith  and  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  first  touched 
American  soil  at  Quebec,  proceeding  thence  to 
Chicago,  by  way  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railroad. 
On  his  arrival  here  he  possessed  twenty  dollars  in 
gold,  with  which  he  began  life.  He  was  first  em- 


246 


CELESTIAL  KELLER. 


ployed  as  a  laborer,  and  very  soon  found  employ- 
ment at  gardening,  at  which  he  served  twelve 
years  for  one  employer,  Mr.  R.  J.  Lewis,  a 
well-known  gardener  and  florist.  During  most 
of  this  time  he  occupied  the  position  of  foreman. 

In  1886  he  began  business  for  himself,  on  rent- 
ed ground,  at  the  corner  of  Fullerton  and  Racine 
Avenues,  and  has  achieved  remarkable  business 
success.  In  1887  he  purchased  fifteen  acres  of 
land,  at  the  corner  of  Devon  Avenue  and  Perry 
Street,  on  which  he  has  placed  all  of  the  improve- 
ments, including  a  good  residence  and  out- 
buildings. 

He  is  now  doing  a  large  and  profitable  business 
in  producing  vegetables  for  the  city  markets.  He 
employs  four  men  all  the  time,  and  this  force  is, 
of  course,  largely  increased  during  the  summer 
months.  In  1892  he  bought  twenty-three  acres 
in  North  Evanston;  the  following  year  he  pur- 
chased ten  acres  in  Niles  Township.  These  are 
considered  by  good  judges  to  be  shrewd  invest- 
ments. Mr.  Hollesen  has  never  been  ambitious 


to  manage  the  affairs  of  his  neighbors  or  of  the 
public  generally,  but  is  a  steadfast  Republican, 
and  does  not  fail  to  perform  his  duties  as  a  private 
citizen,  as  he  understands  them. 

June  17,  1882,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Frances 
Schoenbeck,  who  is  a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Anna 
Schoenbeck,  natives  of  West  Prussia,  in  which 
country  Mrs.  Hollesen  was  born  May  13,  1859. 
In  1880  she  came  to  America,  with  her  parents, 
who  are  now  residents  of  Rogers  Park.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Holleseu  have  seven  daughters — Anna, 
Mary,  Fallie,  Martha,  Sophia,  Clara  and  Frances. 
They  lost  a  son  at  the  age  of  three  months.  All 
are  identified  with  Saint  Henry's  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church. 

Mr.  Hollesen  is  deserving  of  credit  not  only  for 
the  material  success  which  he  has  attained,  but 
for  the  cultivation  of  his  mind  and  talents,  in  the 
midst  of  a  most  laborious  life,  and  he  is  now 
respected  as  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  pro- 
gressive citizens  of  the  community  in  which  he 
resides. 


CELESTIAL  KELLER. 


CELESTIAL  KELLER,  who  is  engaged  in 
I  (  farming  on  North  Clark  Street,  Chicago,  has 
\J  been  a  resident  of  Cook  County  since  1857. 
He  was  born  September  22,  1830,  in  Argon, 
Switzerland,  and  is  a  son  of  Frank  Lorenz  and 
Mary  (Stagmeyer)  Keller.  He  was  educated  in 
the  beneficent  public  schools  of  Switzerland,  and 
became  master  of  the  carpenter's  trade,  at  which 
he  worked  in  connection  with  farming. 

He  came  to  the  United  States  in  the  year  before 
named,  disembarking  at  New  York  and  proceed- 
ing directly  to  Chicago,  where  he  secured  employ- 
ment at  his  trade  until  the  Great  Fire  of  1871. 


After  this  he  took  up  farming  at  his  present  loca- 
tion, and  has  continued  that  occupation  since. 

Mr.  Keller  does  not  take  an  active  part  in  the 
management  of  public  affairs,  leaving  these  cares 
to  more  ambitious  souls.  He  is  a  faithful  adhe- 
rent of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  while  the  re- 
maining members  of  his  family  are  connected  with 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

November  25,  1867,  Mr.  Keller  was  married  to 
Katharine  Klein,  daughter  of  Christopher  and 
Anna  (Young)  Klein.  Mrs.  Keller's  family  came 
to  America  in  1866,  and  arrived  February  2  of 
that  year  in  Chicago.  A  month  later  they  bought 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


HENRY  O.  LOVETT 


H.  O.  LOVETT. 


247 


land  on  Clark  Street,  and  continued  farming  there 
for  many  years.  The  mother  was  killed  by  an 
accident  September  9,  1876,  and  the  father  died 
April  14,  1886.  They  were  adherents  of  the 
Presbyterian  religious  faith.  They  were  from  the 
Rhine  Province  of  Prussia,  Germany,  where  both 
were  born,  as  were  their  children,  who  came  with 


them,  namely:  Katharine  (Mrs.  Keller);  Anna, 
wife  of  Jacob  Meelbeier;  Michael,  now  deceased; 
Christopher,  a  resident  of  Chicago;  Barbara,  wife 
of  Henry  Rumstick;  Sybla  (Mrs.  Frederick 
Meyer);  and  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Michael  Boscheit. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keller  have  lost  three  children,  and 
have  two  living,  namely:  Albert  and  Bertha. 


HENRY  O.  LOVETT. 


HENRY  ORISON  LOVETT  was  born  in 
Bath,  Steuben  County,  New  York,  in  1826, 
and  was  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Lydia 
(Crouch)  Lovett,  the  latter  being  a  native  of 
Connecticut,  in  which  State  she  was  married  to 
Mr.  Lovett.  About  1835  the  family  came  to  Cook 
County,  locating  on  Grand  Avenue  (then  known 
as  the  Elgin  Road),  in  the  present  village  of 
Galewood.  His  father  died  here,  and  his  mother 
died  in  Palmyra,  New  York,  at  the  home  of  her 
son,  Joseph  Lovett. 

When  grown  to  manhood,  Henry  O.  Lovett 
settled  in  the  town  of  Leyden,  where  the 
remainder  of  his  life  was  spent.  He  became 
the  owner  of  six  hundred  acres  of  prairie 
and  timber  land,  and  was  one  of  the  most  exten- 
sive farmers  of  that  township.  Much  of  his  prop- 
erty has  been  sub  divided,  the  present  village  of 
Ellsworth  having  been  laid  out  thereon. 

Mr.  Lovett  was  one  of  the  leading  members  of 
the  Norwood  Baptist  Church  at  Norwood  Park. 
He  took  an  active  interest  in  establishing  a  good 
system  of  public  schools  in  the  town  of  Leyden, 
and  aided  in  many  other  progressive  movements. 
He  filled  many  local  offices,  and  discharged  every 
public  duty  in  a  most  acceptable  and  conscientious 
manner.  He  was  a  Republican  in  principle,  but 


could  hardly  be  called  a  politician,  and  never 
sought  to  advance  his  private  interests  at  public 
expense. 

He  was  married  December  3,  1848,  to  Miss 
Mary,  daughter  of  John  and  Polly  Van  Natta,  of 
whom  further  notice  is  given  elsewhere  in  this 
volume.  Mrs.  Lovett  was  born  in  Mina,  Chau- 
tauqua  County,  New  York.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  namely:  John  J.,  of  Mont- 
clare;  Mary  H.,  who  died  September  23,  1860,  at 
the  age  of  nine  years;  Ella  A.,  the  wife  of  Rev. 
John  L-  Jackson,  pastor  of  a  Baptist  Church  in 
Hyde  Park;  Charles  Edwin,  who  died  August  5, 
1883,  at  the  age  of  thirty  years;  Stanley  Ernest, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen  months;  Emery 
Orison,  a  Baptist  minister  at  Fort  Scott,  Kansas; 
and  lona  Esther,  wife  of  William  C.  Brown,  who 
resides  at  Oak  Park. 

Mr.  Lovett  died  January  4,  1873,  at  Ellsworth, 
Cook  County,  Illinois,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven 
years.  Since  1891  Mrs.  Lovett  has  made  her 
home  at  Oak  Park.  She  relates  many  interesting 
incidents  and  reminiscences  of  earl}'  life  in  Chi- 
cago and  Cook  County,  and  anyone  who  is  inter- 
ested in  the  history  of  this  locality  and  its  pioneers 
will  find  it  a  treat  to  listen  to  her,  as  one  can  learn 
much  from  her  on  this  topic. 


248 


MORITZ  GAUGLER. 


MORITZ  GAUGLER. 


lORITZ  GAUGLER,  one  of  the  worthy 
pioneers  of  Cook  County,  was  born  June 
12,  1808,  at  Undercept,  Elsass  (at  that 
time  a  part  of  France) ,  and  his  death  occurred  at 
Oak  Park,  October  3,  1879.  His  father,  Nicholas 
Gaugler,  was  a  professional  cook  and  was  em- 
ployed for  many  years  in  the  family  of  a  French 
nobleman.  His  wife  died  when  the  son,  Moritz, 
was  but  three  years  old.  The  latter  learned  the 
trade  of  cabinet-maker  in  his  native  land,  and  in 
1830  emigrated  to  the  United  States.  He  located 
at  Watertown,  New  York,  where  he  followed  his 
trade,  though  he  found  that  much  of  the  skill 
which  he  had  acquired  was  of  but  little  use  in 
this  country.  He  was  married  there,  and  in 
1836  came  to  Chicago,  spending  six  weeks  in  the 
journey,  which  was  made  by  the  way  of  Erie 
Canal  and  the  Great  Lakes.  A  short  time  after 
his  arrival  he  went  to  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin, 
where  a  number  of  Chicago  people  were  inter- 
ested in  the  construction  of  a  sawmill.  He  was 
employed  about  two  years  at  that  place,  then  in 
the  midst  of  the  wilderness.  During  this  time 
he  made  several  trips  to  Chicago  with  an  ox- 
team,  sometimes  being  several  weeks  upon  the 
way,  owing  to  the  almost  impassable  condition  of 
the  roads.  He  subsequently  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Chicago,  where  he  worked  at  the  car- . 
penter  trade  and  such  other  employment  as  of- 
fered opportunity  to  gain  a  livelihood.  He  some- 
times eked  out  his  income  by  picking  strawberries 
for  market,  as  that  fruit  grew  very  abundantly 


in  the  vicinity  of  Wright's  Grove,  on  the  North 
Side.  After  a  time  he  began  taking  building 
contracts,  but  in  this  enterprise  was  not  very 
successful. 

Soon  after  coming  to  Chicago  he  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  William  B.  Ogden,  and  an  intimate 
friendship  always  existed  between  them.  He 
was  often  advised  by  Mr.  Ogden  to  invest  his 
savings  in  real  estate,  but  hesitated  for  several 
years  about  accepting  this  advice.  Among  the 
tracts  which  he  had  been  urged  to  purchase  was 
one  of  about  two  acres,  on  the  west  side  of  Clark 
Street,  between  Schiller  Street  and  North  Ave- 
nue, which  was  offered  to  him  for  six  hundred 
dollars.  A  few  years  later,  having  become  con- 
vinced of  the  advantage  of  such  investments,  he 
paid  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  same  piece.  He 
made  his  home  there  for  several  years,  in  the 
mean  time  subdividing  and  selling  portions  of  it, 
which  yielded  him  a  handsome  profit  on  the  in- 
vestment. 

About  1865  he  removed  to  Oak  Park,  which 
was  then  a  small  straggling  village.  He  bought 
considerable  property  at  that  place,  much  of 
which  he  subdivided  and  improved  from  time  to 
time.  He  built  two  houses  on  Chicago  Avenue, 
among  the  first  erected  on  that  thoroughfare  in 
Oak  Park.  He  was  always  interested  in  public 
affairs,  and  served  several  terms  as  a  member  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  town  of  Cicero,  dur- 
ing which  time  some  noteworthy  public  improve- 
ments were  made.  He  was  a  natural  musician, 


JULIUS  RISTOW. 


249 


and  all  of  his  descendants  have  inherited  more  or 
less  of  his  talent  in  that  direction. 

Mr.  Gaugler  was  married  in  1835,  to  Catharine 
Young,  who  survives  him  and  is  now  living  at 
Oak  Park,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-six 
years.  She  was  born  at  Winterburg,  France,  and 
came  to  the  United  States  about  1830,  in  company 
with  her  brother,  who  left  his  native  land  in 
common  with  many^of  his  countrymen,  to  evade 
the  onerous  military  duty  imposed  there.  Pre- 
vious to  her  marriage,  Mrs.  Gaugler  was  em- 
ployed as  head  cook  in  a  hotel  at  Watertown, 
New  York.  Her  father,  Nicholas  Young,  oper- 
ated a  line  of  teams  engaged  in  transporting  salt 


from  Germany  into  Elsass.  About  1835  became 
to  the  United  States,  and  lived  at  Watertown, 
New  York,  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
five  years.  His  wife  reached  the  age  of  ninety- 
eight  years.  Her  brother,  Nicholas  Wehrung, 
was  an  officer  in  the  army  of  Napoleon  I,  as  was 
also  a  Mr.  Marzloff,  who  married  a  sister  of  Mrs. 
Gaugler.  Of  five  daughters  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Gaugler,  three  grew  to  womanhood,  name- 
ly: Josephine,  Mrs.  Frederick  Cronemeyer,  of 
Omaha,  Nebraska;  Emaline,  deceased  wife  of 
George  Timme,  of  the  same  place;  and  Catharine, 
now  the  wife  of  Henry  C.  Hansen,  of  Oak 
Park. 


JULIUS  RISTOW. 


(1 ULIUS  RISTOW  is  one  of  the  industrious 
I  and  progressive  citizens  which  Germany  has 
G)  furnished  to  Cook  County.  He  is  the  eldest 
son  of  the  late  Erdman  and  Katherine  Ristow,  of 
whom  further  mention  is  made  in  the  biography 
of  Otto  Ristow,  in  this  work.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  born  October  13,  1845,  in  Germany, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood,  receiving  a  thorough 
training  in  the  profession  of  florist.  •  At  the  same 
time  he  received  the  liberal  education  which  is 
guaranteed  to  every  German  subject  by  the  munif- 
icent educational  system  of  the  Empire. 

In  1858  lie  married  Miss  Amelia  Hager,  and 
ten  days  after  this  interesting  event  in  his  life  he 
set  sail,  accompanied  by  his  loving  bride,  to 
make  a  home  and  fortune  in  free  America.  It  is 
easy  to  imagine  with  what  conflicting  emotions 
this  young  pair  severed  their  connection  with 
home,  friends  and  native  land,  while  buoyed  up 
with  youthful  hopes  and  confidence  in  each  other, 
to  begin  life  amid  strange  surroundings,  in  a 
country  whose  language  was  strange  and  un- 
musical to  them.  They  had  been  bred  to  habits 


of  thrift  and  industry,  and  felt  sure  that  they 
would  never  want  while  health  and  strength  were 
spared  them. 

For  a  few  years  after  his  arrival  in  Cook  Coun- 
ty, Mr.  Ristow  worked  in  the  service  of  others, 
until  he  could  save  something  from  his  wages. 
He  did  not  falter  in  his  determination  to  make  a 
home,  and  in  this  he  was  cheered  and  aided  by 
his  faithful  wife.  In  1872  he  located  in  what  was 
then  called  Bowmanville,  and  with  his  brother, 
Otto  Ristow,  began  business  as  a  florist,  upon 
leased  land.  This  arrangement  continued  seven 
years,  and  in  1884  he  bought  an  acre  of  land  on 
Western  Avenue,  where  he  now  lives.  After- 
ward he  purchased  an  additional  half  acre,  and 
the  greater  portion  of  his  ground  is  now  covered 
by  greenhouses,  devoted  to  the  production  of 
roses  for  the  cut-flower  trade.  As  Mr.  Ristow 
thoroughly  understood  every  detail  of  this  im- 
portant industry,  he  has  made  a  success  of  the 
business.  Although  he  began  a  poor  man,  he  is 
now  in  comfortable  circumstances,  but  he  does 
not  relax  his  careful  attention  to  business  or  his 


250 


SIMON  SIMON. 


accustomed  diligence  in  its  prosecution ,  and  every 
youth  anxious  to  succeed  in  life  is  advised  to 
study  the  plan  of  his  operations. 

While  he  has  usually  supported  the  Democratic 
party  in  political  contests,  Mr.  Ristow  is  not 
strongly  partisan,  and  does  not  believe  that  any 
party  or  set  of  men  embodies  all  the  patriotism  or 
true  philosophy  of  government,  and  is  disposed 
to  ignore  party  lines,  especially  in  local  matters. 
He  has  never  desired  or  sought  public  honors, 
preferring  to  devote  his  time  to  his  own  business 
and  the  best  interests  of  his  family.  He  is  a 


member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  has  ever 
borne  his  share  in  its  maintenance. 

The  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ristow  includes 
nine  children,  all  born  in  Chicago  and  all  living 
at  this  writing.  Clara,  the  eldest,  is  the  wife  of 
Herman  A.  Banske,  and  the  mother  of  three 
children,  Otto  August,  Herman  William  Albert 
and  Elsie  Amelia,  besides  one  who  died  in  in- 
fancy. The  second  daughter,  Anna,  is  the  wife 
of  Albert  Kuno,  a  gardener  of  Bowmanville.  The 
other  children  are:  Mollie,  Ida,  Leo,  George, 
John,  Richard  and  Edward. 


SIMON  SIMON. 


ilMON  SIMON,  of  Ravenswood,  Chicago,  is 
a  pioneer  settler  of  that  locality.  He  is  a 
native  of  Prussia,  Germany,  born  May  19, 
1840,  and  is  a  son  of  Jacob  and  Gertrude  Simon, 
natives  of  the  same  place,  where  the  father 
learned  and  followed  the  trade  of  shoe-nail  smith. 
In  1847,  with  his  family  of  nine  children,  he  set 
out  for  America,  and  arrived  in  Chicago  on  the 
7th  of  July  in  that  year.  Having  exhausted  his 
means  in  the  journey,  he  was  obliged  to  accept 
any  employment  that  offered,  and  set  bravely 
about  making  a  home  and  a  name  for  himself 
and  children  in  the  land  which  they  has  sacrificed 
so  much  to  reach.  He  took  up  his  residence  on 
Dearborn  Avenue,  between  Elm  and  Division 
Streets,  where  Mrs.  Simon  died  in  the  fall  of 
1865.  After  the  Great  Fire  of  1871,  the  father 
lived  with  his  son,  Michael  Simon,  where  he 
died  in  1885.  Both  he  and  his  good  wife  were 
born  in  the  year  1795.  Their  children  were: 
Mathias;  Mary,  widow  of  Peter  Moulton;  Jacob, 
deceased;  Anna,  wife  of  Jacob  Weber;  Peter; 
Johanna,  widow  of  Mathias  Cossman;  John,  Nich- 


olas and  Michael,  deceased;  William;  and  Simon, 
the  youngest.  Besides  these,  one  died  in  infancy 
in  the  old  country.  When  the  parents  celebrated 
their  golden  wedding  in  1865,  seventy-three  chil- 
dren and  grandchildren  were  present  to  con- 
gratulate them. 

Simon  Simon,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  was 
educated  in  the  Franklin  School,  at  the  corner  of 
Sedgwick  and  Division  Streets.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  years  he  went  to  learn  the  trade  of 
moulder,  in  the  study  and  practice  of  which  his 
time  was  occupied  for  several  years,  until  failing 
health  compelled  him  to  abandon  it.  For  about 
twelve  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Chicago 
police  force,  and  for  a  period  of  eight  years  he 
kept  a  restaurant.  He  is  now  in  the  service  ot 
the  county,  as  an  attache  of  Sheriff  Pease's  office, 
and  has  acted  as  turnkey  a  number  of  years,  un- 
der two  preceding  sheriffs. 

In  1860  Mr.  Simon  was  married  to  Miss  Anna 
Elizabeth  Myer,  a  native  of  Prussia,  who  came 
to  Chicago  when  a  small  child.  She  was  a  foster 
daughter  of  Jacob  Myer,  who  was  the  second 


CAPT.  ANDREW  TORKILSON. 


251 


husband  of  her  mother.  Mrs.  Simon  passed  from 
life  September  3,  1892,  leaving  a  family  of  three 
sons — the  second  of  whom  is  recorder  of  Cook 
County — and  two  daughters,  namely:  George, 
Louise,  Robert  M.,  Henry  and  Katharine.  The 
eldest  son  is  an  artist  of  well-known  skill. 

Mr.   Simon  became  a  resident  of  Lake  View 
(now  part  of  Chicago)  in  1875.     Since  becoming 


a  citizen  of  the  United  States  he  has  given  his 
earnest  support  to  the  principles  advocated  by  the 
Republican  party.  To  all  of  his  children  he  is 
devoted,  and  he  has  given  to  each  the  best  educa- 
tional opportunities.  These  have  been  appreciated, 
and  the  family  is  known  as  a  united  and  highly 
cultivated  one,  enjoying  the  respect  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  it  resides. 


CAPT.  ANDREW  TORKILSON. 


EAPT.  ANDREW  TORKILSON  was  an 
early  settler  of  Chicago,  and  one  of  the  city's 
representative  Scandinavian  citizens.  He 
was  born  on  the  western  coast  of  Norway  in  1825. 
His  advantages  for  obtaining  'an  education  in  the 
primary  branches  were  good.  His  parents  were 
ambitious  for  him  to  have  a  bright  future,  and, 
after  completing  an  elementary  course  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  he  had  his  choice  of  what  his  career 
should  be,  though  they  themselves  were  inclined 
to  see  him  enter  the  ministry.  This  was  not 
young  Andrew's  choice,  however,  and  as  he  had 
a  predisposition  to  military  life,  he  chose  that, 
and  at  once  entered  the  National  Military  School 
of  his  country,  at  Christiania,  where  he  was  care- 
fully taught  in  the  manual  of  arms  and  the  ab- 
stract principles  of  war.  He  graduated  after  six 
years  of  close  application.  Afterwards  he  entered 
the  Government  service,  having  been  commis- 
sioned lieutenant,  and  served  a  year,  when  he  re- 
signed to  come  to  America.  He  could  not  leave 
without  a  permit  from  the  Government  officials, 
which  he  had  difficulty  in  securing. 

In  1854  ne  emigrated  to  America  in  a  sailing- 
vessel,  which  was  seventy-two  days  en  route, 
landing  at  New  York.  From  there  he  came  to 
Chicago  by  the  water  route,  and  upon  settling 
here  he  learned  the  cooper's  trade,  which  he  fol- 
lowed for  some  years.  He  had  a  shop  of  his  own, 


and  at  times  employed  as  many  as  thirty  men. 
In  this  business  he  was  very  successful,  accumu- 
lating considerable  property.  Previous  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  was  appointed  to 
the  police  force  of  the  city,  proving  himself  a  brave 
and  efficient  officer.  In  1856  he  made  a  Euro- 
pean trip,  visiting  England,  Ireland,  many  points 
of  the  continent,  and  his  own  home  in  Norway, 
being  gone  a  year. 

Early  in  1861  came  the  opportunity  to  distin- 
guish himself  in  the  profession  of  arms,  for  which 
he  had  been  carefully  fitted.  He  recruited  one 
hundred  twelve  men  in  the  city,  tendering  them, 
with  himself,  to  Governor  Yates,  but  the  State 
quota  being  then  full,  the  Governor  was  compelled 
to  refuse  acceptance.  In  this  dilemma  he  com- 
municated with  the  Executive  of  Wisconsin,  ten- 
dering himself  and  all  the  men  he  had  recruited, 
and  was  accepted.  Out  of  his  own  pocket  he 
paid  the  fare  of  these  men  to  Madison,  Wisconsin. 
Beside  this  he  had  clothed  and  lodged  the  men  for 
sixty  days  previous,  in  order  to  keep  them  to- 
gether. They  were  a  magnificent  body  of  men, 
not  one  of  whom  measured  less  than  six  feet  in 
height. 

Upon  arriving  in  Madison  they  were  organized 
as  Company  A,  Fifteenth  Wisconsin  Infantry,  and 
Mr.  Torkilson  was  appointed  captain.  The  regi- 
ment was  at  once  sent  to  the  seat  of  war,  and  was 


252 


CAPT.  ANDREW  TORKILSON. 


incorporated  in  General  Grant's  army  at  Cairo, 
Illinois.  Under  this  redoubtable  chietain  the 
regiment  took  part  in  the  decisive  victories  which 
resulted  from  Grant's  first  campaign,  fighting  at 
Perryville,  Forts  Donelson  and  Henry,  and  at 
Island  Number  Ten.  Then  under  General  Buell, 
but  still  in  Grant's  army,  it  fought  in  the  last 
day's  fight  at  Shiloh;  then  came  the  bloody  en- 
gagements of  Corinth,  Murfreesboro,  Chatta- 
nooga, Missionary  Ridge,  and  the  subsequent 
fighting  of  Sherman's  army  up  to  the  final  siege 
of  Atlanta.  Captain  Torkilson  acquitted  himself 
as  became  a  true  and  gallant  soldier,  which  he 
was.  The  deafening  noise  of  the  scores  of  con- 
flicts so  impaired  his  hearing  that  he  was  obliged 
to  surrender  his  commission,  which  he  did  with 
reluctance. 

Upon  his  return  to  civil  life  he  settled  in  Chi- 
cago, aud  was  for  the  second  time  appointed  to 
the  police  force,  this  time  by  his  friend,  Mayor 
John  Wentworth.  He  was  active  in  the  city's 
politics,  and  wielded  an  influence  that  was  con- 
siderable. Mayor  Wentworth  said  of  him,  "To 
Captain  Torkilson' s  influence  I  am  indebted  for 
my  election."  The  mayor  was  his  devoted  friend, 
and  their  mutual  confidence  was  never  disturbed 
to  the  end  of  their  lives. 

Some  years  after  the  war  Captain  Torkilson 
settled  in  Fort  Dodge,  Iowa,  where  he  followed 
coopering  and  hotel-keeping,  and  held  numerous 
official  positions  of  trust.  In  1873  he  returned  to 
Chicago  and  settled  in  Rogers  Park,  which  could 
then  boast  only  a  few  scattering  homes.  For  a 
time  following  his  settlement  there  he  had  charge 
of  the  toll-gate,  and  was  subsequently  engaged  in 
the  cooperage  business. 

He  was  an  active  and  energetic  man,  and  en- 
joyed the  confidence  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew 
him.  In  height  he  stood  six  feet  three  inches, 
and  weighed  about  two  hundred  twenty  pounds. 
His  scholarly  attainments  were  of  a  high  order 
and  he  remained  a  Student  all  his  life,  keeping 
himself  informed  upon  the  leading  and  important 
questions  of  the  day.  He  was  an  honored  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  order,  having  attained  to  the 
Master's  degree. 

He  was  twice  married,  his  second   wife,  Miss 


Christina  Smith,  a  native  of  Nonvay,  being  wed- 
ded to  him  in  Chicago.  Their  union  resulted  in 
seven  children,  six  of  whom  are  living,  namely: 
Benjamin,  Andrew  F.,  John  A.,  Thomas  F., 
Clara  F.  and  Anna  C. ;  Mary  E.  is  deceased. 
Mrs.  Torkilson,  who  is  still  living,  is  a  daughter 
of  Benedict  and  Elizabeth  Smith,  of  Norway.  The 
former  still  survives,  and  is  a  gentleman  of  influ- 
ence and  worth,  having  followed  the  seas  for  a 
great  many  years.  He  has  visited  America  twice, 
attending  the  Centennial  Exhibition  at  Philadel- 
phia, in  1876,  and  in  1893  the  World's  Fair  in 
this  city,  making  the  last  journey  both  ways  un- 
attended, though  over  ninety  years  of  age. 

Captain  Torkilson  was  an  ardent  Republican 
in  politics,  and  his  party  had  no  more  stanch 
supporter  than  he.  Public  service  was  uncon- 
genial to  him  in  many  ways,  but  he  sought  to 
fulfill  his  share  of  the  duties  of  a  good  citizen. 
His  death  occurred  October  18,  1881,  and  his 
remains  repose  in  Rogers  Park,  where  they  were 
interred  with  Masonic  honors. 

Benjamin  Smith  Torkilson,  eldest  son  of  Cap- 
tain Torkilson,  was  born  in  Chicago  November 
15,  1859.  He  was  reared  in  the  city,  and  edu- 
cated in  its  public  schools.  In  youth  he  learned 
the  cooper's  trade,  and  later  learned  stone-cutting. 
Politically,  he  affiliates  with  the  Republican  par- 
ty. He  was  married  to  Miss  Emma  Collins  in 
1883,  and  they  have  four  children,  namely:  Ella, 
Marion,  Anna  and  Margaret.  Mrs.  Torkilson 
was  born  at  Bailey's  Harbor,  Wisconsin. 

The  second  son,  Andrew  F.  Torkilson,  was 
born  in  Chicago  in  1863.  He  was  reared  in 
Rogers  Park  and  educated  in  the  elementary 
branches  in  the  public  schools  of  that  suburb. 
This  was  supplemented  by  a  course  in  a  business 
college,  and  he  has,  for  a  number  of  years,  ac- 
ceptably filled  a  responsible  position  with  the 
Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad  Company, 
being  store-keeper  of  its  dining-car  service.  He 
is  an  esteemed  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity 
and  of  the  Royal  League.  His  wife,  Clara  (Bart- 
lin)  Torkilson,  has  borne  him  a  son,  named 
Fremont.  Mr.  Torkilson  is  a  young  man  of 
pleasing,  affable  manners,  and  of  good  business 
and  executive  ability. 


HENRY  WALLER. 


253 


HENRY  WALLER. 


HENRY  WALLER,  for  many  years  a  promi- 
nent representative  of  the  Chicago  bar,  was 
born  in  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  November  9, 
1810,  and  died  at  River  Forest,  Illinois,  July  28, 
1893.  He  sprang  from  a  family  which  has  pro- 
duced many  illustrious  men,  both  in  this  country 
and  in  Europe.  Among  the  noted  members  of 
the  Waller  family  in  England  were  Sir  William 
Waller,  a  distinguished  general  and  member  of 
Parliament  during  Cornwall's  time,  and  Edward 
Waller,  the  poet.  A  member  of  this  family  came 
to  Virginia  about  the  time  of  the  Restoration ,  and 
settled  in  Spottsylvania  County.  Among  his  de- 
scendants were  John  and  William  Edmund  Wal- 
ler, eminent  Baptist  ministers,  who  suffered  con- 
siderable persecution  from  the  Church  of  England. 
Richard,  the  son  of  Rev.  William  E.  Waller, 
was  the  father  of  C.  S.  Waller,  deceased,  formerly 
commissioner  of  public  works  in  Chicago,  and  at 
one  time  assistant  state  auditor  of  Kentucky. 
William  S.,  another  son  of  Rev.  William  E. 
Waller,  was  for  about  forty  years  cashier  of  the 
Bank  of  Kentucky.  He  married  Miss  Brecken- 
ridge,  a  lady  whose  deep  religious  convictions  and 
conscientious  devotion  to  principle  made  her  a 
typical  representative  of  one  of  the  foremost  fam- 
ilies of  the  Bluegrass  State.  The  four  sons  of  this 
couple,  Henry,  James  B. ,  William  and  Edward, 
became  prominent  citizens  of  Chicago,  and  all  are 
deceased.  There  were  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Cath- 
arine Carson,  deceased,  and  Mrs.  Susanna  P. 
Lees,  who  is  a  resident  of  New  York  City.  The 
former  was  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Clifton  Brecken- 
ridge,  wife  of  the  present  United  States  Minister 
to  Russia. 

Henry   Waller   graduated  from  West  Point  in 


1833,  but  soon  resigned  from  the  military  service 
and  studied  law  at  Maysville,  Kentucky,  where 
he  was  a  law  partner  of  the  Rev.  John  A.  Mc- 
Clung,  attorney,  and  was  one  of  the  lawyers  en- 
gaged in  the  celebrated  Dred  Scott  case.  In  1855 
he  came  to  Chicago,  where  he  practiced  law  twen- 
ty years.  In  1875  he  was  appointed  a  master  in 
chancery.  He  continued  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  that  office  until  about  1891,  when  he  declined 
a  reappointment  on  account  of  failing  health.  He 
lived  on  Ashland  Avenue  about  twenty  years,  but 
in  1886  he  moved  to  River  Forest,  where  the.  re- 
mainder of  his  life  was  spent  in  retirement. 

Mr.  Waller  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Bell 
Langhorne,  daughter  of  John  T.  Langhorne,  ot 
Maysville,  Kentucky,  a  well-known  hotelkeeper 
of  that  city,  whose  wife  was  Elizabeth  B.  Payne, 
a  daughter  of  Col.  Duvall  Payne,  who  was  a 
brother  of  the  noted  Col.  Thomas  Y.  Payne.  'She 
was  the  second  of  five  children.  The  others  were: 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Green,  Mrs.  Judith  L.  Marshall, 
Maurice  Langhorne,  and  John  D.  Langhorne. 
Maurice  Langhorne  was  captain  of  a  Mississippi 
steamer  before  the  war,  and  a  well-known  charac- 
ter on  the  Father  of  Waters.  His  brother  graduated 
from  Annapolis,  and  was  an  officer  in  the  United 
States  Navy  for  many  years.  Mrs.  Sarah  B. 
Waller  died  in  Chicago,  December  13,  1883,  at 
the  age  of  sixty- two  years.  Mrs.  Waller  was  a 
student  at  Aberdeen,  Ohio,  where  she  was  a  class- 
mate of  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant.  She  was  married  at 
the  age  of  fifteen  years,  and  was  the  mother  of 
ten  children  before  she  was  thirty-six  years  old. 
She  was  chiefly  self-educated,  and  was  a  historian 
of  some  note.  She  was  a  remarkable  woman, 
queenly  in  social  circles  and  a  leading  spirit  among 


254 


P.  H.  DOBBINS. 


the  brilliant  men  and  women  of  her  time.  During 
the  war  she  was  a  ministering  angel  to  the  sick 
and  suffering  Southern  prisoners  at  Camp  Doug- 
las. Her  influence  for  good  was  felt  by  everyone 
who  came  within  her  reach,  and  many  bless  her 
memory.  Following  are  the  names  of  her  chil- 
dren :  William  Smith  Waller,  who  died  in  Chicago 
in  1874,  aged  thirty-six  years,  and  who  was  a 
dealer  in  real  estate;  Rev.  Maurice  Waller:  D.  D., 
of  Lebanon,  Kentucky;  Lilly  L-,  chief  matron  of 
the  Police  Department  of  Chicago;  Henry,  a  well- 
known  real-estate  dealer  in  Chicago;  Edward  C. , 
of  the  same  occupation,  residing  at  River  Forest; 
Catherine,  wife  of  Rev.  John  G.  Hunter,  D.  D. , 
of  Harrodsburg,  Kentucky;  Judith  C.  W.  (Mrs. 
William  S.  Johnston)  ,  of  Chicago;  John  D. ;  Bell 
Langhorne,  of  Chicago;  and  James  B.,  of  Norfolk, 


Virginia,  who  is  connected  with  the  Seaboard  Air 
Line  Railroad  Company. 

Politically  Mr.  Waller  was  a  conservative  Dem- 
ocrat. He  served  two  terms  in  the  Kentucky 
Legislature  before  leaving  that  State,  from  1845 
to  1849.  In  Illinois  he  was  the  firm  friend  and 
co-laborer  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  at  whose  funeral 
he  was  an  honorary  pall-bearer.  They  stumped 
the  State  together  in  several  campaigns.  During 
his  earlier  years  in  Chicago,  Mr.  Waller  was  a 
member  of  the  old  South  Presbyterian  Church 
(of  which  Rev.  W.  W.  Harsha  was  then  pastor) . 
He  was  afterward  identified  for  a  number  of  years 
with  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  of  Chicago. 
He  was  firm  and  uncompromising  in  all  his  con- 
victions, and  able  to  hold  his  own  in  debate  with 
the  ablest  speakers  of  his  day. 


PARIS  H.  DOBBINS. 


RARIS  HORACE  DOBBINS,  a  successful 
yf  young  business  man  of  Chicago,  who  now 
J>3  resides  at  River  Forest,  was  born  in  the  city 
of  Paris,  France,  October  6,  1869,  and  is  a  son  of 
Thomas  S.  and  Mary  C.  Dobbins,  of  whom  ex- 
tended notice  will  be  found  in  this  volume.  While 
an  infant,  Paris  H.  Dobbins  was  brought  by  his 
parents  to  the  United  States,  arriving  in  New 
York  City  on  the  first  anniversary  of  his  birth. 
His  education  was  obtained  in  Chicago,  where  he 
attended  the  public  schools,  and  later  the  Har- 
vard School,  one  of  the  best-equipped  private 
educational  institutions  in  the  city. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  he  began  his 
business  career  as  a  clerk  in  the  First  National 
Bank.  Three  years  in  this  connection  sufficed  to 
give  him  a  thorough  knowledge  of  practical 
business  methods,  and  in  1890  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with  his  brother,  Charles  E.  Dobbins, 
and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  steel  springs. 
Though  begun  on  a  rather  limited  scale,  the  en- 


terprise has  been  prosperous  from  the  start, 
from  twenty  to  forty  men  being  now  employed. 
All  kinds  of  wagon  and  carriage  springs  are 
manufactured  by  the  firm,  which  is  now  known  as 
Dobbins  &  Company. 

December  29,  1890,  was  celebrated  the  marriage 
of  Paris  H.  Dobbins  to  Miss  Lottie  C.  Spurck, 
daughter  of  P.  E.  Spurck,  of  Peoria,  Illinois. 
They  have  two  living  children,  named  respect- 
ively, Mary  Corinneand  Thomas  Deshler.  Since 
May  i ,  1896,  their  home  has  been  at  River  Fuicst, 
where  they  attend  Saint  Luke's  Catholic  Church. 
In  this  rural  suburb  Mr.  Dobbins  finds  much 
pleasant  recreation  from  the  noisy  and  tumultuous 
life  of  the  city.  He  is  connected  with  the  Bank- 
ers' Athletic  Club  of  Chicago.  He  has  usually 
supported  the  Democratic  party,  but  has  more 
recently  acted  independent  of  party  lines,  and  in 
the  fall  of  1896  supported  William  McKinley  for 
President  of  the  United  States,  believing  his  can- 
didacy to  be  in  the  interests  of  national  prosperity. 


A.  B.  MCLEAN. 


255 


ARCHIBALD  B.  McLEAN. 


RCHIBALD  BRUCE  McLEAN.  It  is  a  re- 
LJ  markable  circumstance  that  this  gentleman, 
/  I  although  he  has  attained  the  age  of  over 
seventy-five  years  and  has  spent  the  greater  part 
of  this  time  either  in  active  business  or  military 
service,  has  never  been  a  witness  of  an  accident. 
He  was  born  at  Stirling,  Scotland,  a  locality  teem- 
ing with  romantic  interest  and  historic  reminiscen- 
ces, on  the  yth  of  April,  1820.  Both  his  parents 
were  worth y  representatives  of  the  Scotch  nation . 

His  father,  Alexander  McLean,  who  was  born 
at  Callendar,  became  a  cabinet-maker  at  Stirling, 
where  his  death  occurred  when  Archibald  was 
but  three  years  old.  The  mother,  Elizabeth 
(Robinson)  McLean,  was  a  native  of  Bannock- 
burn.  After  reaching  the  age  of  eighty  years 
she  came  to  America,  and  died  at  Brooklyn,  New 
York,  in  1871,  at  the  venerable  age  of  one  hun- 
dred and  one  years  and  two  months.  She  was 
the  youngest  of  a  family  of  ten  children  which 
was  conspicuous  for  the  longevity  of  its  members. 
Her  eldest  brother,  James  Robinson,  reached  the 
age  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  years,  dying  at 
Glengary,  Canada.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander 
McLean  were  the  parents  of  seven  sons,  four  of 
whom  still  survive.  James  is  a  business  man  of 
Glasgow,  Scotland.  Alexander  and  George  are 
citizens,  respectively,  of  Brooklyn  and  Albany, 
New  York.  John  died  in  Cork,  Ireland,  after 
serving  fifteen  years  in  the  British  army.  Neal 
died  in  a  hospital  from  the  effects  of  wounds  re- 
ceived during  the  great  American  Civil  War;  and 
Archibald  B.  is  the  next  in  order  of  birth.  Don- 
ald, the  eldest  of  the  family,  died  in  boyhood. 

Archibald  B.  McLean  grew  to  manhood  in  his 
native  town,  and  at  the  age  often  years  began  to 


learn  the  tailor's  trade,  an  occupation  which  he 
has  continued  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of 
the  time  spent  in  military  service.  At  the  age  of 
seventeen  years  he  entered  the  British  army  as  a 
member  of  the  Seventy-first  Highland  Light  In- 
fantry, which  was  soon  afterward  ordered  to  Can- 
ada to  assist  in  quelling  the  rebellion  then  in 
progress  in  that  colony.  He  saw  considerable 
skirmish  duty  during  this  expedition,  and  was 
stationed  most  of  the  time  at  Montreal  or  St. 
John's,  Canada. 

In  1843  he  was  discharged  from  the  service  of 
the  Crown,  and,  coming  to  the  United  States,  lo- 
cated at  Albany,  New  York,  where  he  worked  at 
his  trade  for  the  next  two  years.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  he  enlisted  in  the  United  States  navy 
and  embarked  on  the  seventy-four-gun  ship  "Col- 
umbus," which  sailed  from  Brooklyn,  New  York, 
upon  a  voyage  around  the  world.  While  at  a 
Chinese  port  the  crew  first  heard  of  the  war  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Mexico  and  received 
orders  to  sail  for  the  coast  of  California.  Upon 
their  arrival  they  patroled  that  coast  until  the 
close  of  hostilities,  when  they  returned  to  the 
Atlantic  Coast  by  way  of  Cape  Horn.  The  voy- 
age, which  terminated  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  had 
lasted  for  thirty-five  months,  during  which  time 
they  had  sailed  sixty-eight  thousand  miles. 

Mr.  McLean  again  went  to  Albany  and  opened 
a  tailoring  establishment,  carrying  on  business  at 
that  place  until  1854,  when  he  came  to  Chicago 
and  engaged  in  business  on  Randolph  Street. 
Three  years  later  he  removed  to  Janesville,  Wis- 
consin. Here  he  carried  on  a  merchant-tailoring 
establishment  until  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion, 
when  he  was  again  seized  with  the  spirit  of  mil- 


256 


R.  N.  TRIMINGHAM. 


itary  enthusiasm.  Soon  after  the  fall  of  Fort 
Sumter  he  recruited  Company  D  of  the  Second 
Wisconsin  Infantry,  and,  declining  a  Captain's 
commission,  became  the  First  Lieutenant  thereof. 
He  reached  the  field  with  his  regiment  in  time 
to  take  part  in  the  disastrous  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  and  after  serving  six  months  resigned  his 
commission  and  applied  for  a  position  in  the  Ma- 
rine Corps.  Having  passed  the  prescribed  age, 
and  the  officers  not  being  aware  of  his  past  naval 
experience,  his  services  were  declined,  and  he  re- 
enlisted  in  Company  C,  of  the  Twenty-seventh 
Wisconsin.  He  chose  the  position  of  color-bearer, 
and  served  in  that  capacity  until  the  close  of  hos- 
tilities. Though  he  was  constantly  exposed  to 
the  fire  of  the  enemy,  taking  part  in  many  of  the 
bloodiest  engagements  of  the  war,  Mr.  McLean 
received  no  wounds  and  was  never  in  a  hospital. 
After  participating  in  the  battles  of  Fort  Donel- 
son,  Pittsburg  Landing  and  Corinth,  he  took 
part  in  General  Shield's  expedition  in  Arkansas. 
This  campaign  encountered  fourteen  general  en- 
gagements in  twenty-one  days,  besides  meeting  a 
great  deal  of  guerrilla  warfare.  After  the  close  of 
the  campaign  he  was  sent  to  Mobile  and  took 
part  in  the  siege  of  that  place,  which  terminated 
the  war. 

After  peace  came  he  remained  one  year   in 
Janesville,  but  in  1866  again  located  in  Chicago, 


where  he  was  continuously  engaged  in  merchant 
tailoring  until  June,  1894,  when  he  resigned  the 
business  to  his  son,  W.  S.  McLean,  who  had 
previously  been  for  some  years  a  partner  in  the 
business.  During  the  twenty-nine  years'  exist- 
ence of  this  establishment  it  has  won  and  retained 
a  valuable  patronage  and  is  still  in  a  flourishing 
condition. 

On  the  nth  of  April,  1849,  Mr.  McLean  was 
married  to  Margaret  Shields,  a  native  of  Elgin, 
Morayshire,  Scotland.  Four  children  have  been 
born  to  them,  all  of  whom  are  residents  of  this 
city.  They  are:  William  S.,  the  present  successor 
of  his  father  in  business;  Archibald,  who  is  also 
connected  with  the  establishment;  George',  who 
has  charge  of  a  department  in  the  great  wholesale 
establishment  of  Marshall  Field  &  Co. ;  and  Isa- 
bella, now  the  wife  of  William  L-  Melville.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  McLean  are  the  proud  grandparents  of 
eight  children. 

For  over  forty  years  Mr.  McLean  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  Masonic  order,  and  although  he 
has  been  at  times  a  member  of  other  societies,  is 
not  identified  with  any  other  organization  at  the 
present  time.  He  has  been  a  steadfast  Repub- 
lican from  the  organization  of  that  party,  and  has 
ever  been  a  patriotic  and  public-spirited  citizen  of 
the  land  of  his  adoption. 


RALPH  N.  TRIMINGHAM. 


RALPH  N.  TRIMINGHAM,  Secretary  of  the 
Chicago  Underwriters'  Association,  is  one  of 
the  best  known  insurance  men  in  the  city. 
He  was  born  in  St.  John's,   Newfoundland,  Sep- 
tember 2,  1838,    and  is  the  eldest  son  of  Ralph 
and  Ann  (Brine)  Trimingham,  and  a  member  of 
one  of  the  oldest  Colonial  families. 

The  Trimingham  family  was  founded   in  Ber- 
muda by  James   Trimiugham,   who  emigrated 


thither  from  England  during  the  reign  of  Charles 
II.  and  died  there  April  i,  1735,  The  mercan- 
tile house  which  he  established  and  conducted 
there  during  his  lifetime  was  inherited  and  en- 
larged by  successive  generations  of  his  descen- 
dants. He  was  the  father  of  four  sons  and  two 
daughters.  Of  these,  John,  the  third  son.  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Jones.  Francis,  the  third  son  of 
this  couple,  died  in  1813.  He  inherited  the  rare 


R.  N.  TRIMINGHAM. 


257 


commercial  instincts  of  his  ancestors,  and  under 
his  able  guidance  the  business  assumed  extensive 
proportions,  and  branch  houses  were  established 
in  the  Barbadoes,  St.  Vincent,  and  St.  John's, 
Newfoundland.  Several  of  his  sons  became 
partners  in  the  concern,  and  continued  the  busi- 
ness for  some  time  after  his  death.  The  firm 
owned  a  number  of  vessels  and  maintained  exten- 
sive trade  between  the  places  above  mentioned 
and  various  ports  in  Great  Britain  and  South 
America. 

Francis  Trimingham  married  Frances  Light- 
bourn,  and  they  were  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren, the  youngest  of  whom  was  Ralph,  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  notice.  The  last-named  gen- 
tleman, who  was  born  at  Bermuda  in  1801,  re- 
moved while  a  young  man  to  St.  John's,  taking 
charge  of  the  company's  interests  at  that  place. 
He  was  married  there,  and  about  1847  removed 
to  Baltimore,  Maryland,  where  the  firm  of  which 
he  was  a  member  also  established  a  mercantile 
house.  Four  years  later  he  disposed  of  his  inter- 
est in  the  business,  and  in  1851  removed  to  St. 
Vincent,  where  he  turned  his  attention  to  agri- 
culture and  operated  a  large  sugar  plantation  for 
the  next  four  years.  He  then  came  to  Chi- 
cago, and  for  a  brief  period  re-engaged  in  mer- 
chandising, but  soon  retired  from  active  business. 
His  death  occurred  in  1869,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight  years.  His  wife  survived  until  August, 
1874,  departing  this  life  at  the  age  of  sixty-three 
years.  She  was  born  in  Newfoundland  and  was 
a  daughter  of  Robert  and  Ann  Brine.  They 
came  from  the  South  of  England  and  settled  at 
St.  John's,  where  Mr.  Brine  was  for  many  years 
a  prosperous  merchant. 

Ralph  N.  Trimingham  was  educated  at  private 
schools,  it  being  the  intention  of  his  parents  to 
give  him  a  college  education  and  fit  him  for 
the  Episcopal  ministry.  This  purpose  had  to  be 
abandoned,  however,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years  he  entered  upon  his  business  career  as  clerk 
in  a  lawyer's  office  at  St.  Vincent.  His  subse- 
quent occupations  have  usually  been  of  a  clerical 
order,  and  he  seems  to  be  peculiarly  adapted  for 
the  accurate,  methodical  labors  which  are  so  es- 
sential to  success  in  such  avocations.  For  some 


time  previous  to  the  departure  of  the  family  from 
St.  Vincent  he  was  employed  as  cashier  in  a  dry- 
goods  store,  and  his  first  occupation  in  Chicago 
was  of  a  similar  nature.  A  few  years  after  locat- 
ing here  he  entered  the  office  of  Magill  &  La- 
tham, vessel-owners  and  commission  merchants, 
with  whom  he  remained  for  some  time.  He  sub- 
sequently became  a  bookkeeper  for  his  uncle, 
William  Brine,  who  was  a  commission  merchant 
operating  upon  the  Board  of  Trade. 

Since  1866  he  has  been  identified  with  the  fire- 
underwriting  interests  of  the  city.  His  first  con- 
nection in  that  line  was  with  the  Home  Insurance 
Company  of  New  York,  under  the  management 
of  Gen.  A.  C.  Ducat,  with  whom  he  remained 
for  a  little  over  ten  years.  After  leaving  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Home  he  for  a  short  time  became  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  pursuits,  but  soon  re-entered 
the  business  of  fire  insurance.  In  1882  he  was 
elected  Secretary  of  the  Underwriters'  Exchange, 
a  combination  of  insurance  companies,  and  when 
the  members  of  that  organization  united  with 
those  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Underwriters  in 
forming  the  Chicago  Fire  Underwriters'  Associa- 
tion, an  institution  organized  for  a  similar  pur- 
pose, he  continued  to  serve  the  new  concern  in 
the  same  capacity.  In  1894  the  last-named  cor- 
poration was  succeeded  by  the  Chicago  Under- 
writers' Association.  In  recognition  of  his  expe- 
rience and  previous  services,  Mr.  Trimingham 
was  elected  Secretary  of  the  new  association,  and 
the  performance  of  his  duties  to  these  successive 
organizations  has  absorbed  his  time  and  attention 
since  1885. 

On  the  1 6th  of  April,  1885,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Carrie  J.,  daughter  of  Robert  G.  Goodwillie, 
an  early  resident  of  Chicago.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  two  daughters,  named,  respectively,  Eliz- 
abeth and  Anna.  For  thirty-eight  years  Mr. 
Trimingham  held  membership  with  the  Third 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Chicago,  in  which,  for 
seventeen  years,  he  was  Elder  and  Clerk  of  the 
Session.  He  is  now  Elder  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  at  Oak  Park,  where  he  lives.  He 
has  been  identified  with  the  Masonic  order  for 
the  last  twenty  years,  being  a  member  of  Cleve- 
land Lodge,  Washington  Chapter  and  Siloam 


G.  W.  BARNARD. 


Commandery,  Knights  Templar,  of  which  he  is 
Past  Eminent  Commander.  His  life  has  been 
marked  by  diligent,  punctual  habits  and  the  con- 
scientious observance  of  upright  principles.  He 
has  witnessed  the  growth  and  development  of 


Chicago  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  during  all  that 
time  he  has  spent  but  little  time  out  of  the  city, 
his  chief  recreation  being  found  in  his  domestic 
and  social  relations. 


GILBERT  W.  BARNARD. 


0ILBERT  WORDSWORTH  BARNARD  is 

bwell  known  amid  Masonic  circles  through- 
out America  and  Europe,  and  has  a  world- 
wide reputation  for  sterling  character,  accommo- 
dating manners,  and  devotion  to  the  interests  of 
the  order.  He  was  born  at  Palmyra,  Wayne 
County,  New  York,  June  i,  1834,  and  is  the  son 
of  George  Washington  Barnard,  whose  death  oc- 
curred previous  to  the  birth  of  this  son.  The 
father  of  George  W.  Barnard,  whose  name  was 
spelled  Bernarde,  was  a  Frenchman.  Following 
the  noble  example  of  the  immortal  La  Fayette, 
he  came  to  America  to  enlist  in  the  cause  of  free- 
dom, and  upon  the  termination  of  the  conflict 
settled  in  western  New  York,  where  he  married 
and  became  the  father  of  two  sons.  The  elder 
of  these  died  without  issue,  and  the  second  lived 
and  died  in  Wayne  County,  that  state.  The  lat- 
ter became  the  captain  of  a  passenger  packet  on 
the  Erie  Canal,  a  position  of  considerable  import- 
ance in  his  time.  His  wife,  Sabrina  Deming, 
was  a  native  of  New  York,  and  now  resides  in 
Howard  City,  Michigan,  at  the  extreme  old  age 
of  eighty  years,  her  present  name  being  Preston. 
Gilbert  W.  Barnard  was  reared  in  the  family  of 
his  maternal  grandfather.  David  Demming,  a  na- 
tive of  Connecticut,  who  removed  to  Jackson 
County,  Michigan,  soon  after  his  grandson  be- 
came a  member  of  his  family.  The  Demming 
family  was  founded  in  America  by  four  brothers, 
who  settled  in  Connecticut  early  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  name  was  originally  spelled 


Dummund,  but  by  a  process  of  evolution  peculiar 
to  foreign  names  in  America,  it  became  Demming, 
and  was  contracted  by  the  present  generation  by 
the  omission  of  one  "  m." 

The  subject  of  this  biography  spent  the  first 
fifteen  years  of  his  life  in  Jackson  County,  Mich- 
igan, whence  he  came  to  Chicago  and  began  his 
business  career  as  clerk  in  a  general  store.  He 
afterward  engaged  in  the  book  and  stationery 
business,  which  line  of  trade  he  carried  on  for 
several  years,  achieving  a  reputation  for  upright 
and  honorable  dealing,  and  winning  the  esteem 
and  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens.  During  the 
first  year  of  his  residence  in  Chicago  he  joined 
the  volunteer  fire  department,  and  during  the  next 
nine  or  ten  years  rendered  much  valuable  service 
to  the  city. 

-  In  October,  1864,  he  joined  the  Masonic  order 
and  has  ever  since  been  actively  identified  with 
its  interests.  He  has  taken  over  three  hundred 
degrees  known  to  Masonry,  and  has  filled  most 
of  the  principal  offices  in  the  subordinate  and 
grand  lodges.  He  is  at  present  Past  Master  of 
Garden  City  Lodge;  Past  High  Priest  of  Cor- 
rinthian  Chapter  No.  69,  R.  A.  M.;  Past  Emi- 
nent Commander  of  St.  Bernard  Commandery 
No.  35,  Knights  Templar;  Past  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  Oriental  Consistory ;  Grand  Secretary  of 
the  Grand  Chapter;  Grand  Recorder  of  the  Grand 
Council  and  of  the  Grand  Commandery;  and 
Grand  Secretary  of  the  Council  of  Deliberation, 
S.  P.  R.  S.,  and  other  bodies. 


JACOB  MANZ. 


259 


In  1877  he  was  elected  Secretary  of  the  Capit- 
ular, Cryptic  and  Chivalric  Grand  Bodies  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  a  position  he  has  ever  since  filled, 
and  has  devoted  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  the 
interests  of  the  fraternity,  administering  to  the 
wants  of  his  brethren,  and  relieving  the  needs  of 
their  widows  and  orphans  in  distress.  His  sig- 
nal ability  and  unrelenting  efforts  in  the  perform- 
ance of  his  duties  have  won  for  him  a  host  of 
friends  and  admirers.  He  has  labored  untiringly 
in  behalf  of  the  Illinois  Masonic  Orphans'  Home, 
of  which  he  was  the  first  Secretary,  and  through 
his  active  efforts  has  contributed  much  to  the  up- 
building of  that  worthy  institution. 


His  long  connection  with  the  Ancient  Accepted 
Scottish  Rite  has  placed  him  in  correspondence 
with  all  branches  of  the  order  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.  His  commodious  quarters  in  the  Masonic 
Temple  are  general  headquarters  for  Masonic 
affairs,  and  the  resort  of  brethren  from  every  civ- 
ilized country  on  the  globe.  They  contain  an 
ample  library,  and  are  filled  with  numerous  other 
articles  of  use  or  interest  to  members  of  the  fra- 
ternity . 

Mr.  Barnard  was  married  in  1863,  and  one  child, 
a  daughter,  is  still  living,  he  having  lost  three 
children. 


JACOB  MANZ. 


(JACOB  MANZ,  one  of  the  self-made  men  of 
I  Chicago,  and  prominent  among  its  Swiss- 
(*/  American  citizens,  is  an  excellent  representa- 
tive of  the  benefits  of  a  Republican  Government. 
He  was  born  October  i,  1837,  in  Marthalen,  in 
the  canton  of  Zurich,  Switzerland,  in  which  his 
grandparents  and  parents,  Jacob  and  Elizabeth 
(Keller)  Manz,  were  also  born. 

Jacob  Manz,  Sr.,  was  a  stone-cutter  in  early 
life,  and  became  an  architect  and  superintendent, 
which  indicates  that  he  made  the  best  use  of  his 
faculties  and  opportunities.  Having  heard  much 
of  the  wonderful  republic  beyond  the  seas,  he 
came  to  America  in  1853,  to  ascertain  for  himself 
if  it  afforded  better  opportunities  for  an  ambitious 
man  than  his  native  land.  He  spent  six  months 
at  Lima,  Ohio,  and  came  to  Chicago  in  the  spring 
of  1854.  He  soon  decided  to  remain  here,  and 
wrote  to  his  wife  to  dispose  of  their  property  in 
Switzerland  and  follow  him,  with  the  children. 
On  account  of  the  youth  of  some  of  the  latter, 
whose  studies  were  not  yet  completed,  as  well  as 
the  difficulty  of  disposing  of  the  property  to  ad- 


vantage, the  move  was  postponed  until  death  pre- 
vented the  meeting  again  on  earth  of  husband 
and  wife.  The  latter  died  in  1860,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-eight  years.  Mr.  Manz  did  some  building 
in  Chicago,  but  was  forced  in  a  short  time  to  give 
up  business  by  the  failure  of  his  sense  of  hearing. 
His  latter  years  were  occupied  in  carving  marble 
monuments,  and  he  died  in  1886,  aged  eighty- 
four  years,  leaving  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 
Marguerite,  the  eldest,  is  the  wife  of  Ulrich 
Liechty,  residing  at  Polk  City,  Iowa.  Elizabeth, 
Mrs.  Toggenburger,  is  living  at  Bluffton,  Ohio, 
near  which  place  the  younger  son,  William,  also 
resides. 

Jacob  Manz,  the  elder  son  and  third  mature 
child  of  his  parents,  grew  up  in  his  native  village, 
attending  the  public  schools  until  his  thirteenth 
year.  He  was  then  apprenticed  to  a  firm  of  wood- 
engravers  in  Schafihausen,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained until  sixteen  years  old.  Through  the 
dissolution  of  partnership  of  his  employers,  he 
was  unable  to  finish  the  prescribed  term  of  his  ap- 
prenticeship, but  has  natural  ability  and  industry 


260 


HUGO  NEUBERGER. 


had  already  made  him  a  skillful  engraver.  He 
immediately  set  out  for  America,  crossing  the 
ocean  on  a  sailing-vessel,  and  arriving  in  Chicago 
in  the  middle  of  July,  1855.  He  soon  found  em- 
ployment with  S.  D.  Childs  &  Company,  with 
whom  he  continued  six  years,  and  was  next  for 
five  years  in  the  employ  of  W.  D.  Baker,  a  well- 
known  Chicago  engraver.  His  long  terms  in 
these  connections  are  sufficient  indication  of  his 
faithfulness  and  skill.  After  a  short  period  with 
Bond  &  Chandler,  Mr.  Manz  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  another  engraver  and  went  into  busi- 
ness for  himself,  late  in  1866. 

The  firm  was  known  as  Maas  &  Manz,  and  was 
first  located  at  the  corner  of  Clark  and  Washing- 
ton Streets,  and  was  two  years  later  moved  to 
Dearborn  and  Madison.  While  here,  Mr.  Manz 
became  the  sole  proprietor  of  the  business,  by 
purchasing  the  interest  of  his  partner,  and  was  a 
very  heavy  loser  in  the  great  fire  of  1871,  realiz- 
ing almost  nothing  of  insurance.  He  had  faith, 
however,  in  himself  and  the  city,  and  very  soon 
opened  a  shop  on  West  Madison  Street,  near 
Union,  whence  he  shortly  removed  to  Clinton 
and  Lake  Streets.  He  subsequently  occupied 
locations  on  LaSalle,  Madison  and  Dearborn 
Streets,  and  is  now  established  atNos.  183  to  187 
Monroe  Street.  The  business,  in  the  mean  time, 
has  kept  pace  with  the  growth  of  the  city  and 
the  improvements  in  the  art  of  engraving.  It  is 
now  conducted  by  an  incorporated  company, 


known  as  J.  Manz  &  Company,  of  which  Mr. 
Manz  is  President,  F.  D.  Montgomery  Vice- 
President,  and  Alfred  Bersbach  Secretary  and 
Treasurer.  Every  process  of  engraving  adaptable 
to  the  printing-press  is  carried  on,  and  about  one 
hundred  people  are  employed  in  the  establish- 
ment. 

The  genial  and  benevolent  character  of  Mr. 
Manz  has  naturally  led  to  participation  in  the 
work  of  many  social  and  charitable  organiza- 
tions. He  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  Hermann, 
Schweizer  Maennerchor,  Swiss  Benevolent  Socie- 
ty, Germania  Lodge,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  and  Gauntlet  Lodge,  Knights  of  Pythias, 
also  of  the  Royal  League  and  National  Union.  In 
religious  faith,  he  adheres  to  the  Swiss  Reformed 
Church,  and  has  been  a  Democrat  in  political 
preference  since  1876.  His  only  visit  to  the  home 
of  his  childhood  was  made  in  the  summer  of  1894, 
when  he  made  a  tour  of  interesting  localities  in 
Europe. 

Mr.  Manz  has  been  twice  married.  January  6, 
1859,  he  wedded  Miss  Carolina  Knoepfli,  who 
died  September  7,  1866.  She  was  a  native  of 
Ossingen,  Switzerland.  Two  of  her  children  are 
living,  namely:  Caroline  and  William  Manz. 
November  24,  1867,  Mr.  Manz  married  Johanna 
Hesse,  who  was  born  in  Crivitz,  Mecklenburg. 
Germany.  Her  children  are  Ida,  Paul,  Adolph 
and  Helena  Manz. 


HUGO  NEUBERGER. 


HUGO    NEUBERGER.     Germans  as  a  class 
are  a  thrifty  people,   and   when,  after  some 
years,  those  who  have  come  from  the  Fa- 
therland return  to  pay  their  visits  to  old,  loved 
scenes,  their  friends  wonder  at  the  wealth  Fort- 
une  has   allowed    them  to    so    quickly     acquire 
in  our  beloved  country  of  such   advantages;    for 
here  each  man  is  equal  in  the  eyes,  not  only  of 


God,  but  the  law;  here  he  may  do  as  he  pleases, 
so  long  as  he  does  not  commit  a  crime  or  trespass 
upon  the  rights  of  his  neighbors.  Politically, 
they  are  formidable  too,  for  we  can  see  in  the 
election  of  Governor  Altgeld  what  power  is  theirs 
when  they  unite  upon  a  candidate. 

A  man  of  influence  among  his  fellow-citizens 
was  Hugo  Neuberger,  who  was  born  at  Camberg, 


HUGO  NEUBERGER. 


261 


near  Frankfort,  Germany,  on  the  8th  day  of  April, 
1819.  He  came  of  a  good  family,  one  of  his 
brothers  afterward  becoming  Mayor  of  his  native 
place,  in  which  office  he  was  'continued  for  a 
period  of  twenty  years.  Hugo,  being  a  younger 
son,  and  denied,  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Old 
World,  some  of  the  rights  and  advantages  of  an 
elder  child,  like  so  many  other  enterprising  young 
men,  came  to  this  country  to  seek  his  fortune  (or, 
let  us  say,  to  make  his  fortune) ,  in  boyhood.  He 
settled  very  soon  after  his  arrival  in  his  life-long 
home,  Chicago,  which  he  grew  to  love  with  that 
strong  attachment  entertained  by  all  the  old  set- 
tlers, who  have  seen  its  wonderful  rise  from  a 
sandy  lowland  (not  unlike  a  part  of  Holland)  to 
its  present  growth  as  the  metropolis  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley,  and  destined  before  long  to  be- 
come one  of  the  most  powerful  cities  of  the  globe. 

He  bought,  after  many  exchanges  (for  he  was 
a  man  of  speculation,  a  typical  American,  always 
ready  for  a  trade),  the  valuable  piece  of  property 
now  known  as  Nos.  284  and  286  North  Clark 
Street,  about  the  year  1860.  Here  he  built  a 
substantial  frame  house,  used  as  a  grocery  and 
(according  to  the  Old  Country  custom)  a  beer 
hall  combined,  with  his  residence  adjoining. 
This  was  destroyed  some  years  after  his  death, 
in  the  great  fire  of  1 87 1 .  His  widow  rebuilt  more 
substantiall}'  in  brick  a  structure  of  three  stories, 
now  used  as  dwelling  flats,  having  by  self-denial 
and  unusual  good  sense  been  able  to  keep  the 
property  and  family  together,  and  to  see  the  latter 
properly  brought  up  to  become  useful  members 
of  the  community. 

Mr.  Neuberger  had  been  a  landscape-gardener 
in  Germany;  but  it  is  needless  to  remark  in  those 
early  days  there  was  no  demand  for  such  services 
in  this  vicinity,  although  no  doubt  at  this  date, 
were  he  again  to  come  among  us  as  he  did  so 
many  years  ago,  his  able  intelligence  would  be 
eagerly  sought  by  the  owners  of  some  of  our  pal- 
atial residences,  for  we  have  already  grown  to 
number  in  our  midst  some  of  the  finest  homes 
to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  country.  Accord- 
ingly, he  turned  his  active  mind  to  something  that 
was  practicable  in  those  days,  from  which  he  had 
the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  he  died  in  fair 


circumstances,  and  future  advances  certainly  con- 
spired to  give  to  his  family  who  survived  him  a 
success  in  life  which  at  that  time  could  not  have 
been  altogether  foreseen. 

He  was  a  consistent  Democrat,  voting  regularly 
but  never  seeking  office.  He  was  a  Catholic  in 
faith,  although  his  family,  like  their  mother,  have 
altogether  embraced  the  Lutheran  tenets.  As  a 
citizen  he  was  law-abiding  and  reliable  and  had 
many  friends.  He  died  in  July,  1863,  and  was 
buried  in  the  family  lot  in  Graceland  Cemetery. 
Had  he  lived  to  more  mature  years  he  would  have 
been  justly  proud  of  his  family,  whom  it  was  fated 
he  should  be  taken  from  in  middle  life. 

Mr.  Neuberger  married,  May  25,  1854,  Miss 
Magdalena  Ludwig,  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  a 
daughter  of  Simon  and  Margaret  (Knaben)  Lud- 
wig, who  emigrated  from  Baden,  Germany.  She 
was  born  in  the  City  of  Straits,  July  18,  1835, 
removing  to  this  city  in  early  life,  where  she 
grew  to  know  and  love  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
and  although  widowed  in  early  life,  she  has  been 
faithful  to  his  memory  ever  since,  as  she  will  die, 
filled  with  the  trust  of  guiding  aright  the  family 
of  young  people  entrusted  by  God  to  her  moth- 
erly charge.  All  of  them  have  grown  to  be  a 
comfort  to  her,  respectable  members  of  the  com- 
munity, and  some  of  them  with  descendants  who 
call  her  "Grandma."  It  is  owing  to  her  watch- 
ful care  during  the  past  more  than  thirty  years 
that  her  children  grew  up  in  honor,  and  that  they 
could  be  kept  together  in  a  home,  and  with  a 
property  left  them  (of  comparatively  little  value 
at  the  time)  now  grown  to  be  of  considerable 
worth. 

Four  children  were  the  fruits  of  their  happy, 
though  short,  wedded  life.  Louise,  born  April  3, 
1855,  married,  April  5,  1883,  Julian  Vaudeberge, 
of  Chicago,  an  editor  in  good  standing;  they  have 
two  children,  Madeline  Marie  and' Julian.  Ba- 
betta  married,  in  1892,  David  J.  Lyons,  of  the 
merchant  police  force,  who  unfortunately  died  the 
following  year,  leaving  no  children.  Magdalene 
is  unmarried.  Hugo  George  married,  in  1887, 
Miss  Emma  L.  Hunting,  of  Chicago,  who  died 
in  1892,  leaving  two  children,  Anna  Louise  and 
Florence  Augusta.  He  has  been  for  some  years  a 


262 


E.  F.  PEUGEOT. 


commercial  traveler,  but  at  present  is  employed 
on  the  merchant  police. 

We  thus  see  that   Mr.  Neuberger   established 


bring  honor  and  fame  to  his  name.  Therefore  it 
is  eminently  fitting  that  his  history  should  be 
preserved  herein,  that  those  who  shall  follow  in 


one  of  the  representative  German  families  of  the     after  years  ma)-  gain  a  faint  idea  of  the  early  life 


city,  whose   members,   as  they  grow   more  and 
more  into  harmony  with  American  ideas,  will 


of  this  Chicago  pioneer. 


EDWARD  F.  PEUGEOT. 


[TOWARD  FREDERICK  PEUGEOT,  an 

1^  early  citizen  of  Chicago,  and  at  one  time  a 
I  leading  merchant  and  importer,  was  born  in 
Buffalo,  New  York,  September  8,  1836,  and  was 
the  son  of  Peter  Peugeot,  a  native  of  France.  He 
was  also  a  relative  of  Peugeot  Brothers,  the  fa- 
mous bicycle  manufacturers  of  Paris.  Peter  Peu- 
geot was  a  highly  esteemed  citizen  of  Buffalo, 
New  York,  to  which  city  he  removed  from  France 
in  1833.  He  was  engaged  several  years  in  the 
hardware  business,  and  as  a  manufacturer  of  ma- 
chinery, but,  having  amassed  a  competency,  he 
retired  from  active  business  twenty  years  before 
his  death,  which  occurred  November  22,  1875,  in 
the  seventy-fourth  year  of  his  age,  having  been  a 
resident  of  Buffalo  forty-two  years.  His  wife,  De- 
siree,  nee  Sachet,  also  a  native  of  France,  survived 
him,  and  her  death  occurred  in  November,  1886. 
They  were  the  parents  of  thirteen  children,  all 
but  two  of  whom  died  before  their  father.  Ellen 
J.  became  the  wife  of  Judge  W.  M.  Oliver,  ol 
Buffalo,  and  died  at  San  Marcial,  New  Mexico, 
while  there  trying  to  restore  her  health.  An- 
other daughter,  Amelia,  now  deceased,  became 
the  wife  of  George  P.  Bird,  now  a  wealthy  mill- 
owner  in  Helena,  Montana. 

The  other  survivor  was  Edward,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  who  came  to  Chicago  in  1857, 
when  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  displayed 
great  ability  in  building  up  the  largest  toy  im- 
porting house  in  the  West,  which  was  known  as 
Peugeot' s  Variety  Store.  During  the  time  when 
his  business  was  largest,  he  made  annual  visits 


to  France  to  select  goods.  He  was  the  local  rep- 
resentative of  some  of  the  largest  and  best  known 
manufacturing  companies  in  France.  When  Chi- 
cago was  destroyed  in  1871,  he  lost  everything, 
and,  on  account  of  the  failure  of  the  local  insur- 
ance companies,  caused  by  the  unparalleled  mag- 
nitude of  their  losses,  he  realized  nothing  from 
that  source.  However,  he  went  into  business 
again  after  the  fire,  and  to  some  extent  retrieved 
his  fortune. 

On  the  I4th  of  March,  1861,  Mr.  Peugeot  was 
married  to  Maria  L.  Flershem,  daughter  of  Lem- 
uel H.  Flershem,  who  is  mentioned  at  length  in 
this  volume.  Four  children  blessed  the  home  of 
Mr.  Peugeot,  namely:  Nina,  now  the  wife  of 
Conrad  Mueller,  real-estate  dealer  and  Assistant 
Clerk  of  the  Sheriff  of  New  York  County;  she 
has  one  child,  Edward  Herman  Mueller.  lone, 
the  second  daughter,  resides  with  her  mother. 
Pierre  and  Leon  are  now  in  the  employ  of  W. 
McGregor  &  Company,  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Peugeot 
died  August  8,  1886,  and  subsequently  his  widow 
became  the  wife  of  William  McGregor  (see  sketch 
elsewhere  in  this  work). 

Edward  F.  Peugeot  was  a  man  in  whom  those 
elements  so  essential  to  social  popularity  and 
business  success  were  prominent,  and  he  was  al- 
ways the  center  of  a  large  circle  of  admiring 
friends.  He  was  a  very  enterprising  merchant, 
possessing  a  high  character  and  integrity,  and 
left  to  his  children,  as  a  legacy,  a  good  name  and 
an  excellent  example  of  true  manhood. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Bk  ,*.  C.y.  Co.  Cficayo. 

/^> 


FERDINAND  LINK. 


263 


FERDINAND  LINK. 


l"~  ERDINAND  LINK.  '  'Der  Gipfel  des  Ber- 
IV  £es  fun^e^  *m  abend  Sonnenschein,"  sings 
|  ^  the  beautiful,  irresistible  Lorellei,  seated 
upon  the  picturesque  summits  of  those  storied, 
castle-crowned  highlands  of  the  Rhine,  whence 
she  drew  to  herself  all  who  came  within  the  scope 
of  her  vision.  It  is  proper  now  to  write  modestly 
of  one  born  in  the  Fatherland,  to  whom  the  sound 
of  "America"  was,  like  the  harmony  of  theold  folk- 
song, an  entrancing  melody,  full  of  bright  proph- 
ecy, the  hope  of  whose  fulfillment  he  could  not 
withstand. 

Ferdinand  Link  was  born  on  the  ist  of  No- 
vember, 1829,  in  Birkigt  Herzogthum,  Meinin- 
gen,  Germany,  his  parents  being  Trougott  and 
Rosina  (Schmidt)  Link,  persons  of  respectable 
attainments,  who  lived  and  died  in  the  Old  Coun- 
try. At  about  his  fourteenth  year  he  had  com- 
pleted the  learning  of  the  same  trade  as  his 
father,  a  carriage-maker,  after  which,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  custom  of  his  country-men,  he 
traveled  to  improve  his  knowledge  of  the  craft,  a 
phase  of  intelligent  life  very  interestingly  set  forth 
by  the  great  Goethe  in  his  immortal  ' '  Wilhelm 
Meister." 

Having  acquired  whatever  seemed  necessary  to 
thoroughly  fit  his  genius  to  his  life-work,  he  re- 
solved to  come  to  the  United  States  of  America; 
so,  in  1848,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  set  sail 
from  Bremen  upon  a  passage  which  took  forty- 
nine  days  in  crossing  to  Baltimore,  where  he 
disembarked  on  the  6th  of  July,  1848.  Presently 
he  found  employment  at  his  old  trade  with  a 
Mr.  Bishop,  with  whom  he  remained  for  a  time 
in  mutual  good-will.  Anon,  desirous  to  see  more 
of  the  New  World,  and  getting  on  famously  with 


the  new  language,  he  set  out  for  Richmond,  Vir- 
ginia, via  the  Natural  Bridge,  up  to  Abington, 
where  he  continued  his  trade  for  a  season,  or  un- 
til the  ist  of  November,  1850.  Thence,  at  that 
time,  he  proceeded  to  Kingston  Springs,  and  by 
way  of  the  Mississippi  River  as  far  south  as  New 
Orleans,  directly  returning  as  far  north  as  this 
city,  which  he  reached  the  last  week  in  Decem- 
ber, 1850.  and  where  for  more  than  forty  years 
he  has  continued  uninterruptedly  to  reside,  pros- 
pered, honored,  and  full  of  dignified  interests  in 
our  midst. 

Mr.  Link  is  a  very  modest  man,  but  in  his 
craft  it  remains  true  that  in  the  younger  days  he 
was  the  peer  of  any  in  our  city,  which  is  amply 
evidenced  by  some  handiwork,  so  superior  and 
excellent,  that  it  raises  a  well-defined  doubt  as 
to  whether  there  was  any  other  here  who  at  that 
time  could  have  done  so  skillfully.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  the  country  whence  he  came  to  our 
shore,  he  was  a  master  mechanic,  a  "turner"  of 
rare  ability.  Among  the  things  which  came 
like  magic  from  his  deft  touch  were  the  following, 
which  recur  readily  to  the  mind:  A  finely  carved 
turnout  for  Governor  Wise,  of  Virginia;  the  first 
hearse  ever  used  in  our  city  which  had  glass  sides, 
made  for  Undertaker  Gavin,  before  which  they 
used  a  rough  conveyance  with  a  pall  thrown  over 
the  coffin;  and  the  first  public  hack  ever  con- 
structed here  or  seen  upon  our  pioneer  streets. 
Surely  this  is  quite  sufficient  to  establish  Mr. 
Link's  right  to  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  best 
"turners"  who  ever  lived  with  us,  and  certain- 
ly the  man  who  did  the  first  really  fine  kind  of 
work  in  several  valuable  lines. 

For  eleven  years  he  was  foreman  for  Richard 


264 


FERDINAND  LINK. 


Biel,  a  carriage  manufacturer  on  the  West  Side, 
who  "has  now  gone  to  the  "bourne  whence  no 
traveler  returns. ' '  While  working  at  his  trade, 
Mr.  Link  also  began  to  turn  his  attention  to  that 
source  of  financial  wealth  which  has  made  most 
of  our  rich  men,  and  that  was  to  real-estate  in- 
vestments; for  never  in  the  history  of  the  world 
has  there  been  so  much  money  made  in  so  short 
a  time  out  of  building  sites  as  right  here  in  our 
little  Cook  County,  Illinois.  Foreseeing  himself 
what  would  certainly  come  of  it,  he  began  to  make 
good  moves  in  this  direction  as  fast  as  he  could 
get  money  to  buy  with.  On  State  Street,  near 
Chestnut,  which  for  the  greater  part  has  been  the 
locality  of  his  winning  moves,  he  purchased  a 
piece  of  land  and  proceeded,  in  1858,  to  put  up 
some  houses  for  rent.  The  results  were  gratify- 
ing from  the  start. 

In  the  winter  of  1864,  in  reduced  health  (ad- 
vised by  his  physicians  to  do  so  if  he  wished  to 
prolong  his  life),  he  took  his  family  and  went  to 
California.  The  route,  before  the  days  of  the 
steam  horse,  was  from  New  York  City,  via  the 
West  Indies  and  the  Carribean  Sea,  to  Aspinwall 
and  Panama,  and  then  by  another  line  of  steam- 
ers to  San  Francisco,  in  which  last  city  he  stopped 
for  some  time,  his  condition  being  much  amelior- 
ated by  the  salubrious  climate,  and  his  interest 
deeply  aroused  by  the  quaint  customs  of  that 
strange  new  country,  whose  hills  were  made  of 
gold .  For  a  season  he  soj  ourned  at  Los  Angeles  (at 
a  period  prior  to  this  of  they?«  de  siecle) ,  Alame- 
da,  Warm  Springs,  and  returned  home  in  March, 
1867,  via  Nicaragua  and  Greytown.  Mr.  Link's 
love  of  travel  is  remarkable,  and  his  keenly- 
observing  eyes,  with  the  note-book  which  he 
invariably  keeps,  make  it  intensely  interesting 
after  long  years  to  revisit  with  him  in  memorized 
record  those  scenes  of  former  delights. 

On  his  return  he  invested  in  more  real  estate 
near  the  site  of  his  former  possessions,  and  put  up 
houses  upon  the  same;  then  came  the  fire  of  1871, 
that  mighty  holocaust  which  cost  so  many  their 
entire  fortunes,  and  did  inestimable  damage  for  a 
time  to  all  our  citizens,  until  returning  courage 
resulted  in  rebuilding  better  than  was  ever 
dreamed  of  before.  Mr.  Link  lost  by  this  fire 


seven  houses,  which  shows  that  he  had  already 
grown  to  be  quite  a  landlord.  Nothing  daunted, 
with  that  admirable  energy  which  was  so  charac- 
teristic of  the  age,  he  mortgaged  his  land  to  set 
to  work  and  build  again,  this  time  including  the 
construction  of  a  grocery  store  near  the  corner  of 
State  and  Chestnut  Streets,  which  he  personally 
conducted  up  to  the  year  1882,  when  he  finally 
retired  from  business,  well  intrenched  in  his  fort- 
unes, with  hosts  of  friends  his  genial,  honest  and 
frank  nature  had  won  him,  for  he  never  made  an 
enemy  in  his  life. 

That  he  might  spend  his  closing  years  '  'under 
his  own  vine  and  fig  tree,"  he  bought  a  fine  lot 
at  Number  76  Walton  Place,  overlooking  the  lake 
at  its  foot  (and  which  now  has  within  plain  view 
the  celebrated  Newberry  Library,  since  construct- 
ed, one  of  the  famous  libraries  of  the  world) .  where 
he  erected  a  commodious  home,  wherein  the  years 
pass  by  (when  he  is  not  in  other  scenes)  like  a 
dream  of  the  fabled  days  of  old. 

In  1852,  tired  of  single  blessedness,  Mr.  Link 
took  to  his  heart  a  wife  (one  of  the  most  congen- 
ial, entertaining,  whole-souled  women  in  our  whole 
city),  Miss  Mary  Laux  being  her  maiden  name. 
She  was  born,  like  himself,  in  Germany,  in  the 
town  of  Losheim,  County  of  Merzig,  Province  of 
Trier,  West  Prussia,  it  being  territory  formerly 
belonging  to  the  French,  and  quite  adjacent  to 
the  famous  Alsace-Lorraine  country  of  later  years' 
contest.  Her  father,  Peter  Laux  (coming  of  an 
old  French  family) ,  had  been  a  second  orderly  for 
the  great  Napoleon.  At  the  battle  of  Leipsig, 
his  horse  being  shot  under  him,  he  caught  the 
horse  of  the  first  orderly,  who  had  himself  been 
killed,  which  was  so  bewildered  by  the  fray  and 
smoke  of  battle,  that  when  soldat  Laux,  being  ig- 
norant of  the  way  to  his  troop,  gave  the  horse  his 
head,  he  dashed  away  into  the  very  enemy 's  lines, 
where,  by  a  singular  mistake,  a  French  flag, 
which  had  been  captured,  was  handed  him,  he 
being  taken  for  one  of  their  own  German  forces. 
Thereupon,  he  put  spurs  to  his  horse  and  started 
like  lightning  away  for  the  opposite  side  among 
his  friends.  His  horse  was  shot  by  the  volley 
sent  after  him,  and  he  himself  badly  wounded  in 
the  leg,  sustaining,  besides  several  flesh  wounds, 


FERDINAND  LINK. 


265 


a  fracture  of  the  leg  bone.  Crawling  under  a 
corn  stack,  he  managed  to  escape  apprehension, 
and  in  this  way  was  left  for  three  days  before  be- 
ing rescued  by  his  own  men  and  taken  to  hospital 
to  have  his  painful  wounds  dressed.  In  the  mean 
time,  however,  he  had  crawled  to  the  River  Katz- 
back  to  bathe  himself,  and  had  kept  the  old  flag, 
which  later  came  safely  into  Napoleon's  hands. 
This  episode  stamps  him  as  a  man  not  only  of 
strong  vitality,  to  withstand  such  suffering  and 
hardships,  but  also  as  a  heroic  soul,  of  no  common 
mould. 

Mr.  Laux,  in  1840,  took  his  wife  and  family, 
including  those  who  were  married,  to  America; 
and  at  this  juncture  befel  a  very  pathetic  scene. 
As  they  were  about  to  leave  France  forever,  the 
vessel  bringing  from  St.  Helena  the  remains  of  his 
old  general,  Napoleon,  was  coming  into  port.  He 
wept  like  a  child,  and  exclaimed,  "Why  art  thou 
not  alive,  that  I  might  again  forsake  my  friends 
and  family  to  follow  thee?"  With  Barbara,  his 
wife,  he  landed  upon  Chicago  soil  on  the  twenty- 
fifth  day  of  August,  1840.  They  have  both 
passed  to  their  eternal  rewards,  for  few  of  the 
older  settlers  are  longer  left  to  greet  us. 

Mrs.  Link  was  born  the  twenty-fifth  day  of 
March,  1833,  so  that  she  began  her  blissful  wed- 
ded life  at  the  early  age  of  nineteen.  One  child 
has  blessed  their  union,  Ferdinand  Eugene  Link, 
who  was  born  September  10,  1852.  He  learned 
his  trade  of  druggist  with  Mr.  Van  Derburg,  and 
went  into  the  employ  of  Tollman  &  King,  whole- 
sale druggists,  with  whom  he  still  remains,  his 
services  being  rewarded  with  the  responsible  po- 
sition of  manager.  He  was  married,  in  1875,  to 
Miss  Marion  Langdon  of  this  city,  by  whom  he 
has  three  children ,  Ferdinand  (third) ,  Marion  and 
John. 

Politically  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat, not  an  office-seeker,  nor  fanatic  in  his  views; 
locally,  he  invariably  selects  the  best  man,  in  his 
candid  judgment,  for  support. 

Physically  Mr.  Link  is  not  a  large  man,  but 
so  engaging  in  manner  that  he  seems  to  rise  at 
times  to  the  stature  of  a  giant,  as  he  graphically 
depicts  interesting  experiences  he  has  passed 
through  in  his  varied  life  of  many  vicissitudes. 


He  is  one  of  the  most  unassuming,  genial  men 
it  is  one's  good  fortune  to  run  across,  hospitable 
and  full  of  good  parts.  As  an  instance  of  the  po- 
etic feeling  of  his  soul  (a  thing  somewhat  rare  in 
our  crowding,  rushing  city) ,  at  an  advanced  age, 
he  bought  a  fine  piano,  and  started  in  to  learn 
music.  He  progressed  with  such  amazing  rapidity 
that,  although  he  had  but  six  months'  lessons,  he 
really  plays  very  well,  and  some  difficult  pieces 
of  classical  music,  too.  Jt  is  one  of  the  proudest 
recollections  of  his  experience  that  he  was  per- 
mitted, on  a  foreign  tour,  to  play  for  a  few  mo- 
ments upon  the  piano  of  Frederick  the  Great,  in 
the  castle  at  Potsdam,  during  which  exceptionally 
honored  occasion  he  very  touchingly  ran  through 
the  pathetic  bars  of  "Sad  Thoughts  of  Thee." 
One  can  readily  picture  this  inspiring  incident,  of 
one  returning  from  a  new  country,  full  of  honor 
and  wealth,  to  the  home  of  his  nativity,  to  view 
for  a  season  the  place  that  gave  him  birth.  Ah, 
it  is  a  strange  world  we  live  in,  and  strange  in- 
deed are  the  changes  which  come  to  us  all! 

The  incident  above  related  occurred  upon  his 
memorable  tour  of  the  continent  in  1892,  when 
he  felt  he  must  visit  again  the  old  endeared  scenes 
of  his  boyhood.  Not  alone  those,  but  France,  Bel- 
gium and  England  were  traversed;  and  if  anyone 
doubts  the  good  use  our  friend  made  of  his  sight, 
let  him  sit  for  a  while  listening  to  the  "logbook," 
as  it  has  been  the  writer's  privilege,  and  doubt 
would  vanish  before  the  perfect  light  of  enrapt- 
ured conviction.  It  is  understood  that  he  is  plan- 
ning another  trip  abroad  for  the  near  future,  for 
lie  is  an  indefatigable  traveler. 

In  closing,  we  must  not  forget  to  say,  that  as 
his  earthly  life  has  been  correct,  and  his  surround- 
ings beautiful  and  uplifting,  so  he  has  had  the 
wise  foresight  to  see  to  it  that  his  remains  after 
death  may  be  in  a  temporary  earthly  mansion 
suitable  to  his  wishes.  In  the  family  lot  at  St. 
Boniface  Cemetery,  he  has  finished  the  construc- 
tion of  a  family  tomb,  which  for  exquisiteness  of 
design  and  perfection  of  execution  is  unsurpassed. 
There  is  no  finer  owned  or  erected  in  this  city  s 
places  of  burial.  The  exterior  facades  are  of 
that  handsome,  durable  stone,  rock-faced,  known 
as  Blue  Bedford;  while  the  interior  rises  grace- 


266 


W.  W.  PHELPS. 


fully  and  without  that  sense  of  oppression  so  fre- 
quent in  low-constructed  burial  places,  being  com- 
posed of  English  Channel  fire  brick  and  elegant 
imported  Italian  marbles.  In  the  center  rises  the 
catafalque,  which  will  one  day  contain  the  last 
mortal  remains  of  our  dear  friend  and  his  beloved 


spouse.  Each  one  has  his  themes  of  delight.  Can 
there  be  a  more  beautiful  wish  than  to  lie  securely 
safe  after  one's  earthly  existence  is  over,  surround- 
ed by  the  beauties  which,  like  the  hills,  pass  not 
away  until  the  judgment  day? 


WILLIAM  W.  PHELPS. 


WALLACE  PHELPS,  one  of 
the  earliest  and  most  conscientious  of  our 
business  men,  was  born  at  Conesville, 
Schoharie  County,  New  York,  June  17,  1825.  His 
parents  were  George  and  Mary  (Chapman) 
Phelps. 

Being  of  the  generation  of  self-made  men,  he 
started  out  with  a  clear,  straightforward  mind, 
aided  by  a  common-school  instruction,  to  do  his 
life  work  as  the  Creator  foresaw  it  would  come  to 
pass. 

First  in  Oneida,  at  nineteen  years  of  age,  and 
elsewhere  in  his  native  State,  he  waited  upon 
customers  as  a  clerk  behind  merchants'  counters, 
and  in  1847  went  to  Catskill,  Greene  County,  New 
York,  to  clerk  for  Potter  Palmer.  It  is  needless 
to  add,  he  did  his  humble  early  duties  as  faith- 
fully and  ably  as  he  bore  the  later  more  hon- 
orable and  distinguished  burdens  which  time 
demonstrated  he  was  more  than  equal  to  carrying. 

Henceforth  he  was  fated  to  join  forces  with  that 
truly  royal  man,  Potter  Palmer,  the  bare  mention 
of  whose  name  thrills  the  listener  with  intense 
admiration,  and  conjures  up  in  his  mind  the 
rapid  achievement  of  our  unrivalled  city;  in  all 
and  through  all  of  which  none  has  been  more 
modestly  conspicuous  and  helpful  than  Mr.  Pal- 
mer. Along  with  Mr.  Palmer,  Mr.  Phelps  was 
mainly  to  work  out  his  destiny.  It  was  fitting, 
for  they  were  brothers-in-law;  and  so  long,  un- 
ruffled and  intimate  were  their  mutual  relations 


and  regard  for  each  other,  that  the  two  men 
actually  grew  more  and  more  in  personal  appear- 
ance alike.  One  glance  at  Mr.  Phelps'  face, 
as  the  artist  left  it  for  our  delight,  and  the 
lineaments  of  his  "dear  friend  Potter"  suggest 
themselves.  Together  they  removed,  in  1851,  to 
Lockport,  New  York,  there  engaging  in  business 
for  about  one  year  only,  for  in  1852  they  started 
resolutely  for  the  then  Far  West,  resting  their 
weary  limbs  by  the  head  of  the  beautiful  Lake 
Michigan,  in  which  place  fortune  had  decreed 
they  should  win  honorable  names  and  a  goodly 
portion  of  the  desires  of  this  life.  One  has  quite 
finished  his  labors  and  is  at  rest  above  all  earthly 
value.  Soon  the  other  will  go  to  his  comrade's 
side,  while  this  scene  shall  know  their  presence  no 
more;  but  history  is  the  better,  and  future  genera- 
tions, though  they  may  lealize  it  not,  will  be  the 
happier  and  better  that  two  such  American  noble- 
men were  among  us  in  our  infancy. 

Soon  after  their  advent,  Mr.  Palmer,  having 
some  capital  at  command,  entered  into  the  dry- 
goods  business,  wherein  Mr.  Phelps  was  his  con- 
fidential friend  and  financial  secretary  for  long 
years,  always  in  every  way  satisfactory  in  his 
discharge  of  onerous  trusts. 

In  1865  Mr.  Phelps  went  for  himself  into  the 
wholesale  and  retail  carpet  business  with  a  part- 
ner, under  the  style  of  Hollister  &  Phelps,  hav- 
ing purchased  the  interest  of  the  former  partner, 
Mr.  Wilkins.  He  sold  out  his  interest  in  this 


W.  W.  PHELPS. 


267 


paying  establishment  the  June  preceding  the  his- 
torical fire  of  1871.  Thereafter  for  some  six 
months  he  enjoyed  the  delights  of  old  Europe, 
with  the  keen  intellectual  appreciation  so  charac- 
teristic of  him,  combining  business  with  health- 
ful recreation,  as  he  did  considerable  buying  for 
Mr.  Palmer,  who  was  furnishing  the  Palmer 
House,  recently  built  at  that  time. 

Returning  to  the  United  States  in  good  condi- 
tion, he  lived  the  easy  life  of  an  '  'old-school' ' 
gentleman  for  a  period  of  eight  years.  But  act- 
ive life  extended  too  great  temptations  to  one 
of  his  temperament;  so  it  is  not  surprising,  when 
Mr.  Palmer  made  him  a  flattering  offer,  that  he 
found  it  impossible  to  resist,  and  so  it  is  chronicled 
that  the  last  twelve  years  of  his  life  were  spent 
as  confidential  financial  manager  of  that  great 
hostelry,  one  of  the  grandest  and  best  known  in 
the  wide  world,  the  Palmer  House.  In  him  Mr. 
Palmer  had  full  and  explicit  trust  and  confidence. 
He  said:  "I  can  goto  California;  I  maybe  gone 
six  months;  and  when  I  return,  I  feel  I  shall 
hear  everything  has  gone  on  just  the  same." 

Alas,  all  must  pay  the  sad  debt  of  nature.  Mr. 
Phelps  died  May  18,  1891,  of  Bright's  Disease, 
and  was  interred  in  the  family  lot  at  Graceland, 
where  a  fine  monument  marks  his  beautiful  final 
resting-place.  For  many  years  he  was  an  at- 
tendant at  the  Plymouth  Congregational  Church, 
where  he  held  a  pew.  Bishop  Cheney,  a  warm 
friend,  officiated  at  the  funeral  obsequies  at  his 
magnificent  mansion  house,  No.  2518  Prairie 
Avenue. 

Mr.  Phelps  married,  first,  Lydia  Palmer,  sister 
of  Potter  Palmer,  in  the  fall  of  1867.  She  died 
on  the  very  day  of  the  Fire  of  1871 ,  without  issue. 
September  9,  1873,  he  wedded  Miss  Cornelia 
Austina  Hubbard,  of  Spring  Prairie,  Wisconsin. 
In  good  health,  she  continues  to  survive  her 
lamented  husband,  whose  memory  is  sacred  in 
her  heart  and  whose  worth  she  delights  to  exalt 
and  honor.  How  strong  under  such  circumstances 
does  the  merit  of  this  undertaking  appear  !  They 
who  make  for  themselves  honorable  names,  but 
are  barred  by  fate  against  leaving  children,  must 
herein  find  their  most  lasting  and  fitting  monu- 
ment in  this  record  of  their  good  deeds. 


Cornelia  A.  (Hubbard)  Phelps  is  a  daughter  of 
Alfred  Hubbard  and  Hannah  Steele,  of  Wind- 
ham,  Greene  County,  New  York,  being  the 
youngest  of  eight  children.  Alfred  Hubbard  was 
a  son  of  Timothy  Hubbard  and  Dorothy  Raleigh, 
of  Connecticut.  Hannah  Steele  was  a  daughter 
of  Stephen  Steele  and  Hannah  Simonds,  also  of 
Connecticut. 

Mr.  Phelps  was  a  stanch  Republican,  a  con- 
scientious Christian,  a  gentleman  and  a  lover  of 
home.  Tall  and  straight  of  stature,  his  pale 
blonde  face,  handsome,  yet  full  of  kindly  charac- 
ter, firm  mouth,  prominent  eyes,  heavy  eyebrows 
and  massive  forehead  well  denoted  the  strength  he 
possessed.  He  and  Mr.  Palmer  might  have  been 
taken  for  brothers.  Their  names  are  indelibly 
associated,  and  those  who,  in  coming  years,  when 
the  flowers  are  blossoming  over  ancient  graves, 
shall  read  the  records  of  the  two  lives,  will  un- 
derstand more  deeply  and  solemnly  than  words 
can  depict  what  this  age  and  this  city  owe  to  men 
like  Potter  Palmer  and  William  Wallace  Phelps. 

It  is  fitting  that  this  work  shall  record  the  fol- 
lowing quite  full  and  satisfactory  genealogical 
descent: 

Ichabod  Phelps,  who  was  a  merchant  in  Eng- 
land, married  Betsy  Bristol,  and,  coming  to  this 
country,  in  company  with  three  brothers,  settled 
at  Salisbury,  in  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut. 
Later  he  removed  to  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  continued  to  reside  until  the  historical 
massacre  there  by  the  Indians  under  the  notorious 
Brant,  upon  which  event  he  took  a  fresh  depart- 
ure for  Broome,  Schoharie  Count y,  New  York, 
where  he  built  and  conducted  a  general  store. 
His  son,  Othniel  Phelps,  born  in  1777,  died  in 
1856.  He  was  twice  married;  first,  to  Polly  Fiero, 
and  secondly  to  Hannah  Frost,  who  lived  to  the 
remarkable  age  of  ninety-two  years,  dying  in 
1876. 

The  eldest  son  by  the  first  marriage  was 
George  W.  Phelps,  who  was  born  in  1798,  at 
Conesville,  Schoharie  County,  New  York,  and 
died  July  3,  1866.  He  was  twice  married;  first, 
about  the  year  1820,  to  Zerviah  Potter,  who  died 
three  years  later,  leaving  two  sons,  Othniel  B. 
and  Samuel  P.  (for  a  sketch  of  Othniel  B.  vide 


268 


C.  E.  PIPER 


other  pages  herein) ;  second,  he  married,  about 
1824,  Mary  Chapman,  who  was  born  February 
25,  1801,  and  died  January  28,  1879.  She  was 
a  daughter  of  Samuel  Chapman  (born  January 
13,  1773,  died  November  30,  1858)  and  Rhoda 
Cowles,  his  wife  (born  September  3,  1775,  and 


died  in  1801).  By  this  second  marriage  there 
were  eight  children:  Helen  M.,  John  M.,  Mary 
Z.,  Catherine,  Lucinda  M.,  George  C.,  Abbie 
A.  and  William  Wallace  Phelps,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch. 


CHARLES  E.  PIPER. 


QHARLES  EDWARD  PIPER  was  bom  in 

1 1  the  city  of  Chicago  June  12,  1858.  His  fa- 
\.J  ther,  Otis  Piper,  well  and  favorably  known 
to  the  pioneer  business  men  of  Chicago,  was  of 
English  extraction,  and  traced  his  descent  di- 
rectly to  ancestors  who  arrived  in  America  and 
settled  at  the  town  of  New  Salem  in  1782.  His 
mother,  Margaret  (McGrory)  Piper,  of  Scotch- 
Irish  lineage,  was  a  native  of  Prescott,  province 
of  Ontario,  Canada,  whither  her  father  removed 
in  1824. 

Otis  Piper,  with  his  family,  came  to  Chicago  in 
1851,  at  a  time  when  the  struggling  town  was 
barely  beginning  to  give  promise  of  future  impor- 
tance, and  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  few  fervent- 
spirited  citizens  whose  eyes  of  faith  saw,  above  the 
alternating  sand  dunes  and  swamps  of  that  early 
period,  something  of  the  glory  of  the  present  me- 
tropolis. Amid  the  surroundings  common  to  the 
pioneer  outposts  of  civilization  in  our  country, 
Charles  Edward  Piper,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
first  saw  the  light  of  day.  The  foundation  of  his 
education  was  laid  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
city,  and  in  the  face  of  many  trials  and  vicissi- 
tudes was,  nevertheless,  so  firmly  planted  in  the 
mind  of  the  young  boy  that  an  unquenchable 
thirst  for  knowledge,  and  an  indomitable  deter- 
mination to  obtain  it,  impelled  him  to  successively 
graduate  from  the  high  school  in  1876,  the  North- 


western University  in  1882,  and  the  Union  College 
of  Law  in  1889,  earning,  in  the  mean  time,  his 
own  livelihood  and  the  means  to  meet  his  stu- 
dent's expenses. 

After  completing  his  law  course,  he  entered 
upon  practice  with  Mr.  Wilbert  J.  Andrews,  un- 
der the  firm  name  of  Andrews  &  Piper,  a  firm 
which  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  real-es- 
tate law  firms  in  Chicago.  The  business  of  buy- 
ing and  selling  real  estate  has  naturally  grown  up 
with  the  practice  of  real-estate  law,  and  the  sub- 
urban town  of  Berwyn  was  founded  by  and  is  to- 
day, to  a  considerable  extent,  the  property  of  Mr. 
Piper  and  his  associates.  Socially  Mr.  Piper  is  a 
genial,  warm-hearted  gentleman,  easy  in  his  man- 
ners and  a  favorite  in  several  social  organizations 
with  which  he  is  connected,  notably  the  Prairie 
Club,  of  Oak  Park,  and  the  Lincoln  Club,  of 
West  Chicago.  In  religious  matters  he  is  a  fol- 
lower of  Wesley,  and  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Methodist  Church.  He  is  President  of  the  State 
Epworth  League  and  Treasurer  of  the  National 
Epworth  League.  Politically  he  is  a  Republican, 
"dyed  in  the  wool,"  is  President  of  the  town  of 
Cicero,  and  has  held  the  office  of  Supervisor  of 
the  town  of  South  Chicago,  as  well  as  that  of 
member  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  town 
of  Cicero. 

August  15,  1882,  he  married  Carrie  L.  Gregory, 


FRANCIS  WARNER. 


269 


daughter  of  Edwin  and  Anna  S.  Gregory,  of 
Nauvoo,  Illinois,  and  granddaughter  of  Robert 
Lane,  partner  of  John  Morris,  of  Philadelphia,  of 
Revolutionary  fame.  The  three  living  children 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Piper  are:  Carrie  E.,  born  May 
29,  1884;  LuluL.;  and  Robert  G. ,  December  6, 
1889. 

Mr.  Piper  vividly  recalls  the  burning  of  Chi- 
cago on  the  fatal  October  8,  1871,  but  at  that 
time,  fortunately,  was  residing  outside  of  the  burnt 
district,  and  escaped  any  serious  personal  dam- 
ages or  loss.  He  is  the  President  of  the  Method- 


ist Forward  Movement  of  Chicago,  and  takes 
deep  interest  in  the  building  of  the  Epworth 
House,  at  Number  229  Halsted  Street,  now  in 
process  of  erection.  This  house,  like  its  prototype, 
Hull  House,  is  designed  to  serve  as  an  oasis  in 
the  desert  of  poverty  and  iniquity,  and  will  aid 
greatly  in  the  regeneration  of  that  benighted  re- 
gion. He  was  one  of  the  founders,  and  is  now  an 
officer,  of  the  Epworth  Children's  Home,  and  is 
at  the  present  time  President  of  the  Chicago  Meth- 
odist Social  Union. 


FRANCIS  WARNER. 


F~  RANCIS  WARNER,  a  quiet,  worthy  citizen 
ry  of  Chicago,  is  a  descendant  of  very  early 
|  English  and  German  yeomanry.  He  was 
born  at  Watertown,  Massachusetts,  January  26, 
1819.  His  parents,  George  Warner  and  Mary 
Salisbury,  were  natives,  respectively,  of  Pack- 
ington  and  Ashby  de  la  Zouche,  in  Leicestershire, 
near  the  border  of  Nottinghamshire,  England. 
The  family  name  was  originally  Werner,  and  was 
brought  to  England  from  Germany,  after  the  Re- 
formation of  Martin  Luther.  England  had  just 
become  a  Protestant  country,  and  the  founder  of 
this  family  on  English  soil  received  a  grant  of 
land  near  the  Welsh  border.  He  had  a  coat-of- 
arms,  the  principal  objects  on  which  were  a  castle 
surmounted  by  a  squirrel,  with  a  motto  signify- 
ing, "  Not  for  ourselves  alone,  but  for  others." 
Mary  Salisbury  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  a  man- 
at-arms  who  flourished  long  before  the  first 
Werner  came  to  England,  and  was  granted  a 
"hide  "  of  land  (being  all  that  he  could  surround 
with  an  ox's  hide  cut  into  strips)  by  the  lord  of 
the  manor,  whose  life  he  had  saved  in  battle. 


Members  of  the  Warner  family  came  to  America 
in  the  early  Colonial  days,  and  it  is  a  tradition 
that  one  settled  in  each  of  the  colonies  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut  and  Pennsylvania. 

George  Warner  and  Mary  Salisbury  were  mar- 
ried in  England  in  1806,  and  removed  four  years 
later  to  Massachusetts,  where  eight  of  their  eleven 
children  were  born.  Mr.  Warner  was  a  lace 
weaver,  and  was  employed  at  his  trade  in  and 
about  Watertown,  Massachusetts,  until  1837, 
when  he  came  to  Illinois.  He  engaged  in  farm- 
ing in  Northfield  Township,  La  Salle  County,  for 
over  twenty  years,  and  then  went  to  Iowa,  and 
settled  on  the  Soldier  River,  near  the  present  site 
of  Ida  Grove.  After  he  retired  from  farming  he 
returned  to  Massachusetts  and  died  at  Ipswich, 
in  that  State,  in  1874,  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine 
years.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were  born  in  1785. 
The  latter  died  in  Illinois  in  1851,  age  sixty-six. 

All  of  their  seven  sons  and  two  of  their  daugh- 
ters grew  to  adult  life.  Samuel,  born  in  England, 
and  an  upholsterer  by  occupation ,  passed  most  of 
his  life  in  Massachusetts,  and  died,  as  the  result 


270 


FRANCIS  WARNER. 


of  an  accident,  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  George, 
born  in  Massachusetts,  was  a  farmer;  he  died  in 
La  Salle  County,  Illinois,  in  1882,  from  the  ef- 
fects of  a  fall.  Mary,  Mrs.  Sanford  Peatfield, 
resides  in  Ipswich,  Massachusetts.  Alfred  is  a 
resident  of  Michigan,  and  John  died  in  Newton, 
Massachusetts,  in  1892,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
three.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  sixth. 
Elizabeth,  deceased,  was  the  wife  of  William 
Powell,  a  farmer  in  La  Salle  County,  Illinois. 
Thomas  died  in  California  from  the  effects  of 
drinking  alkali  water;  and  William  is  engaged  in 
mining  in  Utah. 

Francis  Warner  was  reared  in  Newton,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  was  taught  to  read  by  his  mother. 
His  only  attendance  at  a  public  school  was  one 
half-day,  at  which  time  the  teacher  was  absent. 
At  the  age  of  fifteen  years  he  was  apprenticed  to 
a  cabinet-maker,  and  his  articles  of  indenture 
stipulated  that  he  was  to  receive  $50  per  year 
and  his  board.  During  this  apprenticeship  he 
made  the  most  of  his  opportunities  for  material 
and  mental  advancement.  He  joined  several 
others  in  a  plan  to  secure  instruction,  and  they 
were  taught  four  nights  each  week,  for  which  the 
teacher  received  fifty  cents  per  night.  So  faith- 
ful and  diligent  was  young  Warner,  that  he  be- 
came a  journeyman  at  the  age  of  nineteen.  He 
immediately  went  to  Boston,  where  he  continued 
to  ply  his  trade  until  1843,  when  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  took  up  farming  on  Somomauk  Creek, 
in  La  Salle  County. 

In  the  spring  of  1861  Mr.  Warner  responded 
to  the  call  for  troops  to  defend  the  Union.  He 
first  went  out  in  the  three-months  service,  under 
General  McClellan,  who  was  a  personal  acquaint- 
ance, in  West  Virginia.  He  was  a  participator 
in  the  battle  of  Rich  Mountain,  and  was  one  of 
the  detail  which  accompanied  the  body  of  the 
Confederate  General,  Garnett,  to  Washington,  en 
route  to  his  home  in  Virginia. 

In  1862  Mr.  Warner  again  joined  the  Federal 
forces,  being  attached  to  the  Provost- Marshal's 
department,  with  the  pay  and  rank  of  Captain, 
and  was  chiefly  employed  in  the  charge  and  hand- 
ling of  prisoners  of  war,  with  headquarters  in 
Washington.  After  the  surrender  of  New  Or- 


leans, he  joined  Colonel  Wood's  command,  the 
First  United  States  Regiment,  with  which  he  con- 
tinued until  May,  1865,  when  he  was  honorably 
discharged. 

While  a  resident  of  La  Salle  County,  Mr.  War- 
ner was  twice  elected  to  the  office  of  Sheriff,  and 
demonstrated  such  superior  ability  in  the  capture 
of  offenders,  that  his  services  were  sought  by  de- 
tective agencies  throughout  the  country.  Soon 
after  leaving  the  army  he  took  charge  of  Allen 
Pinkerton's  New  York  detective  agency,  where 
he  continued  a  year,  removing  thence  to  Chicago, 
where  he  occupied  a  similar  position  until  his 
health  failed,  in  1879,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
resign.  After  spending  three  months  at  the  sea 
shore,  on  the  advice  of  his  physician,  he  returned 
to  Chicago,  very  much  improved  in  health  anc 
strength,  and  at  once,  in  1880,  took  charge  of  the 
detective  service  of  the  American  Express  Com- 
pany at  Chicago.  This  was  his  last  active  em- 
ployment, in  which  he  still  holds  an  honorary  po- 
sition. Though  now  in  his  seventy-seventh  year, 
Mr.  Warner  exhibits  plenty  of  mental  and  physi- 
cal vigor,  and  is  still  a  useful  member  of  society. 

Mr.  Warner  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  and  was 
for  many  years  active  in  the  order.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Congregational  Church,  and  a  con- 
sistent and  stanch  Republican  in  principle,  being 
one  of  the  founders  of  that  political  organization. 
In  1840  he  married  Miss  Juliette  Back,  who  was 
born  in  Burlington,  Vermont,  August  17,  1819, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Jasper  and  Sally  (Harring- 
ton) Back.  Mr.  Back  was  one  of  the  minute- 
men  who  served  at  the  battle  of  Plattsburgh, 
during  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain.  Four  of 
Mr.  Warner's  eight  children  are  now  living. 
Francis  Armstrong  Warner,  the  eldest,  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Chicago.  Alice,  the  second,  died  while 
the  wife  of  Albert  Forbes,  leaving  an  infant 
daughter,  who  was  reared  by  Mr.  Warner.  Juli- 
ette died  at  the  age  of  eighteen  months,  and  Isabel 
is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Edward  J.  Lewis,  of  Sauk  Cen- 
ter, Wisconsin.  Ernest  died  at  three  years  of 
age,  Charles  at  fourteen,  and  Gray  resides  at 
Denver,  Colorado.  Nellie  is  the  wife  of  Henry 
B.  Gates  and  resides  in  Wilmette. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


LYMAN  J.  GAGE. 


27  x 


LYMAN  JUDSON  GAGE. 


I  YMAN  JUDSON  GAGE,  President  of  the 
I  C  First  National  Bank  of  Chicago,  is  widely 
l~)  known  as  the  leading  financier  of  the 
West,  as  well  as  an  active  power  in  political  and 
other  movements.  As  a  promoter  and  active  Di- 
rector of  the  World' s  Columbian  Exposition,  he 
earned  and  received  the  good-will  of  every  citi- 
zen of  Chicago,  as  well  as  of  most  of  the  world  be- 
side. 

Eli  A.  Gage  and  Mary  Judson,  parents  of  the 
subject  of  this  biography,  were  natives  of  New 
York,  of  English  descent,  their  ancestors  being 
numbered  among  the  early  settlers  of  New  Eng- 
land. The  student  of  American  history  cannot 
fail  to  note  that  much  of  the  energy  and  good 
sense  which  gave  direction  to  the  development  of 
the  entire  northern  half  of  the  United  States  was 
contributed  by  the  New  England  blood. 

L,yman  J.  Gage  was  born  at  De  Ruyter,  Madi- 
son County,  N.  Y.,  June  28,  1836,  and  passed 
the  first  ten  years  of  his  life  in  that  village.  On 
the  removal  of  the  family  to  Rome,  N.  Y.,  in 
1846,  he  entered  the  local  academy,  but  left  school 
to  engage  in  business  life  at  the  age  of  fourteen. 
For  a  year,  he  was  employed  as  clerk  in  the  Rome 
postofHce,  and  was  detailed  by  the  Postmaster  as 
mail-route  agent  on  the  Rome  &  Watertown  Rail- 
road at  the  age  of  fifteen.  In  1854  he  became 
junior  clerk  in  the  Oueida  Central  Bank  at  Rome, 
at  a  salary  of  $100  per  annum.  His  duties  in 
that  position  were  somewhat  varied,  and  involved 
the  sweeping  of  the  bank,  as  well  as  many  other 
duties  which  are  fulfilled  by  a  janitor  in  larger 
institutions.  The  ambitious  soul  of  the  youth 
who  was  destined  by  fate  to  control  in  time  great 
financial  enterprises,  could  not  always  be  content 
in  this  position,  and  after  a  year  and  a-half  of 


service,  with  no  immediate  prospect  of  advance- 
ment in  position  or  salary,  he  resolved  to  try  his 
fortune  in  the  growing  West. 

On  the  3d  of  October,  1855,  young  Gage, 
being  then  a  little  past  the  completion  of  his  nine- 
teenth year,  arrived  in  Chicago  with  a  capital 
consisting  of  brains  and  energy.  He  shortly 
found  employment  in  the  lumber-yard  of  Nathan 
Cobb,  a  part  of  the  time  in  keeping  books,  and 
often  in  loading  lumber.  He  continued  in  this 
employment  until  the  business  changed  hands  in 
1858.  The  financial  depression  of  that  period 
made  many  changes,  and,  rather  than  remain  idle, 
Mr.  Gage  accepted  the  position  of  night-watch- 
man at  the  same  place.  At  the  end  of  six  weeks 
in  this  service,  in  August,  1858,  he  was  offered 
and  accepted  the  position  of  book-keeper  in  the 
Merchants'  Savings,  Loan  &  Trust  Company,  at 
an  annual  salary  of  $500.  Here  he  found  field 
for  the  exercise  of  his  abilities,  and  his  advance- 
ment was  rapid.  On  the  ist  of  January  follow- 
ing, he  was  promoted  to  the  position  of  paying 
teller,  with  the  accompanying  salary  of  $1,200 
per  year.  In  September,  1860,  he  became  As- 
sistant Cashier  at  $2,000  per  annum,  and  a  year 
later  was  made  Cashier.  In  August,  1868,  he 
resigned  this  position  to  accept  a  similar  one  in 
the  First  National  Bank.  On  the  re-organiza- 
tion of  this  institution,  at  the  expiration  of  its 
charter  in  1882,  Mr.  Gage  was  elected  Vice-Pres- 
ident  and  General  Manager,  and  became  Presi- 
dent January  24,  1891.  Thus  are  briefly  related 
the  steps  of  his  progress,  but  they  were  not  the 
result  of  accident.  Back  of  them  were  the  quali- 
ities  which  inspired  the  confidence  of  his  fellows, 
and  the  ability  to  make  intelligent  use  of  his  op- 
portunities. 


272 


O.  P.  BASSETT. 


Mr.  Gage  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Amer- 
ican Bankers'  Association  at  Philadelphia,  in  Oc- 
tober, 1876,  and  was  made  President  of  that  body 
in  1882,  and  twice  successfully  re-elected,  a  com- 
pliment both  to  Chicago  and  the  man.  He  is  a 
member  of  two  social  clubs  of  the  city,  the  Chi- 
cago and  the  Union,  an  ex-President  of  the  Com- 
mercial Club  (an  organization  limited  to  sixty 
members) ,  and  a  Director  and  Treasurer  of  the  Art 
Institute.  Mr.  Gage  takes  a  warm  interest  in 
all  matters  affecting  the  public  welfare,  and  has 
been  quite  active  as  a  member  of  the  Republican 
organization,  because  he  considers  the  Republi- 
can party  the  best  exponent  of  his  ideas  on  the 
conservation  of  human  liberty  and  general  pros- 
perity. While  somewhat  active  in  promulgating 
his  principles,  he  is  by  no  means  a  narrow  parti- 
san, and  will  not  tolerate  anything  which  his 
judgment  or  conscience  does  not  approve,  because 
it  bears  the  endorsement  of  his  party.  He  has 
been  frequently  urged  to  accept  a  nomination  for 
some  public  position,  as  the  spontaneous  choice 
of  the  public  urged,  but  his  business  interests 
could  not  be  set  aside  sufficiently  to  permit.  At  the 
last  regular  municipal  election  he  could  have  been 
almost  unanimously  elected  mayor,  had  he  per- 
mitted the  use  of  his  name.  In  spite  of  the  cares 
of  his  responsible  position,  he  gave  much  of  his 
energy  to  the  promotion  of  the  World's  Fair  en- 
terprise, and  was  made  President  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  at  its  organization  in  April,  1890.  This 
he  resigned  on  his  accession  to  the  bank  presi- 
dency, nearly  a  year  later,  but  continued  as  an 
active  member  of  the  Board.  It  is  no  injustice  to 


his  contemporaries  to  say  that  the  final  success  of 
the  scheme  was  in  a  large  measure  due  to  the 
influence  and  efforts  of  Mr.  Gage.  When  the 
hostility  of  New  York  seemed  likely  to  take  the 
location  away  from  Chicago,  Mr.  Gage  was  one 
of  four  local  capitalists  to  guarantee  the  comple- 
tion of  the  ten-million-dollar  guaranty  fund  re- 
quired by  Congress  from  Chicago.  It  was  while 
on  his  way  to  attend  a  banquet  in  New  York  in' 
honor  of  this  event,  that  Mr.  Gage  was  stricken 
with  a  serious  illness,  which  it  required  a  dan- 
gerous operation  to  overcome,  and  the  whole  na- 
tion rejoiced  when  it  was  announced  that  he  would 
recover. 

Mr.  Gage  is  a  student  of  rare  discrimination, 
and  his  public  speeches  show  a  cultivated  taste  in 
literature,  as  well  as  a  mind  well  stored  with  use- 
ful knowledge.  He  has  a  happy  faculty  ofim- 
parting  information  to  others,  and  his  occasional 
addresses  on  financial,  political  and  other  topics 
are  greeted  with  wide  and  careful  attention.  In 
private  life,  he  is  a  most  companionable  gentle- 
man, and  gives  ear  as  readily  to  the  request  of 
the  humble  individual  as  the  large  investor.  He 
has  been  twice  married.  In  1864  he  espoused 
Miss  Sarah  Etheridge,  daughter  of  Dr  Francis 
Etheridge,  of  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.  She  died  in 
1874,  and  he  was  married  to  his  present  wife,  Mrs. 
Cornelia  Gage,  of  Denver,  Colo.,  in  1887.  Their 
home  is  on  North  State  Street,  near  beautiful  Lin- 
coln Park,  and  here  Mr.  Gage  spends  most  of  his 
evenings,  ever  gathering  something  from  his  well- 
selected  library. 


ORLAND   P.  BASSETT. 


|  RLAND  P.  BASSETT,  of  the  Pictorial  Print- 
ing House,  of  Chicago,  and  the  owner  of  large 
greenhouses  in  Hinsdale,  where  he  makes 
his  home,  was  born  March  31,  1835,  in  Towanda, 
Pa.  His  father,  John  W.  Bassett,  was  a  wheel- 


wright of  the  Keystone  State,  and  in  1872  became 
to  Illinois,  spending  his  last  days  in  Chicago  at 
the  home  of  his  son,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name 


J.  O.  CLIFFORD. 


273 


of  Angeline  Crocker,  and  passed  away  several 
years  previous  to  the  death  of  her  husband.  Their 
family  numbered  nine  children,  of  whom  four  are 
yet  living:  Henry,  John,  Orland  and  Chauncy. 

Mr.  Bassett  whose  name  heads  this  record  was 
reared  in  his  native  State,  and  remained  with  his 
parents  until  he  had  attained  his  majority.  The 
greater  part  of  his  education  was  acquired  in  a 
printing-office.  In  1854  he  began  the  printing 
business,  which  he  has  followed  up  to  the  present 
time,  and  step  by  step  he  has  worked  his  way  up- 
ward until  now  he  is  President  of  the  Pictorial 
Printing  Company,  of  Chicago.  He  owned  the 
entire  business  until  about  four  years  ago,  when 
he  sold  the  controlling  interest.  It  was  in  March, 
1857,  that  he  came  to  the  West  and  located  in 
Sycamore,  111.,  where  he  published  a  paper,  the 
Sycamore  True  Republican,  for  nine  years.  He 
then  sold  out  and  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he 
carried  on  a  job  printing-office  until  1874,  when 
he  bought  out  the  establishment  of  the  Pictorial 
Printing  Com  pan  y,  as  before  stated. 

On  the  5th  of  April,  1858,  Mr.  Bassett  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Betsey  M.  Shelton. 


One  child  has  been  born  to  them,  Kate  B.,  wife 
of  Charles  L.  Washburn,  of  Hinsdale.  They 
have  one  son,  Edgar  B. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Bassett  was  a  supporter  of 
the  Republican  party,  but  is  now  independent  in 
his  political  views.  In  1887  he  removed  to  Hins- 
dale, where  he  makes  his  home,  but  still  does 
business  in  Chicago.  He  also  has  in  Hinsdale 
the  largest  greenhouses  to  be  found  in  the  West, 
does  an  extensive  business  in  this  line,  and  em- 
ploys a  large  number  of  men.  When  he  began 
business  in  Sycamore  he  had  110  capital  and  bought 
his  outfit  on  credit,  but  he  has  steadily  worked 
his  way  upward,  and  the  business  of  the  Chicago 
Pictorial  Printing  Company  has  at  times  amounted 
to  $1,000  per  day.  The  company  is  well  known 
throughout  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  . 
also  in  parts  of  Australia  and  South  America,  and 
its  success  is  due  in  a  large  measure  to  the  untir- 
ing efforts  and  good  management  of  Mr.  Bassett. 
He  is  a  genial  and  pleasant  gentleman,  is  very 
popular,  makes  friends  wherever  he  goes,  and  is 
justly  deserving  of  the  high  regard  in  which  he 
is  held. 


JAMES  ORRA  CLIFFORD. 


(TAMES  ORRA  CLIFFORD  was  born  Decem- 
I  ber  8,  1856,  at  Salem,  Kenosha  County, 
G/  Wis. ,  being  the  son  of  Emery  and  Mary  Jane 
(Osgood)  Clifford.  He  comes  of  English  ances- 
try, and  his  forefathers  were  among  the  early  set- 
tlers of  the  New  England  States.  His  paternal 
grandparents,  John  and  Nancy  (Ray)  Clifford, 
were  born  in  New  Hampshire.  They  afterward 
settled  at  Collins,  Erie  County,  N.  Y.  They  were 
the  parents  of  eleven  children.  Emery,  the  sev- 
enth of  these,  was  born  at  Collins,  Erie  County, 
N.  Y.,  October  21,  1832.  In  the  year  1846  his 
parents  removed  from  New  York  and  settled  near 


Salem,  Kenosha  County,  Wis.  His  maternal 
grandparents,  John  Sherman  and  Jane  (Orvis) 
Osgood,  were  natives  of  Brookline,  Windham 
Count}',  Vt.  They  were  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren. Mary  Jane,  the  eldest,  was  born  at  Brook- 
line,  Windham  County,  Vt.,  November  30,  1838. 
In  the  fall  of  1851  they  removed  from  Vermont, 
settling  on  a  farm  near  Salem,  Kenosha  County, 
Wis. 

Emery  Clifford  and  Mary  Jane  Osgood  were 
married  at  Salem,  Kenosha  County,  Wis.,  on 
February  8,  1856.  They  settled  on  a  farm  near 
Salem,  Wis.,  where  their  four  children  were  born. 


274 


J.  O.  CLIFFORD. 


Emery  Clifford  enlisted  in  the  First  Wisconsin 
Heavy  Artillery,  Company  L,  and  was  stationed 
at  Arlington  Heights,  near  Washington,  D.  C., 
guarding  the  United  States  capital  until  the  close 
of  the  civil  war,  after  which  he  returned  and  was 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until  the  autumn 
of  1874,  when  he  sold  his  farm  and  removed  to 
Delmar,  Clinton  County,  Iowa,  where  he  still  re- 
sides. Of  his  four  children,  James  O.  is  the  eld- 
est. Jennie  O.  resides  with  her  parents.  Lurie 
E.  died  unmarried  in  1882;  and  Gay  Emery,  the 
youngest,  is  married  and  resides  at  Arthur,  Ida 
County,  Iowa,  where  he  is  the  manager  of  a  lum- 
ber-yard. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  entered  the  public 
(country)  schools  at  the  age  of  eight  years.  From 
the  age  of  eleven  he  was  employed  in  assisting  his 
father  with  the  farm  work  during  the  summer,  and 
attending  school  in  the  winter,  until  the  summer 
of  1873,  at  which  time  he  left  home,  going  to 
Delmar,  Clinton  County,  Iowa,  where  he  entered 
the  railway  service  as  a  messenger  boy  and  ap- 
prentice under  his  uncle  by  marriage,  William  E. 
Roberts,  who  was  agent  for  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railway  Company  at  that  station.  Here, 
during  the  following  year  until  October,  he  learned 
telegraphy  and  the  duties  of  a  station  agent 
generally,  and  has  since  been  in  the  employ  of 
the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway  Company 
consecutively,  as  follows:  October,  1874,  to  Au 
gust,  1880,  at  various  stations  on  the  Iowa  Divis- 
ion as  telegraph  operator  and  agent.  In  August, 
1880,  while  he  was  stationed  at  Montour,  Iowa, 
he  was  appointed  to  the  position  of  Traveling 
Auditor.  In  this  capacity  he  traveled  over  the 
entire  Northwestern  System.  On  November  7, 
1887,  he  was  appointed  Freight  Auditor  of  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway ;  Fremont,  Elk- 
horn  &  Missouri  Valley,  and  Sioux  &  Pacific 
Railroads,  with  office  at  Chicago,  which  position 
he  holds  at  the  present  time.  His  long  continu- 
ance in  this  position,  where  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  intricacies  of  railway  accounting,  sys- 
tematic supervision,  and  accuracy  in  every  detail, 
are  essential,  attests  his  executive  ability  and 
faithfulness.  His  management  in  business  affairs 
is  characterized  by  a  progressive  spirit,  seeking 


improved  methods  and  higher  efficiency  in  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  his  chosen  profession.  In  har- 
mony with  this  idea  he  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Association  of  American  Railway  Accounting  Of- 
ficers since  its  organization,  having  always  taken 
an  active  and  influential  part  in  its  deliberations, 
and  having  been  honored  by  his  fellow-members 
with  the  office  of  Vice-President  of  the  Associa- 
tion. 

On  November  7,  1883,  Mr.  Clifford  married 
Miss  May  Elizabeth  Dannatt,  who  was  born  at 
Low  Moor,  Iowa,  June  25,  1859,  and  who  is  a 
daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Jane  (Cortis)  Dannatt, 
natives  of  Lincolnshire  and  Yorkshire,  England, 
respectively.  In  1851  her  grandfather,  Samuel 
Dannatt,  came  from  England  and  purchased  five 
thousand  acres  of  land  in  Clinton  County,  Iowa, 
giving  to  the  location  the  name  of  his  old  home  in 
England,  and  to  his  residence  the  name  of  Kill- 
inghome  Hall,  after  his  English  estate.  They 
resided  at  Clinton,  Iowa,  until  October,  1885,  at 
which  time  they  removed  to  Wheaton,  111.,  where 
they  now  occupy  a  pleasant  home  on  Main  Street, 
corner  of  Franklin.  To  them  have  been  given 
five  children.  Grace  Edith  was  born  at  Clinton, 
Iowa,  February  i,  1885.  The  other  four  were 
born  at  Wheaton,  DuPage  County,  111. — Lewis 
Dannatt  on  April  17,  1886;  Oliveon  JuneS,  1887; 
Marshall  Emery  on  February  26,  1892;  and  Alice 
on  April  8,  1893.  Mr.  Clifford  has  served  two 
terms  in  the  City  Council  of  Wheaton  as  represen- 
tative of  the  ward  in  which  he  lives,  having  de- 
clined further  honors  in  that  direction. 

Mr.  Clifford  possesses  a  fine  physique,  and  has 
the  easy,  cordial  bearing  which  makes  and  retains 
friendships.  He  is  of  a  social  disposition  and  is 
prominently  identified  with  numerous  fraternal 
orders,  among  which  may  be  named  the  Masonic, 
Knights  of  Pythias,  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 
ica and  National  Union.  He  attends  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  in  which  Mrs.  Clifford  is  a  com- 
municant, and  gives  his  political  fealty  to  the 
Republican  party.  Mrs.  Clifford  is  a  refined  and 
amiable  lady,  who  presides  over  their  pleasant 
home  with  easy  grace,  and  aids  her  husband  in 
making  it  a  hospitable  and  attractive  abode. 


THEODORE  HUBBARD. 


275 


DR.  THEODORE  HUBBARD. 


0R.  THEODORE  HUBBARD,  the  first 
Postmaster  of  Babcock's  Grove,  and  a  prom- 
inent citizen  of  Cook  County,  was  born 
in  Putney,  Vt. ,  October  19,  1803,  and  died  in 
Chicago,  February  i,  1873.  His  parents  were 
Theodore  and  Dorothy  (Wilson)  Hubbard.  The 
family  is  descended  from  Edmund  Hubbard,  who 
was  born  in  Hingham,  England,  about  1570,  and 
crossed  the  Atlantic  to  Charlestown,  Mass.,  in 
1633.  He  died  in  Hingham,  Mass.,  March  8, 
1646.  One  of  his  sons,  Rev.  Peter  Hubbard,  a 
dissenting  clergyman,  founded  the  oldest  church 
now  in  existence  in  the  United  States,  located  at 
Hingham.  He  died  there  January  20,  1679,  in 
the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  fifty- 
second  year  of  his  ministry.  He  was  a  graduate 
of  Magdalen  College,  of  Cambridge,  England. 
Among  Edmund  Hubbard's  descendants  are  num- 
bered many  eminent  judges,  ministers  and  educa- 
tors, and  the  present  Earl  of  Buckinghamshire, 
England,  is  a  descendant  of  the  same  family.  The 
Hobarts,  or  Huberts,  of  England  came  from  Nor- 
mandy during  the  reign  of  William  the  Conqueror. 
The  earliest  known  record  of  the  family  locates 
them  near  Dieppe,  Normandy,  in  1198.  They 
were  a  baronial  family  in  Norfolk,  England,  where 
John  Hobart  resided  in  1260.  One  of  his  de- 
scendants, James  Hobart,  was  made  a  Knight  of 
the  Sword  by  Henry  VII.  in  1504.  They  were 
created  baronets  in  1611.  Our  subject  repre- 
sented the  eighth  generation  in  America.  The 
names  of  his  progenitors  in  direct  line  were  Ed- 
mund, Thomas,  Caleb,  Benjamin,  Peter,  Sr., 
Peter,  Jr.,  and  Theodore. 

Peter  Hubbard,  Sr.,  died  near  Ft.  William  Hen- 
ry during  the  French  and  Indian  War,  of  wounds 
received  in  that  service.  His  son  was  an  Ensign 
in  a  New  Hampshire  company  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  The  father  of  our  subject  was 
born  in  Keene,  N.  H.,  October  25,  1774,  and 


died  in  Hartford,  Vt.,  February  15,  1814.  His 
wife  died  at  Babcock's  Grove,  July  16,  1840,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-seven  years. 

Doctor  Hubbard  was  the  fourth  in  their  family 
of  seven  children.  He  was  married  November 
25,  1828,  to  Anne  Ward  Ballou,  who  was  born 
December  29,  1809,  in  Deerfield,  near  Utica,  N. 
Y. ,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Ebenezer  and  Marana 
(Ward)  Ballou.  The  Ward  fataily  has  an  ex- 
tensive genealogical  history,  which  can  be  traced 
back  to  1 1 30.  The  name  is  derived  from  '  'Gar' ' 
or  "Garde."  Ralph  de Gar,  ordelaWarde,  flour- 
ished in  Norfolk,  England,  at  the  time  of  Henry 
II. 

Returning  to  the  personal  history  of  Dr.  Hub- 
bard, we  note  that  he  settled  in  Chicago  May  21, 
1836,  and  about  a  year  later  went  to  DuPage 
County,  pre-empting  a  farm  near  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Glen  Ellyn.  A  few  years  later  he  was 
made  the  first  Postmaster  of  Babcock's  Grove, 
keeping  the  office  in  his  house  and  bringing  the 
mail  from  Bloomingdale  on  horseback.  In  1851, 
he  returned  to  Chicago,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  medicine  until  his  death.  He  had  pre- 
viously studied  for  the  ministry,  but  later  entered 
the  medical  profession,  and  as  a  physician  se- 
cured a  liberal  patronage.  He  also  had  an  ex- 
tensive knowledge  of  law,  and  was  a  man  of  more 
than  ordinary  intellectual  ability,  although  he 
had  little  opportunity  for  education  while  a  boy. 
For  several  years  he  served  as  County  Commis- 
sioner of  DuPage  County. 

Of  the  children  of  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Hubbard, 
Augustus,  a  civil  engineer,  died  in  Amboy, 
111.,  in  April,  1865.  Carlos,  manager  of  a  wagon 
factory,  died  in  Chicago  at  the  age  of  forty  years. 
Oscar  died  in  Groesbeck,  Tex.,  in  April,  1877; 
Adolphus,  who  was  the  founder  of  the  Sons  ol  the 
American  Revolution  in  1879,  is  now  connected 
with  the  California  University  of  San  Francisco, 


276 


NATHAN  DYE. 


and  is  a  member  of  many  historical  societies.  Ed- 
ward Clarence,  who  '^as  a  prominent  attorney  of 
Hartford,  Ky.,  died  in  Chicago,  June  27,  1887, 
at  the  age  of  forty-four  years.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Thirteenth  Illinois  Infantry  during  the 
late  war.  Enlisting  April  21,  1 86 1,  he  was  dis- 
charged June  1 8,  ^864,  after  having  participated 
in  the  battles  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  Arkansas  Post, 
Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  siege  of 
Vicksburg,  and  other  engagements.  Ellen,  who 
died  soon  after  aer  graduation  from  the  Chicago 
High  School,  pnd  Laura  complete  the  family. 

Mr.  Hubbard  was  a  life-long  Democrat,  but  all 
of  his  sons  sup  port  the  Republican  party.  In  his  re- 
ligious views  he  was  a  Universalist.  Of  the  first 
Masonic  lodge  of  Chicago  he  was  a  charter  mem- 
ber and  was  made  an  honorary  member  previous 


to  his  death.  Prominent  in  public  and  business  af- 
fairs, he  was  an  honored  and  highly  respected 
citizen,  who  for  many  years  was  connected  with 
the  leading  interests  of  Chicago.  His  skill  and 
ability  as  a  physician  won  him  an  enviable  repu- 
tation, and  he  was  widely  known  as  a  man  of  ster- 
ling worth.  Mrs.  Hubbard  is  an  honorary  mem- 
ber of  Chicago  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the 
American  Revolution,  and  is  honorary  Vice- Pres- 
ident of  the  Daughters  of  1812.  She  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Historic  Council,  which  was  estab- 
lished to  keep  alive  the  memories  of  the  men  who 
gave  liberty  and  fraternity  to  the  western  world. 
She  now  resides  in  Glen  Ellyn  with  her  daughter 
Laura,  who  is  a  lady  of  intelligence  and  refine- 
ment, and  a  corresponding  member  of  the  Chi- 
cago Historical  Society. 


PROF.  NATHAN  DYE. 


.  NATHAN  DYE.  No  mention  of  the 
LX  musical  fabric  of  Chicago  and  the  West  can 
1$  be  considered  complete  without  a  notice  of 
Professor  Dye,  who  was  endeared  to  many  of  the 
early  families  of  Chicago.  A  man  who  attained 
the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-three  years,  he  was 
beloved  by  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
He  was  a  pioneer  in  his  chosen  profession,  and 
taught  both  vocal  and  instrumental  music  in 
three  generations  of  some  families.  One  of  the 
secrets  of  his  great  success  lay  in  his  love  of  the 
divine  art,  and  his  ability  to  so  simplify  his  meth- 
ods as  to  bring  them  within  the  grasp  of  almost 
infantile  minds. 

Nathan  Dye  was  born  in  the  town  of  De  Ruy- 
ter,  Madison  County,  New  York,  June  30,  1808, 
and  lived  on  the  homestead  farm  until  he  was 
sixteen  years  of  age.  The  country  schoolhouse 
was  a  mile  and  a-half  away,  and  the  boy  attend- 
ed school  half  of  each  year  from  the  age  of  seven 
to  ten  years,  helping  on  the  farm  during  the  in- 
tervals, as  was  customary  with  lads  of  his  time. 


After  this,  he  had  but  three  months'  schooling, 
although  always  a  student.  When  he  was  twelve 
years  of  age,  he  met  with  an  accident  which 
caused  a  lameness  from  which  he  never  entirely 
recovered.  He  was  married,  in  1833,  to  Miss 
Lucy  Maria  Kinyon,  of  Milan,  New  York,  and 
four  years  later  they  removed  to  Kenosha,  Wis- 
consin, then  called  Pike  Creek,  and  later  South- 
port. 

A  few  years  after  coming  West,  Mr.  Dye  deter- 
mined to  devote  his  life  wholly  to  music,  which 
had  hitherto  employed  but  a  portion  of  his  time 
and  energy.  In  1844116  introduced  his  induct- 
ive method  of  teaching  in  Milwaukee,  Wiscon- 
sin, by  giving  a  series  of  concerts  there  with  a 
class  of  his  Kenosha  pupils.  He  continued  to 
teach  in  Milwaukee,  with  pronounced  success,  un- 
til 1848,  when  he  settled  permanently  in  Chicago. 
His  phenomenal  power  of  teaching  children  to 
read  music  at  sight  attracted  wide  attention.  For 
years  his  classes,  both  adult  and  juvenile,  were 
a  prominent  feature  of  the  musical  world  of  Chi- 


NATHAN  DYE. 


277 


cago  and  adjacent  cities.  A  part  of  his  life  work 
which  is  full  of  beautiful  memories  was  that  con- 
nected with  those  of  his  pupils  whom  he  assisted 
in  the  development  of  musical  powers  that  must 
have  remained  dormant  but  for  this  generous  and 
kindly  teacher.  How  many  were  placed  in  con- 
dition of  self-support  along  the  line  indicated  by 
nature's  gift,  only  their  helper  knew.  Several 
of  Professor  Dye's  pupils  made  brilliant  reputa- 
tions on  the  lyric  stage  and  in  great  oratorios. 
He  numbered  in  his  early  classes  some  of  Chica- 
go's most  prominent  citizens.  The  well-known 
comic  opera  singer,  Lillian  Russell,  first  started 
on  her  musical  career  under  his  tutelage.  In  the 
spring  of  1880  the  Professor  was  tendered  a  tes- 
timonial and  complimentary  benefit  concert  at 
Central  Music  Hall,  which  his  old  friends  and 
pupils  made  a  great  success. 

In  November,  1843,  ^e  was  bereaved  by  the 
death  of  his  wife,  which  occurred  in  Kenosha, 
and  a  year's  illness  followed  this  sad  blow.  The 
loss  was  somewhat  compensated  by  the  survival 
of  his  three  children  for  many  years  thereafter. 

His  only  son,  Byron  E.  Dye,  died  at  Paola, 
Kansas  in  September,  1883,  and  his  remains  were 
taken  to  Kansas  City  for  burial.  His  daughters 
are  Harriet  A.  and  Frances  E.,  of  Chicago,  the 
former  being  the  wife  of  N.  Buschwah,  and  the 
latter  the  wife  of  Gen.  C.  T.  Hotchkiss,  who  won 
his  title  in  the  Civil  War.  This  sketch  is  penned 
in  loving  memory  of  Professor  Dye  by  Mrs.  Hotch- 
kiss. In  1855  Professor  Dye  married  Miss  Cor- 
delia A.  Hamlin,  daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  E.  H. 
Hamlin,  once  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
of  Chicago.  Twin  sons  were  born  of  this  union. 

After  thirty-five  years  of  happy  wedded  life, 
they  were  separated  by  death  only  two  months, 
her  demise  occurring  first.  He  passed  away  July 
30,  1891,  at  his  home,  383  Park  Avenue.  He 
had  been  an  invalid  about  seventeen  months, 
though  his  final  illness  was  a  severe  attack  of 
pneumonia,  which  his  great  age  made  resistless. 
His  funeral  took  place  Sunday,  August  2,  at  Cen- 
tral Music  Hall,  and  his  remains  were  interred 
in  the  family  lot  at  Kenosha,  beside  those  of  his 
first  wife.  The  funeral  services  were  conducted 
by  Rev.  Thomas  G.  Milsted,  of  the  First  Unita- 


rian Church  of  Chicago,  assisted  by  Mrs.  Emma 
J.  Bullene,  a  trance  speaker  and  an  old  pupil  of 
Professor  Dye. 

Professor  Dye  was  an  advanced  thinker  in  the 
line  of  religious  conviction,  investigating  fear- 
lessly and  impartially  new  theories,  and  listening 
gladly  to  the  presentation  of  truth,  as  seen  by 
Christian  or  unbeliever.  He  accepted  the  tenets 
of  spiritualism,  after  the  most  careful  and  can- 
did research,  finding  satisfaction  in  its  teachings 
as  given  by  the  scientific  writers  in  that  line  of 
thought.  He  was  a  great  admirer  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Thomas,  in  whose  discourses  he  found  much  food 
for  reflection. 

Professor  Dye  was  a  descendant  of  old  Revolu- 
tionary stock,  and  imbibed  the  love  of  liberty 
with  his  earliest  breath.  It  is  not  strange,  there- 
fore, that  he  was  identified  with  the  earliest  Aboli- 
tion movement,  and  labored  unflinchingly  for  the 
emancipation  of  the  colored  man.  Fifteen  mem- 
bers of  the  Dye  family  served  in  the  Continental 
army,  several  of  them  being  officers.  Among 
the  number  was  Gen.  Thomas  Dye,  a  personal 
friend  of  Washington  and  La  Fayette,  who  were 
often  entertained  at  his  house  in  Bergen,  New 
Jersey,  during  the  memorable  winter  of  1777-78. 
Daniel  Dye,  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
biography,  endured  the  horrors  of  that  winter  at 
the  Valley  Forge  encampment,  his  feet  being 
swathed  in  rags  for  protection.  He  often  related 
reminiscences  of  the  privations  endured  by  him- 
self and  comrades  at  that  time.  At  one  time  a 
number  of  British  officers  visited  General  Wash- 
ington under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  such  was  the 
destitution  prevailing  in  the  camp  that  the  only 
refreshment  he  was  able  to  offer  them  consisted 
of  baked  potatoes  and  salt,  which  were  served  on 
pieces  of  bark,  in  lieu  of  plates.  Daniel  Dye 
was  born  in  Kent  County,  Connecticut,  February 
10,  1744.  He  enlisted  in  Captain  Beardsley's 
company,  Seventh  Regiment  of  the  Connecticut 
Line,  May  28,  1777,  and  was  under  command  of 
Col.  Heman  Sift.  He  was  discharged  from  that 
company  February  17,  1778.  Prior  to  entering 
the  regular  service,  he  was  a  member  of  Captain 
Fuller's  company  of  militia,  and  did  duty  in  the 
New  York  campaign  of  1776.  He  was  the  father 


278 


THOMAS  TAGNEY. 


of  eight  children,  the  eldest  of  whom  was  John 
P.  Dye,  born  May  9,  1768.  About  1791  he 
moved  from  Connecticut  to  western  New  York. 
His  wife's  name  was  Sally  Rhodes,  and  Nathan 
was  the  tenth  of  their  eleven  children. 

Professor  Dye  was  a  member  of  the  old  Tippe- 
canoe  Club,  and  ever  maintained  the  principles 


upon  which  that  organization  was  founded.  He 
was  always  thoroughly  posted  on  current  political 
events  and  matters  of  historical  interest.  Every 
movement  looking  toward  the  moral  and  physical 
uplifting  of  humanity  in  general  received  his 
cordial  support  and  commendation. 


THOMAS  TAGNEY. 


"HOMAS  TAGNEY,  whose  death  occurred 
on  the  seventh  day  of  September,  1894,  a* 
897  Seminary  Avenue,  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Chicago,  having  first  .visited  this  city 
in  1836,  nearly  sixty  years  ago.  He  was  a  native 
of  Sheffield,  England,  born  May  15,  1818.  His 
father,  Thomas  Tagney,  was  a  musician  in  the 
British  army,  as  was  also  one  of  his  brothers.  In 
1833  the  elder  Tagney  migrated  with  his  family 
to  Canada,  where  he  taught  music,  in  which  he 
was  very  proficient,  for  several  years.  The  family 
afterward  returned  to  England,  but  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  preferred  to  remain  in  this  country, 
and  continued  for  a  short  time  with  his  uncle  in 
Canada.  Young  Tagney  was  of  a  restless  and 
roaming  disposition,  and  desired  to  see  other  parts 
of  the  world.  He  accordingly  went  into  the 
Southern  States,  and  was  engaged  on  different 
plantations  in  Alabama  and  Louisiana,  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  New  Orleans,  for  several  years.  Al- 
though only  a  boy  in  his  teens  at  the  time  he 
went  there,  he  rapidly  acquired  knowledge  that 
enabled  him  to  direct  plantation  work,  and  he  be- 
came an  overseer.  In  this  employment  he  earned 
good  wages,  a  large  portion  of  which  he  managed 
to  save. 

Abandoning  that  life  in  1836,  he  came  direct  to 
Chicago,  with  a  small  fortune,  which  he  invested 
in  North  Side  property.  Two  lots,  143  and  145 
Illinois  Street,  for  which  he  paid  $600,  he  still 


had  in  his  possession  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  their  value  had  increased  to  twenty-five  thou- 
sand. For  several  years  Mr.  Tagney  was  a  steam- 
boat engineer,  and  sailed  all  over  the  Lakes,  from 
Buffalo  to  Duluth  On  retiring  from  the  lake 
service  he  settled  at  Muskegon,  Michigan,  where 
he  resided  'five  years,  and  was  engaged  as  engi- 
neer in  the  sawmill  there.  Returning  again  to 
Chicago,  he  engaged  as  mechanical  engineer  in 
the  employ  of  the  Fulton  &  St.  Paul  Grain  Ele- 
vators. He  superintended  the  construction  of  the 
former  (first  known  as  Munn  &  Gill's  Elevator), 
both  in  its  original  construction  and  when  rebuilt 
in  1873.  He  was  continuously  in  the  employ  of 
this  elevator  company  for  thirty-three  years,  a 
testimony  to  his  regular  habits,  ability  and  devo- 
tion to  the  interests  of  his  employers. 

At  the  time  of  the  great  fire  in  Chicago,  in  187 1 , 
Mr.  Tagney  owned  houses  and  lots  on  Illinois, 
Indiana  and  Wells  Streets,  which,  of  course,  were 
consumed  by  the  element  which  devastated  the 
entire  North  Side.  But  he  had  great  confidence 
in  Chicago,  and  within  three  months  rebuilt  the 
Illinois  Street  property,  selling  the  other;  this 
property  being  the  first  house  rebuilt.  In  the 
year  1885,  having  spent  the  greater  part  of  a  long 
life  in  active,  arduous  and  useful  labors,  Mr.  Tag- 
ney retired  from  business  and  moved  to  L,ake 
View,  where  he  remained  until  his  death.  In 
his  later  years  he  bought  residence  property  on 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


ALONZO  J.  CUTLER 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


A.  J.  CUTLER. 


279 


Fletcher,  Baxter,  North  Halsted  Streets  and  Lin- 
coln Avenue.  In  1847  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Alice  Steele,  daughter  of  Hugh  and  Mary  Steele. 
She  was  bora  in  May,  1828,  in  Canada,  to  which 
country  her  parents  had  immigrated  from  the 
North  of  Ireland,  and  died  in  Chicago  on  the  7th  of 
August,  1892,  aged  sixty-four  years.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Tagney  were  the  parents  of  seven  children, 
of  whom  five  grew  to  maturity.  Henry  Thomas, 
the  eldest,  was  an  engineer  by  profession,  and 
succeeded  to  the  place  made  vacant  by  his  father 
in  the  Fulton  Elevator.  He  married  Miss  Ella 
Moore,  and  died  in  1893,  leaving  a  widow  and 
three  children,  Henry  T.,  George  and  Effie. 

The  second  son,  James  William,  is  a  sign-paint- 
er, and  resides  on  Lincoln  Avenue  in  Chicago. 
February  27,  1872,  he  married  Miss  Kate  Casey, 
a  native  of  County  Cork,  Ireland,  daughter  of 
Dennis  and  Mary  Casey.  They  have  four  liv- 
ing children,  Thomas,  Charles,  Harry  and  Alice 
Marion.  Alice  Jane,  the  third  child,  was  married, 
in  1873,  to  William  Young,  and  now  has  two 
children.  Hugh,  the  elder,  is  a  salesman,  and 
William,  the  younger  son,  is  an  artist.  Mrs. 
Young  conducts  a  prosperous  business  on  Diver- 
sey  Street.  John  E.  is  an  engineer.  He  married 


Ada  Weinberg,  and  has  three  children,  Willie, 
Charles  and  Nellie.  Charles  S.,  the  youngest  son 
of  Thomas  Tagney,  is  now  engaged  in  the  livery 
business.  He  was  married,  February'  18,  1893,  to 
Miss  Hilda  Anderson,  a  native  of  Sweden;  they 
have  one  child,  an  infant. 

Mr.  Tagney  was  one  of  those  men  whose  busy, 
but  quiet,  lives  have  been  spent  in  the  upbuild- 
ing of  the  great  city  of  Chicago,  and  in  the  ac- 
cumulation of  wealth  for  his  posterity.  He  was 
a  man  whose  temperate  life  and  intensely  domestic 
characteristics  were  fit  patterns  for  imitation  of 
those  who  succeed  him.  His  disposition  was 
quiet  and  undemonstrative,  but  his  impulses  were 
generous,  and  he  never  refused  aid  to  the  needy. 
In  politics  he  was  a  Democrat,  supporting  the 
men  whom  he  deemed  best  qualified  for  the  offices 
which  they  sought,  but  never  asking  for  place  for 
himself.  In  his  early  life  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  Church,  but  in  his  later  years  he  cher- 
ished liberal  ideas.  In  his  investments  he  was 
fortunate,  in  his  domestic  life  happy,  always  pro- 
viding for  his  wife  and  children  a  comfortable  and 
pleasant  home.  His  sterling  qualities  of  head 
and  heart  attracted  to  him  many  friends,  who  are 
left  to  mourn  his  departure  from  their  midst. 


ALONZO  J.  CUTLER. 


GlLONZO  J.  CUTLER  is  widely  known  as 
I  I  one  of  the  most  daring  and  successful  brok- 
/  |  ers  operating  upon  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Trade.  His  transactions  are  distinguished  by  a 
display  of  exceptional  judgment,  discretion  and 
foresight,  which  causes  his  movements  to  be 
watched  and  commented  upon  by  the  whole  field 
of  speculators  and  investors.  It  is  a  notable  fact 
that  the  men  who  have  made  and  retained  fort- 
unes on  the  Board  of  Trade  were  all  of  a  kind 
especially  endowed  with  the  trading  instinct,  or 


'  made  wise  in  the  school  of  experience;  and  Mr. 
Cutler  can  justly  be  classed  under  both  these 
heads.  Every  move  made  by  him  is  carefully 
calculated  and  planned,  and  all  his  financial  ar- 
rangements are  faithful  to  well-grounded  princi- 
ples of  business. 

Mr.  Cutler  first  came  to  Chicago  in  the  spring 
of  1869,  being  then  but  seventeen  years  of  age. 
His  cash  capital  at  that  time  consisted  of  about 
$20,  but  this  lack  of  means  was  abundantly  com- 
pensated for  by  brains,  pluck  and  energy,  and  he 


280 


A.  J.  CUTLER. 


immediately  set  about  the  task  of  bettering  his 
financial  condition.  With  that  end  in  view,  he 
vigorously  applied  himself  to  the  first  employment 
which  presented  itself.  This  was  the  position  of 
driver  of  a  wagon  for  the  Singer  Sewing-Machine 
Company.  A  few  weeks'  experience  in  this  ca- 
pacity demonstrated  his  capability  for  employ- 
ment demanding  more  skill  and  acumen,  and 
within  a  few  months  he  was  promoted  to  the  po- 
sition of  head  salesman  of  the  Chicago  agency. 
It  was  not  long  before  he  was  dealing  in  sewing- 
machines  at  wholesale,  and  in  a  single  year 
cleared  over  $5,00x3  in  this  way.  Such  a  prac- 
tical demonstration  of  business  ability  and  apti- 
tude for  trade  could  not  fail  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  live  business  men,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1883  O.  H.  Roche,  the  well-known  Board  of 
Trade  operator,  suggested  to  him  that  his  trading 
talents  would  find  a  more  extended  field  in  spec- 
ulation. Other  friends  pointed  out  the  dangers 
and  hazards,  and  advised  him  to  persevere  in  his 
previous  line  of  business. 

But  Mr.  Cutler  had  abundant  confidence  in  his 
own  powers,  and,  after  a  brief  consideration,  re- 
solved to  enter  the  speculative  field,  as  a  more 
congenial  and  speedy  method  of  gaining  a  compe- 
tence. He  soon  became  an  active  trader  in  the 
capacity  of  broker  for  Mr.  Roche,  for  whom  he 
has  ever  entertained  the  highest  respect,  and 
whom  he  regards  as  his  preceptor  in  the  specula- 
tive field. 

When  Mr.  Roche  retired  from  business  the  fol- 
lowing year,  Mr.  Cutler  opened  a  brokerage  office 
for  himself,  and  his  rise  has  been  steady  and  not 
less  remarkable  than  that  of  the  renowned  Ed 
Pardridge,  whom  he  has  actively  represented  in 
many  great  deals.  But  he  has  an  outside  busi- 
ness of  his  own,  and  numbers  customers  by  the 
score,  who  have  the  utmost  confidence  in  his 
judgment,  integrity  and  ability.  One  of  the  most 
active  traders  on  the  Board,  Mr.  Cutler  is  always 
in  the  thick  of  the  crowd  when  there  is  any  ex- 
citement in  the  wheat  pit.  He  is  generally  known 
"on  "change"  as  "the  man  behind  Pardridge," 
and  his  natural  instinct  and  adaptability  as  a 
trader  have  made  his  success  no  less  remarkable 
than  that  of  the  great  speculator,  in  whose  service 


and  under  whose  tuition  his  peculiar  talents  have 
been  developed.  That  these  two  men,  being 
similarly  endowed  by  nature,  and  having  knowl- 
edge of  each  other's  abilities,  should  have  made  a 
record  unparalleled  in  successful  speculative  an- 
nals is  not  surprising.  Their  immense  daring 
and  successful  operations  have  become  a  part  of 
the  absorbing  and  wonderful  history  of  the  Chi- 
cago Board  of  Trade.  Some  of  their  boldly  and 
cleverly  executed  plans  have  evoked  the  admira- 
tion of  the  commercial  world.  The  appellation 
of  "plunger"  is  a  misnomer  when  applied  to 
either  of  this  pair,  for  the  reason  that  their  move- 
ments, upon  analysis  and  investigation,  appear 
plainly  to  be  the  results  of  the  most  carefully  laid 
plans  and  calculations.  None  of  their  deals  have 
been  reckless,  although  they  have  been  pro- 
nounced so  by  persons  not  familiar  with  the  inner 
details. 

Alonzo  J.  Cutler  was  born  at  Montpelier,  Ver- 
mont, March  24,  1852.  He  is  the  youngest  in 
the  family  of  four  children  born  to  David  W. 
Cutler  and  Maria  Marshall.  The  father,  who 
was  a  farmer  and  ice  dealer  at  Montpelier,  died 
of  typhoid  fever  during  the  infancy  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  who  was  afterward  placed  under 
the  guardianship  of  Elon  Hammond,  of  East 
Montpelier.  Owing  to  the  incompetence  and  mis- 
management of  this  guardian,  young  Cutler  was 
removed  to  the  charge  of  Hon.  Clark  King,  a 
prominent  farmer,  in  whose  home  he  remained 
until  about  sixteen  years  of  age.  Most  of  his 
education  was  obtained  by  attending  a  country 
school  in  winter,  and  his  first  money  was  earned 
by  working  as  a  farm  hand  at  $7  per  month.  Be- 
fore coming  West  he  spent  one  year  as  clerk  in 
the  Pavilion  Hotel  in  Montpelier,  but  becoming 
dissatisfied  with  the  irksomeness  of  this  position, 
which  consumed  nineteen  hours  per  day  of  his 
time,  he  resolved  to  seek  a  change  by  moving  to 
the  West. 

The  Cutler  family  in  America  is  of  English  de- 
scent. The  first  progenitor  of  A.  J.  Cutler  in 
America  was  John  Cutler,  Senior,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  have  come  from  Sprauston,  a  sub- 
urb of  Norwich,  England.  About  1637  he  set- 
tled at  Hingham,  Massachw  ;etts,  where  he  soon 


W.  O.  TYLER. 


281 


afterward  died,  leaving  a  widow  and  seven  chil- 
dren. He  and  his  immediate  posterity  furnish 
examples  of  the  typical  Puritan  character.  His 
fifth  son,  Thomas  Cutler,  who  was  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  died  at  Charlestown,  Massachusetts, 
in  1683.  The  next  in  the  line  of  descent  herein 
traced  was  Jonathan,  a  tailor  by  trade,  and  the 
generations  following  him  are  successively  repre- 
sented by  the  following  names:  David,  Jonathan, 
David,  and  David  W.,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  notice,  who  died  in  1854,  aged  thirty -nine 
years.  His  mother  was  Abigail,  daughter  of 
Daniel  Carroll,  of  Montpelier,  Vermont,  and  a 
niece  of  Charles  Carroll,  the  noted  statesman  of 
Carrollton,  Maryland. 

A.  J.  Cutler  was  married,  December  26,  1891, 
to  Jessie  Estelle,  daughter  of  O.  B.  Warner,  of 
Peoria,  Illinois.  This  lady  is  endowed  with  mu- 
sical and  elocutionary  powers  of  a  superior  order, 


and  is  the  mother  of  two  charming  children. 
They  are  named,  respectively,  E.  Warner  and 
Fanchon  T.  Mr.  Cutler  is  essentially  a  family 
man,  and,  when  able  to  leave  the  haunts  of  trade, 
finds  his  greatest  pleasure  in  the  attractions  fur- 
nished by  the  home  fireside.  He  is  not  connect- 
ed with  any  religious,  social  or  political  organi- 
zations of  importance,  but  always  votes  the  Re- 
publican ticket.  He  is  well  known  and  respected 
in  Vermont,  where  he  has  scores  of  warm  friends, 
who  admire  his  liberal  and  genial  disposition  as 
well  as  his  gift  for  making  a  trade.  Mr.  Cutler 
honors  his  Yankee  ancestors  by  exhibiting  the 
proverbial  New  England  thrift  and  shrewdness, 
and  is  abundantly  able  to  take  care  of  himself. 
In  the  course  of  his  transactions  it  is  no  rare  mat- 
ter for  him  to  handle  checks  representing  a  half- 
million  dollars. 


WARREN  O.  TYLER. 


fi>G|ARREN  OLIVER  TYLER.  Among  the 
I  A/  °iualifactions  which  are  essential  to  an  hon- 
V  V  orable  and  successful  business  career  may- 
be mentioned  physical  endurance,  sound  judg- 
ment, ready  decision,  unswerving  integrity,  patient 
application,  keen  foresight  and  prudent  and  reg- 
ular habits.  It  may  be  safely  asserted  that  the 
man  of  noteworthy  accomplishments  will  possess 
most,  if  not  all,  of  these  qualities,  and  while  some 
of  them  may  be  acquired  or  developed  by  the  im- 
mediate surroundings  and  conditions  to  which 
the  individual  has  been  subjected,  many  of  the 
most  essential  elements  of  his  character  may  be 
attributed  to  inheritance. 

Hence,  in  contemplating  the  personal  history 
of  the  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  notice, 


it  is  well  to  observe  that  his  ancestors  were 
among  the  early  and  substantial  colonists  of  New 
England,  to  whose  physical  vigor,  longevity 
and  integrity  of  character  the  present  generation 
is  indebted  for  the  founding  of  some  of  its  most 
cherished  institutions.  The  Tyler  family  was 
planted  in  America  by  several  brothers  of  that 
name  who  came  from  England  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  One  branch  of  this  family  settled  in 
Virginia,  and  among  its  descendants  was  John 
Tyler,  ninth  President  of  the  United  States. 
Another  branch  of  the  family  was  located  in 
Connecticut,  and  a  third  in  Vermont,  near  the 
Canadian  border,  where  for  several  successive 
generations  it  has  furnished  some  of  the  most 
useful  and  patriotic  citizens.  One  of  these  was 


282 


W.  O.  TYLER. 


David  Tyler,  a  man  of  sterling  virtues  and  noble 
impulses.  He  was  born  at  Cambridge,  Vermont, 
and  for  many  years  kept  hotel  at  Essex  Junction 
and  neighboring  places.  In  1864,  he  moved  to 
Chicago,  where  the  balance  of  his  days  was  spent, 
his  death  occurring  in  1886,  in  the  ninetieth  year 
of  his  age.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Clarissa  Butler,  died  in  1890,  in  the  seventy- 
fourth  year  of  her  age.  She  was  born  on  a  farm 
between  Essex  Center  and  Jericho,  Vermont. 
The  Butler  family  was  one  of  the  oldest  of  that 
commonwealth,  and,  like  the  Tyler  family,  of 
English  lineage.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tyler  had  six 
children  who  attained  mature  years.  Edwin  T. , 
of  Stevens  Point,  Wisconsin,  is  the  eldest,  and 
the  rest,  in  order,  are:  Warren  O. ;  Fred  C.  and 
Henry  W.,  dealers  in  paper  mill  supplies  in 
Chicago;  Frank  P.,  connected  with  the  Ameri- 
can Paper  Company;  Mattie  A.,  unmarried,  re- 
siding in  Chicago.  Besides  these,  Mr.  .David  Ty- 
ler had  a  daughter  by  a  previous  marriage, 
Amelia,  now  the  wife  of  G.  T.  Woodworth,  of 
Chicago.  The  members  of  this  family  are  con- 
spicuous for  their  domestic  harmony  and  marked 
fraternal  regard — several  of  their  number  having 
avoided  all  matrimonial  or  other  relations  likely 
to  interfere  therewith. 

Warren  O.  Tyler  was  born  at  Essex  Junction, 
Vermont,  March  3,  1844.  When  he  was  but 
seven  years  of  age,  the  family  received  a  visit 
from  an  aunt  of  the  lad,  by  whom  he  was  easily  in- 
duced to  return  with  her  to  Chicago.  He  was 
charmed  with  her  glowing  descriptions  of  the 
growing  metropolis  of  the  West  and  already 
longed  to  be  a  participant  in  the  activity  and 
development  which  were  there  going  on.  Upon 
his  arrival,  he  became  an  inmate  of  the  home  of 
his  uncle,  Mr.  O.  N.  Butler,  by  whom  he  was 
placed  at  school  in  the  village  of  St.  Charles,  Illi- 
nois. He  subsequently  returned  to  Vermont  and 
spent  three  years  in  his  father's  hotel.  He  had 
in  the  meantime  imbibed  too  much  of  the  spirit  of 
western  freedom  to  be  long  contented  in  the  nar- 
row limits  of  Vermont  semi-rural  life,  and  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  we  again  find  him  in  Chicago.  At 
that  time  he  entered  the  employ  of  Butler  & 
Hunt,  manufacturers  of  and  dealers  in  paper, 


then  located  at  No.  48  State  Street.  At  the  end 
of  five  years,  he  was  admitted  to  a  partnership 
in  the  concern  and  continued  to  be  identified 
therewith  for  a  period  of  twenty-five  years,  al- 
though the  name  of  the  firm  underwent  several 
changes  during  that  time  and  the  business  was 
subjected  to  disasters  and  vicissitudes  which 
would  have  discouraged  less  determined  men 
than  Mr.  Tyler  and  his  associates. 

In  1870,  the  greatest  conflagration  which  had 
visited  Chicago  up  to  that  time  occurred  on 
Wabash  Avenue.  The  loss  of  Laflin,  Butler  & 
Company  by  this  disaster  was  $88,000.  In  the 
great  fire  of  the  following  year,  the  firm,  then 
known  as  J.  W.  Butler  &  Company,  suffered  a 
loss  of  $455,000.  Only  a  small  percentage  of 
this  loss  was  recovered  from  the  insurance  com- 
panies. After  the  Wabash  Avenue  fire,  the  firm 
came  near  suffering  a  loss  of  its  books  by  the 
premature  opening  of  its  safe,  and,  warned  by  this 
experience,  in  the  second  instance  the  safe  was 
placed  upon  a  stoneboat  and  drawn  out  upon  the 
paririe  and  carefully  cooled  with  ice  before  being 
opened,  and  its  contents  were  thus  well  preserved. 
Nothing  daunted  by  the  catastrophies  which  had 
overtaken  it,  the  firm  immediately  re-engaged  in 
business,  which  continued  prosperously  for  many 
years.  Under  the  management  of  Mr.  Tyler,  a 
branch  establishment  was  opened  in  Milwaukee, 
known  as  the  Butler  Paper  Company,  afterwards 
succeeded  by  the  Standard  Paper  Company. 

In  1885,  Mr.  Tyler  retired  from  connection 
with  this  establishment  and  organized  the  Tyler 
Paper  Company,  of  which  he  became  the  Presi- 
dent. This  was  in  turn  succeeded  by  the  Calu- 
met Paper  Company,  and  he  disposed  of  his  inter- 
est therein  a  few  years  before  its  annihilation  by 
fire,  in  1893.  He  subsequently,  in  1889,  organ- 
ized the  American  Paper  Company,  of  which  he 
is  now  the  presiding  executive  officer,  and  which 
is  conducting  a  successful  and  growing  business. 
At  different  times,  he  has  been  a  stockholder  in 
several  paper  mills. 

Mr.  Tyler  attends  the  Episcopal  Church,  with 
which  his  parents  were  identified.  He  has  been 
a  lifelong  adherent  of  Republican  principles,  ful- 
filling his  duty  as  a  voter,  but  never  seeking  any 


w.  H.  ALSIP. 


283 


public  position.  He  has  always  been  a  model  of 
industry,  often  devoting  eighteen  hours  per  day 
to  his  business,  and  has  been  successful  in  the 
face  of  obstacles  which  would  appal  men  of  less 
resolution  and  perseverance.  The  history  of  his 


life  furnishes  an  additional  example  of  the  fact 
that  consistent  and  well-directed  effort  is  certain 
of  an  ultimate  reward,  a  principle  too  often  lost 
sight  of  in  the  modern  scramble  for  pelf. 


WILLIAM  H.  ALSIP. 


HENRY  ALSIP,  Secretary  and 
Treasurer  of  the  Alsip  Brick  Company, 
was  born  in  Prairie  du  Chien,  Wisconsin, 
January  23,  1858.  He  is  a  son  of  Frank  and 
Mary  Jane  Alsip.  The  former,  who  is  well 
known  as  one  of  the  leading  contractors  and  man- 
ufacturers of  the  West,  was  born  in  Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania,  and  began  to  learn  the  trade  of 
brick-making  at  that  place  at  the  age  of  twelve 
years.  He  subsequently  spent  two  or  three 
years  in  California,  and  in  1857  located  in  Prairie 
du  Chien.  He  established  extensive  brick  yards 
at  that  place  and  in  McGregor,  Iowa,  and  en- 
gaged in  contracting  and  building.  His  opera- 
tions extended  throughout  northern  Wisconsin, 
eastern  Iowa  and  southern  Minnesota.  The 
period  immediately  subsequent  to  the  great  Chi- 
cago fire  offered  an  immense  demand  for  building 
material  in  this  city,  and  Mr.  Alsip  was  one  of 
the  first  to  respond  to  the  demand.  He  removed 
his  entire  plant  to  the  vicinity  of  Chicago,  where 
he  has  ever  since  had  his  headquarters.  He  has 
become  identified  with  several  large  brick  manu- 
facturing concerns,  and  is  recognized  as  one  of 
the  leading  brick  makers  of  the  world.  The 
product  of  the  Alsip  brick  yards  has  been  used  in 
the  construction  of  many  of  the  principal  build- 
ings of  Chicago,  including  the  Masonic  Temple, 
Great  Northern  Hotel  and  the  Grand  Central 
Station . 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  most  of  his 


boyhood  in  McGregor,  Iowa,  where  the  founda- 
tion of  his  education  was  laid  in  the  public  schools. 
He  afterward  attended  the  Chicago  High  School, 
and  in  1880  he  graduated  from  the  University  of 
Chicago,  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 
Two  years  later  he  graduated  from  the  Union 
College  of  Law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar. 

He  began  his  business  career  as  foreman  of  the 
Hayt  &  Alsip  brick  yards,  at  Thirty-ninth  and 
Robey  Streets,  filling  that  position  for  three  years. 
In  1885,  in  company  with  his  father,  he  built  the 
Lincoln  Street  brick  yards,  and  when  the  Alsip 
Brick  Company  was  incorporated — two  years 
later — he  became -its  Secretary  and  Treasurer, 
which  position  he  still  occupies,  having  almost 
exclusive  charge  of  the  office  work.  The  com- 
pany, which  is  composed  of  Frank  Alsip,  William 
H.  Alsip  and  Frank  B.  Alsip,  now  operates  four 
extensive  brick  yards  and  furnishes  employment 
to  about  five  hundred  men.  The  business  has 
been  constantly  increasing,  and  is  recognized  as 
one  of  the  largest  in  that  line.  The  output 
ranges  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  millions  per  day. 

Mr.  Alsip  was  married  on  the  3oth  of  Septem- 
ber, 1887,  to  Marcella  Cusak,  daughter  of  Mrs. 
Joan  Cusak,  of  Chicago.  Mrs.  Alsip  was  born  in 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  and  has  presented  her  hus- 
band with  two  children — William  Henry  and 
Virginia.  Mr.  Alsip  is  a  member  of  the  Lincoln 
Street  Methodist  Church,  and  is  identified  with 


284 


JOHN  MORRIS. 


the  Illinois  and  Union  League  Clubs.  He  also 
holds  membership  with  the  Royal  League  and 
Royal  Arcanum.  For  six  years  past  he  has  been 
a  member  of  the  National  Brick  Makers'  Associa- 
tion, and  is  now  its  President.  He  takes  an 
active  interest  in  political  affairs,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Republican  Committee  of  the  Eleventh 


Ward.  He  positively  and  consistently  declines 
the  use  of  his  name  as  a  candidate  for  office, 
though  he  has  been  repeatedly  requested  to  be- 
come a  candidate  for  Alderman  from  his  ward. 
He  is  a  man  of  recognized  business  ability  and 
unquestioned  integrity,  and  is  filling  a  responsible 
and  useful  position  in  the  community. 


JOHN  MORRIS. 


(JOHN  MORRIS,  assistant  superintendent  of 
I  the  Piano  Manufacturing  Company  at  West 
(*)  Pullman,  was  born  near  Blue  Mounds,  Iowa 
County, Wisconsin,  on  the  i2th  of  April,  1858,  and 
is  of  Welsh  descent.  His  parents,  Rev.  Owen  R. 
and  Catherine  (Jones)  Morris,  were  both  natives 
of  Wales.  The  father  was  born  in  Blaenan, 
Festiniog,  Merionethshire,  July  18,  1828,  and 
came  to  America  in  1849  from  Merionethshire, 
North  Wales,  with  his  parents,  Robert  and  Ellen 
Morris,  the  family  locating  on  a  farm  in  Iowa 
County,  Wisconsin.  On  October  17,  1851,  he 
married  Mrs.  Catherine  Williams,  widow  of  I.  N. 
Williams,  and  lived  in  Iowa  County  until  March, 
1868,  when, with  his  wife  and  children,  he  removed 
to  Fillmore  County,  Minnesota,  where  he  now  re- 
sides. For  a  number  of  years  he  was  pastor  of 
the  Welsh  Presbyterian  Church  at  Blue  Mounds, 
Wisconsin,  and  for  twenty-four  years  had  charge 
of  the  Welsh  Presbyterian  Church  at  Bristol 
Grove,  Minnesota.  He  is  an  earnest  and  untir- 
ing worker  in  behalf  of  the  church,  and  his  work 
has  been  productive  of  much  good.  All  who 
know  him  hold  him  in  high  regard.  Mrs.  Morris 
was  born  in  Llanrug,  Carnarvonshire,  North 
Wales,  February  25,  1816,  and  came  to  America 
in  1845.  She  first  married  I.  N.  Williams,  by 
whom  she  had  one  son,  I.  N.,  now  a  resident  of 
Fillmore  County,  Minnesota.  After  the  death  of 
her  first  husband  she  returned  to  Wales,  in  1848, 


but  in  1849  again  came  to  America,  with  her 
father,  Thomas  Jones,  who  died  in  Iowa  County, 
Wisconsin,  a  few  years  later. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morris  had  a  family  of  four  sons, 
three  of  whom  are  yet  living.  William  and 
Thomas  both  reside  in  Fillmore  County;  Evan  is 
now  deceased;  and  John  completes  the  family. 

Mr.  Morris  of  this  sketch  spent  his  boyhood 
days  upon,  his  father's  farm  and  was  early  inured 
to  arduous  labor.  He  followed  farming  through 
the  summer  months  and  in  the  winter  season  at- 
tended the  public  schools,  until  eighteen  years  of 
age,  when  he  began  teaching.  He  had  early 
evinced  a  taste  and  aptitude  for  carpentry  and 
machine  work,  and  that  instinct  has  been  con- 
stantly developing  since;  but  it  was  some  time 
before  he  entered  upon  that  line  of  work  as  a 
business.  After  teaching  for  five  seasons,  he  be- 
came a  student  of  the  University  of  Minnesota, 
and  was  graduated  therefrom  in  1888,  with  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Mechanical  Engineering. 
During  his  four  years'  attendance  he  had  received 
some  of  the  highest  markings  ever  given  in  that 
department.  In  1888  he  became  connected  with 
the  city  schools  of  Minneapolis,  and  continued  to 
there  serve  until  1893,  being  for  three  years  an 
instructor  in  the  Manual  Training  Department, 
while  for  two  years  he  was  assistant  superintend- 
ent and  had  entire  charge  of  the  Manual  Training 
Department.  His  services  were  eminently  satis- 


HENRY  ABRAHAMS. 


285 


factory,  and  the  work  of  the  department  prepared 
under  his  direction  for  the  World's  Fair  exhibit 
was  deservedly  worthy  of  the  high  commendation 
it  received.  During  this  period  he  also  engaged 
in  consulting  work  and  mechanical  engineering, 
and  developed  new  devices  and  secured  a  number 
of  patents  for  patrons. 

Prof.  Morris  was  married  on  October  8,  1889, 
in  Cambria,  Wisconsin,  to  Miss  Lizzie  Williams, 
daughter  of  Robert  G.  Williams.  The  lady  was 
born  in  Cambria,  and  died  in  Minneapolis  on  the 
27th  of  February,  1892,  at  the  age  of  thirty-three 
years,  leaving  one  child,  a  daughter,  Lizzie. 

In  June,  1893,  Prof.  Morris  severed  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Minneapolis  public  schools  and  ac- 
cepted the  position  of  assistant  superintendent  and 
mechanical  engineer  of  the  Piano  Manufacturing 
Company  at  West  Pullman.  He  had  previously 
spent  a  number  of  vacations  as  an  expert  and 
traveling  representative  of  the  firm.  His  man- 


agement of  the  affairs  of  the  factory  has  given 
entire  satisfaction  to  his  employers  and  won  him 
high  commendation.  His  natural  inventive  genius 
is  constantly  active,  and  new  mechanical  devices 
are  being  continually  developed  under  his  direc- 
tion. Mr.  Morris  has  invested  in  West  Pullman 
real  estate,  with  the  view  of  making  this  place 
his  home. 

Mr.  Morris  is  a  member  of  the  Welsh  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Minneapolis,  and  for  six  years 
served  on  its  board  of  deacons,  taking  an  active 
part  in  the  work  of  the  church  and  everything 
pertaining  to  its  advancement.  In  politics  he  has 
been  a  life-long  Republican,  and  its  men  and 
measures  receive  his  earnest  support.  He  is  a 
warm  advocate  of  temperance  principles,  is  of 
cordial  and  pleasant  manner,  and  takes  a  deep 
and  abiding  interest  in  public  advancement  and 
progress. 


HENRY  ABRAHAMS. 


HENRY  ABRAHAMS,  one  of  the  self-made 
men  of  Chicago,  was  born  September  28, 
1837,  at  Kornmarck,  near  Posen,  Prussia, 
and  was  one  of  the  seventeen  children  of  Louis 
Lipman  and  Rosa  (Moses)  Abrahams.  His  ca- 
reer furnishes  a  forcible  illustration  of  what  may  be 
achieved  through  force  of  natural  ability,  energy, 
perseverance,  industry  and  integrity.  Born  in 
penury  and  reared  in  poverty,  with  no  advanta- 
ges and  every  obstacle,  outside  of  his  own  person- 
ality, to  overcome,  he  won  his  way  to  affluence 
and  an  influential  position  among  the  representa- 
tive citizens  of  Chicago.  Louis  L.  Abrahams 
was  a  tailor,  who  supported  his  large  family  by 
the  earnings  of  his  needle.  Hoping  to  better  his 
condition,  he  went  to  Newcastle,  England,  in 


1840,  and  remained  there  until  1849,  when  he 
came  to  Chicago,  where  his  widow  still  resides, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years. 

Henry  Abrahams  showed  his  force  of  character 
and  instinct  for  trade  by  starting  out  in  life  as  a 
peddler  in  Chicago,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years, 
and  was  eminently  successful.  He  continued  in 
this  occupation  for  twelve  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  period  he  felt  able  to  take  a  wife  and  set- 
tle down  in  business.  He  accordingly  married 
Elizabeth  Gerber,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Julia 
(Levy)  Gerber.  Joseph  Gerber  was  a  dry-goods 
merchant  in  Hoston,  near  Prague,  Austria.  Mr. 
Abrahams  established  himself  as  a  retail  grocer 
at  the  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue  and  Adams  Street, 
on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Phelps,  Dodge  & 


286 


HENRY  ABRAHAMS. 


Palmer  Company,  where  he  remained  until  his 
buildings  and  entire  stock,  valued  at  $55,000, 
were  swept  away  by  the  great  fire  of  1871.  At 
this  time  he  was  the  owner  of  the  southeast  quar- 
ter of  the  block  upon  which  he  did  business,  be- 
sides nine  houses  on  Adams  and  Quincy  Streets 
and  Fifth  Avenue.  It  is  said  that  he  was  before 
the  fire  the  leading  retail  grocer  of  the  city.  As 
was  the  case  with  many  others,  his  loss  by  the 
fire  was  nearly  total,  on  account  of  the  failure  of 
the  insurance  companies. 

Subsequent  to  the  fire,  Mr.  Abrahams  disposed 
of  all  his  South  Side  property  and  bought  lots  on 
the  corner  of  Van  Buren  and  Halsted  Streets, 
covering  all  of  the  block  fronting  on  Van  Buren 
Street,  except  two  lots,  which  he  owned  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  At  the  same  time  he  purchased 
eight  acres  at  Fifty-fifth  Street  and  Garfield  Boul- 
evard. For  the  latter  property  he  paid  $8,000  in 
1872,  and  sold  the  same  in  1891  for  $60,000.  He 
continued  business  on  the  West  Side  until  his  re- 
tirement from  commercial  relations  in  1880.  He 
subsequently  engaged  in  the  real-estate  and  loan 
business,  giving  his  attention  largely  to  his  own 
investments.  It  was  always  a  gratification  to 
him  to  reflect  that  he  had  never  filled  a  subordin- 
ate position,  being  always  the  proprietor  of  the 
business  in  which  he  was  engaged. 

The  success  of  this  remarkable  man  is  especial- 
ly noteworthy  from  the  fact  that  until  his  second 
marriage,  in  1867,  he  had  not  learned  to  read  or 
write.  He  never  kept  any  books,  and  was  able 
to  refer  with  as  much  reliance  to  his  memory  for 
the  details  of  every  transaction  as  the  ordinary 
merchant  does  to  his  books.  The  date  of  a 
note,  its  maturity  and  the  interest  accrued  could 
always  be  told  by  him  at  a  moment's  notice.  His 
memory  with  regard  to  other  matters  was  equal- 
ly retentive.  He  attributed  this  remarkable  fac- 
ulty to  constant  reliance  upon  his  memory,  unas- 
sisted by  the  usual  accessories. 

In  1866  Mr.  Abrahams  was  bereaved  of  his 
wife  by  cholera,  and  her  body  was  the  first  one 
buried  in  Graceland  Cemetery.  She  left  three 
children:  Abraham  Abrahams,  late  Health  In- 
spector of  the  Fourth  Ward;  Moses,  a  furniture 
dealer  in  Clinton,  Iowa;  and  Albert,  who  died  at 


seven  years  of  age.  In  1867  Mr.  Abrahams 
married  Eleanora,  sister  of  his  first  wife,  who  sur- 
vives him  and  is  the  mother  of  the  following  chil- 
dren: Max,  a  plumber,  and  Fanny,  the  wife  of 
Isadore  Weiskopf,  of  Chicago;  Bessie,  the  wife  of 
Albert  Richmond,  of  Philadelphia,  formerly  pro- 
prietor of  the  Standard  Theatre  of  Chicago, 
and  now  sole  wholesale  agent  for  the  Schlitz 
Brewing  Company  at  Philadelphia,  where  his 
wife  operates  one  of  the  largest  photograph  gal- 
leries; Joseph,  a  graduate  of  the  public  schools  of 
the  West  Side  Business  College,  now  manager  of 
his  father's  estate;  and  George  and  Louis,  at  pres- 
ent students  at  Notre  Dame  University,  Indiana. 
Elizabeth,  the  second,  died  at  eighteen  years  of 
age;  Albert,  the  sixth,  at  thirteen;  and  Sarah, 
the  seventh,  in  childhood.  Mrs.  Abrahams' 
grandchildren  are:  Leo  Weiskopf  and  Leroy  and 
Wilfred  Richmond. 

Mr.  Abrahams'  death  occurred  on  the  eleventh 
day  of  April,  1894,  at  his  home  at  No.  3355  For- 
est Avenue,  which  he  purchased  and  occupied  in 
1891.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  appearance  and 
pleasant  address,  and  his  friendship  was  of  that 
warm  and  earnest  character  which  attracted  and 
held  men  to  him.  He  was  generous,  and  many 
remember  with  pleasure  the  time  when  he  was  to 
them  a  friend  in  need.  His  eminent  geniality 
and  social  qualities  brought  him  so  closely  in  con- 
tact with  his  fellow-men  that  he  naturally  became 
a  member  of  many  societies,  among  which  may 
be  mentioned  the  Masonic  and  Odd  Fellows'  or- 
ders, B'nai  B'rith,  Hebrew  Beneficiary  Associa- 
tion, Sons  of  Benjamin,  Old  Settlers'  Society  of 
Chicago,  and  others.  He  was  prominent  and  in- 
fluential in  politics,  a  member  of  the  Democratic 
partj',  and  a  man  whose  counsel  had  great  weight 
with  his  associates  in  party  affairs.  He  always 
refused  nominations  for  office,  which  were  fre- 
quently urged  upon  him,  preferring  to  be  a  work- 
er for  the  interests  of  the  party  to  which  he  gave 
his  allegiance  rather  than  receive  the  emoluments 
of  office.  He  was  not  only  a  genial  and  popular 
citizen,  but  was  the  kindest  and  most  indulgent 
of  fathers  and  husbands,  and  was  the  idol  of  his 
family. 


G.  S.  INGRAHAM. 


287 


GRANVILLE  S.  INGRAHAM. 


[RANVILLE  SHERWOOD  INGRAHAM, 
youngest  of  a  family  of  nine,  was  born  May 
27,  1824,  in  Montgomery  County,  New 
York.  His  father,  born  April  23,  1782,  was  a 
tanner  and  currier,  who  came  from  England  to 
the  State  of  Rhode  Island  in  his  boyhood,  remov- 
ing subsequently  to  the  State  of  New  York,  where 
he  became  a  very  prominent  Free  Mason  and  was 
universally  esteemed,  dying  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
three.  He  was  one  of  the  claimants  of  the  cele- 
brated "Leeds  Estate"  in  England.  His  mother, 
Philinda  Taylor  by  maiden  name,  was  born  May 
i,  1784,  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  living  to  the 
remarkable  age  of  ninety-two. 

Owing  to  the  disability  of  total  blindness  which 
afflicted  his  father  for  the  last  twenty-five  years 
of  his  life,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  after  an  or- 
dinary education  obtained  at  the  Union  Mills 
Academy,  was  obliged  to  leave  home  at  the  boy- 
ish age  of  twelve  to  seek  his  own  fortunes,  and 
well  indeed  did  he  find  them.  His  first  employ- 
ment was  in  a  merchant's  store  in  New  York 
City;  afterward,  returning  to  Saratoga  County, 
was  engaged  in  similar  pursuits  for  a  period. 

At  this  juncture  the  turning  point  of  his  busi- 
ness life  was  presented.  James  McKindley,  the 
veteran  pioneer  wholesaler  of  our  metropolis,  had 
spent  many  happy  boyhood  days  in  companion- 
ship with  Mr.  Ingraham;  and  now,  being  at  the 
head  of  the  mercantile  house,  McKindley,  Church 
&  Co. ,  thoughtful  for  and  kindly  disposed  toward 
this  early  associate,  offered  Mr.  Ingraham,  in 
1856,  a  position  with  his  house  as  traveling  sales- 
man. Losing  no  time  in  reaching  his  new  field 
of  employment,  destined  always  to  be  his  home, 
so  well  did  he  foresee  the  requirements  of  his  own 
and  higher  positions,  at  the  same  time  bending 
every  energy  toward  fulfilling  more  duties  than 
those  imposed  upon  him,  that  in  an  incredibly 
short  time,  namely  in  1860,  he  was  elevated  to 
the  standing  of  a  full  partner  in  the  firm,  there- 
after to  be  styled  McKindley,  Ingraham  &  Co. 


The  next  seven  years  witnessed  severest  appli- 
cation and  unremitting  efforts  upon  his  part, 
gaining  him  unstinted  meed  of  praise  from  all 
with  whom  he  had  to  do,  wonderfully  fruthering 
the  interests  of  his  concern,  but  carried  to  the 
excess  of  personal  disability,  so  that  at  the  end 
of  the  period  of  which  we  are  speaking,  quite  de- 
bilitated and  "run  down"  in  health,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  his  office  and  seek  the  means  of 
regaining  strength  for  the  following  two  years. 
The  firm,  in  which  he  still  retained  his  interests, 
was  burned  out  by  the  great  fire  of  1871,  but 
being  well  insured,  it  declined  offers  of  finan- 
cial aid  as  well  as  volunteered  extension  of  time 
on  bills  payable  falling  due.  With  marvelous 
recuperation,  being  actually  engaged  in  trade 
within  a  week  after  the  burning,  and  by  good 
fortune,  it  was  enabled  to  meet  all  obligations  as 
rapidly  as  they  matured. 

About  this  time  was  organized  the  wholesale 
grocery  and  tea  house  of  Ingraham,  Corbin  & 
May  (now  Corbin  and  May) ,  with  which  he  was 
thenceforth  prominently  identified  in  its  very  suc- 
cessful upbuilding,  until,  in  1884,  overtaxation 
of  mental  and  physical  powers  rendered  retire- 
ment again  necessary,  this  time  forced  to  become 
practically  final.  But  his  fortune  continued  to  be 
thus  mainly  embarked  with  his  firm,  and  during 
the  semi-invalid  existence  of  his  slow  decline,  he 
always  enjoyed  thinking  and  speaking  of  trade, 
and  dreaming  the  optimist's  dream  of  the  golden 
days  bound  to  come  to  the  trade  when  the  entire 
Northwest  was  better  developed  in  its  vast  re- 
sources. 

The  last  years  were  made  comfortable  by  a 
portion  of  the  means  his  industrious  ability  had 
accumulated,  the  summers  being  mainly  spent  in 
Chicago,  while  in  winter  he  sought  a  less  rigorous 
climate;  now  in  California,  now  in  Florida,  until 
finding  in  Pass  Christian,  Mississippi,  surround- 
ings thoroughly  congenial  and  beneficial,  he  there 
bought  a  home  in  1888,  that  he  might  regularly 


288 


G.  S.  INGRAHAM. 


surrendei  himself  to  the  delights  of  the  semi- 
tropic  Gulf  Coast.  Alas  for  the  brevity  of  life! 
Love  may  not  entice  away,  nor  fortune  bribe 
against  the  visitation  of  grim,  universally  fated 
death.  The  end  came  on  December  20,  1892,  to 
a  patient,  long  sufferer,  resigned  to  the  will  of 
God. 

In  boyhood  he  had  followed  family  affiliations 
with  the  Christian  Church,  that  being  a  liberal 
and  righteous  faith;  but  in  maturer  years  he  was 
attracted  by  the  stanch  tenets  and  rugged  char- 
acter of  Presbyterianism,  and  so  had  been  for 
many  years  united  with  the  Hyde  Park  Presby- 
terian Church,  in  which,  wholly  obedient,  he 
passed  to  a  reward  of  good  merits. 

In  Whig  days  he  was  a  willing  follower  of 
Henry  Clay,  but  on  the  breaking  up  of  old  lines 
and  the  drawing  of  new  ones,  he  took  and  held  a 
liberal  Democratic  attitude,  in  local  affairs  sup- 
porting the  best  man,  irrespective  of  party.  He 
was  always  deeply  interested  in  parks  and  other 
public  improvements,  and  all  educational  works 
had  his  generous  approbation  and  furtherance. 
Being  most  happily  environed,  and  strongly  do- 
mestic in  temperament,  he  cared  not  for  "club 
life"  or  society,  so  called;  yet  he  was  not  a  re- 
cluse, neither,  as  his  friends  well  knew,  was  he 
at  all  unsociable. 

His  first  home  in  Chicago  was  purchased  at 
the  corner  of  Prairie  Avenue  and  Eighteenth 
Street;  removing,  in  1872,  to  Washington  Ave- 
nue, just  south  of  Fifty-fifth  Street,  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  construction  of  an  elegant  mansion 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  (No.  5520  Wash- 
ington Avenue) ,  when  he  was  taken  away.  She 
who  is  left  to  execute  his  wishes  may  long  find  a 
noble  employment  in  the  finishing  of  his  ap- 
pointed work. 

The  humanitarian  shows  out  nowhere  more 
plainly  than  in  his  will.  Years  of  affliction  had 
taught  him  the  needs  of  the  sick,  while  abundant 
means  enabled  him  to  intelligently  contrast  the 
wretched  condition  of  the  indigent  ill.  Therefore, 
in  his  last  testament,  after  liberal  provisions  for 
his  family  and  near  relatives  (not  overlooking 
generous  legacies  to  several  charitable  institu- 
tions) ,  he  directed  that  the  residue  of  his  estate 


should  be  invested  and  spent  in  the  founding, 
building,  usefully  equipping  and  maintaining  of 
a  hospital  for  the  poor  sick,  to  be  conducted  on  as 
free  a  plan  as  possible.  Would  that  all  our  wealth 
accumulators,  circumstanced  like  unto  himself, 
could  be  prompted  by  as  philanthropic  motives! 
Then  would  riches  become  a  general  blessing  in 
disguise,  and  the  abyss  between  the  financially 
high  and  low  forever  kindly  bridged.  Realizing 
that  he  had  few  dependents,  and  that  he  was 
largely  indebted  to  the  city  of  his  adoption  for  his 
opulence,  he,  in  this  dignified,  munificent,  last- 
ing manner  of  endowing  a  glorious  charity,  con- 
ceived that  that  debt  should  and  would  be  paid; 
and  though  for  a  time  there  be  a  contest  over  the 
will,  while  something  of  doubt  exists  as  to  the 
ultimate  fate  of  the  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars 
thus  bequeathed  by  Mr.  Ingraham  to  the  found- 
ing of  a  hospital,  which  was  to  bear  his  name,  let 
us  trust  the  law  will  vindicate  itself  and  our  testa- 
tor friend's  wishes,  and  that  his  widow,  unswerv- 
ingly devoted  to  the  administration  of  his  estate, 
may  be  speedily  confirmed  in  her  legal  rights  as 
his  representative,  and  so  enabled  to  proceed  un- 
der the  will-terms  toward  the  completion  of  the 
conceived  edifice;  and  generations  to  come  will 
thank  the  justice  of  the  decree  while  blessing  the 
memory  of  him,  their  patron  and  benefactor. 

Mr.  Ingraham  was  twice  married;  (i.)  July 
14,  1847,  to  Miss  Frances  Sarah  Foster,  of  Sara- 
toga County,  New  York,  who  died  January  i, 
1878,  having  had  as  issue  a  son,  Hiram  Foster 
Ingraham,  who  died  February  10,  1874,  leaving 
a  widow,  Fannie  Ingraham  (nee  Wood),  and  a  son, 
Granville  Foster  Ingraham,  which  latter  were 
cared  for  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch  while  liv- 
ing, and  abundantly  provided  for  in  his  last  will. 

(2.)  December  6,  1 88 1,  to  Miss  Harriette  Au- 
gusta Foster  (sister  of  his  former  wife,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Hiram  Clark  Foster) ,  who  had  no  children, 
but  who  was  and  is  the  soul  of  faithfulness  toward 
him  and  his  house,  and  appointed  as  one  of  the 
executors  of  his  will. 

(For  some  details  of  the  Foster  pedigree,  vide 
under  sketch  of  James  Mairs  Gilchrist,  on  another 
page  herein.) 

Mrs.   Ingraham' s  mother  was  Elizabeth  Platt, 


NICHOLAS  BUSCHWAH. 


289 


of  a  family  of  honorable  standing  and  mention  in 
Eastern  centers.  Elizabeth  was  the  fifth  child 
and  daughter  of  Alexander  Smith  and  Annie 
Platt  (nee  Wakeman,  of  Greenfield,  Connecticut) 
and  Galway,  New  York;  Alexander  being  the 
fourth  son  of  Obadiah  and  Thankful  Platt  (nee 
Scudder,  of  Huntington,  Connecticut),  and 
North  Fairfield,  Connecticut;  Obadiah  being  the 
fourth  son  of  Obadiah  and  Mary  Platt,  nee  Smith, 
who  removed  from  Huntington  across  Long  Is- 
land Sound  (with  his  brother  Timothy),  found- 
ing the  Fairfield  branch  of  the  family ;  Obadiah 
was  the  eldest  son  of  Jonas  and  Sarah  Platt  (nee 
Scudder),  of  the  "Older  Huntington"  (Connecti- 
cut) branch.  Jonas  was  the  second  child  and 
eldest  son  of  Isaac  and  Elizabeth  Platt  (nee 
Wood)  who  (with  his  brother  Epenetus)  founded 
the  "Older  Huntington"  branch.  Isaac  was 


probably  born  in  England,  being  the  third  son  of 
Richard  and  Mary  Platt,  who  came  to  this  coun- 
try from  England  in  1638,  landing  at  New  Haven, 
Connecticut,  where  he  afterward  acquired  valuable 
landed  possessions.  The  old  family  seat,  how- 
ever, is  at  Milford,  a  few  miles  thence  west, 
where  the  first  American  progenitor  is  buried, 
and  where  have  ever  since  dwelt  the  honored  de- 
scendants. 

The  English  seat  of  the  emigrating  branch  is 
believed  to  be  Bovingdon,  a  village  near  Hert- 
ford, England.  The  Herald's  College  shows 
some  seven  coats-of-arms  assigned  and  granted 
to  different  English  families  by  the  name  of  Platt. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  Mrs. 
Ingraham,  through  her  mother,  represents  the 
eighth  generation  of  Platts  in  the  United  States. 


NICHOLAS  BUSCHWAH. 


JJJICHOLAS  BUSCHWAH  is,  doubtless,  the 
\j  best  informed  man  living  in  regard  to  titles  to 
I  /!)  Cook  County  realty.  His  long  experience  of 
over  thirty  years  in  the  preparation  and  examin- 
ation of  abstracts,  together  with  his  reliability  and 
unquestioned  integrity  of  character,  has  earned 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  all  political  parties, 
and  of  investors  and  business  men  generally.  He 
was  born  amid  the  romantic  scenery  bordering 
the  River  Rhine,  the  place  of  his  birth  being  the 
village  of  Wahlen,  Rhenish  Prussia,  and  the  date 
of  his  advent  being  the  igth  of  October,  1842. 
His  parents,  Nicholas  and  Marie  (Dewald) 
Buschwah,  were  natives  of  Germany,  of  French 
extraction.  The  father  was  a  carpenter  and 
builder  by  occupation.  In  1 844  he  sold  his  beau- 
tiful home  and  grounds  in  the  land  of  his  birth 
and  emigrated  with  his  family,  which  then  in- 
cluded four  children,  to  the  United  States,  in  or- 


der to  secure  to  them  the  blessings  of  political 
and  religious  liberty.  He  located  in  Chicago, 
where  he  followed  his  trade  until  death,  January 
24,  1864.  His  wife  survived  him  several  years, 
dying  at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  They  em- 
bodied the  regular  habits  and  sturdy  character 
for  which  our  German  citizens  are  conspicuous, 
and  left  to  their  posterity  sacred  memories  and  a 
good  name.  Seven  of  their  children  survive  and 
are  residents  of  Chicago.  Margaret,  the,  eldest, 
is  now  Mrs.  John  Woltz ;  Catherine  is  the  widow 
of  Caspar  Koerper;  and  the  others  are  Matthew, 
Nicholas,  John,  Peter  and  Jacob.  One  died  in 
childhood,  and  Mary,  who  was  the  wife  of  Mi- 
chael Schwiser,  passed  away  May  4,  1877. 

The  subject  of  this  notice  received  his  primary 
education  at  the  Kinzie  School,  then  the  only 
public  school  in  North  Chicago,  and  known  as 
Alden  Q.  Wilder's  School.  He  afterward  became 


290 


NICHOLAS  BUSCHWAH. 


a  student  at  the  Franklin  School,  Daniel  C.  Fer- 
guson Principal,  and  completed  the  course  of 
study  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  the  Chicago 
High  School  not  being  built  at  that  time.  He 
then  entered  the  real-estate  office  of  James  H. 
Rees,  to  learn  the  real-estate  business,  and  subse- 
quently he  entered  the  office  of  Rees,  Chase  & 
Company,  abstract  makers,  with  whom  he  began 
his  clerical  career,  serving  their  interests  for  eight 
years,  during  which  time  the  style  changed  to 
Chase  Brothers.  He  became  very  proficient  in 
the  preparation  of  abstracts,  and  after  the  ter- 
mination of  his  engagement  with  this  house  he 
served  one  year  as  money-delivery  clerk  in  the 
office  of  the  American  Express  Company.  This 
was  a  responsible  and  arduous  position,  and  he 
often  handled  a  million  dollars  in  a  single  day. 
He  was  next  employed  by  Fernando  Jones  & 
Company,  the  well-known  abstract  makers,  whose 
office  was  then  located  at  No.  42  Clark  Street. 
He  remained  with  this  firm  four  years,  filling  the 
place  of  chief  abstract  maker,  after  which  he  was 
employed  in  the  office  of  the  City  Comptroller  up 
to  the  time  of  the  great  fire  of  October  8  and  9, 
1871.  During  the  period  immediately  subsequent 
to  that  catastrophe  he  assisted  the  Chicago  Relief 
and  Aid  Society  as  chief  clerk  and  paymaster  of 
the  Third  Division  of  the  city.  For  two  and  one- 
half  years  thereafter  he  was  an  assistant  in  the 
office  of  the  City  Clerk.  At  this  time  the  firm  of 
Williams  &  Thielcke  sought  his  services  in  the 
conduct  of  their  abstract  office,  and  when,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1885,  their  books  became  the  property  of 
Cook  County,  he  continued  with  the  work,  re- 
maining in  the  employ  of  the  county  over  seven- 
teen years — making  the  first  abstract  turned  out 
by  the  county — and  was  chief  abstract  maker  in 
the  department  of  abstracts  in  the  Recorder's  of- 
fice throughout  this  period.  During  his  long  ex- 
perience in  the  examination  and  production  of 
abstracts,  he  has  becomes  familiar  with  all  the 
details  and  technicalities  of  the  business,  and  has 
prepared  more  instruments  of  the  kind  than  any 
other  individual. 

In  April,  1893,  he  resigned  his  position  in  the 
Recorder's  office,  since  which  time  he  has  con- 
ducted an  independent  business  as  examiner  of 


titles,  in  connection  with  which  he  does  a  general 
loan,  real-estate  and  investment  business.  The 
extensive  acquaintance  which  he  has  formed  dur- 
ing his  connection  with  this  line  of  work  brings  to 
him  an  ample  and  lucrative  patronage,  and  many 
large  investors  find  it  to  their  advantage  to  en- 
trust to  him  the  conduct  of  their  financial  trans- 
actions. For  many  years  past  he  has  conducted 
a  loan  and  real-estate  agency  in  connection  with 
his  other  undertakings,  and  has  displayed  such 
judgment  and  discretion  in  placing  funds  entrust- 
ed to  his  care  that  he  has  never  found  it  necessary 
to  foreclose  a  mortgage  or  trust  deed.  His  integ- 
rity, justice  and  fairness  are  recognized  alike  by 
creditors  and  debtors,  and  every  man  who  forms 
his  acquaintance  through  a  business  transaction 
becomes  a  permanent  friend.  By  his  shrewd 
management  many  a  poor  and  delinquent  debtor 
has  been  saved  from  total  loss,  while  the  interests 
of  the  creditor  have  been  at  the  same  time  fully 
protected. 

On  New  Year's  Day  of  1868  occurred  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Nicholas  Buschwah  to  Miss  Har- 
riet A.  Dye,  daughter  of  Prof.  Nathan  Dye, 
whose  life  history  appears  on  another  page  of  this 
work.  She  was  born  at  Truxton,  Cortland  Coun- 
ty, New  York,  and  at  an  early  age  began  10  de- 
velop a  talent  and  taste  for  music,  taking  her  first 
lesson  from  her  father  at  the  age  of  three  years. 
At  fourteen  she  became  a  teacher  of  music,  and 
for  many  years  previous  to  her  marriage  gave 
instruction  in  both  vocal  and  instrumental  work, 
often  assisting  her  father  in  the  conduct  of  his 
classes  and  concerts.  Ida  A.,  the  only  child  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buschwah,  is  a  graduate  of  the 
Chicago  Conservatory  of  Music,  and  a  teacher  of 
recognized  ability  in  musical  circles.  She  is  the 
wife  of  Leroy  Grant,  with  whom  she  resides  at 
Laramie  City,  Wyoming. 

For  many  years  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buschwah  were 
members  of  Unity  Church  of  Chicago,  the  soci- 
ety established  by  Rev.  Robert  Collyer,  who  con- 
ducted the  ceremony  at  their  wedding  and  the  wed- 
ding of  their  daughter,  Ida  A.  They  are  among 
the  original  members  of  the  Independent  Liberal 
Church,  organized  by  Rev.  T.  G.  Milsted  in  Oc- 
tober, 1894.  It  is  a  society  founded  upon  prin- 


GEORGE  DEARLOVE. 


291 


ciples  of  benevolence  and  Christian  brotherhood. 
Mrs.  Buschwah  is  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  soci- 
ety, and  both  she  and  her  husband  are  enthusiastic 
and  active  in  good  works.  She  is  a  member  of 
Chicago  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the.American  Rev- 
olution. Mr.  Buschwah  is  a  member  of  the  Exec- 


utive Board  of  the  Twenty -first  Ward  Republican 
Club,  and  has  been  a  life-long  supporter  of  the 
principles  of  that  party,  and  numbers  among  his 
friends  many  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Cook 
County,  irrespective  of  political  or  other  connec- 
tions. 


GEORGE  DEARLOVE. 


DEARLOVE,  a  prominent  pioneer 
of  Northfield  Township,  now  living  in  Chi- 
cago,  was  born  in  Harrowgate,  Yorkshire, 
England,  in  May,  1824.  He  is  the  only  surviving 
child  of  Richard  and  Hannah  (Matterson)  Dear- 
love,  who  in  1836,  with  their  family,  came  to 
America,  settling  in  Northfield  Township,  Cook 
County,  where  they  became  the  owners  of  an  ex- 
tensive tract  of  land  on  Milwaukee  Avenue. 
This  tract,  which  is  still  retained  in  the  family, 
includes  several  of  the  finest  and  most  productive 
farms  in  Cook  County,  well  supplied  with  first- 
class  improvements. 

The  children  of  Richard  and  Hannah  Dear- 
love  were  Mary,  William,  Peter,  Richard, 
Thomas,  George  and  Hannah,  all  of  whom  be- 
came leading  citizens  of  Northfield  Township, 
but,  as  stated  above,  are  now  deceased,  with  the 
exception  of  George.  The  latter  became  the 
owner  of  several  fine  farms  in  Northfield  Town- 
ship, but  in  1885  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he 
has  since  dealt  in  real  estate,  his  long  acquaint- 
ance with  the  county  giving  him  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  land  values  which  has  helped  him 
materially  in  his  business. 

Mr.  Dearlove  was  married  in  1872 — Miss  Mary 
A.  Dwyer,  daughter  of  Peter  and  Maria  Dwyer, 
of  Newport,  Herkimer  County,  New  York,  be- 
coming his  wife.  Mrs.  Dearlove,  who  is  a  lady 
of  refinement  and  ability,  acquired  her  primary 


education  in  the  public  schools  of  Herkimer 
County,  and  later  attended  a  select  school  at  New- 
port for  one  year.  She  then  took  a  three-years 
course  at  Fairfield  Seminary,  and  still  later  at- 
tended the  State  Normal  School  at  Albany,  New 
York,  but  did  not  finish  the  course  on  account  of 
sickness.  From  the  age  of  seventeen  years  she 
was  engaged  at  intervals  in  teaching.  She  came 
to  Cook  County  in  the  year  1867,  and  taught  for 
several  years  after  her  arrival,  she  and  her  sister 
being  the  first  teachers  of  the  Normal  System  in 
Cook  County. 

March  5,  1888,  Mrs.  Dearlove  graduated  from 
Bennett  Eclectic  College  of  Medicine  and  Surgery, 
with  the  degree  of  M.  D.,  and  afterwards  grad- 
uated from  the  Chicago  College  of  Ophthalmia 
and  Aural  Surgery.  Since  her  graduation  she 
has  practiced  her  profession  with  marked  success, 
and  has  won  the  confidence  of  the  public  and  of 
her  associates  to  a  most  flattering  degree.  Dr. 
Dearlove  holds  membership  in  the  Chicago  Eclec- 
tic Society,  and  in  the  State  Eclectic  Medical  So- 
ciety, and  during  the  progress  of  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition  was  in  charge  of  the  Illi- 
nois Woman's  Hospital  at  the  Exposition 
grounds. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dearlove  were  born  the  fol- 
lowing children:  George  M.,  whose  biography 
appears  elsewhere  in  these  pages;  Thomas,  a 
student  at  the  North- Western  Military  Academy; 


292 


JOHN  CRAWFORD. 


and  Mabel  H.  In  his  religious  adherence  Mr. 
Dearlove  is  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  in  his  political  leanings  he  is  a  Republican, 
though  not  a  strict  partisan,  and  never  an  as- 


pirant for  public  honors.  He  is  a  successful 
farmer  and  business  man,  and  he  and  his  family 
enjoy  the  esteem  of  a  large  circle  of  acquaintances. 


JOHN  CRAWFORD. 


HOHN  CRAWFORD,  deceased,  was  for  years 
I  connected  with  the  business  and  official  in- 
O  terests  of  Cook  County,  and  was  a  prominent 
and  representative  citizen.  He  was  born  in  Buf- 
falo, New  York,  October  14,  1832,  and  died  in 
Chicago  on  the  ist  of  February,  1894.  His  father, 
Peter  Crawford,  is  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this 
work.  John  spent  the  first  twelve  years  of  his 
life  in  the  Empire  State  and  then  accompanied 
his  parents  on  'their  removal  to  Chicago.  Here 
he  became  his  father's  assistant  in  the  lumber 
trade,  and  was  thus  employed  until  nineteen 
years  of  age,  when  he  entered  Knox  College,  at 
Galesburg,  Illinois,  where  he  pursued  a  prepara- 
tory course  of  study.  Later  he  entered  Hamilton 
University  (now  Colgate  University)  of  Hamil- 
ton, New  York,  and  when  his  literary  education 
was  completed  he  taught  in  Cicero  Township, 
Cook  County,  for  several  years. 

At  the  age  of  twenty- four  Mr.  Crawford  began 
reading  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Buckner  S. 
Morris,  of  Chicago.  He  did  not  complete  his 
legal  studies,  but  yet  obtained  a  knowledge  of  law 
which  proved  of  great  benefit  to  him  in  his  sub- 
sequent business  and  official  transactions.  For 
many  years  he  dealt  largely  in  real  estate,  hand- 
ling not  only  his  own  subdivisions  at  Crawford 
Station,  but  also  much  other  property.  He  served 
for  several  terms  as  Supervisor  of  Cicero  Town- 


ship, also  as  Trustee  and  Assessor,  and  in  numer- 
ous other  local  offices.  He  was  County  Commis- 
sioner for  two  terms,  being  a  member  of  the  Board 
at  the  same  time  with  Carter  H.  Harrison,  about 
the  beginning  of  the  latter's  political  career.  They 
were  elected  on  the  "Fire  Ticket,"  as  it  was 
called,  the  election  being  held  soon  after  the  great 
fire  of  1871. 

On  the  22d  of  August,  1861,  Mr.  Crawford  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Adelaide  F.  Neff, 
daughter  of  William  and  Olive  NefF,  of  Chicago, 
and  a  native  of  Buffalo,  New  York.  When  a  little 
maiden  of  six  summers  she  came  with  her  par- 
ents to  this  State.  Her  father  died  in  March, 
1887,  but  her  mother  is  still  living  in  Chicago. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crawford  were  born  three  chil- 
dren: John  H.,  a  real-estate  dealer  of  Chicago; 
Florence,  who  is  now  deceased;  and  Genevieve. 

Mr.  Crawford  was  a  member  of  the  Millard 
Avenue  Baptist  Church,  and  the  family  still  at- 
tends tha,t  church.  He  belonged  to  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  in  his  political  affiliations  was  a 
Republican.  He  was  a  man  of  earnest  convic- 
tions and  conscientious  motives,  and  by  straight- 
forward dealing  and  uniform  courtesy  he  won  the 
good-will  of  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
Probably  no  man  in  Cook  County  had  fewer 
enemies. 


C.  P.  BRYAN. 


293 


CHARLES  P.  BRYAN. 


HARLES  P.  BRYAN  was  born  in  Chicago, 
October  2,  1855.  His  childhood  was  spent 
\,J  at  Elmhurst,  where  his  parents  took  up  their 
residence  in  1856.  Young  Bryan  completed  his 
education  at  the  University  of  Virginia  and  the 
Columbia  Law  School.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  in  1878.  The  follow- 
ing year  he  removed  to  Colorado,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  mining  and  in  editorial  and  literary 
work.  He  edited  the  Denver  Inter  Ocean  and  the 
Colorado  Mining  Gazette,  which  he  owned,  and 
was  elected  President  of  the  Colorado  Editorial 
Association  in  1884.  A  year  after  his  arrival  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains  he  was  chosen  to  represent 
Clear  Creek  County  in  the  Legislature,  of  which 
he  was  the  youngest  member.  He  was  Chairman 
of  the  Railroad  Committee.  As  champion  of  the 
people  against  monopolies,  he  was  called  the 
"Plumed  Knight  of  the  Rockies."  He  had  a 
voice  iu  every  Republican  State  convention  during 
his  sojourn  in  Colorado,  and  stumped  the  State 
for  Elaine.  Twice  he  was  urged  by  the  slate- 
makers,  but  declined  to  allow  his  name  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  Republican  State  Convention  as  a  can- 
didate for  Secretary  of  State.  The  probable  nom- 
ination for  Lieutenant-Governor  was  also  offered 
him  as  an  inducement  to  remain  in  Colorado. 
Filial  duty,  however,  called  him  back  to  Illinois 
in  1885. 

In  1 890,  Col.  Bryan  was,  unsolicited,  nominated 
for  the  Legislature  and  elected.  In  1892  he  was 
re-elected  to  represent  DuPage  County.  His  chief 
efforts  in  the  Legislature  have  been  directed  to- 
ward ballot  reform,  World's  Fair  and  National 
Guard  measures,  and  those  locally  of  interest  to 


his  constituents.  As  a  boy,  he  entered  the  First 
Regiment  of  Illinois  National  Guards,  and  has 
nearly  ever  since  served  in  the  State  troops  of  Illi- 
nois or  Colorado,  having  been  commissioned  Aide- 
de-Camp  by  four  Governors.  Col.  Bryan  is  now 
on  the  general  staff  of  the  Illinois  National 
Guard.  His  occupation  is  that  of  contributor  to 
newspapers  and  magazines,  his  line  of  work  be- 
ing editorial,  historical  and  descriptive. 

The  paternal  and  maternal  families  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  the  Bryans  and  the  Pages,  set- 
tled in  Virginia  about  1660.  They  intermarried 
with  the  Lees,  the  Carters,  Barbours,  Crawfords 
and  Penns.  Daniel  Bryan,  the  grandfather  of 
Charles,  made  speeches  in  the  Senate  of  Virginia 
as  far  back  as  the  '303  advocating  the  abolition 
of  slavery.  On  account  of  his  pronounced  Union 
views  he  endangered  his  life  at  Alexandria  at  the 
beginning  of  the  late  war.  His  son,  Thomas  B. 
Bryan,  came  to  Illinois  iu  1852.  As  a  member  of 
the  Union  Defense  Committee,  as  president  of  the 
Soldiers'  Home  and  Sanitary  Fair,  and  in  aiding 
to  equip  regiments  for  the  war,  he  constantly 
showed  his  loyalty  to  the  Union.  Company  H 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Illinois  Infantry, 
composed  of  the  flower  of  the  youth  of  DuPage 
County,  was  called  the  "Bryan  Blues"  in  honor 
of  the  liberality  of  Thomas  B.  Bryan.  As  cham- 
pion of  Chicago  for  the  site  of  the  World's  Fair  in 
speeches  made  in  Washington  and  other  cities,  as 
Vice-President  of  the  Columbian  Exposition,  and 
as  Commissioner-at-Large  to  Europe,  Mr.  Bryan 
has  won  international  fame.  His  son  has  seconded 
him  in  all  these  efforts.  Famous  men  from  all 
over  the  world  have  been  entertained  at  the 


294 


A.  F.  HATCH. 


"Bird's  Nest,"  the  Bryans'  home.  Edward  Ev- 
erett, President  and  Mrs.  Harrison,  the  Logans, 
Blaines,  Cardinal  Gibbons,  princes,  nobility  and 
ministers  and  commissioners  from  nearly  every 


land  have  been  guests  at  this  beautiful  home, 
whose  hospitalities  have  helped  to  give  renown  to 
Elmhurst  and  to  DuPage  County. 


AZEL  FARNSWORTH   HATCH. 


Gl  ZEL  FARNSWORTH  HATCH,  a  promin- 
LJ  ent  and  well-known  attorney-at-law  of  Chi- 
/  I  cago,  living  in  Lisle,  was  born  on  the  6th 
of  September,  1848,  in  Lisle  Township,  DuPage 
County,  and  was  the  fifth  in  a  family  of  six  chil- 
dren born  to  James  C.  and  Charlotte  (Kidder) 
Hatch.  He  remained  upon  the  home  farm  until 
sixteen  years  of  age,  and  attended  the  public 
schools  of  the  neighborhood,  there  acquiring  his 
primary  education.  In  1867  he  entered  Oberlin 
College,  of  Oberlin,  Ohio,  where  he  continued 
his  studies  until  1870,  when  he  became  a  student 
of  the  senior  class  in  Yale  University.  In  1871 
he  was  graduated  from  that  institution,  after 
which  he  accepted  the  principalship  of  the  High 
School  of  Sheboygan,  Wis.,  where  he  continued 
for  a  year. 

Mr.  Hatch  arrived  in  Chicago  in  1872,  and  be- 
gan the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Shorey  & 
Norton,  attorneys,  with  whom  he  continued  for 
about  two  years,  when,  in  September,  1874,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar.  In  December  following 
he  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and 
during  the  first  year  was  associated  with  Messrs. 
Norton  and  Hulburd,  under  the  style  of  Norton, 
Hulburd  &  Hatch.  In  1880  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with  O.  F.  Aldis,  and  under  the  firm 
name  of  Hatch  &  Aldis  these  gentlemen  con- 
tinued business  for  several  years,  when  the  part- 
nership was  dissolved.  Mr.  Hatch  is  now  alone 
in  business.  He  has  been  very  successful  in  his 
legal  practice  and  has  won  an  enviable  reputation 
therein. 


On  the  sth  of  February,  1880,  our  subject  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Grace  H.  Greene,  of 
Lisle,  daughter  of  Daniel  Greene,  of  DuPage 
County.  By  their  union  were  born  four  daugh- 
ters: Alice  V. ,  Helen,  Laura  and  Grace  P.  All 
are  still  with  their  father.  The  mother's  death 
occurred  in  Chicago,  on  the  i8th  of  April,  1886. 

Mr.  Hatch  is  a  Republican  in  political  sentiment, 
but  is  not  strongly  partisan,  and  has  never  been 
an  office-seeker,  preferring  to  devote  his  entire 
time  and  attention  to  his  legal  practice  and  other 
business  interests.  He  is  connected  with  various 
important  concerns  of  the  city.  He  is  one  of  the 
Directors  and  owners  of  the  Chicago  Herald  and 
the  Chicago  Evening  Post,  and  is  also  one  of  the 
exchequer  committee  of  the  Equitable  Trust  Com- 
pany of  Chicago.  He  is  a  Director  of  the  United 
Press,  and  is  also  connected  with  several  other 
enterprises.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  of  the  Chicago  Library  for  three 
years.  He  had  charge  of  the  organization  of  the 
committees  of  the  World's  Fair  and  of  the  first 
meeting  of  the  stockholders.  This  was  one  of 
the  most  wonderful  corporations  ever  formed,  as 
there  were  at  that  time  over  twenty-eight  thou- 
sand stockholders.  He  took  an  active  part  in 
promoting  the  interests  of  the  World's  Columbian 
Exposition,  and  did  all  in  his  power  toward  mak- 
ing the  Fair  a  success.  He  is  a  well-known  and 
leading  citizen  and  a  worth}'  representative  of  the 
enterprise  and  progressive  spirit  which  have  made 
Chicago  the  second  city  of  the  Union. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

HNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


P.  D.  ARMOUR. 


295 


PHILIP  DANFORTH  ARMOUR. 


DANFORTH  ARMOUR,  who  is 
LX  known  throughout  the  world  through  his 
t$  extensive  business  interests,  is  also  widely 
known  for  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  his  fellow-men. 
While  his  financial  gains  have  been  great,  he  has 
not  neglected  opportunities  for  devoting  a  fair 
proportion  to  benevolent  and  educational  work. 
Through  his  generosity  and  fostering  care,  the 
Armour  Mission,  originally  established  in  1881 
by  a  bequest  of  $100,000  from  his  brother,  Jo- 
seph F.  Armour,  has  grown  to  cover  a  very  wide 
extent  of  educational  and  philanthropic  work,  be- 
ing permanently  endowed  and  supplied  with  ade- 
quate buildings  and  apparatus  and  a  large  corps 
of  instructors.  This  institution  is  recognized  as 
a  powerful  factor  in  the  city's  literary  develop- 
ment, and  one  of  Mr.  Armour's  benevolent  works 
is  thus  made  too  prominent  to  be  hidden.  Of  his 
many  private  and  quiet  acts  of  charity  the  world 
will  know  but  little. 

Philip  D.  Armour  was  born  in  Stockbridge, 
Madison  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  i6th  of  May, 
1832,  being  one  of  a  family  of  six  sons  and  two 
daughters  given  to  Danforth  Armour  and  Juliana 
(Brooks)  Armour,  his  wife.  The  parents  left 
Union,  Conn.,  in  September,  1825,  and  settled  at 
the  above-named  place,  where  they  engaged  in 
farming.  The  paternal  ancestors  were  of  Scotch- 
Irish  lineage,  and  were  early  established  in  this 
country.  The  maternal  progenitors  were,  no 
doubt,  of  English  blood,  though  they  must  have 
early  renounced  allegiance  to  the  mother  coun- 
try, as  we  find  them  honorably  mentioned  for 
acts  of  daring  in  the  struggle  for  American  inde- 
pendence. 


Amid  the  simple  surroundings  of  a  New  York 
country  home,  P.  D.  Armour  and  his  brothers 
and  sisters  grew  to  maturity,  imbibing  the  frugal 
and  industrious  habits  which  have  been  handed 
down  from  New  England,  and  have  done  so  much 
to  develop  and  husband  the  resources  of  the 
United  States.  Wherever  the  New  England 
spirit  has  been  prevalent,  schools,  churches  and 
manufactories  have  risen  simultaneously,  and  so- 
ciety has  rapidly  advanced  in  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences. The  mother  of  this  family  was  noted  for 
a  joyous  disposition,  and  under  her  loving  care  its 
members  grew  up  in  a  strong  affection  one  for 
another,  and  readily  adopted  habits  of  cheerful 
industry,  which  led  them  all  to  material  success. 

Circumstances  so  favored  Philip  that,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  district  school,  he  was  privileged  to 
attend  the  village  academy .  Here  he  became  a 
leader  in  both  sports  and  studies,  and  it  was  con- 
sidered a  privilege  to  belong  to  his  "set,"  for  he 
early  developed  a  perseverance  and  determination 
that  carried  through  whatever  he  undertook. 
His  ambition  had  already  looked  beyond  the  nar- 
row limits  of  a  country  hamlet,  and  when  the  dis- 
covery of  gold  in  California  became  a  topic  of  gen- 
eral interest  throughout  the  country,  he  eagerly 
joined  a  company  which  proposed  to  make  the 
overland  trip  to  the  land  of  gold.  They  left 
Oneida,  N.  Y.,  in  the  spring  of  1852,  and  reached 
their  destination  after  six  months  of  toilsome  and 
dangerous  journeying.  Not  all  the  dreams  of  all 
the  Argonauts  were  realized.  They  found  the 
country  full  of  desperate  adventurers,  who  had 
everything  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose,  with  lit- 
tle or  no  law  to  restrain  them.  Here  the  habits 


296 


P.  D.  ARMOUR. 


and  ideas  absorbed  in  early  life  by  young  Armour 
served  him  well.  He  went  to  work,  and  after 
four  years  of  moderate  success,  in  which  the  sal- 
ient points  of  his  character  were  more  fully 
brought  out,  he  returned  for  a  short  visit  with  his 
parents  and  the  companions  of  his  youth. 

After  a  visit  of  a  few  weeks  at  his  native  place, 
he  again  started  West,  and  located  at  Milwaukee, 
Wis.,  where  he  entered  into  partnership  with 
Frederick  B.  Miles  in  the  grain  and  commission 
business.  To  this  business  he  gave  his  time  and 
energies,  with  the  result  that  it  flourished  and 
gave  him  a  high  standing  among  business  men. 
In  1863,  the  firm  was  dissolved,  and  in  the 
spring  of  that  year  he  formed  a  connection  which 
gave  ample  scope  to  his  energies  and  abilities, 
and  hastened  his  pecuniary  advancement.  This 
was  a  partnership  with  John  Plankinton,  a  wide- 
ly-known merchant  and  provision  dealer,  who 
had  been  long  established  at  that  point,  and  the 
new  firm  engaged  extensively  in  pork-packing 
for  the  market.  At  this  period,  the  tendency  of 
prices  was  ever  upward,  because  of  the  large  de- 
mands and  limited  supply  made  by  the  Civil  War, 
and  business  prospered  with  Plankinton  &  Ar- 
mour. Herman  O.  Armour,  a  brother  of  the 
junior  partner,  had  established  himself  in  the 
grain  and  commission  business  at  Chicago  in 
1862,  and  three  years  later  he  was  induced  to 
take  an  interest  in  and  charge  of  a  New  York 
branch,  under  the  style  of  Armour,  Plankinton& 
Co.  At  the  same  time,  the  Chicago  business  of 
H.  O.  Armour  &  Co.  was  placed  in  charge  of  Jo- 
seph F.  Armour,  and  so  continued  until  1870. 
In  1868,  Armour  &  Co.  began  packing  meats  in 
Chicago,  and  two  years  later  absorbed  the  busi- 
ness of  all  the  Armour  brothers  in  this  city.  In 
1871,  Armour  &  Plankinton  established  a  pack- 
ing-house at  Kansas  City,  under  the  supervision 
of  Simon  B.  Armour,  who  gave  the  same  judi- 
cious and  active  care  to  its  interests  which  have 
characterized  all  the  business  undertakings  of  the 
Armours.  In  1883,  the  Kansas  City  business 
was  assumed  by  the  Armour  Packing  Company, 
in  which  Kirkland  B.  Armour  was  the  leading 
spirit.  For  four  years  previously  it  had  been  op- 


erated by  the  Armour  Brothers  Packing  Compa- 
ny, with  Andrew  Watson  Armour  as  President. 

In  1875,  P.  D.  Armour  came  to  Chicago,  and 
from  this  center  of  the  provision  business  has  ever 
since  manipulated  the  business  of  the  several 
plants.  The  extent  of  this  can  be  judged  from 
the  fact  that  the  distributive  sales  of  the  Chicago 
branch  exceed  the  receipts  of  any  single  railroad 
corporation  in  the  world.  Mr.  Armour  has  as 
yet  relaxed  but  little  of  his  labor,  and  is  found  at 
his  desk  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  directing 
business.  To  all  he  is  most  affable  and  courte- 
ous, and  he  is  regarded  by  his  friends  as  the  most 
genial  of  men.  His  only  departure  from  atten- 
tion to  his  private  business  consisted  in  the  ac- 
ceptance of  a  directorship  in  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &  St.  Paul  Railroad,  at  the  earnest  re- 
quest of  his  friend,  Alexander  Mitchell,  of  Mil- 
waukee, now  deceased.  He  has  been  a  stock- 
holder in  the  Milwaukee  Mutual  Fire  Insurance 
Company,  and  many  other  enterprises  which  de- 
served and  needed  his  sanction  and  support.  The 
simple  habits  and  healthful  surroundings  of  his 
boyhood  gave  him  a  vigorous  physique,  which, 
seconded  by  a  sound  constitution,  has  enabled 
him  to  perform  wonders  in  the  line  of  business, 
and  he  still  possesses  a  wonderful  vitality,  which 
promises  many  more  years'of  labor  to  him.  He 
is  ably  assisted  by  his  sons,  Jonathan  Ogden  Ar- 
mour and  Philip  D.  Armour,  Jr. ,  who  have  proven 
themselves  apt  pupils  in  the  school  of  business  in 
which  their  sire  is  past  master. 

Mr.  Armour  was  married  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
in  October,  1862,  to  Miss  Belle,  only  daughter  of 
Jonathan  Ogden.  Starting  in  life  with  the  same 
sound  New  England  training,  Mrs.  Armour  has 
been  a  true  sharer  in  the  labors  and  successes  of 
her  husband.  The  family  is  affiliated  with  the 
Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  in  the  work  of 
which  strong  organization  Mr.  Armour  takes  a 
deep  interest  and  bears  his  due  share.  If  the  am- 
bitious American  youth  seeks  an  example  worthy 
of  his  emulation  in  the  struggles  of  life,  let  him 
study  the  qualities  which  have  made  Mr.  Armour 
financially  successful,  and  which  have  led  him  to 
share  his  prosperity  with  those  around  him. 


T.  E.  LEWIS. 


297 


THOMAS  EDWARD  LEWIS. 


"HOMAS  EDWARD  LEWIS,  a  self-made, 

enterprising  and  progressive  citizen  of  Whea- 
ton,  is  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Illinois,  hav- 
ing come  to  the  State  with  his  parents  in  1839. 
He  is  a  native  of  Swansea,  Wales,  born  on  the  ad 
of  July,  1826.  His  ancestors  were  prominent  in  the 
military  service  of  Great  Britain,  and  were  among 
the  most  ancient  in  that  country.  His  grandfather, 
Joshua  Lewis,  was  a  farmer,  and  lived  to  be  over 
ninety  years  old,  being  succeeded  on  retiring  by 
his  son  Joseph,  father  of  Thomas  E.  Lewis,  all 
being  born  on  the  same  farm.  Joseph  Lewis 
married  Margaret,  only  daughter  of  Thomas  Rob- 
erts, a  neighboring  farmer.  Beside  this  daugh- 
ter, Mr.  Roberts  had  two  sons,  John  and  Thomas. 
The  former  was  a  very  stalwart  specimen  of 
manhood,  being  six  feet  and  six  inches  in  height. 
He  led  the  choir  in  the  Independent  Church  near 
his  home. 

As  above  stated,  in  1839  Joseph  Lewis  came 
with  his  family  to  America.  Proceeding  at  once 
to  West  Northfield,  Cook  County,  111.,  he  pre- 
empted a  quarter-section  of  land,  on  which  he 
passed  the  balance  of  his  life.  His  wife  died  in 
her  seventy-first  year,  and  he  lived  to  see  his 
eighty-eighth.  Of  their  thirteen  children,  twelve 
grew  to  maturity,  the  third  dying  in  Wales,  and 
nine  are  now  living.  Following  are  their  names: 
Joseph,  Mar)r,  Elizabeth,  Thomas,  Evan,  John, 
William,  Sarah,  David,  Charles,  Eli,  Maria  and 
Margaret.  The  eldest  mastered  Hebrew,  Greek, 
Latin,  navigation  and  surveying  before  he  was 
twenty  years  old,  and  became  a  Methodist  Epis- 
copal clergyman.  He  died  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-seven  years,  at  Norwood  Park,  111.,  where 
he  was  buried,  though  his  home  was  at  Beloit, 
Wis.,  where  he  built  the  first  Methodist  Church 


of  that  city.  David  and  Mary  are  deceased,  and 
William  is  a  resident  of  Portland,  Ore.  Charles 
is  practicing  medicine  in  Chicago. 

Thomas  E.  Lewis  attended  school  in  his  native 
place  till  he  was  nine  years  old,  when  he  went  to 
work.  His  first  week's  wages  were  eighteen 
cents,  which  he  kept  as  a  souvenir  for  many 
years.  With  the  exception  of  about  a  quarter's 
attendance  at  night  school  in  Chicago,  the  balance 
of  his  education  has  been  supplied  by  contact 
with  the  world,  and  he  has  proved  a  most  apt 
pupil.  Nature  blessed  him  with  a  sound  mind 
and  constitution,  and  he  is  considered  one  of  the 
solid  men  whose  presence  in  the  community  is  a 
blessing,  for  his  judgment  is  correct  and  he  has 
the  courage  to  carry  out  his  convictions.  With 
no  early  advantages,  with  no  aid  save  his  own  in- 
dustry and  adherence  to  an  ideal,  he  has  amassed 
a  modest  competence,  and  has  earned  the  respect 
and  good-will  of  his  fellows. 

The  old  proverb  says,  "Where  there  is  a  will, 
there  is  a  way,"  and  one  morning  in  the  spring 
of  1843  young  Lewis  set  out  on  foot  for  Chicago 
to  find  the  way,  his  capital  on  starting  consisting 
of  fifty  cents.  His  feet  becoming  sore  from  the 
action  of  a  pair  of  new  and  stiff  boots,  he  made  a 
bargain  with  a  teamster  bound  for  the  city  to 
carry  him  thither  for  eighteen  cents.  Arriving 
on  South  Water  Street,  he  came  opposite  the 
lumber-yard  of  Sylvester  Lynd,  the  first  person 
to  whom  he  had  spoken  after  alighting,  and  he  at 
once  engaged  to  work  in  the  lumber-yard  at  such 
remuneration  as  Mr.  Lynd  found  him  worth  after 
trial.  This  was  soon  fixed  at  $i  2  per  month,  and 
in  addition  his  kind  employer  provided  him  with 
a  new  suit  of  clothing,  complete,  in  order  that  he 
might  attend  Sabbath-school.  He  soon  made 


298 


T.  E  LEWIS. 


himself  familiar  with  the  lumber  business,  and 
was  promoted  to  the  position  of  inspector,  with  a 
corresponding  salary.  He  remained  in  the  city 
for  seven  years,  being  for  a  short  time  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  late  Deacon  Philo  Carpenter,  a  well- 
known  pioneer  of  Chicago. 

In  the  spring  of  1850  Mr.  Lewis  took  a  help- 
mate, in  the  person  of  Miss  Margaret,  daughter 
of  Edward  and  Elizabeth  Jones,  all  of  Bala, 
Wales,  where  the  family  has  dwelt  for  many  gen- 
erations on  the  same  farm,  called  '  'Nanthir, ' '  and 
which  is  still  occupied  by  some  of  its  members. 
Mrs.  Thomas  J.  Evans,  a  pioneer  of  Racine,  Wis. , 
is  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Lewis.  Mr.  Lewis  immediately 
took  his  bride  to  a  farm  of  his  own  at  Arlington 
Heights  (then  called  Dunton),  Cook  County, 
where  he  broke  up  and  improved  wild  land  and 
got  a  good  start  in  the  world.  He  remained 
there  eighteen  years,  serving  continuously  as 
School  Director,  and  then  removed  to  Blue  Is- 
land, in  the  same  county,  and  continued  his  agri- 
cultural pursuits,  being  there  also  a  school  officer 
for  six  years.  Beside  farming,  Mr.  Lewis  has 
dealt  extensively  in  lands,  and  is  a  large  owner 
of  Chicago  and  Hyde  Park  real  estate,  as  well  as 
numerous  farms.  He  dwelt  two  years  in  Engle- 
wood,  and  removed  thence  on  the  ist  of  May, 
1891,  to  Wheaton,  where  he  built  a  handsome 
home  on  an  eminence  near  College  Avenue  Station. 
He  still  occupies  himself  with  the  care  of  his  large 
farms  near  Wheaton,  though  he  finds  time  to  give 
attention  to  all  matters  of  public  concern,  especi- 
ally education,  on  which  his  judgment  is  emi- 
nently sound  and  practical.  He  has  striven  to 
equip  his  children  for  the  battle  of  life,  and  six  of 
his  daughters  are  graduates  of  the  Cook  County 
Normal  School,  and  successful  teachers. 

Like  all  true  Welshmen,  Mr.  Lewis  is  proud 
of  his  native  land,  its  people  and  their  achieve- 
ments, though  this  does  not  detract  in  the  least 
from  his  loyal  American  spirit.  He  is  a  Director 
and  Treasurer  of  the  Cambro  Printing  Company, 
of  Chicago,  which  publishes  a  Welsh  and  English 
newspaper  called  Columbia,  the  largest  of  its  kind 
in  the  world.  For  a  short  time  Mr.  Lewis  was 
President  and  General  Manager  of  this  company, 
but  as  soon  as  it  was  firmly  established  he  re- 


signed those  positions,  because  he  could  not  de- 
vote his  time  to  them.  When  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  provide  a  bond  for  the  payment  of  prizes 
offered  for  competition  in  the  International  Ei- 
steddfod, in  Festival  Hall,  at  the  World's  Colum- 
bian Exposition,  Mr.  Lewis,  with  true  patriotic 
spirit,  came  forward  and  gave  his  personal  secur- 
ity for  $12,500,  which  was  ultimately  paid  out  of 
the  receipts  of  the  festival,  thus  justifying  his 
faith  in  his  compatriots  and  the  Fair. 

In  religious  matters,  Mr.  Lewis  is  liberal  and  pro- 
gressive. He  attends  the  Congregational  Church 
with  his  entire  family.  In  political  concerns,  he 
adheres  to  the  Republican  party,  because  he  be- 
lieves it  rests  on  true  underlying  principles,  but 
has  never  found  the  time  nor  had  the  inclination 
to  seek  preferment.  He  took  a  deep  interest  in 
the  public  school  management,  because  he  had  a 
large  family  to  educate,  and  gave  much  time  to 
this  interest,  always  insisting  on  the  conduct  of 
the  schools  with  a  sole  view  to  the  public  welfare, 
sometimes  making  enemies  by  his  course,  but  al- 
ways triumphing  in  the  end.  He  is  now  serving 
as  Alderman  from  the  Second  Ward  of  Wheaton. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Welsh  Society,  Cymrodo- 
rion,  and  the  League  of  American  Wheelmen,  he 
being  an  expert  bicycle-rider. 

On  the  6th  of  May,  1889,  death  entered  the 
home  of  Mr.  Lewis  and  took  the  kind,  faithful 
wife  and  mother,  leaving,  beside  the  bereaved 
husband,  seven  of  her  nine  children  to  mourn  her 
absence.  The  eldest  of  these,  Margaret  J.,  wife 
of  George  H.  Brewster,  of  Wheaton,  died  July  9, 
1891.  Joseph  W.  resides  at  Blue  Island,  where 
he  is  engaged  in  manufacturing;  and  Sarah  M., 
who  for  some  time  held  the  position  of  Critic 
Teacher  at  the  Cook  County  Normal  School,  is 
now  her  father's  housekeeper.  Alice  U.,  wife  of 
James  H.  Kerr,  resides  at  Amsley,  Neb.,  and  is 
prominent  in  temperance  and  Sunday-school 
work,  making  frequent  public  addresses  in  their 
behalf.  Mary  A.,  Mrs.  William  H.  Hoar,  died 
a  few  weeks  before  her  mother.  Cora  E.  gradu- 
ated at  the  Blue  Island  High  School,  at  the 
Cook  County  Normal  (being  valedictorian  of  the 
two-years  graduating  class),  and  at  Oberlin  Col- 
lege, Ohio.  She  is  now  Principal  of  the  Belle 


R.  S.  GOUGH. 


299 


Plaine  School  in  Chicago,  and  Chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Illinois  State  Teach- 
ers' Association.  She  makes  frequent  addresses 
on  educational  topics,  and  was  chosen  to  conduct 
the  model  school  which  served  as  a  World's  Fair 
exhibit  near  Jackson  Park,  and  carried  it  through 
successfully.  AdaL.,  widow  of  J.W.  Bannerman, 
with  her  son  Tommy,  resides  with  Mr.  Lewis. 
Edward  J.  is  engaged  in  the  real-estate  and  fire- 
insurance  at  Wheaton,  111.  Grace  May  (often 
called  Minnie)  is  pursuing  a  medical  course  at 
the  Woman's  College  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Lewis  is  a  frank,  whole-souled  gentleman, 
with  refined  instincts  and    manly    self-respect, 


which  forbid  his  doing  a  mean  or  low  act,  and  his 
conversation  is  always  cheerful  and  entertaining. 
Out  of  a  ripe  experience,  he  has  gathered  a  large 
stock  of  general  and  useful  knowledge.  Now,  in 
his  sixty-eighth  year,  he  is  in  the  full  vigor  of  a 
temperate  and  well-spent  life.  He  has  a  closely 
knit  frame,  weighing  one  hundred  and  ninety 
pounds,  and  has  promise  of  an  extended  continu- 
ance of  an  existence  which  has  blessed  himself, 
his  family,  and  the  community  at  large.  When 
his  time  comes  to  lay  down  the  active  duties  of 
life,  which  have  been  a  perennial  source  of  pleas- 
ure, he  can  safely  consign  the  good  name  that  he 
has  won  to  the  care  of  a  worthy  posterity. 


RICHARD   S.  GOUGH. 


RICHARD  S.  GOUGH,  Manager  of  the  Postal 
Telegraph  Cable  Company  at  the  stock  yards 
in  Chicago,  although  doing  business  in  the 
metropolis  of  the  West,  makes  his  home  in  Turner, 
preferring  the  quiet  of  a  small  town  in  which  to 
spend  his  leisure  hours.  England  has  furnished 
a  number  of  valued  citizens  to  DuPage  County, 
among  whom  is  our  subject.  He  was  born  in 
Buckingham,  England,  February  6,  1844,  and 
his  parents,  James  and  Ann  (Scott)  Gough,  were 
also  natives  of  the  same  country.  The  paternal 
grandfather  was  an  English  farmer,  and  spent  his 
entire  life  in  his  native  land.  The  maternal  grand- 
father, William  Scott,  who  was  also  an  agricul- 
turist, was  a  member  of  the  regular  militia,  and 
was  an  Episcopalian  in  religious  belief.  He 
reached  a  very  advanced  age. 

James  Gough  was  an  extensive  farmer  of  Buck- 
inghamshire, and  died  in  the  land  of  his  birth  in 
1851,  at  the  age  of  forty-two  years.  His  wife 
long  survived  him,  passing  away  in  1892,  at  the 
age  of  eighty.  They  were  both  members  of  the 
Episcopalian  Church.  He  was  one  of  the  parish 


officials,  and  belonged  to  the  Royal  Bucks  Yeo- 
manry, a  cavalry  association.  In  the  Gough 
family  were  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  but 
only  two  are  now  living:  Richard  S.,  and  Re- 
becca, who  is  now  a  resident  of  Great  Marlow, 
England. 

Richard  S.  Gough  left  his  native  land  in  1859, 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  and,  coming  to  Amer- 
ica, located  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  where  he  spent 
one  winter.  The  next  summer  was  also  spent  in 
the  Empire  State,  and  in  1861  he  made  his  way 
westward  to  Chicago.  He  there  enlisted  in  the 
war,  in  the  telegraph  service,  and  served  for  two 
and  a-half  years,  when  he  was  discharged  on  ac- 
count of  sickness.  After  the  war  he  went  to  Dixon , 
111.,  as  telegraph  operator,  spending  one  year 
at  that  place,  and  going  thence  to  Bureau  Junc- 
tion, where  he  served  in  the  capacity  of  operator 
for  two  years.  His  next  location  was  in  Musca- 
tine,  Iowa,  and  subsequently  we  find  him  in 
Wilton  Junction,  Iowa,  where  he  was  employed 
as  agent  for  the  Chicago  &  Rock  Island  Railroad 
Company,  remaining  in  that  place  until  1867. 


3oo 


EDWARD  HAMMETT. 


That  year  witnessed  his  arrival  in  Chicago,  and 
saw  him  employed  in  the  Chicago  Union  Stock 
Yards,  as  chief  operator  in  the  office  of  the  West- 
ern Union  Company.  In  May,  1872,  he  was  ap- 
pointed manager  of  the  office,  which  position  he 
filled  until  1881,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  the 
position  of  manager  for  the  Mutual  Union  Com- 
pany at  the  stock  yards.  With  that  company  he 
remained  until  1883,  when  the  two  companies 
consolidated,  and  he  then  accepted  the  position  of 
manager  of  the  Postal  Telegraph  Cable  Company, 
which  he  has  filled  to  the  present  time,  employing 
two  assistants.  He  now  has  charge  of  thirty- 
seven  men,  and  the  business  has  increased  from 
$3,600  to  $200,000  per  year. 

On  the  8th  of  June,  1864,  Mr.  Gough  wedded 
Miss  Sarah  E.,  daughter  of  E.  H.  and  Jane  (Sher- 
man) Ketcham.  Seven  children  have  blessed 
this  union,  two  sons  and  five  daughters.  Ger- 
trude, the  eldest,  married  Council  Sheffler,  who  is 
engaged  in  business  in  the  stock  yards  in  Chicago, 
and  they  have  two  sons,  Richard  and  Rankin. 


Julia  is  the  next  younger.  Jennie  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  E.  Trescott,  a  printer  of  Choteau,  Mont., 
by  whom  she  has  two  children,  Gertrude  and 
Richard.  The  other  members  of  the  family  are 
Alice,  Rea  and  Raymond.  One  died  in  infancy. 
The  family  occupies  a  pleasant  home  in  Turner, 
which  is  the  property  of  Mr.  Gough,  who  also 
owns  several  town  lots.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  the  Modern 
Woodmen,  and  of  the  Telegraphic  Mutual  Benefit 
Association.  For  about  two  years  he  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  School  Board  in  Turner,  and  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  that  position  with  the  same 
fidelity  which  has  characterized  all  his  affairs, 
both  public  and  private.  He  now  occupies  a  very 
responsible  position,  and  that  he  discharges  his 
duties  faithfully  and  well  is  manifest  by  his  long 
continuance  in  the  service.  He  is  a  man  of  good 
business  ability,  honorable  and  upright  in  all  his 
dealings,  and  has  the  confidence  and  good-will  of 
those  with  whom  he  has  been  brought  in  contact. 


EDWARD  HAMMETT. 


'  DWARD  HAMMETT,  Cashier  of  the  Lin- 
coln National  Bank,  Chicago,  and  a  resident 
of  Wheaton,  is  descended  from  an  old  New 
England  family  of  English  origin.  His  great- 
grandfather, Nathan  Hammett,  spent  his  life  in 
Newport,  R.  I.,  where  he  had  an  estate  on  the 
harbor  front,  which  he  divided  at  death  between 
his  surviving  sons,  Edward  and  Nathan.  He 
passed  away  July  18,  1816,  and  his  wife,  Cathar- 
ine Yates,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  survived  him 
many  years,  dying  February  17,  1837. 

Edward,  eldest  son  of  Nathan  Hammett,  was  a 
builder  and  vessel-owner,  interested  in  the  whal- 
ing industry,  and  passed  his  life  at  Newport. 
He  died  about  1858,  being  upwards  of  eighty 


years  old.  His  wife,  Amy  Lyon,  was  of  English 
descent,  and  was,  like  himself,  a  native  of  New- 
port. They  had  five  sons  and  two  daughters. 
Albert,  the  youngest  of  these,  is  still  a  resident  of 
Newport,  being  seventy-two  years  of  age,  and 
being  still,  as  always,  engaged  in  the  lumber 
trade,  occupying  the  site  of  his  grandfather's  es- 
tate on  the  harbor  front.  For  a  few  years  he 
dwelt  at  New  Bedford,  but  returned  to  Newport 
in  1853.  His  wife,  Sarah  Swasey,  was  born  in 
Salem,  Mass.,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Alexander 
Swasey,  a  captain  in  the  merchant  marine  service, 
making  voyages  to  China.  Through  her  mother, 
Mrs.  Hammett  was  descended  from  Jerathmel 
Bowers,  who  came  from  England  about  the  mid- 


EDWARD  HAMMETT. 


301 


die  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  settled  on  the 
Taimton  River,  near  Somerset,  Mass.  He  was 
an  extensive  shipbuilder  and  slave-owner,  and 
built  a  magnificent  mansion  near  his  shipyards. 
On  account  of  its  commercial  surroundings,  this 
is  now  an  undesirable  residence  property,  and  is 
used  as  a  tenement  for  laborers. 

Edward  Hammett  was  born  at  New  Bedford, 
Mass.,  June  26,  1848,  and  was  reared  at  Newport. 
He  attended  the  public  school  and  a  private  school 
there,  and  a  business  college  at  Providence,  but 
left  school  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  and  has 
since  been  actively  engaged  in  business.  He 
was  employed  for  a  time  in  the  Newport  postoffice, 
and  later  in  his  father's  lumber  office.  With  an 
ambition  to  be  numbered  among  the  citizens  of 
the  growing  West,  he  set  out  for  Chicago  at  the 
age  of  nineteen.  He  secured  employment  as  a 
clerk  with  S.  H.  McCrea  &  Co.,  grain  and 
produce  commission  dealers,  and  remained  in 
their  employ  fourteen  years,  which  is  a  strong 
testimonial  to  his  ability  and  faithfulness.  For 
several  years  subsequently  he  was  a  partner  in  the 
firm  of  W.  F.  Johnson  &  Co. ,  in  the  same  line  of 
business.  He  was  one  of  the  original  stock- 
holders and  corporators  of  the  Lincoln  National 
Bank,  and  was  one  of  its  first  officers,  and  after 
two  years  in  other  business,  resumed  his  connec- 
tion with  that  bank,  of  which  he  is  now  Cashier. 
In  the  spring  of  1883  he  became  a  resident  of 
Wheaton,  and  purchased  sixteen  acres  of  land, 
with  a  handsome  mansion  facing  College  Avenue, 
at  the  corner  of  President  Street.  This  house 
occupies  an  elevation  commanding  a  view  of  the 
city  of  Wheaton  and  surrounding  country,  and  is 
an  ideal  home  in  which  to  rear  a  family. 

On  November  28,  1870,  in  Chicago,  Mr.  Ham- 
mett married  Miss  Mary  E.  Culver,  who  is  a 
native  of  that  city.  Her  parents,  John  Breese 
Culver  and  Margaret  A.  Boyd,  were  born  in  New 
Jersey,  and  the  city  of  Leith,  Scotland,  respec- 
tively, the  latter  being  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Jeannette  Boyd.  Mrs.  Hammett's  paternal  grand- 
father, Phineas  Culver,  was  born  March  17,  1764, 
in  Bernard,  Somerset  County,  N.  J.  His  father 
came  from  Shrewsbury,  England,  to  Bernard  when 
an  old  man,  and  Phineas  was  early  left  an  orphan. 


With  three  elder  brothers  he  joined  the  fortunes 
of  the  Continental  Army,  being  employed  for  sev- 
eral years  as  errand  boy,  and  carrying  a  musket 
at  last.  He  settled  at  Horseheads,  N.  Y.,  and 
became  wealthy,  owning  five  hundred  acres  of 
land,  but  he  refused  to  employ  slave  labor,  as  did 
many  of  his  neighbors.  His  wife,  Phoebe  Breese, 
was  a  daughter  of  John  and  Hannah  (Gilder- 
sleeve)  Breese,  the  former  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers at  Horseheads,  N.  Y.,  and  his  wife  a  scion 
of  an  old  Protestant- Irish  family.  John,  father  of 
John  Breese,  was  born  in  Shrewsbury,  England, 
in  1713,  and  settled  at  Bernard,  Somerset  County, 
N.  J.,  in  1735.  His  wife,  Dorothy  Riggs,  was 
also  a  native  of  Shrewsbury.  John  Breese,  their 
son,  was  born  at  Bernard  in  November,  1738. 
Hannah  Gildersleeve  was  born  in  June,  1750,  and 
they  were  married  June  30,  1769,  a  date  which  is 
supposed  to  have  followed  his  settlement  at  Horse- 
heads.  Phoebe  and  Deborah  Breese,  their  twin 
daughters,  were  born  in  February,  1773.  From 
the  Breese  family  are  descended  many  noted 
American  citizens,  among  whom  may  be  men- 
tioned the  late  Judge  Samuel  Sidney  Breese,  Chief 
Justice  of  the  State  of  Illinois;  Samuel  Findlay 
Breese  Morse,  inventor  of  the  electric  telegraph; 
and  Samuel  Sidney  Breese,  Rear- Admiral  of  the 
United  States  Navy,  who  was  buried  at  Newport. 

John  B.  Culver,  one  of  the  prominent  early 
citizens  of  Chicago,  now  resides  with  his  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Hammett,  at  Wheaton.  The  children 
of  the  latter,  nine  in  number,  are  as  follows: 
Albert,  a  student  in  the  medical  department  of 
the  Michigan  University  at  Ann  Arbor;  Llewel- 
lyn; Edith  May;  Edward;  Helen;  Amy;  Law- 
rence; Dorothy  and  Margaret.  The  eldest  mar- 
ried Mary  lone  Cook,  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hammett  are  communicants  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  in  many  ways  are  active 
in  furthering  the  best  interests  of  the  community. 
Their  home  bears  many  evidences  of  refined  and 
cultivated  taste,  and  is  the  domicile  of  a  happy 
and  well-trained  group  of  children,  the  central 
figure  being  the  cheerful  wife  and  mother.  Mr. 
Hammett  has  never  taken  a  prominent  part  in 
political  affairs,  but  has  always  adhered  to  the 
Republican  party,  as  the  advocate  and  adminis- 


302 


P.  P.  MATTHEWS. 


trator  of  sound  principles  of  government.  He 
has  served  as  a  member  of  the  Town  Council  of 
Wheaton,  and  is  now  a  Trustee  of  the  Adams 
Memorial  Library.  Without  any  sound  of  trump- 


ets, he  proceeds  daily  to  perform  to  the  best  of 
his  ability  his  duty  to  himself,  his  family  and  his 
fellow-men. 


PASCHAL  P.  MATTHEWS. 


r\ASCHALP.  MATTHEWS,  one  of  the  highly 
LS  respected  citizens  of  Hinsdale,  who  well  de- 
|^9  serves  representation  in  the  history  of  his 
adopted  county,  is  a  native  of  the  Empire  State. 
He  was  born  in  Herkimer  County,  August  3, 
1811,  and  is  a  son  of  Edmund  and  Lucy  (Mc- 
Clelland) Matthews,  the  former  of  French  descent, 
and  the  latter  of  Scotch  lineage.  Edmund  Matth- 
ews was  twice  married,  and  by  his  first  union 
had  a  son,  Charles.  By  the  second,  there  were 
five  children:  Henry;  Lucy,  deceased,  wife  of 
Reuben  Wellington;  Paschal  P.;  Emery,  and 
Lucretia,  deceased,  wife  of  Myron  Everetts.  In 
early  life  the  father  of  this  family  was  a  carpenter, 
and  helped  to  build  the  first  market-place  in  Bos- 
ton. Later,  however,  he  followed  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  served  during  the  War  of  1812,  as 
Quartermaster,  and  died  on  his  farm  in  New 
York  September  2,  1848,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
three  years.  His  wife  survived  him  some  time, 
and  passed  away  February  17,  1862.  They  held 
membership  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Mexico,  Oswego  County,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  Matthews  whose  name  heads  this  record 
spent  his  boyhood  and  youth  upon  his  father's 
farm,  remaining  at  home  until  he  had  reached  his 
twentieth  year,  when  he  began  to  earn  his  own 
livelihood.  Later,  he  attended  school  for  a  few 
months,  and  then  engaged  with  a  stage  company 
for  ten  years.  He  was  afterward  for  nearly  ten 
years  captain  of  a  packet-boat  on  the  Erie  Canal, 
running  between  Syracuse,  Schenectady  and  Utica. 
With  the  hope  of  bettering  his  financial  condi- 


tion, he  determined  to  come  to  the  West  in  1859, 
and,  carrying  out  this  resolution,  took  up  his 
residence  in  Chicago.  He  embarked  in  the  grain 
business,  and  was  connected  with  the  Board  of 
Trade  for  many  years,  continuing  operations  along 
this  line  until  1883,  when  he  retired  from  active 
business. 

On  the2istofMay,  1840,  Mr.  Matthews  wedded 
Miss  Louisa  Vinton,  and  they  became  the  parents 
of  one  child,  a  daughter,  Alice,  now  the  wife  of 
Nelson  R.  Davis.  The  mother  died  in  1891,  since 
which  time  a  niece  of  Mr.  Matthews  has  been 
keeping  house  for  him. 

For  many  years  our  subject  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Odd  Fellows'  fraternity.  In  early  life 
he  exercised  his  right  of  franchise  in  support  of 
the  Whig  party,  but  on  its  dissolution  joined  the 
ranks  of  the  new  Republican  party  and  has  since 
fought  under  its  banner.  It  was  in  1889  that  he 
came  to  Hinsdale,  where  he  has  a  beautiful  home 
and  ten  acres  of  valuable  land  within  the  corpora- 
tion limits  of  the  town.  He  has  now  reached  the 
age  of  eighty-two,  but  his  years  rest  lightly  upon 
him,  and  he  is  still  strong  and  active.  His  eyes 
are  bright,  his  mind  clear  and  keen,  and  he  is  a 
good  and  rapid  penman.  While  not  a  church 
member,  he  has  always  attended  religious  services 
and  contributed  liberally  to  church  and  benevo- 
lent work.  He  is  a  man  of  fine  physique  and 
excellent  carriage,  and  bids  fair  to  live  for  many 
years  to  come.  His  life  has  been  honorable  and 
upright,  and  his  many  friends  hold  him  in  high 
regard. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

HNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


MARSHALL   FIELD 


MARSHALL  FIELD. 


3°3 


MARSHALL  FIELD. 


I ARSHALL  FIELD,  the  merchant  prince  of 
Chicago,  who  believes  in  sharing  his  pros- 
perity with  his  fellow-citizens,  comes  of  the 
hardy  New  England  blood  which  has  done  so 
much  toward  developing  the  whole  northern  half 
of  the  United  States.  He  was  born  in  Conway, 
Franklin  County,  Mass.,  in  1835,  and  is  a  son  of 
a  farmer  of  that  town.  His  early  life  differed 
none  from  that  of  lads  of  that  time  and  region. 
His  education  was  supplied  by  the  local  public 
school  and  academy,  and  his  attention  was  early 
turned  toward  a  mercantile  career,  which  accord- 
ed best  with  his  tastes  and  ambition. 

The  student  of  human  progress,  and  the  youth 
who  seeks  an  example  worthy  of  his  emulation, 
in  the  struggle  for  success  will  find  in  the  career 
of  Marshall  Field  one  more  proof  that  the  road 
to  prosperity  is  a  plain  and  narrow  path,  wh'ich 
lies  open  to  almost  every  American  youth.  With 
no  capital  other  than  an  active  brain  and  the  en- 
ergy of  youth,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  mag- 
nificent estate,  and  a  firm  adherence  to  a  simple 
rule  of  business  has  enabled  him  to  complete  the 
superstructure.  He  has  never  borrowed  money, 
and  has  always  insisted  on  the  same  rigid  com- 
pletion of  contracts  on  the  part  of  others  which 
has  characterized  his  own  actions. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen,  young  Field  went  to 
Pittsfield,  in  his  native  State,  where  he  spent  four 
years  as  clerk  in  a  general  store.  Having  thor- 
oughly mastered  the  details  of  the  business,  he 
began  to  look  about  for  a  field  that  promised  a 
wider  opportunity  for  a  young  man.  At  that 
time  (1856),  Chicago  was  a  city  of  about  sixty 
thousand  people,  and  he  resolved  to  cast  his  lot 
in  the  growing  town,  which  showed  an  energy 
that  promised  a  rapid  development.  On  his  ar- 


rival in  Chicage,  he  at  once  secured  employment 
in  the  wholesale  dry-goods  house  of  Cooley, 
Wadsworth  &  Co.,  which  soon  after  became 
known  as  Cooley,  Farwell  &  Co.  Though 
he  occupied  a  subordinate  position,  his  ability 
and  familiarity  with  business  soon  became  appar- 
ent to  his  employers,  and  at  the  end  of  four  years 
he  was  taken  into  partnership,  and  the  largest 
house  of  its  kind  in  the  West  became  Farwell, 
Field  &  Co.  In  1865  this  firm  was  dis- 
solved, and  Mr.  Field  entered  into  a  partnership 
with  Potter  Palmer  and  L.  Z.  Leiter,  under  the 
title  of  Field,  Palmer  &  Leiter,  which  connection 
continued  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
Mr.  Palmer  withdrew,  and  the  house  was  hence- 
forth known  as  Field,  Leiter  &  Co.  until 
1881,  when,  upon  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Leiter, 
the  style  became  Marshall  Field  &  Co.,  and 
has  so  continued.  For  almost  thirty  years  Mr. 
Field  has  been  the  head  of  the  firm,  and  under 
the  operation  of  his  simple  business  rules  it  has 
steadily  prospered.  In  1868  the  business  was 
located  at  State  and  Washington  Streets,  where 
the  buildings  and  stock  were  totally  consumed  in 
the  great  fire  of  1871,  entailing  a  loss  of  three 
and  one-half  millions  of  dollars.  After  serious 
delays,  and  with  much  difficulty,  _  two  and  one- 
half  millions  of  this  were  collected  from  the  insur- 
ance companies,  and  with  a  dead  loss  of  one  mill- 
ion dollars,  the  business  was  continued,  being 
temporarily  located  at  State  and  Twentieth 
Streets,  while  the  rebuilding  of  the  house  at  State 
and  Washington  went  on.  This  has  been  grad- 
ually increased  in  size  by  purchase  and  construc- 
tion until  it  covers  more  than  one-half  of  the 
block  bounded  by  State,  Washington  and  Ran- 
dolph Streets  and  Wabash  Avenue.  In  the  year 


3°4 


J.  A.  DOLLINGER. 


1893,  the  portion  covering  the  southeast  corner 
was  constructed,  embodying  every  essential  of 
comfort  and  convenience  known  to  the  modern 
builder's  art.  The  wholesale  department  was 
separated  from  the  retail  in  1872,  and  removed  to 
the  corner  of  Madison  and  Market  Streets.  This 
location  was  soon  found  inadequate  fop- the  needs 
of  the  business,  which  was  continually  increasing, 
and  in  1885  the  construction  of  a  building  for  the 
wholesale  business  was  begun  on  the  block  sur- 
rounded by  Fifth  Avenue  and  Franklin,  Adams 
and  Quincy  Streets.  This  was  completed  in  1887, 
and  at  once  occupied,  and  continues  to  be  the 
model  of  its  kind  for  the  whole  world. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  record  of  achievements. 
Let  none  ask  for  further  details.  To  the  subject 
of  this  biography  all  publicity  is  extremely  dis- 
tasteful. The  public  demands  all  the  knowledge 
obtainable,  some  from  motives  of  mere  curiosity, 
others  from  honest  desire  to  benefit  from  the  ex- 
perience of  a  successful  man.  If  one  would  em- 
ulate his  example,  let  him  adopt  the  same  rules 
of  life:  Always  pay  cash,  never  give  a  note  or 
mortgage,  labor  steadily,  and  never  speculate 
or  spend  anything  idly.  In  the  conduct  of 
the  great  wholesale  house  of  Marshall  Field  & 
Co.,  goods  are  purchased  for  cash  and  sold 
on  short  time.  Customers  are  strictly  required 
to  meet  their  payments,  and  are  thus  led  to  be 
cautious  in  contracting  obligations,  and  prompt 
in  their  cancellation.  By  this  method,  the  house 
retains  the  trade  of  the  best  and  most  success- 
ful merchants,  and  the  interests  of  all  are  con- 
served. Under  this  safe  and  wholesome  system, 


the  trade  has  grown  to  the  annual  dimensions  of 
$35,000,000.  The  pay-roll  of  the  two  stores  in- 
cludes from  3,500  to  4,000  persons,  and  to  all  of 
these,  as  well  as  any  who  may  have  business  with 
him,  Mr.  Field  is  always  accessible.  With  a  won- 
derful power  of  organization,  and  the  ability  to 
gauge  the  qualifications  of  his  subordinates,  he 
encourages  each  by  uniform  kindness  and  consid- 
eration, and  all  are  most  loyal  and  faithful  aids 
in  the  prosecution  of  business. 

Mr.  Field's  home  is  the  seat  of  quiet  luxury, 
with  no  ostentation.  He  goes  little  into  society, 
but  takes  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  city 
of  his  home,'  and  responds  liberally  to  all  just 
calls  upon  his  purse,  though  much  of  his  benevo- 
lence is  secretly  bestowed.  When  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  new  University  of  Chicago  was 
made  possible  by  the  liberality  of  Mr.  Rockefeller 
and  others,  Mr.  Field  donated  a  valuable  tract  of 
city  ground  as  a  part  of  the  site.  This  gift  seems 
all  the  more  liberal  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
institution  is  controlled  by  the  Baptist  Church, 
while  Mr.  Field  is  a  Presbyterian.  After  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition  was  closed,  the 
people  of  Chicago  began  to  agitate  the  idea  of 
preserving  as  much  as  possible  of  the  exhibits  in 
a  permanent  home,  which  was  made  possible  by 
Mr.  Field's  gift  of  one  million  dollars.  On  the 
second  day  of  June,  1894,  this  institution  was 
formally  opened,  under  the  title  of  ' '  The  Field 
Columbian  Museum,  "  with  a  few  simple  ceremo- 
nies, and  its  benefits  are  likely  to  extend  to  many 
generations  and  many  millions  or  the  American 
people. 


JOHN  ANTON  DOLLINGER. 


(JOHN  ANTON   DOLLINGER,    a  traveling 

I    salesman  residing  at  Wheaton,  is  numbered 

G)   among  the  early  residents  of  DuPage  County, 

and  has  made  his  own  way  in  the  world  since  he 

was  ten  years  of  age.     He  was  bom  in  Baden, 


Germany,  on  the  24th  of  December,  1845,  and  is 
the  eldest  child  of  Christopher  Dollinger,  a  native 
of  the  same  place.  His  mother  died  when  he  was 
an  infant,  and  when  he  had  arrived  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years  his  father  brought  the  four  children 


D.   N.   CHAPIN. 


3°5 


to  America.  The  second  child,  Adelaide,  Mrs. 
George  Rieser,  resides  in  Naperville  Township, 
DuPage  County.  Christopher,  Jr.,  is  a  resident 
of  Colorado  Springs,  Colo. ;  and  Margaret,  Mrs. 
lyUther,  dwells  in  Fredericksburg,  Neb.  Chris- 
topher Dollinger  engaged  in  farming  in  Naper- 
ville Township,  where  he  died  in  1873,  aged 
about  sixty  years. 

From  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  America,  our 
subject  has  been  independent  of  parental  aid  in 
supporting  or  educating  himself.  He  took  em- 
ployment in  a  hotel  and  meat-market  kept  by  his 
maternal  uncle,  Nicholas  Graff,  at  Danby,  now 
Glen  Ellyn,  attending  school  a  portion  of  the 
time,  and  continued  in  this  way  until  the  death 
of  his  uncle.  He  was  afterward  employed  in  a 
general  store  until  1862,  when  he  entered  the 
military  service,  as  a  member  of  Company  I,  One 
Hundred  and  Fifth  Illinois  Infantry,  in  defense 
of  the  American  Union.  This  service  continued 
about  three  years,  and  involved  a  participation  in 
many  of  the  most  decisive  battles  of  the  war.  Mr. 
Dollinger  was  mustered  out  at  Washington  in 
June,  1865.  While  in  front  of  Chattanooga,  he 
was  excused  from  duty  on  account  of  illness,  but 
refused  to  leave  his  comrades,  and  remained  at 
the  front  to  the  finish. 


Since  1 867  Mr.  Dollinger  has  been  in  mercan- 
tile business,  and  for  some  years  kept  a  grocery 
in  Chicago.  For  the  last  seventeen  years  he  has 
traveled  in  the  capacity  of  salesman,  and  twelve 
of  those  years  have  been  passed  in  the  service  of 
his  present  employers,  Franklin  MacVeagh&Co. 
In  1872  he  became  a  resident  of  Wheaton,  and 
he  is  the  owner  of  a  handsome  brick  residence  on 
Wesley  Street,  near  Scott.  He  takes  an  active 
interest  in  the  social  affairs  of  the  town,  being  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public and  Knights  of  Pythias,  as  well  as  a  genial, 
magnetic  gentleman,  whose  friends  are  numbered 
by  his  list  of  acquaintances.  He  entertains  lib- 
eral religious  views,  and  is  an  ardent  supporter 
of  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party. 

In  1868  Mr.  Dollinger  married  Miss  Emagene 
C.  Wicks,  who  was  born  in  Carthage,  N.  Y.,  and 
bears  in  her  veins  the  blood  of  the  principal  Eu- 
ropean settlers  of  New  England  and  New  York 
— French,  English  and  Dutch.  Her  parents 
were  Stutley  and  Ann  E.  (Strong)  Wicks,  the 
former  being  a  son  of  Stutley  Wicks,  whose  wife's 
maiden  name  was  Treadway.  Three  children 
complete  the  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dollinger, 
namely:  Anna  W.,  Charles  A.  and  William. 


DEACON  NEWTON  CHAPIN. 


0EACON    NEWTON    CHAPIN,    deceased, 
a  prominent  resident  of  northeastern  Illinois, 
was   a  man   widely   and  favorably  known. 
He  was  born  in  Chicopee,  Mass.,  April  17,  1821, 
and  was  a  son  of  William  and  Lucy  (Day)  Chapin. 
The  family  is   descended   from   Deacon   Samuel 
Chapin,  who  emigrated  from  England  about  1 640. 
He  was  one  of  the  seven  men  who  founded  Spring- 
field, Mass. ,  and  was  prominent  in  the  govern- 
ment of  that  town   for  many  years.     Twenty 


thousand  of  his  descendants  contributed  to  the 
erection  of  a  monument  to  his  memory  in  Spring- 
field a  few  years  since.  His  direct  descendants 
now  number  fifty  thousand  people,  about  three- 
fourths  of  whom  are  professed  Christians,  many 
of  them  being  widely  known  in  church  work  and 
other  fields  of  labor.  The  family  is  indeed  an 
honored  one. 

Newton  Chapin  spent  his  boyhood  upon  a  farm, 
aiding  in  the  labors  of  the  fields  from  an  early 


306 


D.  N.  CHAPIN. 


age.  His  school  privileges  in  youth  were  limited, 
but,  wishing  to  acquire  a  good  education,  he  at- 
tended Andover  Academy  after  reaching  the  age 
of  twenty-one,  meeting  his  tuition  with  money 
saved  from  his  wages  as  a  mechanic.  Leaving 
school,  he  engaged  in  carpenter  work  in  Spring- 
field, and  followed  that  occupation  and  bridge- 
building  until  1856,  when  he  decided  to  seek  a 
home  in  the  West,  hoping  thereby  to  benefit  his 
financial  condition.  Coming  to  Illinois,  he  located 
in  Chicago.  The  previous  season  he  spent  a  few 
months  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  In  1867,  he  removed 
to  Lombard,  where  he  made  his  home  until  1874, 
when  he  returned  to  Chicago.  In  this  city  Mr. 
Chapin  was  engaged  in  bridge  and  depot  building, 
his  first  contract  being  the  building  of  the  first 
Van  Buren  Street  bridge.  He  was  associated 
first  with  William  B.  Howard,  and  later  with  D. 
L-  Wells,  and  built  many  bridges  for  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad,  and  other  corpor- 
ations. He  was  the  inventor  of  the  "Newton 
Chapin  Clamp  and  Key"  for  truss  bridges. 

In  the  great  fire  of  1871,  he  lost  all  his  property, 
but  managed  to  pay  off  his  creditors  in  full,  al- 
though he  never  afterward  became  a  wealthy  man. 
He  was  a  man  whose  word  was  as  good  as  his 
bond,  and  no  one  ever  suffered  loss  at  his  hands. 
After  the  fire  he  became  interested  in  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  the  Babcock  Fire  Extinguisher, 
and  was  also  associated  with  his  son  in  the  station- 
ery business.  He  was  the  publisher  of  "Chapin's 
Lumber  Reckoner, ' '  which  is  now  in  general  use 
throughout  the  United  States  and  Europe.  A 
short  time  before  the  great  fire  Mr.  Chapin  had 
returned  home  after  a  fifteen-months  trip  abroad. 
He  was  accompanied  by  his  family,  and  visited 
many  places  of  interest  in  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa. 
The  journey  was  made  chiefly  on  account  of  the 
health  of  Mr.  Chapin,  and  in  1876  he  went  to 
Denver,  Colo.,  hoping  thereby  to  benefit  his 
health.  He  returned  to  Chicago  in  1878,  where 
he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death,  December 


17,  1887.  He  was  married  forty  years  previous, 
in  1847,  to  Carra  B.  Sawin,  a  native  of  Ashland, 
Mass.  They  became  parents  of  six  children,  four 
of  whom  died  in  childhood.  William  Newton 
Chapin,  the  eldest,  now  has  charge  of  the  produc- 
tion of  the  Ticonderoga  Paper  Campany,  of  Ticon- 
deroga,  N.  Y.  He  married  EllaT.  Hull,  daugh- 
ter of  R.  E.  Hull,  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  and  they  have 
had  five  children,  of  whom  one  died  in  infancy, 
while  Edna,  Mary,  Helen  and  Newton  are  still 
living.  Charles  O. ,  the  other  son  of  the  family,  is 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  stationery  special- 
ties in  Chicago.  He  resides  in  Lombard  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  that 
place.  He  takes  a  very  active  part  in  the  work  of 
the  church,  and  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society, 
and  is  always  ready  to  aid  in  promoting  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  community  in  which  he  lives.  In 
Denver,  Colo. ,  he  wedded  Fannie  E. ,  daughter  of 
J.  G.  A.  and  S.  E.  Finn.  They  have  adopted 
three  children,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  and 
Ruth  Sawin  Chapin,  the  third,  died  June  20,  1893, 
at  the  age  of  four  years  and  three  months.  Mrs. 
Carra  Chapin,  wife  of  our  subject,  was  called  to 
her  final  rest  November  24,  1885,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-nine. 

Mr.  Chapin  became  one  of  the  Deacons  of  Ply- 
mouth Congregational  Church  of  Chicago  as  early 
as  1857,  and  was  ever  prominent  in  its  work  and 
upbuilding.  He  contributed  liberally  to  the  erec- 
tion of  the  house  of  worship,  and  on  removing  to 
Lombard  became  the  prime  mover  in  the  building 
of  the  Congregational  Church  at  that  place.  He 
was  always  active  in  church  work,  and  at  his  death 
was  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday-school  of  the  Union 
Tabernacle  Congregational  Church.  He  was  a 
man  of  fixed  principles  and  strict  integrity,  whose 
whole  life  was  governed  by  conscientious  motives. 
Always  interested  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
community,  he  left  to  his  famil}7  an  untarnished 
name,  well  worthy  of  perpetuation  in  the  history 
of  his  adopted  county. 


C.  H.  HARRISON. 


307 


HON.  CARTER  H.  HARRISON. 


HON.  CARTER  H.  HARRISON,  deceased, 
late  Mayor  of  Chicago,  was  one  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens  of  the  western  metropolis 
for  the  long  period  of  thirty-six  years,  and  was 
its  most  popular  citizen.  The  record  of  his  life  is 
interwoven  with  the  history  of  the  community, 
with  its  social,  business  and  political  career.  A 
native  of  Fayette  County,  Ky.,  he  came  of  an  old 
Virginian  family,  which  was  connected  with  the 
struggle  for  independence,  and  which  had  among 
its  members  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  His  father  was  a  gentleman 
planter,  and  from  his  birth,  February  15,  1825, 
until  his  sixteenth  year,  he  remained  in  the  old 
southern  home.  After  completing  his  common- 
school  and  academic  education,  he  studied  under 
Dr.  Marshall,  of  Lexington,  brother  of  Chief 
Justice  Marshall,  thus  preparing  himself  for  his 
university  course.  He  entered  the  sophomore 
class  at  Yale  in  1842,  and  was  graduated  in  law 
and  letters  in  1 845.  At  college  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Scroll  and  Key  Society,  whose  roster  em- 
braces the  names  of  the  most  prominent  men  who 
claim  Yale  as  their  Alma  Mater.  After  his  re- 
turn to  Kentucky,  Mr.  Harrison  attended  a  post- 
graduate course  of  law  lectures  for  a  year.  He 
then  went  back  to  his  boyhood  home,  and  was 
the  manager  of  the  large  plantation  from  1847 
to  1851 

In  the  latter  year,  Mr.  Harrison  went  abroad, 
spending  some  months  in  visiting  Paris,  London, 
Edinburgh  and  the  cities  of  Germany  and  Austria. 
The  ostensible  purpose  of  this  trip  was  the  pur- 
chase of  some  blooded  cattle,  and  this  business 
brought  him  in  contact  with  the  Earl  of  Ducie,  at 
whose  country  seat  he  made  a  long  visit.  It  was 
during  this  trip  that  he  studied  the  French  and 
German  languages,  his  knowledge  of  which 
proved  of  immense  benefit  to  him  in  later  years, 
and  made  him  one  of  the  best  representatives  of 


the  nation  in  receiving  the  foreign  visitors  at  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition,  so  lately  closed. 
Leaving  Europe,  Mr.  Harrison  then  spent  many 
months  in  travel  through  Syria,  Palestine  and 
Asia  Minor,  in  company  with  Bayard  Taylor, 
who  was  then  gathering  material  for  his  book, 
"The  Land  of  the  Saracen,"  in  the  preface  of 
which  the  author  refers  to  "my  traveling  com- 
panion, Mr.  Carter  Henry  Harrison,  of  Clifton, 
Ky." 

Returning  to  his  native  land  and  State  in  1852, 
Mr.  Harrison  completed  his  law  studies  and  was 
soon  afterwards  admitted  to  the  Bar.  In  1855, 
he  married  Miss  Sophie  Preston,  of  Henderson, 
Ky. ,  and  unto  them  were  born  four  children  who 
are  yet  living:  Lina,  wife  of  Heaton  Owsley,  of 
Chicago;  Carter  H.,  Jr.;  William  Preston  and 
Sophie  G.  There  were  six  other  children,  all  of 
whom  died  in  early  youth. 

Chicago  was  first  visited  by  Mr.  Harrison  the 
year  of  his  marriage,  and  so  well  pleased  was 
he  with -the  young  city  that  he  sold  his  Ken- 
tucky home,  and  in  1857  made  a  permanent  loca- 
tion here.  The  $30,000  which  he  secured  from 
his  Kentucky  property  he  at  once  invested  in 
real  estate.  One  of  his  earliest  purchases  Was  the 
block  at  the  corner  of  Clark  and  Harrison  Streets, 
which  he  still  owned  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and 
which  in  the  years  that  have  passed  has  be- 
come very  valuable.  He  also  bought  unim- 
proved land  on  the  West  Side,  which  was  later 
made  the  Carter  Harrison  Subdivision.  His  first 
home  was  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Hermitage 
Avenue  and  Congress  Street,  where  he  erected  a 
residence  in  1860.  Six  years  later  he  purchased 
the  Honore  home  at  No.  231  Ashland  Avenue, 
where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death. 

On  coming  to  Chicago,  he  engaged  to  a  limi- 
ted extent  in  law  practice,  but  he  who  was  to  be- 
come so  well  known  as  an  orator  and  extempor- 


308 


C.  H.   HARRISON. 


aneous  speaker  was  then  so  timid  about  public 
speaking  that  he  abandoned  the  law.  In  1871, 
he  entered  upon  his  official  career,  being  elected 
County  Commissioner.  In  1872,  he  was  pre- 
vailed upon  to  make  the  race  for  Congress 
against  Jasper  D.  Ward,  but  was  defeated  by  seven 
hundred  votes.  In  1874,  he  again  accepted  the 
nomination.  He  and  his  opponent,  Mr.  Ward, 
who  had  defeated  him  two  years  previously, 
both  claimed  the  election,  and  on  a  recount 
of  votes  Mr.  Harrison  was  declared  the  winner 
by  a  majority  of  eight.  It  was  while  he  was  in 
Congress  that,  in  September,  1876,  his  wife  died. 
She  passed  away  in  Gera,  Germany,  where  the 
elder  children  were  attending  school,  and  was 
there  interred.  While  Mr.  Harrison  was  crossing 
the  ocean  to  bring  his  motherless  children  home, 
his  Democratic  constituents  nominated  him  for 
Congress,  and  a  few  days  after  his  return  he  was 
re-elected,  defeating  Col.  George  R.  Davis  by  six 
hundred  votes.  Later  the  remains  of  his  wife  were 
brought  back  to  Chicago  and  interred  at  Grace- 
land.  He  refused  the  re-nomination  for  Congress 
in  1878. 

In  1879,  by  the  vote  of  the  people,  Mr.  Har- 
rison was  placed  in  the  Mayor's  chair,  which  he 
filled  for  eight  years,  being  three  times  re-elected. 
During  his  second  term,  he  was  again  married, 
the  lady  being  Miss  Margaret  Stearns,  daughter 
ot  Marcus  C.  Stearns,  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  of 
Chicago.  The  ceremony  was  performed  in  July, 
1882.  In  1887,  Mr.  Harrison  was  offered  a  fifth 
nomination,  but  declined.  Even  after  this  his 
name  was  put  before  the  convention  as  a  dele- 
gate, and  he  was  nominated  by  acclamation.  Mr. 
Harrison,  who  had  hitherto  been  absent,  then  ap- 
peared before  the  convention,  and  his  coming  was 
the  signal  for  an  ovation.  Cheer  after  cheer  rent 
the  air.  When  quiet  had  been  restored,  he  said 
that  he  would  only  accept  on  one  condition, 
namely,  that  every  man  in  the  convention  should 
by  raising  his  right  hand  pledge  himself  to  loyally 
support  his  candidacy.  Every  hand  went  up, 
and  again  a  mighty  cheer  shook  the  building. 
The  local  press  antagonized  his  nomination  bit- 
terly, and  friends  of  President  Cleveland  gave  it 
out  that  the  administration  at  Washington  de- 


sired Mr.  Harrison's  defeat.  Worried  by  this 
opposition  in  his  party  and  the  illness  of  his  wife, 
who  died  a  few  weeks  later,  he  sent  a  letter  of  res- 
ignation to  the  Democratic  Committee. 

Two  months  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  Mr. 
Harrison  started  on  his  journey  around  the 
world,  and  during  his  travels  the  public  was 
made  familiar  with  his  wanderings  through  his 
letters  to  the  Chicago  Mail.  On  his  return  he 
was  urged  to  put  these  into  book  form,  which 
he  later  did,  under  the  happily  selected  title,  '  'A 
Race  with  the  Sun."  His  was  certainly  one  of 
the  most  comprehensive  journeys  ever  made  in 
one  circuit  of  the  globe.  He  visited  the  north- 
western part  of  our  own  country,  the  Pacific 
Coast,  and  sailed  from  Vancover  to  Yokohama. 
He  spent  many  pleasant  hours  in  Japan;  studied 
the  habits  and  quaint  customs  of  the  Chinese;  be- 
came intimate  with  the  King  of  Siam;  visited  the 
various  points  of  interest  in  India  and  Ceylon; 
sailed  the  Indian  Ocean,  the  Red  Sea  and  the 
Suez  Canal;  took  a  trip  up  the  Nile,  and  after- 
wards studied  Greece  in  the  light  of  its  past  and 
of  its  present,  and  drew  his  conclusions  as  to  its 
future.  In  conclusion  he  wrote:  "Again  I  look 
out  of  our  window;  clouds  are  gathering  over  the 
sky;  the  curtain  of  the  far  West  is  dyed  in  purple 
and  salmon.  Through  a  cloud-rift  the  round, 
low-down  sun  is  bloody  red.  Nearly  five  hun- 
dred times  has  he  run  his  course  since  we  started 
in  our  race  with  him  around  the  world.  He  has 
reached  our  home  and  passed  it,  and  we  are  not 
yet  quite  there.  He  dips  his  rim  and  is  gone. 
He  has  won  the  race.  To  him  and  to  you  good- 
bye." 

Mr.  Harrison  reached  home  on  the  8th  of  No- 
vember, 1889,  and  the  following  year  was  again 
urged  to  become  the  candidate  for  Mayor,  but  he 
refused  the  honor,  and  during  the  two  succeed- 
ing years  lived  a  quiet,  retired  life.  At  the  ex- 
piration of  that  period,  however,  he  was  again  a 
nominee  for  Mayor  on  an  independent  ticket. 
Nothing  else  could  have  so  indicated  his  personal 
popularity.  There  were  four  candidates  in  the 
field,  and  Mr.  Harrison  polled  a  very  large  vote, 
the  three  leaders  being  separated  by  but  three 
thousand  ballots.  Members  of  the  Democracy 


GEORGE  ERASER. 


309 


greatly  opposed  his  course,  but  the  majority  of 
the  party  believed  in  him,  and  he  became  their 
candidate  for  the  campaign  of  1893.  He  was 
elected  by  an  overwhelming  majority  to  a  position 
all  the  more  important  from  the  fact  that  his  city, 
where  the  World's  Fair  was  to  be  held,  would 
receive  distinguished  visitors  from  all  lands,  and 
he  would  virtually  be  the  country's  representa- 
tive in  welcoming  them  to  the  United  States.  All 
summer  long  as  a  courteous  host  he  presided, 
and  each  day  added  to  the  number  of  his  friends. 
Again  and  again  he  had  presided  on  different  pub- 


lic occasions,  and  on  the  28th  of  October,  two  days 
before  the  official  closing  of  the  Fair,  Mayors'  Day 
was  celebrated,  a  day  set  apart  for  the  Mayors  of 
all  the  cities  of  the  Union.  Mr.  Harrison,  in  his 
capacity  of  host,  presided,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
ceremonies  returned  to  his  home.  A  few  hours 
later  a  shot  was  fired  which  terminated  his  life, 
and  the  city,  which  was  making  such  extensive 
preparations  to  close  the  Fair  with  brilliant  cere- 
monies, went  instead  into  mourning  for  its  Chief 
Executive. 


GEORGE  ERASER. 


FRASER  is  an  influential  Scotch- 

b  American  citizen,  who  has  made  his  home 
in  Chicago  for  nearly  thirty  years.  Allen 
Grange,  near  the  village  of  Munlochy,  in  Ross- 
shire,  Scotland,  where  he  was  born,  has  been  the 
home  of  his  ancestors  for  more  than  a  century, 
and  three  generations  of  the  name  are  now  living 
there. 

His  father,  Donald  Fraser,  was  a  blacksmith 
by  trade,  succeeding  his  father,  John  Fraser,  in 
that  occupation.  Donald  Fraser  died  at  Allen 
Grange  in  1875,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Isabella  Young, 
still  lives  there,  having  attained  the  venerable 
age  of  more  than  ninety-one  years.  She  is  a  na- 
tive of  the  same  place,  her  father  having  been  a 
farmer  in  that  locality. 

George  Fraser  was  born  on  the  2d  of  June, 
1840.  He  attended  the  parish  school  at  Mun- 
lochy, and  when  he  was  old  enough  went  to  learn 
the  trade  of  a  baker  at  Dingwall.  He  served  a 
four-years  apprenticeship  without  wages,  and 
subsequently  spent  two  years  in  working  at  his 
trade  in  Edinburgh,  and  one  year  in  London, 
England.  In  1866  he  resolved  to  come  to  Amer- 


ica. Upon  reaching  Brooklyn,  New  York,  he 
tarried  a  few  months  in  that  city,  but  in  the  fol- 
lowing spring  continued  his  journey  to  Chicago. 
Here  he  immediately  found  work  at  his  trade,  and 
in  1868  he  opened  an  establishment  of  his  own  on 
Division  Street,  near  his  present  location.  In 
common  with  most  of  his  neighbors  in  that  vicin- 
ity, three  years  later  he  lost  everything  he  pos- 
sessed by  the  Great  Fire,  and  for  a  few  months 
thereafter  moved  to  the  West  Side.  For  twenty- 
three  years  past  he  has  been  in  his  present  loca- 
tion, and  the  constant  arrival  and  departure  of 
customers  attests  the  popularity  which  his  busi- 
ness has  attained. 

About  sixteen  years  ago  Mr.  Fraser  united 
with  St.  Andrew's  Society,  an  organization  in 
which  nearly  all  of  the  best  of  his  countrymen 
in  Chicago  are  interested.  His  active  interest  in 
this  association  has  caused  him  to  become  one  of 
its  most  popular  members,  and  for  six  years  past 
he  has  officiated  as  one  of  its  Board  of  Mana- 
gers. He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Caledonian 
Club  for  ten  years,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  has 
voted  the  Republican  ticket  since  becoming  a  cit- 
izen of  the  United  States. 


3io 


J.  J.  RUSSELL. 


In  1867  Mr.  Fraser  was  married  to  Catharine 
Ross,  a  native  of  Invergordon,  Ross- shire,  Scot- 
laud.  She  is  the  daughter  of  David  Ross,  a  rep- 
resentative of  one  of  the  oldest  Scottish  families, 
in  honor  of  which  their  native  shire  was  named. 
Mrs.  Fraser  is  a  valuable  helpmate  to  and  ad- 
viser of  her  husband,  and  the  mother  of  five  chil- 
dren, named,  respectively,  Anna,  Isabel,  Donald 
George,  Kate  and  Margaret. 


Born  and  reared  amid  the  historic  and  pic- 
turesque scenes  of  the  Highlands,  Mr.  Fraser  is  a 
typical  representative  of  the  Gaelic  race,  a  people 
noted  for  their  sturdy  character  and  industrious 
and  frugal  habits.  Their  adherence  to  principle 
has  led  them  to  endure  much  in  past  centuries, 
and  they  have  exerted  no  small  influence  upon 
the  progress  and  civilization  of  America. 


JOHN  J.  RUSSELL. 


(TOHN  J.  RUSSELL,  an  esteemed  pioneer  of 
I  Cook  County,  now  deceased,  was  born  in 
(*/  Sharon  Springs,  New  York,  on  the  I4th  of 
August,  1810,  and  made  farming  his  life  work. 
Emigrating  westward,  he  reached  Chicago  on  the 
I4th  of  February,  1836,  and  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  timber-land,  including  the 
site  on  which  Rush  Medical  College  now  stands. 
About  a  year  and  a-half  later  he  sold  and  removed 
to  Niles  Township,  where  he  lived  six  months. 
He  then  became  a  resident  of  Northfield  Town- 
ship, purchasing  land  on  section  14,  to  which  he 
aftenvards  added  until  he  had  on  sections  14,  15 
and  22  three  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  rich 
land,  all  in  one  body,  which  yielded  to  him  a 
good  income.  Here  he  devoted  the  greater  part 
of  his  time  and  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
winning  success  in  his  undertakings.  He  mar- 
ried Ann  Eliza  Legg,  daughter  of  Isaac  Legg,  a 
native  of  Tennessee.  The  lady  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky on  the  gth  of  October,  1813,  and  with 
her  parents  came  to  Chicago  in  1833.  Her 
death  occurred  at  Wilmette,  August  20,  1886. 
She  was  a  lady  of  many  admirable  qualities, 
and  she  and  her  husband  had  been  for  many  years 


identified  with  the  Methodist  Church.  They  con- 
tributed liberally  to  its  support,  and  were  always 
considered  among  the  leading  members. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Russell  were  born  six  chil- 
dren, three  sons  and  three  daughters:  Isaac  H., 
who  is  now  proprietor  of  a  paper  and  paint  store 
in  Chicago;  John  J.,  deceased;  Edward,  whose 
sketch  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  work; 
Lizzie,  wife  of  B.  F.  Kay,  who  for  twenty- 
four  years  has  been  connected  with  the  postof- 
fice  of  Chicago;  Ella,  wife  of  Heny  McDaniel,  a 
policeman  of  Wilmette;  and  Lena,  who  completes 
the  family.  After  many  years  spent  in  farming, 
John  J.  Russell  removed  to  Wilmette,  where  his 
death  occurred  April  30,  1889.  He  always  advo- 
cated the  principles  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
kept  well  informed  on  the  issues  of  the  day.  He 
took  quite  an  interest  in  military  affairs  and  be- 
longed to  the  State  militia,  in  which  he  held  a 
Lieutenant's  commission  from  Gov.  Ford. 
He  was  for  ten  years  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Supervisors  and  for  several  years  Count}-  Com- 
missioner, a  faithful  officer  in  both  positions.  He 
was  ever  a  public-spirited  citizen,  and  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  community  found  in  him  a  friend. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

DIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


W.  H    JONES. 


WILLIAM  HUGH  JONES. 


HUGH  JONES,  the  President  of 
\  A  /  the  Piano  Manufacturing  Company,  one  of 
V  Y  the  substantial  industries  of  Chicago,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Wales.  He  was  born  in  1845,  and  is  one 
of  eight  children  whose  parents  were  Hugh  and 
Jennett  Jones.  The  father  was  a  farmer  by  occu- 
pation and  was  comfortably  situated.  In  1812, 
when  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  crossed  the  At- 
lantic to  America,  locating  near  Utica,  N.  Y., 
where  the  death  of  his  first  wife  occurred.  He 
afterward  returned  to  Wales,  where  he  was  again 
married,  the  second  wife  being  the  mother  of  our 
subject.  They  were  both  members  of  the  Welsh 
Calvinistic  Church,  in  which  the  father  served 
as  Deacon.  In  1857  he  again  came  with  his 
family  to  this  country,  and  located  in  Wiscon- 
sin, from  where  he  removed  to  Iowa  in  1873. 
His  death  occurred  in  Howard  County,  Iowa,  in 
1876,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years.  His  wife 
survived  him  for  about  four  years.  Her  father, 
Richard  Jones,  was  an  extensive  farmer  in  Wales, 
and  reached  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-two  y  ears. 
The  family  to  which  our  subject  belongs  num- 
bered six  sons  and  two  daughters,  but  only  four 
are  now  living:  William  H.,  Hugh  H.,  John  H. 
and  Owen  W.  The  last-named  is  Secretary  of  the 
Piano  Manufacturing  Company. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  W.  H. 
Jones,  who  is  truly  a  self-made  man,  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  term,  for  he  started  out  in  life  empty- 
handed  and  has  worked  his  way  upward  by  un- 
tiring labor,  making  the  most  of  his  opportuni- 
ties and  overcoming  the  difficulties  and  obstacles 
in  his  path  by  a  determined  effort  to  succeed.  He 
continued  in  his  native  land  until  twelve  years  of 
age,  and  then  accompanied  his  parents  to  this 
country,  and  with  them  went  to  Wisconsin.  He 
was  early  inured  to  hard  labor,  but  thereby  he 
developed  a  self-reliance  and  force  of  character 


which  have  proven  of  incalculable  benefit  to  him 
in  his  later  years.  His  youth  was  spent  in  work 
upon  the  home  farm,  and  to  his  father  he  gave 
the  benefit  of  his  services  until  the  spring  of  1866, 
when  he  had  attained  his  majority.  He  now  turned 
his  attention  to  other  pursuits,  and  became  agent 
for  the  Dodge  Reapers  and  Champion  Mowers  in 
Berlin,  Wis.,  selling  those  machines  until  1868, 
when  he  became  traveling  salesman  for  the  firm 
of  L.  J.  Bush  &  Co.,  of  Milwaukee.  Two  years 
covered  his  continuance  with  that  company,  and 
in  1870  he  formed  a  connection  with  E.  H.  Gam- 
mon for  the  sale  of  the  Marsh  Harvester,  which 
at  that  time  was  the  only  machine  of  the  class  on 
the  market.  Subsequently,  the  firm  became  Gam- 
mon &  Deering,  and  Mr.  Jones  continued  in  their 
employ  as  general  traveling  salesman  and  super- 
visor of  agencies  until  the  partnership  was  dis- 
solved in  the  fall  of  1879,  on  the  retirement  of  Mr. 
Gammon.  Mr.  Jones,  however,  continued  to 
serve  in  the  interests  of  Mr.  Deering  until  1881, 
when  he,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Gammon,  Lewis 
Steward,  and  others  who  had  been  previously  in- 
terested in  the  Han-ester  WTorks  in  Piano,  111. , 
organized  the  Piano  Manufacturing  Company. 
He  became  its  President  and  has  since  contin- 
ued at  its  head,  and  owing  to  the  good  man- 
agement, keen  foresight  and  excellent  business 
and  executive  ability  of  the  President,  the  Pia- 
no Manufacturing  Company  now  is  one  of  the 
prominent  industries  of  this  city.  During  his 
business  career,  Mr.  Jones  has  kept  informed 
concerning  all  inventions  along  this  line,  and  no 
agricultural  implement  is  put  on  the  market 
without  his  knowledge.  His  early  life  as  a  farm- 
er made  known  to  him  what  was  needed  in  farm 
work.  His  later  experience  made  him  familiar 
with  all  kinds  of  farm  machinery;  hence  in  plac- 
ing upon  the  market  such  machinery  he  would 


3I2 


SHEPHERD  JOHNSTON. 


combine  in  its  construction  his  knowledge  of  the 
mechanical  necessities  with  that  which  was  re- 
quired for  the  actual  work.  Many  inventors  who 
know  nothing  about  farm  work  in  itself  fail  to  do 
this.  The  wisdom  of  his  method  is  shown  in  the 
result,  for  the  Piano  machines  have  met  with  un- 
qualified success  and  fill  a  long-felt  want  in  farm 
implements.  Through  the  dark  hours  of  the 
greatest  panic  known  to  commerce  (in  1893),  the 
company  built  and  now  occupies  a  new  factory, 
which  for  completeness  and  detailed  perfection  is 
without  an  equal,  covering  twenty-five  acres.  It 
is  located  on  i2oth  Street,  West  Pullman.  In 
the  old  factory,  although  it  afforded  extensive 
facilities,  it  was  unable  for  several  years  to  satisfy 
the  popular  demand.  With  improved  machinery 
and  perfect  arrangement  for  manufacturing,  it  is 
now  prepared  to  meet  the  full  demand  not  only 
of  its  American  but  rapidly  increasing  foreign 
trade. 

In  1867,  Mr.  Jones  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Elizabeth  Owens,  and  unto  them  have  been 
born  three  sons,  Hugh  W. ,  William  O.  and  Gar- 


field  R.  The  parents  are  faithful  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  contribute  liberally 
to  its  support,  and  take  an  active  interest  in  its 
work.  Mr.  Jones  is  now  serving  as  one  of  its 
Trustees.  In  politics,  he  advocates  Republican 
principles,  but  in  voting  does  not  feel  himself 
bound  by  party  ties.  He  has  never  sought  official 
honors,  desiring  rather  to  give  his  entire  time  and 
attention  to  his  business  interests  and  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  home  and  the  companionship  of  his 
family.  In  April,  1872,  he  came  to  Evanston, 
where  he  has  resided  almost  continuously  since, 
and  among  the  people  of  this  beautiful  suburb 
he  is  held  in  the  highest  regard,  for  he  is  a  man 
of  upright  character  and  his  example  is  worthy 
of  emulation.  In  the  fall  of  1878  he  opened  a 
wholesale  implement  house  in  Minneapolis,  which 
has  since  done  a  large  business,  and  with  which  he 
was  connected  until  1889.  The  farm  has  fur- 
nished to  this  country  many  of  its  most  prominent 
and  successful  business  men,  and  among  these  is 
W.  H.  Jones. 


SHEPHERD  JOHNSTON. 


iHEPHERD  JOHNSTON,  late  Secretary  and 
Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Chicago, 
was  descended  from  Scotch  ancestry, his  pater- 
nal grandfather,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of 
the  American  Revolution ,  being  an  emigrant  from 
Scotland  to  New  York  City  some  time  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Mary,  the 
wife  of  this  ancestor,  was  born  in  1761,  and  died 
June  1 2,  1838,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven.  The  pa- 
ternal grandmother  was  "Knickerbocker"  Dutch. 
Shepherd  Johnston,  the  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  New  York  City  Sep- 
tember 28,  1797,  and  was  for  many  years  a  well- 
known  educator  in  his  native  place.  His  wife 
was  Jane  Sherwood,  also  a  native  of  New  York, 


born  September  28,  1807.  Her  parents  were  na- 
tives of  Connecticut,  and  were  .the  descendants  of 
generations  of  New  England  ancestors,  one  of 
whom  was  a  minute-man  in  the  Revolution.  Her 
death  occurred  on  the  27th  of  December,  1846, 
at  Big  Rock,  Illinois.  Shepherd  and  Jane  John- 
ston had  a  family  of  nine  children,  and  eight  of 
these  grew  to  mature  age.  The  subject  of  this 
biography,  who  was  born  on  the  1 8th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1823,  laid  the  foundation  of  his  education  in 
the  private  school  taught  by  his  father.  His  pre- 
cocity and  the  thoroughness  of  his  education  are 
vividly  shown  by  the  fact  of  his  entering  college 
at  the  almost  unparalleled  age  of  thirteen  years. 
After  spending  two  years  at  Columbia  College, 


SHEPHERD  JOHNSTON. 


313 


New  York,  circumstances  necessitated  the  aban- 
donment of  the  further  prosecution  of  his  studies 
— except  as  a  private  and  independent  student — 
but  in  this  latter  capacity  it  can  be  no  more  truly 
said  of  any  other  man  in  the  city  of  Chicago, 
that  he  was  throughout  his  life  a  devoted,  ear- 
nest and  successful  student,  consecrating  himself 
to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  for  the  purpose 
of  making  it  most  useful  to  those  for  whose  inter- 
ests he  spent  a  lifetime  of  toil. 

In  1839  the  elder  Johnston,  tiring  of  the  con- 
straint of  New  York,  came  West  by  way  of  the 
Lakes  to  Detroit,  and  thence,  in  company  with  his 
eldest  son,  Shepherd,  crossed  Michigan  on  po- 
nies to  Chicago,'  which  they  found  to  be  a  muddy 
city  of  about  four  thousand  inhabitants.  Not 
liking  Chicago,  they  pursued  their  way  westward 
to  Kane  County,  and  there  the  father  bought  a 
thousand  or  more  acres  of  land  near  Big  Rock, 
to  which  he  removed  his  family  soon  after. 
There  he  spent  seven  years,  but,  not  being  adapt- 
ed either  by  education  or  taste  to  farm  lite,  at 
the  end  of  that  period  he  returned  to  New  York, 
where  he  died  in  1853. 

After  a  residence  of  five  or  six  years  on  the 
farm,  young  Johnston  tired  of  the  monotony  of 
rural  life  and  settled  in  New  York  City,  when 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  obtained  a  position 
as  teacher  in  the  Institute  for  the  Blind.  He  filled 
this  position  with  that  fidelity  and  ability  which 
characterized  his  life  work  in  any  capacity  in 
which  he  was  called  upon  to  act.  On  the  27th  of 
July,  1849,  at  Whitlockville,  Westchester  Coun- 
ty, New  York,  he  married  Mary  Ann  Wild,  a 
native  of  Sheffield,  England,  a  daughter  of  James 
and  Mary  Ann  Outram  (Hobson)  Wild.  Imme- 
diately after  his  marriage  he  came  to  Illinois,  and 
tried  farm  life  for  a  few  months,  but  again  re- 
turned to  New  York  City  in  1850.  There  for  a 
year  he  was  employed  in  the  ticket  office  of  the 
Hudson  River  Railroad.  In  1851  he  engaged  in 
the  retail  grocery  business  in  New  York,  in  which 
he  continued  for  seven  years.  In  the  fall  of  1859 
he  again  removed  to  Illinois,  locating  at  Aurora, 
and  in  the  following  year  settled  in  Chicago, 
where  he  resided  until  the  time  of  his  death.  In 


February  of  the  same  year  he  began  work  as 
clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and 
remained  there  continuously  until  his  life  work 
was  finished.  He  saw  the  public-school  system 
grow  from  comparatively  insignificant  propor- 
tions to  the  wonderful  educational  power  which  it 
is  at  the  present  time.  When  he  began  work 
in  the  office  of  the  Board  the  population  of  the 
city  was  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand,  and  the 
number  of  teachers  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  - 
three.  Now  the  total  enrollment  of  pupils  is  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  and  the  number  of 
teachers  in  the  public  schools  is  three  thousand 
two  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  and  the  amount 
required  to  pay  this  vast  army  is  two  and  one- 
half  millions  of  dollars. 

Mr.  Johnston  died  at  his  home  on  the  3rd  of 
October,  1894,  leaving  a  widow  and  one  daugh- 
ter, the  latter,  Laura  Ann,  being  now  the  wife 
of  John  M.  Stanley,  of  Chicago.  His  only  son, 
Charles  Sherwood  Johnston,  died  in  1889,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-nine. 

Not  only  as  a  worker  in  the  field  of  education, 
but  also  as  a  zealous  laborer  in  the  cause  of  relig- 
ion, was  Mr.  Johnston  known.  For  nearly  a 
score  of  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  in  which  he  held  the  office  of  vestryman. 
He  also  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Sunday-school,  of  which  he  was  Superintendent. 
He  was  a  devoted  student  of  the  Bible,  to  the 
study  of  which  he  gave  many  hours  of  his  crowd- 
ed life.  As  might  be  expected  of  a  man  of  his 
intelligence,  taking  the  interest  he  did  in  public 
affairs,  a  knowledge  of  and  an  interest  in  politics 
were  not  overlooked.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Republican  party,  whose  great  underlying  princi- 
ples he  fully  understood,  endorsed  and  supported. 
But  he  was  far  above  the  petty  broils  of  partisan 
strife,  and  contented  himself  with  working  for 
those  higher  principles  and  ends  which  interest 
the  thinker  and  philosopher. 

A  fitting  summary  of  the  life  and  works  of  Mr. 
Johnston  can  be  no  more  aptly  expressed  than  is 
done  in  the  following  eloquent  tribute  paid  to  his 
memory  by  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, taken  from  the  records  of  said  body: 


J.  S.  RUMSEY. 


"At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion of  Chicago,  held  October  5,  1894,  the  follow- 
ing memorial  was  unanimously  adopted: 

"  'The  Board  of  Education  of  the  City  of  Chi- 
cago learns  with  the  most  profound  sorrow  of  the 
death  of  their  scholarly,  faithful  and  most  tireless 
Secretary,  Shepherd  Johnston,  after  a  continuous 
service  of  thirty-four  years  of  unparalleled  devo- 
tion to  the  educational  interests  of  this  great  me- 
tropolis. 

"  'He  had  reached  the  limit  of  years  allotted  to 
man.  He  closed  his  books  at  the  office,  went  to 
his  quiet  home,  retired  to  sleep,  and  awoke  no 
more  to  consciousness  here.  The  book  of  his  life 
was  gently  closed,  and  he  was  transferred  to  the 
unknown  realm  which  is  beyond  our  mortal  sight. 

"  'Mr.  Johnston  possessed  those  habits  of  mind 
and  character  which  made  him  eminently  fitted 
for  the  responsible  duties  of  the  office  which  he 
held  so  long  and  filled  so  efficiently.  His  early 
training  and  experience  as  a  teacher  made  him 
acquainted  with  the  details  of  educational  work, 


and  gave  him  a  familiarity  with  the  school  sys- 
tem of  the  country,  as  shown  in  the  financial  and 
statistical  reports  which  were  published  annually. 
As  his  labors  multiplied,  his  ability  to  cope  with 
them  multiplied  in  like  ratio.  There  was  no  detail 
of  his  office  with  which  he  was  not  familiar.  He 
was  a  well  of  information,  imparting  courteously 
to  all  who  desired  to  know  aught  of  the  historical 
progress  of  the  city  for  nearly  two  score  of  years. 
In  the  varied  and  perplexing  duties  of  his  office, 
he  won  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  members 
of  the  Board  of  Education,  the  Superintendents, 
his  associates  in  the  office,  the  teachers  and  citizens 
of  Chicago.  The  members  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation take  this  method  of  expressing  their  appre- 
ciation of  his  valuable  services  and  their  high 
regard  for  his  life  and  character. 

"  'THEREFORE,  Be  it  resolved,  that  this  memo- 
rial be  entered  upon  the  records  of  this  Board,  and 
that  a  copy  be  suitably  engrossed  and  presented  to 
the  family.'  " 


JULIAN  S.  RUMSEY. 


(JULIAN  S.  RUMSEY,  a  very  early  resident 
I  of  Chicago  and  one  of  the  founders  of  its 
G/  Board  of  Trade,  was  born  in  Batavia,  Gene- 
see  County,  New  York,  on  the  3d  day  of  April, 
1823.  His  parents  were  Levi  Rumsey,  of  Fair- 
field,  Connecticut,  and  Julia  F.  Dole,  of  Troy, 
New  York.  The  line  of  descent  is  traced  from 
Robert  Rumsie,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  of 
Welsh  ancestry,  and  who  settled  at  Fairfield, 
Connecticut,  before  1660.  His  name  appears  in 
the  town  records  under  date  of  January  23,  1664, 
the  earliest  entry  in  said  records  bearing  date  of 
January  12,  1649,  which  must  have  been  about 
the  time  of  the  first  settlement  there.  The  will 
of  Robert  Rumsey  appears  in  the  same  record, 


under  date  of  November  28,  1710,  in  which  he 
bequeaths  to  his  widow  and  children  a  large 
amount  of  laud  and  personal  property,  his  inter- 
est in  commonage  and  his  negro  man,  Jack.  The 
early  residents  of  New  England  had  to  contend 
with  conditions  differing  widely  from  those  sur- 
rounding pioneers  of  the  present  day,  and  few  can 
realize  the  energy  and  perseverance  required  to 
make  a  home  in  the  wilderness.  Only  those  of 
strong  body  and  mind  could  survive  the  rigorous 
climate  and  overcome  the  obstacles  to  human 
progress.  Among  the  present  generation,  only 
those  who  have  made  a  study  of  the  subject  can 
realize,  in  a  faint  degree  even,  what  were  their 
surroundings,  ideas  and  character. 


J.  S.  RUMSEY. 


Levi  Runisey  was  one  of  the  first  graduates  of 
Williams  College,  at  Williamstown,  Massachu- 
setts (in  1800),  and  settled  at  Batavia  in  1822, 
becoming  one  of  the  foremost  attorneys  of  western 
New  York  and  serving  as  District  Attorney  of 
Genesee  County.  He  died  there  in  1834.  At 
the  solicitation  of  her  brother,  George  W.  Dole, 
already  a  resident  of  Chicago,  the  widow  decided 
to  move  to  the  new  and  growing  city  with  her 
younger  son  (the  subject  of  this  biography)  and 
two  daughters,  in  the  spring  of  1835,  but  death 
interposed  and  removed  the  mother  before  this 
purpose  could  be  consummated.  With  an  aunt, 
Mrs.  Coffin,  and  her  husband  and  MissTownsend 
(who  afterward  became  Mrs.  Dole),  Julian  Sid- 
ney Rumsey  and  his  two  younger  sisters  came  to 
Chicago,  arriving  on  the  steamer  "Michigan" 
July  28,  1835.  This  vessel  was  owned  by  Mr. 
Dole's  partner,  Oliver  Newberry,  of  Detroit,  and 
was  by  far  the  finest  vessel  then  on  the  Lakes. 
The  trip  was  made  from  Buffalo  to  Chicago,  with 
a  stop  at  Green  Bay,  in  a  little  over  eight  days. 
Among  the  passengers  were  George  Smith,  who 
afterward  became  a  wealthy  banker  of  the  city ; 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  H.  Kinzie  and  a  young  infant, 
and  Miss  Williams,  who  became  the  wife  of  Mark 
Skinner,  one  of  the  judges  of  Chicago  in  later  life. 

Young  Rumsey  had  attended  a  private  school 
in  Batavia  taught  by  Rev.  John  F.  Earnst,  a 
widely-known  educator  of  that  place  and  Buffalo, 
and  after  his  arrival  here  he  had  the  benefit  of 
such  schools  as  the  new  town  afforded  for  a  few 
months.  He  soon  took  employment  in  the  ship- 
ping house  of  Newberry  &  Dole,  where  his  elder 
brother,  George  F.  Rumsey,  was  already  estab- 
lished. This  association  made  him  acquainted 
with  all  the  boats  coming  to  Chicago  and  their 
officers.  These  included  the  bark  "Detroit"  and 
brig  "Queen  Charlotte,"  former  British  vessels, 
which  had  been  sunk  in  the  bay  at  Erie,  Penn- 
sylvania, by  Commodore  Perry  in  1813,  and  sub- 
sequently raised  and  fitted  for  commerce. 

In  September,  1839,  the  Runisey  brothers,  while 
still  in  the  employ  of  Newberry  &  Dole,  shipped 
the  first  cargo  of  grain  ever  sent  out  of  Chicago, 
consisting  of  about  2,900  bushels  of  wheat,  put  on 
board  the  brig  "Osceola"  for  Buffalo.  This  had 


been  taken  from  farmers'  wagons  and  stored, 
awaiting  an  eastbound  boat.  In  1841  Capt.  E.  B. 
Ward  brought  eighty  tons  of  bituminous  coal  to 
Chicago,  which  was  probably  the  first  here,  and 
this  was  sold  out  by  the  Runisey  brothers  in  two 
years'  time,  thus  indicating  that  the  consumption 
was  small  in  those  days.  The  firm  of  Runisey, 
Brother  &  Company  ultimately  succeeded  New- 
berry  &  Dole,  and  became  one  of  the  heaviest 
grain  shippers  and  dealers  in  the  city. 

Mr.  Rumsey  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  early  in  1848,  and  continued  his 
membership  with  his  life.  During  the  early  years 
of  its  existence,  it  was  his  custom,  with  others  of 
the  younger  members,  to  visit  business  men  in 
their  offices  and  urge  them  to  go  "on  "Change," 
in  order  that  it  might  be  truthfully  recorded  that 
such  a  meeting  had  been  held.  He  was  elected 
President  of  the  Board  in  1858  and  again  in  1859, 
and  in  the  latter  year  he  drew  and  secured  the 
passage  of  its  charter  and  code  of  rules.  He  also 
secured,  in  the  face  of  much  opposition,  the  pres- 
ent system  of  grain  inspection — Chicago  being  the 
first  city  to  adopt  the  plan.  During  his  adminis- 
tration, the  current  plan  of  obtaining  and  publish- 
ing statistics  of  trade  was  inaugurated,  and  the 
first  annual  report  of  the  Board  issued,  and  in  the 
same  period  the  membership  doubled  and  the 
permanency  of  its  existence  was  established. 

Mr.  Rumsey  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
Volunteer  Fire  Department  in  1844,  and  at  one 
time  was  Foreman  of  Engine  Company  Number 
Three,  and  did  much  to  improve  the  old  and  or- 
ganize new  companies.  In  those  days,  many  of 
what  are  now  the  most  prominent  and  wealthy 
citizens  regularly  "ran  with  the  boys."  The 
venerable  Stephen  F.  Gale  was  Chief  Engineer 
and  Mr.  Rumsey  Foreman  in  1847,  when  the  pa- 
rade was  made  in  honor  of  the  famous  River  and 
Harbor  Congress  of  that  year.  In  his  report  to 
the  New  York  Tribune,  Horace  Greeley  said:  "I 
never  witnessed  anything  so  superb  as  the  appear- 
ance of  some  of  the  fire  companies,  with  their  en- 
gines drawn  by  led-horses,  tastefully  caparisoned. 
Our  New  York  firemen  must  try  again.  They 
certainly  have  been  outdone."  Thurlow  Weed 
wrote  to  his  paper:  "Let  me  here  say  that  the 


J.  S.  RUMSEY. 


firemen's  display  in  this  infant  city  to-day  excited 
universal  admiration.  I  never  saw  anything  got 
up  in  better  taste.  The  companies  were  in  neat 
uniforms.  The  machines  were  very  tastefully 
decorated.  There  was  also  a  miniature  ship, 
manned  and  full-rigged,  drawn  by  twelve  horses, 
in  the  procession.  While  moving,  the  crew  on 
board  'The  Convention'  made,  shortened  and  took 
in  sail  repeatedly." 

In  early  life  Mr.  Rumsey  associated  himself,  as 
a  political  factor,  with  the  Whig  party,  and  joined 
its  successor — the  Republican — at  its  inception. 
He  was  often  a  delegate  in  the  county  and  State 
conventions,  and  was  a  member  of  the  State  Cen- 
tral Committee  of  his  party  when  Abraham  Lin- 
coln was  first  elected  to  the  Presidency.  He  had 
the  honor  of  entertaining  Mr.  Lincoln  at  his  home 
in  Chicago,  was  present  at  his  inauguration,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  which  devolved 
the  sad  duty  of  receiving  his  remains  when  brought 
back  to  Chicago,  preparatory  to  final  interment 
at  Springfield.  In  1871  Mr.  Rumsey  was  elected 
County  Treasurer  and  Collector  on  the  "Fire- 
proof '  ticket,  the  result  of  a  political  compromise, 
and  served  two  years  in  that  responsible  capacity. 

Before  the  actual  commencement  of  hostilities, 
in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  early  in  1861,  a  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  was  organized  in  Chicago,  and 
Mr.  Rumsey  was  made  a  member  of  the  sub-com- 
mittee to  carry  out  its  objects.  This  involved  the 
judicious  expenditure  of  nearly  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  and  required  the  labor  of  its  members  for 
nearly  two  years,  much  of  it  of  a  secret  character, 
and  all  of  vast  importance  to  the  State  and  Nation. 
One  of  the  first  undertakings  was  the  fitting  out  of 
an  expedition  to  take  possession  of  Cairo,  and  thus 
save  Illinois  to  the  Union.  After  four  days  and 
nights  of  arduous  effort,  a  force  of  five  hundred 
men  was  dispatched  by  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road, and  the  plan  successfully  carried  oat.  Mr. 
Rumsey  never  asked  for  office,  but  was  elected 
Mayor  of  the  city  in  the  troublous  days  of  1861, 
and  maintained  the  high  financial  standing  of  the 
municipality.  During  his  term  of  service,  the 
Government  sent  twelve  thousand  rebel  prisoners 
here  from  Fort  Donelson,  without  any  warning 
or  previous  provision  for  their  care.  They  were 


quartered  in  the  sheds  of  an  old  race  track,  after- 
wards known  as  Camp  Douglas,  until  suitable 
barracks  could  be  erected  for  their  care  and  reten- 
tion. Among  them  were  about  two  hundred  offi- 
cers, most  of  whom  possessed  knives  or  pistols, 
and  with  the  small  police  force  and  absence  of 
firearms  (caused  by  the  drain  in  supplying  Union 
troops) ,  the  city  seemed  entirely  at  the  mercy  of 
its  unwilling  guests.  Through  the  vigilance  of 
Mayor  Rumsey,  and  his  appeals  to  the  Govern- 
ment, the  danger  was  averted — the  officers  being 
removed  elsewhere,  and  the  privates  speedily  pro- 
vided with  suitable  lodgings,  and  safeguards  cre- 
ated for  the  city. 

July  31,  1848;  at  Chicago,  occurred  the  wedding 
of  J.  S.  Rumsey  and  Miss  Martha  A.  Turner. 
Mrs.  Rumsey,  who  still  survives  her  husband,  is 
a  daughter  of  John  B.  Turner,  one  of  the  most 
honored  and  worthy  of  Chicago's  early  citizens, 
whose  biography  will  be  found  on  another  page 
of  this  work.  This  union  resulted  in  eleven  chil- 
dren, eight  of  whom  were  daughters.  One  of  the 
latter  died  in  infancy,  and  one  after  a  short  mar- 
ried life.  Two  daughters  are  married  and  reside 
in  Massachusetts  and  New  York,  respectively, 
and  the  eldest  son  and  two  daughters,  also  mar- 
ried, reside  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Rumsey  passed  away  in  Chicago  April  20, 
1886,  aged  sixty-three  years.  He  was  ever  inter- 
ested in  the  city  and  its  welfare,  and  did  much  to 
place  it  in  its  present  proud  commercial  position. 
He  did  not  shirk  any  duty  as  a  citizen,  and  left  to 
his  children  an  honored  name.  His  recollections 
of  early  Chicago  are  very  interesting,  and  extracts 
from  his  pen  picture  are  here  given: 

"When  the  'Michigan'  arrived  off  Chicago  in 
July  of  1835,  a  dense  fog  covered  the  surface  of 
the  lake,  and  the  town  could  not  be  easily  located. 
After  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Calumet  River, 
the  captain  was  set  right  by  the  direction  of  an 
Indian,  and  returned  to  the  city.  In  the  mean 
time  the  fog  had  lifted  and  when  the  boat  came  to 
anchor  the  fort  and  Government  pier  and  light- 
house seemed  the  most  prominent  features.  No 
entrance  to  the  river  existed  for  lake  craft,  and 
even  the  yawlboat  which  brought  the  passengers 
ashore  grounded  on  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the 


ANDREW  ORTMAYER. 


317 


river,  and  a  passage  had  to  be  carefully  sounded 
before  it  could  be  brought  in.  The  river  was  then 
but  little  more  than  half  as  wide  as  at  present, 
and  portions  of  its  shores  were  occupied  by  wild 
rice,  and  near  the  mouth  the  abode  of  the  musk- 
rat  was  prominent.  Fish  and  wild  fowl  were 
abundant.  There  was  one  'gallows-frame'  hoist 
bridge  at  Dearborn  Street,  crossing  the  river,  one 
pontoon  over  the  South  Branch,  between  Lake 
and  Randolph  Streets,  and  another  across  the 
North  Branch,  just  south  of  Kinzie  Street.  The 
Tremont  House  was  then  a  yellow  wooden  build- 
ing at  the  southeast  corner  of  Lake  and  Dearborn 
Streets,  kept  by  Star  Foot. 

"The  population  was  about  twenty-three  hun- 
dred, divided  in  something  like  this  proportion: 
Eight  hundred  on  the  North  Side,  twelve  hundred 
on  the  South  Side,  and  three  hundred  on  the 
West  Side.  The  Postoffice  was  located  in  the 
angle  at  the  intersection  of  Lake  and  South  Water 
Streets.  There  were  no  sidewalks  or  improved 
streets,  and  cattle,  pigs  and  wolfish  dogs  occupied 


the  thoroughfares  at  will,  and  sometimes  at  night 
wolves  came  into  the  settlement  Street  lights 
were  unknown,  as  were  sewers,  cellars  or  water 
service,  and  there  were  very  few  brick  buildings. 
The  people  came  from  all  parts  of  the  world  and 
included  many  half-breeds,  and  all  were  exceed- 
ingly democratic  in  habit.  It  was  no  uncommon 
thing  for  ladies  to  employ  a  dump-cart,  uphol- 
stered with  hay  or  buffalo  robes,  as  a  means  of 
transportation  when  making  social  excursions. 
There  was  still  a  garrison  at  the  fort,  and  on  two 
subsequent  occasions  Indians  to  the  number  of 
thirty-five  hundred  and  five  thousand,  from  the 
Pottawatamie,  Winnebago  and  Sacs  and  Foxes 
tribes  came  here  to  receive  pay  for  their  lands  from 
the  Government.  During  the  summer  of  1835, 
the  'Michigan'  made  four  trips  between  Chicago 
and  Buffalo,  and  one  or  two  other  vessels  visited 
the  port.  While  anchored  in  the  bay  off  Milwau- 
kee, on  her  first  trip,  only  one  house  was  dis- 
cerned at  that  point,  though  the  weather  was 
clear." 


ANDREW  ORTMAYER. 


Gl  NDREW  ORTMAYER,  who  was  for  nearly 
LJ  half-a  century  a  resident  of  Chicago,  was 
I  I  numbered  among  the  most  substantial  and 
well-known  citizens  of  German  birth.  He  was 
born  in  Bartenstein,  Wurtemberg,  Germany,  on 
the  first  day  of  May,  1826.  His  father,  Joseph 
Ortmayer,  was  a  native  of  Neuoetting,  Bavaria, 
and  his  mother,  Margaret  Uhlman,  was  born  in 
the  same  village  as  her  son,  where  her  ancestors 
had  for  several  generations  carried  on  the  saddlery 
business.  Joseph  Ortmayer  was  also  a  saddler, 
and  when  the  son  had  completed  the  prescribed 
German  term  of  school,  ending  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  years,  he  entered  the  shop  and  was  able 
— through  being  the  son  of  a  master — to  become 


a  journeyman  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  He  first 
sought  employment  in  his  father's  native  city, 
where  he  remained  one  year,  and  was  afterwards 
employed  in  Saalzburg  and  other  Austrian  cities. 
By  the  time  he  had  attained  his  majority,  he 
determined  to  follow  the  sun  towards  that  land  of 
promise,  the  United  States,  as  he  saw  little  op- 
portunity for  a  mechanic  to  better  his  condition 
in  Europe.  His  was  the  same  spirit  which  not 
only  led  to  the  discover)-  of  the  Western  continent, 
but  to  the  development  of  its  resources,  east  and 
west.  Being  in  London,  England,  in  the  spring 
of  1849,  he  took  passage  in  March  of  that  year 
on  board  the  sailing-vessel  "Apeona"  for  New 
York,  where  he  arrived  on  the  fourth  day  of 


ANDREW  ORTMAYER. 


July,  the  voyage  consuming  nearly  four  months. 
He  proceeded  directly  to  Buffalo,  New  York, 
where  he  was  able  to  maintain  himself  at  his 
trade  until  the  following  spring. 

Again  moved  by  the  spirit  of  enterprise,  he 
took  the  first  steamer  which  left  the  port  of  Buf- 
falo for  the  upper  lakes  in  the  spring  of  1 850, 
and  landed  in  Detroit  on  the  3oth  of  March,  after 
a  two  days'  voyage.  Thence,  he  proceeded  di- 
rectly by  rail  to  Chicago,  arriving  on  the  last 
day  of  the  month. 

His  first  employment  in  this  city  was  with  J. 
O.  Humphrey,  the  first  carriage  manufacturer  in 
Chicago,  by  whom  he  was  engaged  as  a  carriage 
trimmer.  This  continued  until  Mr.  Humphrey 
went  out  of  business  two  and  one-half  years  later, 
when  Mr.  Ortmayer  rented  a  room  in  the  now 
idle  factory  and  engaged  in  trimming  carriages 
on  his  own  account.  He  had  by  this  time  formed 
business  acquaintances  and  established  a  reputa- 
tion for  honest  and  faithful  work,  and  did  a  fairly 
prosperous  business.  At  the  end  of  six  months, 
he  established  a  shop  on  Franklin  Street,  and  in 
the  fall  of  1854  he  opened  a  harness  shop  on 
Randolph  Street,  between  Canal  and  Clinton 
Streets.  Though  his  work  as  a  carriage  trim- 
mer had  proved  satisfactory  to  his  patrons,  it  did 
not  satisfy  himself,  on  account  of  the  unsteadiness 
of  the  demand,  and  he  found  business  much  more 
remunerative  in  the  harness  and  saddlery  line. 

In  1863,  he  began  the  wholesale  trade  at  No.  42 
Lake  Street,  in  partnership  with  William  V.  Kay 
and  William  H.  Turner,  under  the  style  of  A. 
Ortmayer  &  Company.  For  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, beginning  with  1866,  the  business  was 
located  at  Nos.  16  to  22  State  Street.  Messrs. 
Turner  and  Kay  successively  retired  from  the 
firm,  and  after  the  great  fire  of  1871,  it  was 
known  as  Ortmayer,  Lewis  &  Company,  until 
it  became  A.  Otrmayer  &  Son  in  1882.  In  1891, 
the  firm  purchased  of  the  Farwell  estate  the 
building  now  occupied,  on  Illinois  Street,  be- 
tween La  Salle  Avenue  and  Wells  Street,  to 
which  two  stories  were  added,  and  the  building 
was  fitted  for  the  extensive  manufacture  of  har- 
ness and  saddlery  ware  now  carried  on  there. 

Mr.  Ortmayer  was  married  at    Buffalo,  New 


York,  in  the  spring  of  1850,  to  Miss  Marie  Cher- 
bon,  who  was  born  in  the  same  place  as  himself, 
and  is-  descended  from  French  ancestors,  her 
grandfather  having  moved  from  France  to  Ger- 
many. In  1876,  he  built  a  pleasant  mansion  at 
No.  496  Dearborn  Avenue,  where  dwells  a  united 
and  happy  family.  Mr.  Ortmayer  was  also  pos- 
sessed of  other  improved  real  estate,  which  was 
secured  through  his  own  industry  and  prudent 
management.  Having  made  his  way  from  hum- 
ble beginnings,  he  was  in  sympathy  with  all  hon- 
est efforts  for  success,  and  held  out  encourage- 
ment not  only  by  word  but  by  his  own  example, 
which  any  American  youth  may  well  emulate. 
The  same  steadfast  and  persistent  effort  which 
characterized  his  career  in  life  is  sure  to  bring 
prosperity  to  any  one.  He  never  spent  time  or 
money  in  the  follies  which  are  all  too  prevalent 
among  young  men  of  the  present  day,  but  re- 
solved on  a  course  of  industry  and  thrift,  and  ad- 
hered to  his  plans  through  "good"  and  "bad 
times." 

Of  the  seven  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ortmayer,  three  died  in  early  childhood.  The 
eldest  of  the  others,  Annie,  died  while  the  wife 
of  Albert  Kuhlmay.  Carl  G.  is  manager  of  the 
business  of  A.  Ortmayer  &  Son.  Carrie  is  now 
the  wife  of  Albert  Kuhlmay,  and  Emma  is  Mrs. 
Theophile  Pfister,  all  of  Chicago. 

Though  always  a  busy  man,  until  failing 
health  compelled  him  to  abandon  his  activities 
three  years  ago,  Mr.  Ortmayer  found  time  to  cul- 
tivate pleasant  social  relations,  and  was  always 
deservedly  popular  among  his  fellow-citizens. 
He  was  for  many  years  an  active  member  of  the 
Germania  Club,  and  held  membership  in  Accor- 
dia  Lodge,  No.  277,  of  the  Masonic  order.  He 
cherished  liberal  religious  views,  and  always  ad- 
hered to  Republican  principles  in  politics.  He 
was  never1  ambitious  to  hold  public  office,  but 
always  strove  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  a  good 
American  citizen,  and  with  eminent  success. 
He  died  on  Sunday,  February  3,  1895,  having 
succumbed  to  an  acute  attack  of  bronchitis,  which, 
combined  with  other  difficulties,  burst  the  bonds 
of  life. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


ISRAEL  G.  SMITH 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


I.  G.  SMITH. 


ISRAEL  G.  SMITH. 


CVSRAEL  GROVER  SMITH,  one  of  the  oldest 
settlers  of  Cook  County,  was  born  September 
I    7,  1816,  at  White  Creek,  Washington  Coun- 
ty, New  York,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and  Ann 
(Waite)    Smith,    natives   of  that   county.     The 
family   is  an  old  one  in  this  country,  having  re- 
sided here  since  the  Revolutionary  War. 

Henry  Smith  and  his  wife  had  ten  children,  as 
follows:  Gustavus,  who  came  to  Cook  County  in 
1835,  and  died  here  in  January,  1855;  Marcellus 
B.;  Israel  Grover,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Waldo  W.,  Harlow  H.,  Edwin  D.,  H.  Lafayette, 
Sarah  A.,  Adoniram  J.  and  Emily  M.  Of  this 
number  only  two  are  still  living — Israel  G.  and 
Sarah  A.  Henry  Smith  died  in  Cook  County,  in 
March,  1841,  and  his  wife  survived  him  until 
1872,  and  died  in  Chicago.  The  first  of  the  fam- 
ily to  come  to  the  West  was  Gustavus,  in  1835, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  family  followed  in  1836. 
Israel  and  his  brother  Marcellus  came  through 
with  a  horse  and  jumper,  starting  March  16  and 
coming  through  Ontario  to  the  place  where  the 
home  of  the  former  is  still  located,  which  they 
reached  April  10.  They  settled  on  this  land,  then 
in  what  was  called  Monroe  Precinct,  afterward 
Jefferson  Township,  and  when  it  was  surveyed 
and  put  upon  the  market,  they  bought  a  large 
tract  on  a  beautiful  ridge,  which  for  many  years 
was  called  Smith's  Ridge,  and  much  of  this 
land  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  family. 
Israel  G.  Smith  was  educated  in  the  subscrip- 
tion schools  of  his  neighborhood,  and  was  reared 
on  a  farm,  where  he  learned  the  usual  farmer's 


work.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  began  learning 
the  trade  of  blacksmith,  but  six  months  later  he 
came  to  the  West.  Since  coming  here  he  has 
been  engaged  in  agriculture.  He  owns  one 
hundred  fifty-three  acres  of  fertile  land  in  section 
18,  in  the  town  of  Norwood  Park. 

Mr.  Smith  was  a  successful  farmer,  and  in  a 
comparatively  few  years  became  wealthy.  In 
1853  he  built  a  house  on  what  is  now  Jackson 
Boulevard,  between  Desplaines  and  Halsted 
Streets,  where  he  lived  a  few  years  and  then  re- 
turned to  his  farm.  Later  he  bought  a  stock  of 
groceries  on  State  Street  and  conducted  the  busi- 
ness about  a  year,  when  he  sold  out  and  returned 
to  his  farm.  He  had  built  a  couple  of  stores  on 
Lake  Street,  one  of  which  he  rented.  Failing  to 
find  a  tenant  for  the  other,  he  opened  a  boot  and 
shoe  store  in  it,  in  company  with  a  Mr.  Barney, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Smith  &  Barney.  This 
business  venture  again  necessitated  his  becoming 
a  resident  of  the  city,  to  enable  him  to  give  the 
business  his  personal  supervision.  This  connec- 
tion continued  about  a  year,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  Mr.  Smith  abandoned  mercantile  pursuits. 
In  1869  he  bought  the  Judge  Bradwell  home- 
stead on  Washington  Street,  intending  to  improve 
it  and  remain  permanently  in  the  city.  Having 
always  been  accustomed  to  an  active  life,  idleness 
soon  became  irksome  to  him,  and  after  the  fire  of 
1871  he  returned  to  his  farm,  and  a  few  years 
later  built  the  beautiful  farm  residence  which  has 
been  his  home  ever  since. 

Mr.  Smith  has  always  taken  an  active  interest 


320 


T.    M.  TURNER. 


in  public  affairs,  and  keeps  himself  well  informed 
on  the  great  questions  of  the  day.  He  was  a 
Whig  until  the  establishment  of  the  Republican 
party,  since  which  time  he  has  been  one  of  its 
most  ardent  supporters.  At  the  first  election 
held  in  Jefferson  Township  he  was  elected  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  and  held  the  office  several  years. 
He  was  never  an  office-seeker,  but  he  has  filled 
several  local  offices. 

April  13,  1843,  Mr.  Smith  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Susannah  Pennoyer,  who  was 
born  June  17,  1814,  in  Connecticut.  Her 
father,  John  Pennoyer,  was  born  June  16,  1780, 
in  Connecticut.  March  4,  1807,  he  married 
Sallie  Fox,  who  was  born  September  17,  1780. 
They  came  to  Cook  County  in  1837.  Mrs.  Pen- 
noyer died  May  15,  1843,  and  Mr.  Pennoyer 
passed  away  August  28,  1856. 

Mrs.  Smith  was  well  educated  for  her  time, 
and  was  of  a  studious  nature.  She  was  a  suc- 
cessful teacher  in  the  Empire  State,  and  taught  the 
first  school  in  Ley  den  Township,  this  county. 
She  was  very  highly  respected  for  her  many 
excellencies  of  head  and  heart. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  had  seven  children,  as 
follows:  Frederick  A.,  an  attorney  of  Chicago; 


Frank  G.,  deceased;  Milton  Henry,  who  died  ot 
cholera;  Emily,  wife  of  H.  R.  Clissold,  who 
resides  in  Morgan  Park;  Edwin  D.,  a  farmer; 
Sarah  M.,  now  the  wife  of  George  W.  Wilcox,  a 
resident  of  Minneapolis;  and  Stella,  Mrs.  D.  C. 
Dunlap,  who  resides  in  Chicago.  Mrs.  Smith 
died  March  28,  1893,  in  her  seventy-ninth  year, 
after  nearly  fifty  years  of  happy  married  life. 
When  the  family  first  came  to  their  present  home 
the  nearest  neighbors  were  Christian  Ebinger  on 
the  north,  and  Elijah  Wentworth  on  the  east. 
Mr.  Smith  has  witnessed  almost  the  entire  growth 
of  the  great  metropolis,  its  population  being 
about  four  thousand  when  he  came  to  Cook 
County,  and  he  is  well  known  by  the  oldest  set- 
tlers of  this  part  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Smith's  life  has  been  one  of  activity  and 
usefulness,  and,  although,  by  reason  of  a  good 
constitution  and  temperate  habits,  he  has  exceeded 
by  a  decade  the  psalmist's  limit  of  "three-score 
years  and  ten,"  the  cares  of  life  have  rested  lightly 
upon  him.  He  is  still  in  good  health,  vigorous 
intellectually,  cheerful  in  disposition,  of  a  pleas- 
ing personality,  and,  from  his  sprightly  step, 
might  easily  be  taken  for  a  much  younger  man 
than  he  is. 


THOMAS  M.  TURNER. 


'HOMAS    MCCLELLAN  TURNER  was 

born  July  i,  1829,  in  Bellefonte,  Center 
County,  Pennsylvania,  and  is  a  son  of 
James  B.  and  Mary  A.  (McClellan)  Turner,  both 
of  whom  were  natives  of  that  county,  where  their 
parents  were  early  settlers.  James  B.  Turner  was 
a  contractor  and  builder,  and  especially  success- 
ful in  the  erection  of  forges,  furnaces  and  rolling 
mills.  During  his  business  career  he  was  widely 
known,  and  one  of  the  important  pieces  of  work 
done  by  him  was  the  construction  of  forges  for 


Mr.  Curtin,  father  of  the  well-known  Governor, 
A.  G.  Curtin.  James  B.  Turner  died  in  his  native 
place,  February  17,  1870,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two  years,  and  his  wife  survived  him  until  Au- 
gust 22,  1890,  when  she  passed  away,  at  the  ven- 
erable age  of  eighty-nine  years  and  four  months. 
The  Turners  are  descended  from  an  old  English 
family,  and  the  McClellan  family  is  of  Scotch 
descent.  The  father  of  James  B.  Turner  was 
born  in  New  York  City,  and  emigrated  to  Carlisle, 
Pennsylvania,  and  later  removed  to  Center  Couu- 


T.  M.  TURNER. 


321 


ty.  Thomas  McClellan,  the  maternal  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in 
Scotland  and  settled  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylva- 
nia. He  was  a  noted  marble-cutter  when  that 
city  had  only  about  four  thousand  inhabitants. 
About  the  time  the  British  bombarded  Philadel- 
phia, he  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful  3'oung  girl, 
fifteen  years  of  age,  named  Ann  Kinnier,  and 
they  were  married.  As  it  was  not  safe  for  them 
to  remain  in  the  city,  they  journeyed  westward 
on  horseback  and  soon  reached  Bellefonte,  by  fol- 
lowing an  Indian  path.  In  this  town  he  erected 
the  seventh  house.  Bellefonte  afterward  became 
the  county  seat,  and  of  this  town  Mr.  McClellan 
was  a  useful  and  honored  citizen.  His  descend- 
ants have  been  pioneers  in  many  districts,  and  his 
family  is  represented  in  all  parts  of  the  United 
States.  Mrs.  McClellan's  father,  James  Kinnier, 
was  a  merchant  of  Philadelphia. 

Thomas  McClellan  Turner  is  the  eldest  of  a 
family  of  six  children.  The  others  were:  Matilda; 
William  K.;  James,  who  was  killed  by  guerrillas 
near  Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  Civil  War;  Deborah  A.,  now  Mrs.  Thomp- 
son; and  Mary  J.  He  received  his  education  in 
his  native  State,  and  when  he  was  sixteen  years 
of  age  he  assisted  his  father  in  the  erection  of 
buildings  and  similar  labors. 

In  1854  ne  came  to  Chicago,  and  soon  after 
engaged  in  building  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Rail- 
road, with  headquarters  at  Joliet.  The  iron  rails 
reached  their  place  from  England  by  way  of  the 
ocean  and  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois  Rivers.  In 
1855  Mr.  Turner  removed  to  Bloomington  and 
built  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad  shops,  when 
that  town  had  only  two  thousand  five  hundred 
inhabitants.  Later,  he  acted  as  road  master, 
superintending  the  division  between  Bloomington 
and  Joliet. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War  the  spirit  of 
patriotism,  so  frequently  found  in  natives  of  his 
State,  induced  him  to  return  to  Bellefonte  and 
enlist  in  Company  C,  of  the  Twenty-second  Penn- 
sylvania Volunteer  Infantry,  as  a  private  soldier. 
When  the  regiment  was  disbanded  at  Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania,  his  company  gave  him  a  vote  of 
thanks  for  coming  so  far  to  join  it.  His  conduct 


was  most  praiseworthy,  when  we  remember  that 
he  was  an  expert  engineer  and  capable  of  hold- 
ing a  position  of  comparative  ease  and  safety. 
Such  men  are  the  safeguards  of  our  Nation,  and 
they  deserve  to  be  remembered  by  posterity. 

Returning  to  Chicago,  Mr.  Turner  became 
interested  in  mining  and  prospecting  for  coal. 
While  hunting  ducks  near  Wilmington,  Illinois, 
he  found  traces  of  coal  in  a  creek,  and  after 
searching,  he  was  rewarded  by  finding  a  three- 
foot  vein  of  coal,  sixty-three  feet  from  the  sur- 
face. He  carried  the  sample  to  Chicago  for 
analysis  and  subsequently  developed  the  coal 
lands  and  made  a  producing  mine. 

Seeing  the  necessity  of  the  use  of  larger  capital, 
he  induced  Mr.  James  Robbins,  of  Boston,  Massa- 
chusetts, to  become  his  silent  partner.  The  latter 
never  took  an  active  interest  in  the  management 
of  the  business,  which  rapidly  assumed  large  pro- 
portions. A  few  years  later  he  sold  his  interest  to 
the  Chicago  &  Wilmington  Coal  Association, 
with  the  exception  of  one  hundred  sixty  acres, 
which  he  still  owns,  at  the  center  of  the  field.  He 
next  developed  the  Bloomington  field,  and  man- 
aged it  three  years. 

Dr.  Streator  (for  whom  the  city  of  Streator, 
Illinois,  was  named)  induced  him  to  sell  out  at 
Bloomington,  and  invest  his  money  in  the  Streator 
mine,  where  there  had  been  much  trouble  with 
quicksand.  Where  others  failed  in  overcoming 
this  difficulty,  Mr.  Turner  was  successful,  and, 
after  two. years,  Dr.  Streator  having  sold  his 
interest,  he  did  the  same,  and  returned  to  Chi- 
cago, where  he  has  since  resided.  Later  he 
bought  land  east  of  the  Calumet  River,  where  he 
still  owns  property.  He  has  sold  two  subdi- 
visions, on  which  eighty  houses  have  been  built. 
He  was  a  liberal  contributor  to  the  fund  which 
secured  the  James  Brown  Iron  Mill,  whose  plant 
is  situated  0*1  the  Calumet  River. 

Mr.  Turner  was  married  in  Chicago  May  30, 
1865,  to  Miss  Carrie  K.  Ferguson,  daughter  ot 
Stauts  M.  Ferguson,  one  of  Chicago's  honored 
pioneers.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  children, 
namely:  James  Lyle,  Helen  N.  and  Thomas  M. 
The  sons  fill  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility  in 
the  offices  of  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company. 


322 


C.  O.  WESTERGREN. 


Stauts  Morrison  Ferguson,  an  old  settler  of 
Chicago,  was  born  December  10,  1799,  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  He  was  of  Scotch  descent, 
but  his  ancestors  for  many  generations  were 
Americans.  He  was  reared  in  New  York,  where 
he  was  a  manufacturer  of  woolen  goods,  and  in 
1840  sold  his  mills  in  Orange  County,  New  York, 
and,  with  his  family,  came  to  Chicago,  settling 
ten  miles  northwest  of  the  city,  at  Union  Ridge, 
now  called  Norwood  Park.  His  farm  comprised 
three  hundred  acres  of  choice  agricultural  land, 
which  he  cultivated.  He  sold  out  a  part  of  this 
in  1858,  and  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  resided 
on  West  Adams  Street.  He  died  while  on  a 


return  journey  from  Gait,  California,  where  he 
had  visited  at  the  homes  of  his  children.  He 
was  well  known  to  the  West  Side  residents  of 
Chicago.  He  took  quite  an  interest  in  religious 
matters,  and  was  a  high-minded  man,  much 
esteemed  and  respected.  He  was  a  Presbyterian, 
and  a  stanch  Republican  in  politics,  and  exerted 
a  wide  influence.  He  was  an  active  Abolitionist, 
and  always  showed  his  friendship  for  the  colored 
man. 

Mr.  Ferguson  was  married  in  Orange 
County,  New  York,  to  Miss  Naomi  A.  Rice,  who 
died  January  21,  1866.  She  was  the  mother  of 
nine  children. 


CHARLES  O.  WESTERGREN. 


CHARLES  OSCAR  WESTERGREN,  a  reli- 
I  (  able  citizen  of  South  Chicago,  was  born 
\J  March  8,  1853,  on  a  farm  situated  near  the 
town  of  Westervik,  in  the  congregation  of  Tor- 
nesfalla,  Sweden,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Jose- 
phine Ulrica  (Johnson)  Westergren.  .His  sister 
Matilda  was  the  first  one  of  the  family  to  emigrate 
to  the  United  States.  She  came  in  1869,  and  in 
1872  married  Mr.  John  Smith,  and  they  at  present 
reside  on  North  Clark  Street,  in  this  city. 

Charles  O.  Westergren  received  his  education 
in  the  schools  of  his  native  country,  and  at  an 
early  age  became  possessed  of  a  desire  to  try  his 
fortunes  in  the  new  world.  In  1872  he  sailed  for 
America,  and  reached  Chicago  June  5th  of  that 
year.  He  was  first  employed  at  general  labor,  and 
after  spending  six  months  in  the  city  he  found 
employment  at  farm  labor,  which  he  continued 
eight  months,  and  then  returned  to  the  city.  On 
his  return  he  became  engaged  in  the  service  of 
Marshall  Field  &  Company  as  a  box  nailer.  By 


his  faithfulness  and  ability  he  has  gradually 
risen  in  position,  and  is  at  present  engaged  by 
that  firm  as  a  packer.  He  has  been  in  its  service 
for  many  years,  and  has  the  respect  and  esteem 
of  his  employers. 

June  14,  1 88 1,  Mr.  Westergren  took  up  his  res- 
idence in  South  Chicago,  and  for  ten  years  con- 
ducted a  large  boarding-house,  having  sometimes 
as  many  as  forty  guests.  He  has  owned  several 
houses,  the  first  one  being  built  by  him  in  1882  at 
No.  9038  Superior  Avenue.  In  1 887  he  sold  it  and 
bought  two  lots  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Su- 
perior Avenue  and  Ninety-first  Street,  where  he 
built  two  houses.  He  sold  this  property  in  1890 
and  bought  a  lot  at  No.  74  Ninety-first  Street, 
where  he  built  a  house,  and  occupied  it  until  it 
was  destroyed  with  others  in  the  fire  of  1893.  The 
loss  sustained  by  him  was  about  fifteen  hundred 
dollars.  He  rebuilt  on  this  land,  and  still  owns  the 
property.  June  18,  1894,  Mr.  Westergren  bought 
the  lot  he  now  occupies,  at  No.  9033  Superior 


R.  H.  SAGE. 


323 


Avenue,  and  the  same  year  he  built  a  comfortable 
residence,  consisting  of  a  four-story,  modern  flat 
building. 

July  31,  1875,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Ellen  Margaret  Frankenburg,  daughter  of  Olof 
Frankenburg.  She  was  born  April  4,  1845,  in 
the  town  of  Lusdahl,  Sweden,  and  came  to  Chi- 
cago before  the  Great  Fire  of  1871.  Their  union 
has  been  blessed  by  the  following  children:  John 
Olof  Evan,  who  was  born  October  6,  1876,  and 
died  August  20,  1896;  Hilda  Josephine  Margaret, 


born  August  9,  1878,  died  in  July,  1880;  and 
Charles  Algert  David,  born  June  n,  1882,  now 
residing  with  his  parents.  Mr.  Westergren  and 
his  family  are  connected  with  the  Swedish  Luth- 
eran Church.  He  is  a  thoughtful  and  conscien- 
tious man,  and  in  all  his  dealings  with  his  fellow- 
men  is  thoroughly  just  and  honorable.  He  takes 
an  active  interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  adopted 
countr}r,  and  is  a  friend  to  progress  and  improve- 
ment. In  politics  he  is  a  supporter  of  the  Re- 
publican part}'. 


RUFUS  H.  SAGE. 


RUFUS  HENRY  SAGE  was  born  November 
22,  1837,  in  Troy,  New  York,  and  was  a 
son  of  Henry  Rufus  Sage,  who  was  a  brother 
of  the  world-famed  Russell  Sage,  of  New  York 
City.  The  family  is  of  Welsh  descent,  and  the 
first  American  progenitor  settled  in  Connecticut. 
The  ancestry  is  traced  back  to  the  time  of  William 
the  Conqueror,  who,  in  1066,  gave  a  coat-of-arms 
and  a  grant  of  land  to  this  family.  They  were 
tillers  of  the  soil,  and  led  upright  and  honorable 
lives.  On  the  coat-of-arms  is  this  motto,  "JVon 
Sit>t,"  meaning  "Not  for  ourselves." 

Rufus  Henry  Sage  received  an  academic  edu- 
cation in  his  native  State,  and  was  subsequently 
appointed  to  a  cadetship  in  the  United  States  Mil- 
itary School  at  West  Point.  He  received  this  ap- 
pointment through  his  uncle,  Russell  Sage,  but 
after  two  years  of  hard  study  he  was  compelled  to 
abandon  his  military  life,  and  engage  in  some 
other  occupation.  Soon  after  leaving  West  Point 
he  removed  to  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  where  he 
remained  only  a  short  time,  and  came  to  Chicago 
in  the  spring  of  1858,  and  became  an  agent  for 
one  of  the  oldest  and  most  reliable  commission 
firms  of  the  city.  After  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  details  of  the  business,  he  embarked  in 


it  on  his  own  responsibility,  and  from  the  begin- 
ning then  made  was  successful,  and  the  name  of 
Rufus  H.  Sage  became  a  familiar  one  among  the 
commission  men  of  the  Northwest. 

Mr.  Sage  had  always  the  happy  faculty  of  mak- 
ing and  keeping  friends,  and  he  often  loaned  the 
better  class  of  his  customers  money  for  conduct- 
ing their  business,  and  was  thus  of  assistance  in 
preventing  the  failure  of  many  men  who  after- 
wards became  prominent  in  the  financial  world. 
He  was  seldom  the  loser  in  these  transactions, 
as  his  heart  and  his  head  were  in  perfect  har- 
mony with  each  other.  He  was  one  of  the 
largest  flour  merchants  of  Chicago,  and  shipped 
this  product  in  great  quantities  to  the  .Eastern 
cities.  Prior  to  the  Great  Fire  of  1871,  Mr. 
Sage  was  one  of  the  best  known  commission  mer- 
chants in  Chicago,  but  by  this  disaster  he  was  left 
a  comparatively  poor  man.  However,  he  retrieved 
his  fallen  fortunes  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  and 
eventually  became  eminently  successful,  mostly 
through  a  brokerage  business  on  the  Board  of 
Trade. 

Mr.  Sage  was  known  as  one  of  the  quiet,  hon- 
orable and  industrious  citizens  of  this  great  me- 
tropolis, and  his  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond. 


324 


LEIGHTON  TURNER. 


He  was  surrounded  by  a  host  of  friends,  and  ap- 
parently had  no  enemies.  He  was  a  man  who 
possessed  strong  likes  and  dislikes,  so  that  it  was 
an  honor  to  be  counted  among  his  friends,  and 
although  he  v\  as  a  man  of  few  words,  he  always 
drew  friends  to  him.  Mr.  Sage  passed  away  May 
7,  1897,  nl  his  sixtieth  year.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

He  was  married  March  6,  1857,  while  in  Wis- 
consin, to  Miss  Ellen  Wicker.  Mr.  Sage  was  a 
stranger  at  the  prominent  clubs  and  societies  of 


Chicago,  though  at  one  time  he  was  often  to  be 
found  in  Masonic  circles.  He  loved  the  compan- 
ionship of  his  wife,  and  highly  valued  his  home, 
where  the  atmosphere  of  tender  sympathy  per- 
vaded all,  and  where  he  ever  found  a  haven  of 
rest  and  comfort  after  the  fatigues  of  business 
hours.  His  death,  though  not  unexpected,  left 
his  friends  deeply  grieved  at  the  thought  of  miss- 
ing the  quiet  man,  whose  gentle  nature  had 
endeared  itself  to  all  by  the  practice  of  every 
manly  virtue. 


LEIGHTON  TURNER. 


I  EIGHTON  TURNER,  who  was  for  many 
1C  years  identified  with  the  business  interests 
I  J  of  Chicago,  was  a  pioneer  of  1836,  and  was 
born  February  17,  1812,  in  Gilberdike,  York- 
shire, England.  His  parents  were  William  and 
Mary  Turner,  both  of  whom  grew  to  maturity 
and  married  in  Yorkshire,  where  all  of  their  nine 
children  were  born.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
thirties  all  the  family  except  the  eldest  emigrated 
to  the  United  States,  locating  at  Detroit,  Mich- 
igan, where  the  parents  lived  the  remainder  of 
their  lives,  and  where  they  died  several  years 
ago. 

Leighton  Turner  received  only  a  limited  educa- 
tion, in  the  schools  of  his  native  land,  and  was 
reared  to  farm  pursuits.  He  was  about  twenty 
years  of  age  when  he  came  to  America.  In  1836 
he  came  to  Chicago,  in  company  with  his  brother 
John,  and  two  years  later  they  engaged  in  the 
livery  business  in  a  small  way,  on  Wolcott  Street 
(now  State  Street)  between  Kinzie  and  North 
Water  Streets.  This  enterprise  prospered  and 
gradually  increased  in  importance  until  it  became 
one  of  the  most  lucrative  of  its  kind  in  the  city. 
They  continued  the  partnership  about  fifteen 
years,  during  which  time  they  had  made  a 


financial  success  of  the  business.  By  investing 
their  money  judiciously  in  land  they  soon  had 
large  interests  in  real  estate,  owning  several  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  in  Lake  View,  Jefferson  and 
Niles  Townships. 

The  brothers  dissolved  the  partnership  by 
mutual  consent,  and  made  an  equitable  division 
of  their  property.  Leightou  Turner  then  re- 
moved to  Jefferson  Township,  in  Cook  County, 
where  he  engaged  in  farming,  and  carried  on  this 
business  successfully  until  1867.  He  then  lo- 
cated in  Evanston,  in  order  that  his  growing  chil- 
dren might  enjoy  the  educational  advantages  of- 
fered by  that  place.  For  some  years  he  lived  in 
comparative  retirement,  giving  attention  only  to 
his  landed  interests.  In  1872  he  took  a  trip  to 
Europe,  and  remained  there  a  few  months.  He 
engaged  in  the  livery  business  in  Evanston  in 
1882,  in  connection  with  his  sons,  and  they  con- 
tinued until  the  building  was  destroyed  by  fire 
about  1890. 

When  Mr.  Turner  came  to  Chicago  he  was  a 
poor  man,  who  had  enjoyed  few  advantages  for 
education  and  improvement  in  his  early  life.  He 
had,  however,  learned  the  valuable  lessons  of  self- 
help  and  self-reliance,  and  he  became,  in  the 


J.  T.  McCULLOUGH. 


325 


truest  sense,  a  self-made  man.  His  success  in 
life  was  owing  to  his  industry,  his  integrity  and 
his  keen  business  foresight.  His  career  was  al- 
ways characterized  by  honesty  in  his  dealings 
with  his  fellow-men.  He  achieved  his  ample 
fortune  through  the  legitimate  channels  of  busi- 
ness, and  not  by  taking  advantage  of  the  neces- 
sities of  others.  In  politics  he  was  a  Republican, 
but  he  never  sought  any  office,  being  content  to 
leave  the  management  of  public  affairs  to  others. 
He  was  not  lacking  in  enterprise,  as  all  measures 
for  public  good  found  in  him  a  liberal  supporter. 
In  religious  faith  he  was  a  Methodist,  as  is  also 
his  wife,  and  both  took  an  active  interest  in 
church  work. 

December  17,  1844,  Mr.  Turner  married  Miss 
Mary  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Jane 
(Osmond)  Briden.  She  was  born  December  26, 
1824,  in  Yorkshire,  England,  the  native  place  of 
her  parents.  When  she  was  ten  years  old,  her 
mother  died,  and  in  1842  the  family  came  to  the 
United  States  and  settled  in  Cook  County.  Of 
the  twelve  children  born  to  Thomas  and  Jane 
Briden,  only  two  are  now  living.  The  father 
died  in  Iowa  about  1866. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Turner  had  eight  children,  all 
of  whom  grew  to  maturity,  and  are  now  living, 
namely:  Jane  (now  Mrs.  J.  F.  Lang,  of  La 
Crosse,  Wisconsin),  Mary  E. ,  Sarah  C.,  Miles 
L-,  Charles  W.,  Julia  P.,  Leighton  I.  and 
Walter  I. 

Soon  after  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Turner  settled  on  the 
farm  in  Jefferson  Township,  they  were  instru- 
mental in  organizing  the  first  Methodist  congre- 
gation in  that  community,  and  the  students  who 
went  out  from  school  to  conduct  religious  services 
among  the  pioneers  always  found  a  hearty  wel- 
come in  their  hospitable  home,  and  were  the 
recipients  of  many  kindnesses  at  the  hands  of 
Mrs.  Turner. 

In  December,  1894,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Turner 
quietly  celebrated  their  golden  wedding  in  their 
pleasant  home,  with  all  the  members  of  the  fam- 
ily present.  After  a  long,  useful  and  successful 
life,  Mr.  Turner  was  called  to  his  reward,  Feb- 
ruary n,  1895,  and  in  his  demise  the  community 
lost  a  valuable  citizen.  In  his  home,  where  his 
happiest  hours  had  been  passed,  his  death  caused 
an  irreparable  loss,  and  left  a  sadness  and  gloom 
which  will  never  be  overcome. 


JOHN  T.  McCULLOUGH. 


(JOHN  THOMAS  McCULLOUGH,  a  skilled 
I  mechanic  of  South  Chicago,  was  born  June 
G)  19,  1854,  in  Troy,  New  York,  and  is  a  son 
of  Edward  and  Susan  (Lynch)  McCullough. 
Edward  McCullough  was  born  in  Belfast,  Ireland, 
and  became  a  member  of  the  Queen's  Guards. 
He  followed  the  occupation  of  his  great-grand- 
father, Andrew  McCullough,  and  of  his  grand- 
father, who  were  musicians  in  the  Six-foot  Regi- 
ment Queen's  Guards.  Edward  McCullough 
was  especially  noted  as  a  performer  on  the  flute, 
of  which  instrument  he  was  a  good  master.  He 


came  to  America  about  1830,  and  lived  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  He  became  a  foreman  in 
cotton  mills  in  Troy,  and  married  Susan  Lynch 
of  New  York.  He  and  his  wife  were  the  parents 
of  four  children,  as  follows:  John,  William,  Ed- 
ward and  Lucretia.  Mrs.  McCullough  married 
for  her  second  husband  Daniel  Reardon,  with 
whom  she  resides  in  Chicago.  They  have  two 
children,  August  and  Mary  Reardon. 

John  T.  McCullough  received  his  early  educa- 
tion in  his  native  State,  and  at  a  very  early  age 
began  the  serious  business  of  life  for  himself.  He 


326 


C.    A.  WENZLAFF. 


came  to  Chicago  when  thirteen  years  old,  and 
began  to  learn  the  machinist's  trade.  For  twenty- 
six  years  he  was  employed  by  Robert  Owens,  and 
for  sixteen  years  was  his  foreman,  which  speaks 
well  for  his  faithfulness,  industry  and  careful  at- 
tention to  his  work.  He  was  then  employed  by 
Sherman  &  Flavin  as  foreman  in  1895,  and  is 
still  engaged  in  their  services. 

July  25,  1878,  Mr.  McCullough  married  Miss 
Annie  Esther  Garrity,  daughter  of  Thomas  Gar- 
rity,  whose  biography  appears  on  another  page 


of  this  volume.  She  was  born  September  8, 
1855,  on  Stony  Island  Avenue.  Their  children 
pre:  Helen  Gertrude,  born  May  14,,  1879,  and 
died  January  20,  1881;  Lilian  Marie,  Helen 
Marcia  and  Edward  Michael.  Mr.  McCullongh 
and  his  family  are  communicants  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  He  is  an  intelligent  and  law- 
abiding  citizen,  and  has  the  interest  of  his  country 
at  heart.  In  his  political  views  he  favors  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party,  of  which  he  is 
a  firm  supporter. 


CHARLES  A.  WENZLAFF. 


HARLES  AUGUST  WENZLAFF,  a  good 
citizen  of  South  Chicago,  was  born  Novem- 
ber  8,  1862,  in  Pommern,  Germany,  and  is 
a  son  of  Carl  and  Henrietta  (Behnke)  Wenzlaff. 
Carl  Wenzlaff  emigrated  to  America  when  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  small  boy,  locating 
in  Blue  Island.  Charles  A.  Wenzlaff  had  limited 
educational  advantages,  attending  school  only  un- 
til he  was  thirteen  years  of  age.  He  received 
part  of  his  training  in  a  school  connected  with 
the  German  Lutheran  Clunch,  and  later  studied 
in  the  public  schools  of  Blue  Island. 

When  he  left  school,  he  began  work  in  the 
planing  mill  of  Riggs  &  Goodwill,  as  a  helper 
at  a  machine,  and  he  followed  this  branch  of 
employment  for  a  number  of  years.  He  next 
found  a  place  in  the  mill  of  Mr.  Russell,  on  Har- 
bor and  Green  Bay  Avenues,  where  he  remained 
until  he  found  employment  with  the  North  Chi- 
cago Rolling  Mill  Company,  now  the  Illinois 
Steel  Company.  When  he  began  working  for 
the  above  company,  he  helped  the  brick  ma- 
sons, then  was  assistant  to  the  straighteners, 
working  on  the  hot  bed  two  and  one-half  years, 


and  for  the  past  seven  years  he  has  been  a  rail 
straightener.  He  is  careful,  thoughtful  and  faith- 
ful in  his  work,  and  has  thus  been  able  to  ad- 
vance in  position  by  degrees. 

When  Mr.  Wenzlaff  bought  a  lot  in  September, 
1896,  at  No.  9018  Green  Bay  Avenue,  he  was 
able  to  build  a  comfortable  home,  which  he  has 
occupied  ever  since.  April  29,  1889,  he  married 
Miss  Louise  Augusta  Stark,  daughter  of  Fred- 
erick and  Mary  (Boger)  Stark.  Her  parents  are 
among  the  oldest  families  in  Blue  Island,  where 
they  are  universally  respected.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wenzlaff  had  four  children,  namely:  an  infant 
son,  deceased;  Charles  Elmer,  Edward  William 
and  Herbert  John.  The  last-named  also  died  when 
an  infant. 

Mrs.  Wenzlaff  was  reared  in  the  Methodist 
faith,  and  the  family  is  now  connected  with  the 
Emanuel  Evangelical  German  Lutheran  Church. 
Mr.  Wenzlaff  sympathizes  largely  with  the  Re- 
publican party,  but  he  is  independent  in  politics. 
He  is  thrifty  in  business,  and  has  always  been  so 
careful  in  his  expenditures  that  he  upholds  the 
reputation  of  German-Americans  for  frugality. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

WYERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


CHARLES  E.  BOLLES. 


C.  E.  BOLLES. 


327 


CHARLES  E.  BOLLES. 


EHARLES  EDWIN  BOLLES,  a  leading 
citizen  of  Oak  Park,  has  long  been  identified 
with  large  enterprises  in  Cook  and  Du  Page 
Counties.  He  was  born  at  Cambridgeport,  Wind- 
sor County,  Vermont,  October  14,  1844.  His 
parents  were  Lemuel  Bolles  and  Mary  Ann  Wea- 
ver. The  former  carried  on  a  general  store  at 
Cambridgeport,  and  also  employed  a  number  of 
wagons  and  carts  in  distributing  his  goods  through 
the  country.  He  died  there  in  May,  1848,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-six  years.  He  was  a  son  of 
Lemuel  Bolles,  a  native  of  Richmond,  New 
Hampshire.  The  first  ancestor  of  this  family  of 
whom  a  record  has  been  preserved  was  Joseph 
Bolles,  born  1608  and  died  1678.  He  was  of 
Scotch  and  English  lineage,  and  came  to  Am- 
erica early  in  the  colonial  period.  His  descend- 
ants in  direct  line  to  Lemuel  Bolles,  senior,  were 
Samuel,  Jonathan,  and  Jonathan,  junior.  The 
last-named,  who  was  born  in  1732  and  died  in 
1824,  removed  to  Richmond,  New  Hampshire, 
and  later  to  Rockingham,  Vermont.  The  mem- 
bers of  this  family  have  always  been  conspicuous 
for  longevity  'and  physical  vigor,  a  number  of 
them  having  lived  past  the  great  age  of  ninety 
years. 

Lemuel  and  Mary  A.  Bolles  were  the  parents 
of  one  daughter  and  two  sous.  Besides  Charles 
E.,  these  were:  Delia  I.,  who  is  now  the  wife  of 
Hon.  Gilbert  A.  Davis,  a  leading  attorney  of 
Windsor,  Vermont,  and  Esek  C.,  who  was  born 
October  4,  1842,  and  served  from  May  24,  1861, 


to  June  18,  1864,  in  Company  K,  Thirteenth 
Illinois  Volunteers.  He  was  afterwards  employed 
for  a  number  of  years  as  a  conductor  on  the  Chi- 
cago &  Eastern  Illinois  Railroad,  and  was  ac- 
cidentally killed .  while  in  the  service  of  that 
corporation,  December  6,  1878. 

After  the  death  of  her  first  husband,  Mrs.  Mary 
A.  Bolles  was  married  to  George  J.  Atcherson, 
and  in  1855  the  family  came  to  Illinois,  locating 
at  Turner  (now  West  Chicago),  Du  Page  County. 
Mr.  Atcherson  became  a  leading  citizen  of  that 
village,  where  he  did  a  general  business  in  hides, 
real  estate  and  loans.  He  took  considerable  in- 
terest in  public  affairs,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
was  supervisor  of  the  township.  He  died  Jan- 
uary 26,  1884,  .and  Mrs.  Atcherson  passed  away 
in  the  same  year.  She  was  very  prominent  in 
the  work  of  the  Methodist  Church  at  that  place, 
and  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  all  her 
neighbors.  Out  of  respect  to  her  memory  the 
public  schools  were  closed  on  the  day  of  her  fun- 
eral, that  being  the  first  instance  in  which  a  resi- 
dent of  the  village  was  honored  in  this  manner. 

When  the  Civil  War  began  Charles  E.  Bolles, 
whose  name  heads  this  article,  offered  to  enlist  in 
defense  of  the  Union  cause,  but  was  rejected,  ow- 
ing to  his  youth.  On  the  8th  of  May,  1862,  he 
was  enrolled,  however,  as  a  recruit  in  Company 
K,  Thirteenth  Illinois  Volunteers.  Starting  with 
his  comrades  from  Rolla,  Missouri,  he  inarched 
to  Batesville,  Arkansas,  where  they  joined  the 
regiment  soon  after  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge. 


328 


C.  E.  BOLLES. 


Thence  they  marched  to  Helena,  Arkansas,  being 
cut  off  for  three  weeks  from  all  communication 
with  the  other  Union  forces.  This  march  from 
Rolla,  Missouri,  to  Helena,  Arkansas,  covered  a 
distance  of  1218  miles,  much  more  than  the  route 
in  a  direct  line.  As  it  was  a  dry  season,  there 
were  but  few  sources  from  which  supplies  of 
fresh  water  could  be  obtained,  and  most  of  these 
had  been  poisoned  by  the  enemy.  They  also 
suffered  considerably  from  lack  of  food,  but  upon 
reaching  St.  Charles,  Arkansas,  received  abun- 
dant supplies  from  the  Union  gun  boats,  which 
had  been  making  every  effort  to  communicate 
with  them. 

The  Thirteenth  Regiment  was  afterwards  made 
the  First  Regiment,  First  Brigade,  Second  Di- 
vision, of  the  Army  of  the  Southwest,  under  com- 
mand of  Gen.  Eugene  A.  Carr.  Mr.  Bolles 
participated  in  a  number  of  skirmishes,  and  at 
Chickasaw  Bayou,  near  Vicksburg,  he  was  shot 
through  the  right  arm,  and  owing  to  this  dis- 
ability was  mustered  out  February  10,  1863. 
Upon  his  recovery  he  re-entered  the  army,  as 
quartermaster's  clerk  of  the  Fourteenth  (colored) 
U.  S.  Infantry.  In  1864  he  received  a  certificate 
from  the  examining  board  at  Nashville,  as  a  first 
lieutenant  and  regimental  quartermaster.  In  the 
fall  of  that  year  he  became  a  quartermaster's 
clerk,  under  Captain  Eaton,  at  Dal  ton,  Georgia, 
the  outermost  Union  post,  after  Sherman's  evacua- 
tion of  Atlanta.  He  was  afterwards  ordered  to 
go  by  way  of  New  York  to  Savannah,  Georgia. 
Upon  reaching  Cincinnati  he  received  orders  to 
return  to  Chattanooga  and  close  up  Captain 
Eaton's  accounts  with  the  post  quartermaster  at 
that  place.  After  resuming  his  journey  he  had 
reached  Cincinnati,  when  he  was  seized  with 
typhoid  fever  and  sent  home. 

After  the  war  he  attended  the  military  academy 
at  Fulton,  Illinois,  and  spent  one  term  in  the  com- 
mercial department  of  Wheaton  college.  He  then 
became  a  traveling  representative  and  purchasing 
agent  of  H.  C.  Tillinghast  &  Company,  of  Chi- 
cago, with  whom  he  continued  five  years.  After 
dealing  in  hardware  four  years  at  Turner,  he  was 
again  connected  with  that  firm  until  1880,  at 
which  date  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of 


Bolles  &  Rogers,  wholesale  dealers  in  hides,  pelts, 
and  similar  goods.  This  relation  still  continues, 
and  the  firm  does  the  largest  business  in  that 
line  of  any  concern  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Bolles  has  always  been  greatly  interested  in 
real  estate  at  Turner  and  other  places.  He  owns 
a  large  farm  adjacent  to  that  village,  and  at  dif- 
ferent times  has  laid  out  eight  or  nine  subdi- 
visions. In  company  with  J.  H.  Lesher,  in  1893, 
he  organized  the  Turner  Brick  Company,  and 
the  product  of  this  establishment  has  entered  into 
the  construction  of  many  of  the  finest  buildings 
of  Chicago  and  its  suburbs.  In  1894  he  erected 
upon  the  old  homestead  of  Mr.  Atcherson  a  fine 
opera  house  and  business  block,  which  is  one  of 
the  most  substantial  and  attractive  structures  in 
that  suburb.  He  has  recently  been  instrumental 
in  changing  the  name  from  Turner  to  West  Chi- 
cago, and  spares  no  pains  in  promoting  the 
growth  and  development  of  that  thriving  suburb. 
He  has  made  a  proposition  to  donate  a  site  and 
erect  a  ten-thousand-dollar  building  for  a  public 
library,  provided  that  the  citizens  raise  a  fund  to 
stock  and  equip  the  same.  This  offer  will  no 
doubt  be  accepted  at  an  early  date. 

Mr.  Bolles  was  married  to  Miss  Mattie  Butter- 
field,  daughter  of  George  W.  and  Ann  (Bennett) 
Butterfield,  pioneer  settlers  of  Du  Page  County. 
Mr.  Butterfield  was  born  June  29,  1820,  and  died 
May  3,  1848.  Mrs.  Bolles  was  born  in  Chicago, 
and  has  always  lived  in  Cook  and  Du  Page  Coun- 
ties. Her  only  daughter,  Maud  E. ,  is  the  wife 
of  Abram  Gale,  now  a  resident  of  West  Chicago. 
Mrs.  Bolles  is  connected  with  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Oak  Park,  which  place  has  been  the 
home  of  the  family  since  1878.  Mr.  Bolles  is 
prominently  identified  with  the  Oak  Park  Club, 
of  which  he  was  vice-president  two  years.  He 
was  always  an  ardent  admirer  of  James  G.  Elaine, 
whose  death  he  regards  as  a  national  calamity. 
He  participates  to  some  extent  in  the  local  coun- 
cils of  the  Republican  party,  and  is  chairman  of 
the  finance  committee  of  the  Oak  Park  Republican 
Club.  Though  often  solicited  to  become  a  can- 
didate for  public  office,  he  uniformly  declines, 
believing  that  he  can  best  serve  the  interests  of 
the  community  in  the  capacity  of  a  private  citizen. 


THOMAS  GARRITY. 


329 


THOMAS  GARRITY. 


'HOMAS  GARRITY,  an  early  settler  in 
Chicago,  was  born  in  County  Mayo,  Ire- 
land, and  is  a  son  of  Patrick  and  Mary 
(Brown)  Garrity,  natives  of  that  country.  His 
grandfather,  Conrad  Garrity,  spent  his  life  in 
Ireland,  and  was  engaged  in  fanning.  Some  of 
his  children  were:  Owen,  Martin,  Mary  and 
Catherine.  The  sons  of  Owen  -  Owen,  Patrick, 
Dominick  and  John — came  to  America.  Patrick 
now  resides  in  Boston,  Dominick  in  Massachu- 
setts, and  John  in  Chicago.  The  children  of 
Martin  Garrity — John  and  Owen — emigrated  to 
America.  John  is  deceased,  and  Owen  resides 
in  Maryland. 

Patrick  Garrity  was  born  in  Ireland,  where  he 
was  a  farmer,  and  died  in  1847,  a*  the  aSe  or" 
eighty-nine  years.  His  wife  died  three  weeks 
after,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years.  They  had  thir- 
teen children.  Those  who  lived  to  maturity  are: 
George,  Michael,  Owen,  James,  Thomas,  Cath- 
erine, Biddy  and  Mary.  George  was  married  in 
Ireland,  and  died  there  at  the  age  of  forty  years; 
Owen  was  drowned  in  Saint  Catharines,  Canada; 
Catherine  never  left  Ireland,  and  died  at  the  age 
of  fifty  years;  and  Mar}'  married  John  Lavelle, 
and  lived  in  Saint  Catharines,  Canada.  Michael 
Garrity  emigrated  to  America  in  1841,  coming  to 
Chicago,  and  locating  at  Morgan  Park,  where  he 
bought  about  eighty  acres  of  land,  and  resided 
until  his  death.  James  also  emigrated,  coming 
to  the  United  States  in  1849.  He  lived  in  Mor- 
gan Park  two  years,  and  then  removed  to  South 
Chicago. 

The  maternal  grandfather  of  Thomas  Garrity, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  married  Mary  Roan, 
and  Mary  Brown  was  their  only  child.  The 
Brown  family  was  a  wealthy  one,  and  was  prom- 


inent in  Irish  politics,  furnishing  three  members 
of  the  British  Parliament,  who  were  brothers,  and 
resided  in  Dublin. 

Thomas  Garrity  received  his  education  in  his 
native  country,  where  he  remained  until  April, 
1841.  He  then  emigrated  to  America,  and  with 
his  brother  built  a  house  on  Stony  Island,  now 
called  Calumet  Heights.  They  occupied  it  three 
years,  and  then  Thomas  built  himself  a  house  on 
Ninety-fourth  Street,  where  he  resided  ten  years. 
About  1860  he  moved  to  South  Chicago  Avenue, 
where  the  Calumet  Theatre  now  stands,  and 
erected  two  houses.  The  smaller  one  was  after- 
ward made  into  a  stable,  and  the  other  was 
burned  in  a  fire  which  caught  from  a  spark  from 
a  locomotive  engine.  Mr.  Garrity  made  his  res- 
idence on  South  Chicago  Avenue  until  1871,  and 
then  moved  to  No.  8923  Exchange  Avenue,  and 
purchased  the  right  to  a  tract  of  land  from  a  man 
who  had  a  squatter's  claim  on  it.  He  erected  a 
temporary  dwelling,  and  in  1894  he  built  his 
present  comfortable  residence. 

For  the  first  nine  years  of  Mr.  Garrity's  resi- 
dence in  South  Chicago,  he  was  employed  by 
Thomas  Morgan  in  the  lime  kilns  in  Stony  Island, 
and  lie  also  found  time  to  cultivate  his  land.  He 
then  found  employment  on  various  lines  of  rail- 
road, at  section  work,  which  he  continued  until 
about  ten  years  ago,  since  which  time  he  has  en- 
joyed a  life  of  ease  and  retirement. 

January  25,  1842,  Mr.  Garrity  was  married,  in 
Parish  Kilmore,  County  Mayo,  Ireland,  to  Miss 
Ellen  McGlain.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Patrick 
and  Mary  (Crump)  McGlain,  wealthy  and  in- 
fluential citizens  of  Ireland.  The  latter  was  a 
daughter  of  James  Crump.  Mrs.  Garrity  was 
born  in  1828,  and  passed  away  September  u, 


33° 


A.  B.  BRINKERHOFF. 


1882.  She  was  the  mother  of  the  following 
children:  George,  who  died  when  an  infant; 
Stephen,  who  died  when  one  week  old;  Patrick, 
who  was  born  February  2,  1848,  and  is  now  liv- 
ing at  No.  7318  Evans  Avenue,  Chicago;  Mary, 
who  died  in  infancy;  Mary  (the  second) ,  who  was 
born  August  15,  1851,  and  died  December  2, 
1882,  being  the  widow  of  Laurence  O'Neil,  who 
died  a  year  before  his  wife,  and  left  two  children, 
John  Joseph  and  James  Laurence;  Michael,  who 
was  born  March  18,  1852,  resides  at  Saint  Paul, 
Minnesota,  and  is  employed  as  engineer  on  a 
locomotive;  Cordelia  (called  Bridget),  who  was 
born  October  18,  1857,  married  Michael  S.  Mon- 
roe, and  resides  in  Trenton,  Missouri;  Ellen,  who 


was  born  August  18,  1859,  married  J.  T.  P.  Pick- 
ett,  and  lives  in  Saint  Paul,  Minnesota;  James, 
unmarried,  who  was  born  May  10,  1861,  and 
is  employed  by  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company 
as  an  axle-maker;  Thomas,  who  was  born  March 
18,  1863,  and  lives  in  South  Chicago,  where  he  is 
engaged  as  an  engineer  in  a  mill;  and  John,  who 
was  born  June  19,  1865,  and  died  when  nine 
months  old.  J.  T.  P.  Pickett,  who  married 
Ellen  Garrity,  belongs  to  the  Western  Associa- 
tion of  Baseball  Players,  and  plays  first  base  in 
the  Minneapolis  team.  All  the  children  of 
Thomas  Garrity  have  followed  the  worthy  exam- 
ple of  their  father,  and  lead  honest  and  'industri- 
ous lives. 


ABRAM  B.   BRINKERHOFF. 


Gl  BRAM  BEVIER  BRINKERHOFF.  Among 
LJ  the  railroad  men  of  Chicago  who  have,  by 
/  I  their  long  and  faithful  service,  won  a  name 
and  place  in  the  history  of  the  Great  West  and  in 
this  volume,  should  be  mentioned  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  He  was  born  June  15,  1836,  in 
Barton,  Tioga  County,  New  York.  The  gen- 
ealogy of  this  family  in  •  America  dates  back  to 
Joris  Dircksen  Brinckerhoff,  who  was  born  in 
Drenthe,  Holland,  in  1609,  and  came  to  America 
with  his  family,  and  settled  on  the  banks  of  the 
beautiful  Hudson  River,  where  ten  successive 
generations  have  since  made  their  home. 

There  are  to-day  at  least  one  thousand  persons 
who  bear  the  name  of  Brinkerhoff,  and  about  ten 
thousand  others  who  are  descendants,  but  who 
bear  other  names,  thus  making  this  family  one  of 
the  most  numerous  of  the  Knickerbockers  in 
America.  Joris  Dircksen  BrinkerhofF  settled  on 
Manhattan  Island  when  New  Amsterdam  num- 
bered only  about  three  hundred  inhabitants.  One 


of  his  sons  was  killed  by  the  Indians,  probably  in 
Kieft's  Indian  War  of  1643.  He  held  positions 
of  trust  for  many  years,  positions  which  required 
probity  and  integrity  of  character,  thus  making 
the  family  motto,  "  Constantes  fides  et  integritas," 
most  applicable  to  him,  as  it  is  to  the  subject  of 
this  sketch. 

As  far  back  as  the  family  can  be  traced  in  direct 
line,  the  ancestry  is  as  follows:  Joris  D. ,  Hendrick, 
Jacobus,  Joris,  James  I.  and  Abram  B.  Joris, 
grandfather  of  A.  B.  BrinkerhofF,  was  a  captain 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  married  Miss 
Annatie  Demarest,  and  they  had  a  family  of  seven 
sons  and  four  daughters.  James  I.  Brinkerhoft 
married  Rachel  Bevier,  and  their  children  were: 
Horatio,  Martha,  Helen,  Abram  B.,  Jacob  O. 
and  Annatie.  The  father  was  a  merchant,  farmer 
and  lumberman,  being  a  thrifty,  honest  man. 
He  came  West  with  his  family  in  1854,  and  set- 
tled near  Elgin,  Kane  Count}-,  Illinois,  but  later 
removed  to  McHenry  County,  where  he  died  at 


HENRY  BIRREN. 


the  age  of  sixty-five  years,  and  his  wife  at  the 
age  of  ninety -two  years.  Of  their  children  only 
"Jacob  O.  and  Abram  B.  are  living. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  educated  in 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  State,  and 
learned  the  mercantile  business.  He  worked  on 
a  farm  for  two  years,  and  then  secured  a  posi- 
tion as  baggageman  at  Elgin,  Illinois,  at  nine 
shillings  a  day,  a  position  for  which  he  was 
thankful.  His  mercantile  career  had  fitted  him 
for  this  position,  and  he  gave  general  satisfaction. 
After  two  years'  service  at  Elgin  he  was  sent  to 
Chicago,  as  clerk  in  the  freight  department  of 
the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad,  under  J. 
D.  Tyler.  His  skill  and  close  attention  to  busi- 
ness soon  won  him  the  confidence  and  esteem  of 
his  superiors,  and  he  became  familiar  with  every 
detail  of  the  service,  in  time  filling  every  office 
in  the  department.  For  a  short  time  he  was  sent 
to  the  country  to  fill  temporary  vacancies,  and 


then  secured  the  position  of  agent  at  Dundee, 
Kane  Count}',  Illinois,  where  he  remained  eight- 
een years.  But  he  was  not  forgotten  by  the 
managers  of  the  road,  who  showed  that  they  ap- 
preciated his  alertness,  fidelity  and  attention  to 
detail  by  appointing  him  freight  agent  at  Chi- 
cago, which  position  he  has  filled  with  great 
credit  to  himself  ever  since,  enjoying  to  a  marked 
degree  the  confidence  of  his  superior  officers. 

Mr.  Brinkerhoff  was  married  at  Dundee,  Illi- 
nois, to  Miss  Ellen  E.,  daughter  of  Henry  E. 
Hunt,  who  was  a  native  of  New  York  and  an 
early  settler  in  Illinois.  He  is  a  Master  Mason, 
and  politically  a  Republican,  but  never  a  politician, 
belonging  to  that  conservative  class  of  men  who 
consider  it  a  sacred  duty  to  guard  the  interests  of 
the  community  by  the  ballot.  He  is  not  a  mem- 
ber of  any  club,  but  regards  his  home  as  a  haven 
of  rest,  where  he  can  recreate  himself  after  the 
day's  work  is  done. 


HENRY  BIRREN. 


HENRY  BIRREN  (deceased)  was  one  of  the 
well-known  old  settlers  of  Chicago.  He 
was  born  in  Steinsel,  Luxemburg,  Germany, 
in  July,  1812.  In  the  common  schools  of  his 
native  land  he  received  a  good,  practical  educa- 
tion. In  early  life  he  was  apprenticed  to  the 
smithing  trade,  at  which  he  served  his  time  and 
became  a  skillful  workman.  He  followed  this  oc- 
cupation in  various  places,  and  for  nine  years 
worked  at  it  in  Paris,  France.  He  was  also  a 
successful  veterinary  surgeon,  having  gained  a 
knowledge  of  the  science  from  private  study  and 
practical  experience. 

In  1845  he  came  to  the  United  States,  crossing 
the  Atlantic  in  a  sailing-vessel  and  being  several 
weeks  on  the  water.  Settling  in  Buffalo,  New 


York,  he  remained  there  three  years,  working  at 
his  trade.  He  was  poor  in  purse,  but  ambitious 
to  attain  success,  and  piit  away  his  meagre  sav- 
ings for  future  investment.  In  1848  he  settled  in 
Chicago,  the  city  at  that  time  having  only  fifty 
thousand  inhabitants.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he 
established  himself  in  business,  although  for  a 
brief  time  at  first  he  worked  in  the  machine  shops 
of  the  McCormick  Reaper  Company,  and  was  the 
first  German  to  establish  a  blacksmith  shop  on  the 
North  Side. 

This  was  located  on  Dearborn  and  Chicago 
Avenues,  where  for  some  years  he  carried  on 
a  fairly  successful  business  in  smithing  and  gen- 
eral repair  work,  to  which  he  added  his  veterinary 
practice.  He  did  quite  a  business  in  treating 


332 


G.  H.  HOOS. 


farmer's  horses.  Later,  he  removed  to  North 
Park  Avenue  and  Eugenie  Street,  where  he  lo- 
cated a  shop,  and  in  1859  branched  out  in  the  un- 
dertaking business,  though  in  a  small  way  at  first. 
His  business  in  this  line  grew  to  extensive  pro- 
portions, and  for  several  years  he  was  the  only 
undertaker  on  the  North  Side,  and  had  three  dif- 
ferent establishments,  one  each  on  Clark  Street, 
North  Avenue  and  Eugenie  Street.  He  grew 
prosperous,  and  his  surplus  was  invested  in  real 
estate,  and  he  was  on  the  highway  to  fortune 
when  the  Great  Fire  of  1871  swept  away  nearly 
all  that  he  owned,  including  five  buildings.  This 
loss  did  not  dishearten  him,  however.  He  re- 
covered three  thousand  dollars  of  insurance,  re- 
built, and  continued  his  former  business,  and  in 
1873  he  had  three  undertaking  establishments, 
one  on  Chicago  Avenue  and  the  others  on  North 
Avenue  and  Eugenie  Street.  Although  he  labored 
under  disadvantages  after  the  fire,  he  was  yet 


successful  and  carried  on  his  business  until  age 
compelled  its  relinquishment,  when  he  turned  it 
over  to  his  two  eldest  sons. 

He  was  united  in  marriage,  in  the  Fatherland, 
to  Miss  Katharine  Faber,  who  bore  him  twelve 
children,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Ten 
grew  to  maturity,  namely:  Nicholas,  now  de- 
ceased; Cornelius,  an  undertaker  at  No.  283 
North  Avenue;  N.  H.,  deceased;  Margaret,  Mrs. 
Bernard  Brosterhaus;  Mary,  deceased;  Anna; 
John  H.;  Peter  A.,  undertaker  at  No.  842  Lincoln 
Avenue,  Joseph  P.,  an  artist  of  Chicago;  and 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Henry  Zuber,  of  Chicago.  Mr. 
Birren  died  November  10,  1880,  and  his  devoted 
wife  survived  him,  departing  this  life  March  20, 
1895.  Both  were  communicants  of  St.  Michael's 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  were  among  its 
most  liberal  supporters.  Mr.  Birren  was  a  public- 
spirited  man,  and  took  an  active  interest  in  what- 
ever, in  his  judgment,  subserved  the  public  good. 


GEORGE  H.  HOOS. 


0EORGE    HENRY    HOOS  was  born  July  2, 

biSsg,  on  his  father's  farm  in  Sandusky,  Coun- 
ty, Ohio.  He  is  a  son  of  Jacob  and  Christina 
(Ream)  Hoos.  Jacob  Hoos  was  born  in  Ger- 
many, was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  came  to 
America  in  1845,  locating  in  Tiffin,  Ohio. 
When  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  F,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-third 
Oliio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  died  in  October, 
1862,  of  camp  fever,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five 
years.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Philip  Lau- 
renz  Ream,  who  was  a  farmer  in  Germany,  and 
emigrated  to  America  about  the  same  time  as 
Mr.  Hoos.  After  the  death  of  her  husband  she 
managed  to  keep  the  family  together,  though  she 
found  it  no  easy  task. 

George  Henry  Hoos  removed  to  Seneca   Coun- 


ty, Ohio,  with  his  parents  when  he  was  two 
years  old.  He  lived  on  the  farm  left  by  his  fa- 
ther until  he  was  thirteen  years  old,  and  then 
went  to  Tiffin,  Ohio.  His  educational  advan- 
tages amounted  to  about  one  year's  attendance 
at  the  public  schools,  and  he  obtained  his  educa- 
tion by  his  own  efforts  and  by  private  study. 
When  he  removed  to  Tiffin  he  was  employed  in 
the  Tiffin  Agriculture  Works,  where  he  labored 
in  various  departments.  He  found  employment 
in  a  grocery  store  as  clerk,  and  remained  three 
years,  next  engaging  in  business  with  Mr.  P.  J. 
Sconnell  as  a  partner,  dealing  in  books,  stationery 
and  musical  instruments.  After  three  years  in  this 
occupation  his  health  was  so  poor  that  he  decided 
to  try  some  outdoor  employment,  and  accordingly 
lived  on  a  farm  the  next  two  years.  He  then 


P.  W.  GRAY. 


333 


returned  to  Tiffin  and  was  engaged  as  a  clerk  in 
the  freight  office  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Rail- 
road, at  which  he  worked  until  December  i,  1890, 
when  he  took  a  position  as  cashier  in  the  freight 
department  of  the  same  road,  and  in  January, 
1891,  he  was  made  station  agent. 

In  June,  1892,  he  became  a  switchman  for  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  road,  and  he  remained  in  that 
position  two  years.  June  19,  1894,  he  began  as 
switchman  for  the  Chicago,  Lake  Shore  &  East- 
ern Railroad,  and  is  at  present  in  their  employ. 

Mr.  Hoos  was  married  November  16,  1881,  to 
Miss  Hattie  C.  Fisher,  daughter  of  William  H. 


Fisher,  of  Tiffin,  Ohio.  They  have  three  chil- 
dren, namely:  Nina  Christina,  Jennie  May  and 
Delia  Marie.  Mr.  Hoos  is  a  member  of  the 
Knights  of  Pythias,  being  connected  with  Pick- 
wick Lodge,  No.  177.  He  was  reared  in  the 
German  Reformed  Church.  In  politics  he  is  an 
adherent  of  the  Republican  party.  He  is  a  self- 
made  man,  and  is  intelligent  and  well  read,  hav- 
ing been  so  anxious  to  have  the  greater  power 
and  ability  which  education  alone  can  give,  that 
all  through  his  life  he  has  been  a  student,  learn- 
ing not  only  from  books,  but  by  careful  obser- 
vation as  well. 


PRESTON  W.  GRAY. 


QRESTON  WILLIAM  GRAY,  of  Ravens- 

yr  wood,  is  a  representative  of  one  of  the  early 
^5  and  well-known  families  of  Cook  County. 
He  was  born  in  Monroe  Precinct,  afterwards  the 
town  of  Jefferson  (which  now  forms  part  of  the 
city  of  Chicago),  September  15,  1848.  His  father, 
William  Perry  Gray,  of  Jefferson  Park,  is  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  Chicago,  having  come  to  Cook 
County  in  September,  1844.  Chicago  had  at 
that  time  about  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  and 
gave  no  promise  of  its  present  size  and  importance. 
William  Perry  Gray  was  born  in  Fort  Coving- 
ton,  Franklin  County,  New  York,  May  24,  1821, 
and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Rebecca  (Hastings) 
Gray.  John  Gray  was  born  near  Dumbarton 
Castle,  in  Scotland,  and  came  to  America  with 
his  parents  when  but  two  years  old.  The  family 
settled  in  the  old  town  of  Cambridge,  now  Jack- 
son, Washington  County,  New  York.  There 
John  Gray  grew  to  manhood,  and  about  1808 
removed  to  Franklin  County,  where  he  remained 


until  his  death.  This  occurred  June  24,  1821, 
when  his  son,  William  Perry  Gray,  was  an  in- 
fant one  month  old.  He  was  about  fifty  )'ears 
old  when  he  died,  and  the  wife  and  mother  sur- 
vived until  April,  1877.  She  made  her  home  in 
the  town  of  Jefferson  for  a  number  of  years. 

John  Gray  and  his  wife  were  the  parents  of 
nine  children  who  grew  to  mature  years.  Will- 
iam P.  was  the  youngest  of  them,  and  is  the  only 
one  now  living.  Mary,  Agnes,  Caroline  and 
Rebecca  were  the  daughters,  and  the  first  born. 
They  all  lived  in  the  State  of  New  York  all  their 
lives,  and  all  left  children.  The  eldest  son  was 
John,  who  came  to  Chicago  in  1836.  He  made 
his  home  here  for  many  years,  then  located  in 
Niles,  where  he  kept  a  hotel  and  operated  a  saw- 
mill, then  moved  to  a  farm  in  Jefferson,  where  he 
lived  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  at  one 
time  sheriff  of  Cook  Count}-.  The  second  of  the 
brothers,  Wareham,  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
years.  The  next  son,  Walter  B.  Gray,  came  to 


334 


P.  W.  GRAY. 


Cook  County  in  1854,  and  resided  here  until  his 
death.  James  Gray  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  years.  He  came  West  in  1839,  and  his 
death  occurred  quite  suddenly  soon  after. 

William  Perry  Gray,  as  before  stated,  was  the 
youngest.  He  lived  on  the  homestead  farm  in 
the  State  of  New  York  until  he  reached  his  nine- 
teenth year.  The  mother  remained  a  widow  un- 
til her  death.  She  was  a  most  remarkable  wo- 
man, possessing  great  energy  and  force  of  char- 
acter, and  kept  her  family  together  until  they 
were  successively  married  and  settled,  and  until 
her  youngest  child  reached  manhood. 

When  William  Perry  Gray  left  home  he  went 
to  Washington  County,  New  York,  where  his  fa- 
ther had  grown  from  early  childhood  to  manhood. 
In  1844  he  came  to  Cook  County,  and  in  1845  he 
returned  to  Washington  County,  New  York, 
where  he  was  married  in  April  of  that  year  to 
Miss  Catherine  Donahue,  a  native  of  that  county, 
and  daughter  of  James  and  Catherine  (Hastings) 
Donahue.  In  May  following  Mr.  Gray  returned 
to  his  work  in  Cook  County,  and  in  1846  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  the 
town  of  Jefferson,  now  within  the  limits  of  Chi- 
cago. The  purchase  price  was  six  and  a- quarter 
dollars  an  acre,  or  one  thousand  dollars  for  the 
whole.  Later  he  added  forty  acres,  and  still 
later  he  divided  the  land  equally  between  his  two 
sons.  The  wife  he  brought  from  the  East  died 
December  31,  1881.  Two  sons  are  the  only  chil- 
dren surviving  from  this  marriage,  Preston  W. 
and  Henry  A.  Four  others,  John  W.,  James, 
Caroline  M.  and  Charles  E.,  were  born  to  them 
and  are  now  deceased.  On  April  5,  1883,  Mr. 
Gray  was  married  to  Miss  Louisa  Wier,  who  was 
born  in  the  town  where  his  first  wife  was  born. 
He  has  one  son  by  this  union,  Herbert  W.  by 
name,  and  has  lost  two  daughters,  the  elder  being 
named  Catherine.  Mr.  Gray  has  seen  Chicago 
grow  from  a  few  thousand  inhabitants  to.  the 
second  city  in  America,  and  has  seen  Cook  Coun- 
ty grow  from  a  wilderness  to  its  present  position 
of  importance  and"  influence.  He  is  widely 
known  throughout  this  region  and  esteemed  by 
all  who  know  him.  In  early  life  he  was  a  Demo- 


crat, but  during  the  Civil  War  and  since  he  has 
voted  the  Republican  ticket  in  national  elections. 
He  is  not  a  strong  partisan,  being  liberal  in  both 
his  political  and  religious  views. 

Preston  W.  Gray  continued  to  live  on  the  home 
farm  in  the  town  of  Jefferson  until  1884.  In  the 
mean  time  the  land  had  become  too  valuable  to 
be  used  for  farming  purposes,  and  was  divided 
into  several  parts  for  market-gardening.  The 
two  oldest  brothers  still  own  one  hundred  acres 
of  the  old  farm.  December  24,  1872,  Mr.  Pres- 
ton Gray  was  married  to  Miss  Celia  Jordan,  ol 
Allegany  County,  New  York.  She  is  the  daugh- 
ter of  Andrew  and  Eleanor  (Stevens)  Jordan, 
early  settlers  in  Allegany  County.  In  May, 
1884,  the  family  went  to  Allegany  County,  to 
visit  the  old  home  of  Mrs.  Gray.  In  August  of 
the  same  year  Mr.  Gray  joined  his  family  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  That  portion  of  New  York 
was  producing  large  quantities  of  coal  oil  and  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  decided  to  engage  in  the  oil 
trade,  which  proved  a  successful  venture.  He 
continued  in  this  business  until  1890,  when,  hav- 
ing been  severely  and  apparently  permanently  in- 
jured by  falling  from  an  oil  tank,  he  decided  to 
retire,  and  accordingly  sold  his  interests.  His 
family  had  returned  to  Chicago  the  previous 
year,  and  on  his  return  he  made  his  home  in  Jef- 
ferson Park,  where  he  remained  until  1891,  when 
he  settled  in  Ravenswood.  He  eventually  recov- 
ered from  his  injury,  and  is  now  engaged  in  the 
real-estate  business  at  No.  69  Dearborn  Street, 
Chicago. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gray  have  two  sons,  Charles  M. , 
born  in  the  town  of  Jefferson  August  23,  1877, 
and  Louie  O. ,  born  at  Richburg,  Allegany 
County,  New  York,  February  14,  1888.  In 
politics  Mr.  Gray  is  an  active  Republican,  but 
desires  and  accepts  no  official  positions.  Mr. 
Gray,  his  wife  and  son  take  an  active  part  in 
religious  work,  and  are  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  Mr.  Gray  is  a  member  of  Ravenswood 
Lodge,  No.  777,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  and  Columbia  Chapter,  No.  202,  Royal 
Arch  Masons,  and  for  several  years  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 


LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

OF  ILLINOIS 


T.  F.  WITHROW. 


335 


THOMAS  F.  WITHROW. 


'HOM AS  FOSTER  WITHROW  was  born 
in  Kanawha  County,  Virginia  (now  West 
Virginia),  March  6,  1832.  His  father,  who 
was  a  physician,  was  bound  his  son  should  be  a 
medical  practitioner,  but  the  son  had  an  early 
bent  for  the  law,  which  brooked  no  opposition; 
on  this  account,  as  his  father  would  not  furnish 
necessary  funds,  his  early  years  were  mainly 
self-educated.  When  sufficiently  advanced,  he 
taught  district  schools,  thereby  earning  the  means 
wherewith  to  attend  the  Western  Reserve  College, 
situated  at  Delaware,  Ohio.  By  reason  of  his 
father's  death  during  his  youth,  he  was  obliged  to 
drop  his  books,  leave  college,  and  forthwith  pro- 
ceed to  business  life  in  order  to  support  his  wid- 
owed mother  and  his  sister. 

Adopting  for  a  season  the  journalistic  field, 
that  he  might  lay  up  money  to  prosecute  ultimate 
legal  aims,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  was  ap- 
pointed local  editor  upon  the  Republican,  pub- 
lished at  Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio,  removing  in  1855  to 
Zanesville,  in  the  same  State,  to  assume  editor- 
ship in  chief  of  the  Free  Press.  Although  excep- 
tionally brilliant  in  this  sphere  of  occupation  (a 
fact  amply  vouched  for  by  his  rapid  rise  therein), 
he  felt  that  his  powers  were  not  called  upon  to 
their  fullest  extent,  and  that  he  would  be  alto- 
gether unable  in  any  field,  save  the  law,  to  find  a 
theme  whose  ringing  echoes  should  sound  the 
melody  of  his  life. 

Upon  the  death  of  his  dearly  beloved  mother 
in  the  fall  of  1856,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
law  in  the  offices  of  Miller  &  Beck,  of  Fort  Madi- 
son, Iowa.  The  following  year  witnessed  his 
admission  to  the  practice  of  the  local  bar  of  his 
newly  acquired  home  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  where 
he  first  opened  his  office.  Directly  his  unusual 
abilities  became  voiced,  he  was  sought  for  private 
secretary  by  Governor  Ralph  P.  Lowe  (the  first 


Republican  to  assume  the  gubernatorial  functions 
in  that  State),  as  also  by  his  successor  in  office, 
Governor  Samuel  J.  Kirkwood.  Fancy  can  read- 
ily picture  what  flames  were  added  to  his  aspira- 
tions by  such  distinguished  environment  at  the 
inception  of  his  young  career.  Prosperity,  how- 
ever, far  from  spoiling  him,  amplified  both  his 
talents  and  his  tact;  wherefore,  recognizing  his 
fitness  for  so  exacting  a  function,  the  proper  au- 
thorities selected  our  modestly-laureled  subject  to 
act  as  Official  Reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  of  Iowa;  the  well-digested  results  of  his 
long  incumbency  of  such  office  being  embodied 
in  some  fourteen  volumes  of  Iowa  State  Reports, 
containing  decisions  upon  all  branches  of  law  as 
issues  were  made  on  appeals,  and  which,  as  the 
decrees  of  the  court  of  dernier  resort,  are  prece- 
dents in  that  State  for  future  adjudication. 

In  1863  the  deserts  of  his  exceedingly  enthusi- 
astic political  services  were  formally  acknowledged 
in  his  elevation  to  the  highly  responsible  position 
of  Chairman  of  the  Iowa  State  Republican  Com- 
mittee. During  this  period  his  alert  faculties 
were  so  impressed  by  the  necessities  calling  for 
better  means  for  effectual  campaign  work,  that  he 
originated  a  new  code  of  methods,  thereupon 
proven  to  be  so  superior  in  conception  that  they 
have  been  very  largely  followed  and  patterned 
after  ever  since.  The  unusual  needs  of  these  '  'war 
times' '  so  enthused  his  impressionable  mind  that 
he  foresaw  and  spoke  as  a  party  prophet  or  law- 
giver. None  has  left  a  brighter,  more  wholesome 
memory  in  the  political  annals  of  that  State,  so 
long  his  honored  and  honoring  home. 

In  1866  he  was  made  local  Division  Attorney 
for  the  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railway,  his  ser- 
vices manifesting  such  activity  and  success  that 
in  1873  he  was  rewarded  by  an  advancement  to 
the  chief  post  of  his  department;  under  the  title 


336 


T.  F.  WITHROW. 


of  General  Solicitor,  whereupon  removal  of  resi- 
dence was  made  to  the  situs  of  the  general  offices 
of  that  road  at  Chicago.  Litigation  increased  in 
bulk  to  such  a  degree,  that  in  after  years  they 
found  it  would  be  expedient  to  select  two  such 
solicitors,  at  which  juncture  Mr.  Withrow  was 
installed  in  the  newly  created  office  of  General 
Counsel  for  the  entire  system,  having  a  general 
supervision  over  a  corps  of  able  legal  subordi- 
nates, in  person  only  going  into  the  highest 
courts  upon  questions  of  weightier  import.  These 
duties  he  continued  with  conscientious  energy  to 
administer  until  the  time  of  his  decease,  Febru- 
ary 3,  1893,  since  which  time  the  Rock  Island 
Railway  has  withheld  from  elevating  any  suc- 
cessor to  his  so  peculiarly  honored  seat. 

On  the  occasion  set  apart  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Iowa  for  the  delivering  of  eulogies  upon 
the  life-work  and  character  of  Mr.  Withrow, 
among  numerous  eloquent  tributes  paid  to  his 
superlative  worth  on  the  part  of  professional  old 
friends  and  associates,  we  find  in  the  address  par 
excellence,  spoken  by  Judge  Wright,  the  follow- 
ing passage:  '  'As  a  lawyer,  he  was  industrious, 
conscientious,  aggressive,  and  of  the  quickest 
perceptions.  He  had  a  genius  for  hard  and  ef- 
fective work,  all  of  which  was  done  thoroughly, 
slighting  nothing.  *  He  was  the  very 

soul  of  fidelity  to  his  client.  His 

greatest  power  was  fertility  of  resource.  *  * 
Generous  and  considerate,  alas,  that  he  must  pass 
away  in  the  prime  of  life!" 

It  was  this  '  'genius  for  hard  and  %  effective 
work"  which  led  to  his  untimely,  sudden  death, 
through  heart  failure.  The  fall  previous,  in  the 
retirement  of  his  summer  home  at  Lake  Geneva, 
he  had  spent  several  very  laborious  weeks  in  pre- 
paring for  hearing  an  extremely  important  case 
for  his  corporation,  from  which  particular  over- 
work, though  he  respited,  he  never  fully  recov- 
ered. Sturdy  as  an  oak,  which  under  careful 
cherishing  outstands  the  violence  of  myriad  sea- 
sons, his  ardent  temperament  recked  not  of  the 
prudences  of  life;  with  him  it  was  always — '  'This 
is  the  battle!  This  must  end  in  victory!"  And 
so  into  the  seething  flames  of  a  too  consumingly 
brilliant  professional  life,  he  had  cheerfully  thrown 


that  score  of  years  of  reserved  force  which,  along 
more  conservative  lines,  would  undoubtedly  have 
sufficed  him  to  meet  with  heroic  fortitude  the 
slowly  gathering  shadows  of  a  quite  advanced 
age.  But  who  will  take  upon  him  to  assert  that 
he  was  not  well  contented  on  the  whole  that  it 
befell  as  indeed  it  did?  For  had  not  the  solicita- 
tions of  friends  often  cautioned  him  against  his  so 
lavish  expenditure  of  exceptional  energies?  Let 
us  take  example  of  this  '  'faithfulness  unto  death, ' ' 
his  most  fitting  eulogy,  and  rarest,  pure  balm  ol 
solace  to  the  bereaved. 

By  religious  faith  he  was  a  Unitarian;  always 
in  attendance  upon  the  inspiring  services  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Collyer  while  he  so  long  and 
efficiently  filled  the  pulpit  of  Unity  Church  of  this 
city.  Of  later  years  a  warm  friendship  had  grown 
up  between  him  and  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  David 
Swing,  who  officiated  so  feelingly  at  the  obsequies, 
unspeakably  regretful  over  the  loss  of  his  lawyer- 
naturalist  comrade;  for  they  were  boon  mates 
together  in  the  woods  and  fields,  mutually  wor- 
shiping the  omnipresent  God  as  they  walked. 

Like  his  father,  Mr.  Withrow  was  an  exceed- 
ingly devoted  abolitionist,  at  a  period  when  Vir- 
ginia was  not  at  all  prolific  of  such  citizenship. 
Many  a  colored  man  was  able  through  their 
agency  to  breathe  the  free  air  of  the  North.  In- 
deed, so  bitter  grew  the  local  sentiment  engen- 
dered by  the  temerity  of  so  exceptional  an 
attitude,  altogether  hostile  to  southern  tenets, 
that  it  became  expedient,  and  was  the  chiet 
cause  of,  the  family  removal  to  Ohio.  No  less 
zealous  -in  this  new  field,  and  grown  to  great 
prominence  in  the  dominant  party,  what  pleasure 
our  friend  must  have  experienced  over  that  im- 
mortal proclamation  of  President  Lincoln,  with 
its  ensuing  complete  practical  ratification!  We 
sincerely  believe  that  no  happier  moments  than 
these  crowned  his  life,  unless,  possibly,  the  con- 
templation of  these  signal,  national  transactions 
in  later  years,  while  seated  upon  his  own  mag- 
nificent premises  overlooking  Chicago  Lincoln 
Park,  of  which  he  was  a  Commissioner,  being 
thus  in  full  view  of  the  superb  bronze  statue  of 
the  President  himself,  of  the  fund  for  erecting 
which  he  had  been  a  trustee. 


J.  M.  WARREN. 


337 


Vivacious  and  sociable,  a  semi-public  life  had 
found  him  a  member  of  many  choice  clubs  and 
societies;  but  with  growing  domesticity  necessi- 
tated by  maturer  years,  added  to  the  drains  made 
by  constant  prefessional  duties  upon  his  vitality, 
he  withdrew  more  and  more  into  the  quiet  enjoy- 
ments afforded  by  home  life,  especially  delighting 
in  belles  lettres,  in  whose  rich  domain  he  was 
during  the  thirty-five  most  busily  occupied  years 
of  professional  activity,  never  less  than  an  ambi- 
tious student  and  philosophic  meditator.  Here 
the  richest  verbal  expressions  of  genius  became 
again  his  living  legacy,  always  ready  at  a  neces- 
sitous crisis  to  do  his  eloquent  bidding.  At  the 
time  of  his  demise  he  was  still  enrolled  with  the 
Chicago  Literary  Club,  as  for  the  many  years 
past,  as  well  as  with  the  famous  Grolier  Club  of 
New  York  City. 

Mr.  Wi throw  was  married  October  27,  1859, 
at  Hamilton,  Madison  County,  New  York,  to 
Miss  Jane  Frances  Goodwin,  who  survives  him, 
together  with  three  children  born  unto  them,  as 
follows:  Henry  Goodwin  Withrow,  born  April 
29,  1861,  whose  advanced  education  was  com- 
pleted in  the  University  of  Michigan,  now  being 
engaged  in  railroading;  Charles  LeBaron  With- 
row, born  in  June  1866,  matriculated  at  the  Cam- 
bridge (Massachusetts)  Law  School,  but  now  in 
journalistic  labors  with  the  Associated  Press  in 
New  York  City;  Bonnie  Withrow,  born  in  Au- 
gust, 1867,  educated  at  Ogontz,  near  Philadel- 
phia, now  largely  devoted  to  philanthropic  work, 


especially  the  welfare  of  young  women  whom  fate 
has  thrown  upon  their  own  resources. 

Mrs.  Withrow  is  a  daughter  of  the  sea  captain, 
LeBaron  Goodwin,  of  Old  Plymouth,  Massachu- 
setts, and  Mary,  his  wife  (nee  Leggett),  of  Sarato- 
ga Springs,  New  York.  Her  father  removed  in 
mature  years  to  De  Ruyter,  Madison  County, 
New  York,  where  he  led  a  retired  and  studious 
life.  The  said  Mary  Leggett  was  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Susannah  Leggett  (nee  Smith) ;  Sam- 
uel being  a  son  of  Isaac  and  Rebecca  Leggett  (nee 
Starbuck),  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Hepsibah 
Starbuck  (nee  Bunker).  The  said  LeBaron  Good- 
win was  a  son  of  William  and  Lydia  C.  Goodwin, 
(nee  Sampson),  the  former  a  son  of  Nathaniel 
and  Lydia  Goodwin  (nee  LeBaron) ,  a  son  of  John 
and  Mary  Goodwin  (nee  Roby),  a  son  of  Nathan- 
iel (who  died  in  1754)  and  Elizabeth  Goodwin. 

Mrs.  Withrow  is  related  to  eminent  families, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  through  her  pa- 
ternal grandmother,  Lydia  C.  Sampson,  she  traces 
back  to  Nathaniel  Gushing,  born  in  1588  (a  son 
of  Peter  Cushing,  of  Norfolk,  England),  an  early 
American  colonist;  also  to  Henry  Pitcher,  born 
in  1586,  who  came  early  to  Hingham,  Massachu- 
setts, in  the  ship  "Delight;"  also  to  Capt.  Miles 
Standish,  famous  of  the  "Mayflower"  crew;  also 
to  Henry  Sampson,  compeer  of  Standish,  whose 
grandson  Isaac  married  Lydia,  a  granddaughter 
of  Captain  Standish,  and  who  became  in  due  time 
grandparents  of  the  said  Lydia  C.  Sampson,  the 
grandmother  of  Mrs.  Withrow. 


JULIUS  M.  WARREN. 


(lULIUS  M.    WARREN,  only  son  of  Daniel 

I    Warren,  a  pioneer  settler  of  Du  Page  Coun- 

G/  ty  (see  biography  elsewhere  in  this  volume), 

was  born  in  Fredonia,  New  York,  June  13,  1811, 

being  the  first  white  child  born  in  Chautauqua 


County.  He  became  a  member  of  the  New  York 
militia,  in  which  he  attained  the  rank  of  colonel. 
With  the  family,  he  came  to  Du  Page  County  in 
the  autumn  of  1833,  and  spent  the  balance  of  his 
life  there.  He  was  a  very  genial  and  happy-dis- 


338 


J.  M.  WARREN. 


positioned  gentleman,  and  early  became  a  favorite 
in  society.  A  recent  writer  in  the  Chicago  Her- 
ald  speaks  thus  of  the  society  ofthatday:  "  The  so- 
ciety  of  all  this  region,  including  town  and  coun- 
try, forty-five  years  ago,  had  its  attractive  seat 
and  held  its  principal  revelries  in  the  valley  of 
Fox  river.  'The  best  people'  that  came  out 
from  the  eastern  states  to  settle  in  this  region  did 
not  stop  in  Chicago,  but  made  for  the  magnifi- 
cent farming  lands  in  this  vicinity.  Some  came 
from  central  and  western  New  York,  where  they 
had  seen  families  of  the  aristocracy  plant  them- 
selves and  flourish  on  the  fat  lands  of  the  Mohawk 
and  Genesee  valleys.  To  clear  off  timber  and  re- 
duce those  great  farms  to  productivity,  had  taken 
half  a  century  of  time  and  had  exhausted  the  lives 
of  three  generations.  This  was  known  to  the  new 
emigrants,  and  as  they  heard  of  or  saw  these 
Illinois  lands,  bare  of  obstinate  trees,  but  clothed 
with  succulent  grasses,  of  nature's  sowing;  in  a 
climate  that  possessed  no  torridity,  nor  yet  any 
destructive  rigors;  all  this  being  known  before- 
hand, many  refined  and  cultivated  families  came 
out  with  all  their  effects,  and  bought  or  entered 
land  and  proceeded  to  make  themselves  homes, 
which,  they  had  no  doubt,  would  be  homes  to 
them  for  their  natural  lives." 

Mr.  Warren  had  a  keen  sense  of  humor  and 
was  always  amiable  and  cheerful,  which  made 
him  a  favorite  in  all  circles.  Instead  ofdisaprov- 
ing  the  amusements  of  the  young  people,  he  al- 
ways had  a  strong  sympathy  and  interest  in  their 
pleasures.  He  was  the  constant  attendant  of  his 
sisters,  and  often  laughingly  mentioned  them  as 
seven  reasons  why  he  should  not  marry.  He  was 
also  devotedly  attached  to  his  mother  who  was 
justly  proud  of  her  only  son.  Together  they  kept 
house  until  her  death,  when  he  induced  his  nephew 
to  bring  his  family  to  live  on  the  old  homestead 
at  Warrenville,  where  he  continued  to  reside. 
He  passed  away  on  the  first  of  May,  1893,  his 
last  words  being,  '  'Take  me  home  to  my  mother. ' ' 

In  speaking  of  Colonel  Warren  and  the  village 
of  Warrenville,  we  again  quote  from  the  Herald: 
"He  called  in  a  storekeeper,  a  blacksmith,  a  coop- 
er and  a  carpenter,  and  a  tavernkeeper  came  in 
good  time.  Naperville  was  a  smaller  village,  hav- 


ing but  two  log  houses.  Aurora  scarcely  had  a 
being,  and  St.  Charles  was  not.  But  all  along 
on  the  banks  of  the  Fox  river  were  settlers  of  a 
high  class,  who  had  knowledge  of  and  corres- 
pondence with  the  eastern  portions  of  the  United 
States.  Foremost  among  these  was  Judge  Whip- 
pie,  who,  acting  with  the  Warrens,  father  and 
son,  organized  and  gave  direction  to  local  affairs. 
They  were  without  postal  facilities  of  any  kind, 
and  every  family  had  to  send  a  member  into 
Chicago  for  letters  and  papers.  A  letter  from 
Buffalo  to  any  place  on  the  Fox  river  was  from 
four  to  six  weeks  in  coming,  and  to  Chicago  cost 
fifty  cents  postage.  Colonel  Warren  making  use 
of  eastern  friends,  got  a  postoffice  (the  first  in  the 
valley)  established  at  Warrenville  in  1833,  and 
himself  appointed  postmaster.  He  was  his  own 
mail-carrier,  making  weekly  trips,  on  foot  some 
times,  to  Chicago  and  out  again,  with  letters  and 
papers  for  distribution  through  his  office  to  people 
in  all  that  section.  Colonel  Warren  held  this  of- 
fice for  fifty  years,  and  only  lost  it  when  President 
Cleveland  came  in  the  first  time. ' ' 

Although  chiefly  self-educated,  Colonel  Warren 
was  a  thoroughly  well-read  man,  and  was  admir- 
ably fitted  for  a  leader  in  politics,  as  well  as  in  so- 
ciety. He  represented  his  district  for  three  suc- 
cessive terms  in  the  State  Legislature,  from  1840 
to  1843,  but  refused  to  longer  remain  in  public 
life,  preferring  the  quiet  joys  of  his  home  and 
neighborhood  to  anything  the  capital  or  metropo- 
lis might  offer.  He  continued  to  manage  the 
large  homestead  farm  until  his  death.  He  was  a 
loyal  adherent  of  the  Republican  party,  having 
espoused  its  leading  principles  before  its  organi- 
zation. 

The  following  incident  will  indicate  the  kindly 
nature  of  Colonel  Warren  and  his  noble  mother, 
as  well:  A  young  lawyer  of  Chicago,  now  known 
throughout  Illinois  as  the  venerable  ex- Chief  Jus- 
tice of  the  State,  John  Dean  Caton,  fell  sick  of 
fever  while  staying  at  the  log  tavern  in  Naper- 
ville, one  of  the  two  buildings  of  that  village. 
Hearing  of  the  case,  Colonel  Warren  went  at 
once  to  see  what  he  could  do  to  render  the  suf- 
ferer comfortable,  and  soon  decided  to  remove  him 
to  his  own  home,  where  he  could  receive  better 


F.  W.  PECK. 


nursing  than  at  the  little  frontier  tavern.  This 
probably  saved  the  life  of  the  patient,  who  attrib- 
utes his  recovery  to  the  careful  nursing  of  Mrs. 
Warren  and  her  daughters,  with  such  aid  as 
Colonel  Warren  could  apply.  The  last-named 
saw  the  completion  of  his  eighty-second  year, 


full  of  humor  and  harmless  badinage  to  the  last, 
and  died  as  the  result  of  an  attack  of  pneumonia, 
after  an  illness  of  only  two  days,  leaving  as  an 
inspiration  to  those  who  come  after  the  record  of 
a  well-spent  life. 


FERDINAND  W.  PECK. 


[""  ERDINAND  W.  PECK.  Among  Chicago's 
r^  native  sons,  of  whom  she  is  justly  proud, 
is  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  He  is  the 
youngest  son  of  P.  F.  W.  Peck,  the  pioneer 
settler  and  merchant  of  the  city  (for  biography 
see  another  page),  and  was  born  in  the  family 
residence,  which  stood  on  ground  now  covered  by 
the  Grand  Pacific  hotel,  July  isth,  1848. 

It  is  not  often  that  one  not  stimulated  by 
necessity  or  forced  to  cultivate  self-reliance 
achieves  anything  worthy  of  note  among  the 
active  men  of  to-day.  Without  this  stimulus, 
Mr.  Peck  applied  himself  first  to  the  acquirement 
of  an  education,  passing  through  the  grades  of 
the  city  schools,  graduating  at  the  High  School, 
the  Chicago  University  and  the  Union  College  of 
Law.  Next  he  took  up  the  practice  of  his 
chosen  profession,  and  met  with  the  full  measure 
of  success  vouchsafed  to  the  young  lawyer  in  a 
field  already  occupied  by  a  multitude  of  able  and 
experienced  jurists  and  attorneys.  After  several 
years  of  practice,  with  growing  business  that  is 
bound  to  come  to  one  of  his  energy  and  ability, 
he  was  forced  to  abandon  the  law  to  engage  in 
caring  for  the  estate  which  his  father  had  left  to 
the  charge  of  his  sons,  at  his  demise.  This 
property  consisted  principally  of  real  estate, 
much  of  which  had  been  stripped  of  its  im- 
provements by  the  great  fire  of  1871,  and  which 
now  required  constant  and  careful  attention. 
Under  the  conservative  management  of  the  senior 


Peck's  sons,  the  estate  has  prospered,  at  the  same 
time  it  has  conferred  upon  the  city  some  of  its 
most  valuable  and  permanent  features. 

Mr.  F.  W.  Peck  is  a  devotee  of  music  and  a 
lover  of  art,  and  has  been  the  means  of  bringing 
to  Chicago  much  of  its  culture  in  these  elevating 
and  ennobling  studies.  For  some  years  he  cher- 
ished the  idea  of  providing  the  city  with  facilities 
sufficiently  ample  and  substantial  to  bring  hither 
all  that  was  best  in  the  line  of  intellectual  and 
refining  entertainments.  The  Opera  Festival  of 
1885,  of  which  Mr.  Peck  was  President,  brought 
to  the  city  the  finest  musical  and  dramatic  enter- 
tainments ever  offered  to  an  American  audience, 
and  made  apparent  to  the  citizens  the  need  of 
better  facilities  for  such  entertainments.  Mr. 
Peck  seized  upon  this  sentiment  and  organized 
the  Auditorium  Association,  of  which  he  was 
unanimously  chosen  President.  The  stock  was 
distributed  among  three  hundred  subscribers, 
including  the  most  prominent  and  wealthy 
citizens,  and  the  result  is  known  to  every  denizen 
of  the  city,  in  one  of  its  most  conspicuous  land- 
marks— the  Auditorium. 

A  recent  writer  says :  ' '  The  genius  of  the 
world  has  exhausted  itself  in  devising  and 
erecting  architectural  edifices.  The  Parthenon 
in  the  age  of  Pericles,  glorious  in  all  the  adorn- 
ments of  art  wrought  by  the  chisel  of  Phidias  and 
brush  of  Praxiteles,  was  a  temple  of  heathen 
worship;  the  mighty  walls  of  the  Coliseum  were 


340 


F.  W.  PECK. 


raised  to  furnish  an  arena  for  gladiatorial  brutal- 
ity. Mediaeval  architects  reared  the  clustered 
columns  and  vaulted  arches  of  Gothic  cathedrals 
to  woo  men  to  pious  aspirations;  the  chaste  lines 
and  sculptured  walls  of  the  "  Nouvelle  Opera" 
were  raised  as  a  temple  of  music  and  dramatic 
art;  each  had  or  has  its  beauties  and  special  use; 
but  it  remained  for  the  genius  of  Chicago  to  con- 
ceive and  its  enterprise  to  provide,  by  private 
munificence,  a  structure  as  perfect  as  any  in  sub- 
stantial utility,  both  as  a  gathering  place  of  the 
multitude  and  a  temple  of  all  the  arts;  the  per- 
fection of  architectural  genius.  It  is  more  capa- 
cious than  the  Albert  Hall  of  South  Kensington, 
more  substantial  than  the  new  opera  of  Paris; 
chaste,  solid  and  sublime." 

Mr.  Peck  has  shown  the  same  zeal,  energy 
and  ability  in  the  conduct  of  public  business 
which  has  been  placed  in  his  charge  that  mark 
all  his  own  undertakings.  As  chairman  of  the 
finance  committee  of  the  World's  Columbian  Ex- 
position he  assumed  a  heavy  responsibility,  and 
aided  in  bringing  that  stupendous  enterprise 
through  successfully  and  paying  every  pecuniary 
obligation.  This  involved  the  expenditure  of 
over  $30,000,000,  and  was  calculated  to  test  the 
capacity  of  the  greatest  financiers.  Mr.  Peck  is 
also  associated  in  official  capacity  with  many  of 
the  permanent  institutions  of  the  city,  including 
most  of  those  calculated  to  promote  an  aesthetic 
sentiment  among  the  people.  Some  of  these 
official  positions  are  the  presidency  of  the  Chicago 
Athenaeum,  the  Auditorium  Association  and  the 
Union  League  Club;  he  has  been  Vice-president 
of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  city  of  Chicago, 
and  was  Vice-president  of  the  World's  Columbian 
Exposition,  with  a  seat  in  its  board  of  reference 
and  control,  on  its  executive  committee,  commit- 
tee on  legislation  and  special  committee  on  cere- 
monies, in  addition  to  the  finance  committee,  as 
above  noted. 

Mr.  Peck's  habits  and  manners  are  wholly  un- 
ostentatious, and  he  is  ever  affable  and  kind  to 
all  who  may  come  in  contact  with  him.  In  the 
midst  of  a  busy  life,  full  of  cares  and  responsibil- 
ities, he  gives  much  attention  to  the  amenities  of 
life  and  has  been  an  extensive  traveler.  In  sum- 


mer he  spends  much  time  out  of  doors,  and  main- 
tains a  summer  home  at  Oconomowoc,  Wisconsin, 
and  enjoys  the  honor  of  being  Commodore  of  the 
Wisconsin  Yacht  Club.  His  favorite  yacht  is 
named  the  "Tarpon,"  in  honor  of  his  good  for- 
tune in  capturing  an  enormous  tarpon  while  fish- 
ing off  the  coast  of  Florida  at  one  time.  In  his 
handsome  home  on  Michigan  Avenue,  in  the 
city,  are  found  a  happy  and  congenial  wife,  four 
sons  and  two  daughters.  Mrs.  Peck  is  the 
daughter  of  the  late  William  A.  Spalding,  a 
sketch  of  whom  appears  on  another  page. 

In  speaking  of  Mr.  Peck,  the  History  of  Chi- 
cago says:  "One  only  slightly  familiar  with  the 
telltale  disclosures  of  physiognomy,  looking  upon 
his  mild,  refined  and  thoughtful  features,  cannot 
fail  to  be  impressed  that  behind  them  is  character 
of  more  than  ordinary  delicacy  of  sentiment  and 
maturity  of  mind,  that  belongs  rather  to  the  aes- 
thetic than  to  the  gross  and  material  lines  of 
thought  and  action.  While  not  an  artist,  he  is 
a  lover  of  art;  his  mind  has  a  constructive  qual- 
ity, which,  with  sympathy  with  human  needs 
and  enthusiasm  for  the  uplifting  of  the  standard 
of  life  among  the  masses  of  the  people,  calls  him 
to  undertake  enterprises  of  pith  and  magnitude, 
for  the  education  of  the  people,  for  inspiring  them 
with  higher  ideals  of  life,  and  leading  them  from 
the  indulgence  of  degrading  passions,  through 
the  ministries  of  the  '  diviner  arts, '  to  higher 
planes  of  living  and  enjoyment.  This  type  of 
mind  is  not  often  found  amid  the  rush  and  com- 
petition of  life  in  our  great  cities.  To  its  pos- 
session and  well-developed  proportions  by  so 
many  of  the  well-to-do  young  men  of  Chicago, 
whose  names  will  readily  occur  to  the  observant 
student  of  her  inner  life,  is  due  in  great  part  the 
aesthetic  character  which  Chicago  has  taken  on, 
despite  her  unwonted  devotion  to  the  more  sordid 
pursuits  of  her  gigantic  enterprises.  With  her 
university  and  schools  of  every  "sort,  with  her  art 
studios  and  collections,  with  her  social  clubs,  mu- 
sical festivals  and  dramatic  entertainments,  and 
especially  since  her  magnificent  triumph  in  con- 
structing and  maintaining  the  grandest  exhi- 
bition of  art  and  industry  which  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  Chicago  easily  leads  all  other  Ameri- 


J.  F.  STAFFORD. 


can  cities  in  aesthetic  development,  and  stands 
not  far  behind  such  old-world  centers  of  art  and 
artists  as  Paris,  Brussels  and  Florence. ' ' 

The  stockholders  of  the  Auditorium  Associa- 
tion have  caused  to  be  placed  in  the  foyer  of  the 
Auditorium  a  bronze  bust  of  Mr.  Peck,  upon  the 


granite  pedestal  of  which  has  been  inscribed:  "A 
tribute  to  the  founder  of  this  structure,  from  the 
stockholders  of  the  Auditorium  Association,  in 
recognition  of  his  services  as  their  President,  in 
behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Chicago.  1 889. ' ' 


CAPT.  JOHN  F.  STAFFORD. 


EAPT.  JOHN  FRANCIS  STAFFORD,  who 
was  for  many  years  connected  with  the  mer- 
cantile and  maritime  interests  of  Chicago, 
was  born  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  August  12,  1820. 
His  father,  John  Stafford,  was  a  provision  mer- 
chant, and  an  intimate  friend  of  Daniel  O' Council, 
the  famous  Irish  patriot.  His  mother's  maiden 
name  was  Sarah  Mallon. 

In  the  year  1828  the  family  removed  to  Port 
Hope,  Canada  West  (now  Ontario),  where  John 
Stafford  bought  and  operated  a  grist,  saw  and 
fulling  mill.  In  the  following  winter  he  was 
frozen  to  death  while  on  the  road  between  Port 
Hope  and  Toronto.  The  next  spring  his  widow 
moved  to  Rochester,  New  York,  where,  a  few 
years  later,  her  son  John  began  the  study  of 
medicine  in  the  office  of  Elwood  &  Toby,  the 
former  then  one  of  the  eminent  surgeons  of  the 
State,  and  the  latter  a  prominent  physician.  Two 
years  later,  in  1832,  Mrs.  Stafford  died  of  cholera, 
and  the  son  abandoned  his  medical  studies;  but 
he  never  forgot  his  mother's  counsel  and  made 
it  the  rule  of  his  life,  which  has  always  been  up- 
right and  stainless. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  began  life  on  the 
great  lakes  in  the  capacity  of  cabin  boy  on  the 
ship  "Julia  Palmer,"  of  Buffalo,  New  York.  In 
those  days  the  old  custom  of  serving  grog  (in  this 
case  it  was  Santa  Cruz  rum)  prevailed,  and  at 
eleven  o'clock  each  day  the  crew  had  its  daily 


rations.  Being  anxious  to  succeed,  young  Staf- 
ford spent  several  years  as  a  sailor,  and  gradually 
worked  up  to  a  position  as  master,  which  he  ac- 
quired in  1849,  at  which  date  he  became  part 
owner  and  captain  of  the  brig  "Boston,"  of  Buf- 
falo. In  this  capacity  he  spent  three  years  on 
the  lakes. 

In  1851  he  settled  in  Chicago,  and  engaged  in 
the  business  of  ship  chandler  and  grocer  on 
South  Water  Street,  in  which  occupation  he  re- 
mained nine  years.  During  that  time  he  bought 
vessels,  and  in  1860  he  owned  a  fleet  often.  One 
of  these,  the  brig  "Banner,"  made  the  voyage 
from  Chicago  to  Buffalo  in  four  days  and  two 
hours.  In  the  year  1859  he  purchased  a  half 
interest  in  Sans'  Ale  Brewing  Company.  This 
firm  manufactured  a  very  fine  quality  of  ale  and 
supplied  the  United  States  Government,  under 
contract,  with  one  hundred  barrels  of  ale  daily, 
for  use  in  the  hospitals  of  the  sick  and  wounded, 
during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

Mr.  Stafford  was  a  member  and  principal  cap- 
italist in  the  firm  of  Bennett,  Peters  &  Co.,  then 
the  largest  wholesale  liquor  house  west  of  New 
York.  He  sold  his  interest  in  the  two  last-men- 
tioned firms  in  1869,  and  disposed  of  his  fleet  of 
ships  the  following  year,  since  which  time  he  has 
not  been  actively  engaged  in  business.  During 
all  these  years  he  had  been  active  in  politics,  and 
through  this  activity  became  well  acquainted  with 


342 


J.  F.  STAFFORD. 


all  the  public  men  of  his  political  (Republican) 
faith  in  the  State  of  Illinois  since  Richard  Yates 
was  elected  Governor  of  this  commonwealth. 
Although  often  solicited  to  become  a  candidate 
for  office,  he  would  never  consent,  and  has  held 
but  one  political  position.  During  Mr.  Yates' 
term  as  Governor  of  Illinois  Mr.  Stafford  was 
prevailed  upon  to  accept  the  appointment  of  Coal 
Oil  Inspector,  in  order  to  give  the  city  the  bene- 
fit of  his  experience  and  ability  in  straightening 
out  the  irregularities  previously  prevailing  in  the 
administration  of  that  office.  This  he  did  in 
eight  months,  and  promptly  resigned.  After  the 
great  fire  of  1871  he  was  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Aid  and  Relief  Committee,  and  contributed 
liberally  to  assist  the  sufferers  by  that  disaster. 

It  was  in  a  work  of  vast  importance  to  the  citi- 
zens of  Chicago  that  Captain  Stafford  most  dis- 
tinguished himself,  not  only  by  his  steadfastness 
of  purpose,  but  also  by  the  results  of  his  efforts  in 
a  matter  which  involved  the  title  to  millions  of 
dollars'  worth  of  property.  In  the  year  1869  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois  granted  to  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company  the  use  of  the 
lake  shore  a  long  distance  south  of  the  Chicago 
River.  The  company  afterward,  in  the  exercise 
of  its  riparian  rights,  usurped  the  rights  of  own- 
ership over  the  adjacent  portions  of  the  lake  and 
filled  up  a  portion  of  the  harbor,  subjecting  so 
much  of  the  lake  as  it  chose  to  its  own  purposes. 
At  the  time  of  the  passing  of  the  statute  providing 
for  the  conveyance  of  an  easement  to  the  com- 
pany, it  was  held  to  be  illegal  by  some  of  the 
best  lawyers,  and  a  meeting  of  merchants,  cap- 
italists and  others  was  called  to  take  measures  to 
resist  the  encroacnments  of  the  railroad  company. 
As  a  result  of  this  meeting,  J.  Young  Scammon, 
Thomas  Hoyne  and  John  F.  Stafford  were  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  take  proper  steps  to  re- 
strain the  company  from  exercising  riparian 
rights  on  the  lake  front.  In  pursuance  thereof, 
an  injunction  was  obtained  from  the  lower  court, 
which  was  sustained,  but  the  railroad  company 
carried  the  case  up  until  it  finally  reached  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  there, 
twenty-four  years  after  its  institution,  the  case 


was  decided  adversely  to  the  company.  One 
hundred  million  dollars'  worth  of  property,  it 
was  estimated,  was  thus  saved  to  the  citizens  of 
Chicago.  While  the  suit  was  in  the  courts,  Cap- 
tain Stafford's  colleagues  had  died,  and  he  alone 
had  been  left  to  see  the  end  of  this  famous  suit. 
During  all  the  years  of  this  litigation  Captain 
Stafford  had  given  the  case  unremitting  attention, 
and  expended  his  money  liberally  in  forwarding 
the  interests  of  the  people,  and  did  it  all  gratu- 
itously. 

In  March,  1854,  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  Cap- 
tain Stafford  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  C. 
Cadwallader,  daughter  of  Michael  Cadwallader, 
City  Comptroller  of  that  city,  and  for  many  years 
editor  of  the  Buffalo  Journal.  It  is  a  noteworthy 
fact  that  Gen.  Thomas  Proctor,  the  maternal 
grandfather  of  Mr.  Cadwallader,  inducted  Gen- 
eral Washington  into  the  mysteries  of  Free  Ma- 
sonry. Mrs.  Stafford  died  in  1861,  leaving 
two  daughters,  Juniata  and  Minnie,  who  reside 
with  their  father. 

Although  Mr.  Stafford  finds  no  more  pleasant 
place  than  his  comfortable  home  on  the  North 
Side,  he  has  spent  much  time  during  recent  years 
in  travel,  always  accompanied  by  one  of  his 
daughters.  The  summer  season  of  the  year  was 
spent  in  northern  resorts  and  the  winter  in  the 
South,  sometimes  as  far  away  as  Cuba  or  Mex- 
ico. During  the  year  1888  Captain  Stafford  and 
Miss  Minnie  spent  six  months  in  Europe,  visiting 
the  home  of  his  childhood  (after  an  absence  of 
sixty-two  years),  the  four  quarters  of  Britain  and 
the  principal  countries  of  Southern  Europe. 

In  politics  Captain  Stafford  has  been  an  earnest 
and  unflinching  Republican  since  the  organization 
of  the  party.  He  has  never  been  a  candidate  for 
office,  but  has  chosen,  rather,  to  help  deserving 
friends  to  good  positions.  In  religious  faith  he  is 
an  Episcopalian,  and  for  seventeen  years  has  been 
vestryman  of  Trinity  Church.  There  is  no  man 
in  Chicago  deserving  a  larger  circle  of  warm 
friends,  or  more  highly  esteemed  for  public  ser- 
vices than  genial,  warm-hearted  Captain  Stafford, 
whose  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  the  people  of 
•  Chicago  will  be  long  remembered. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


C.  M.  HAWLEY. 


343 


HON.  CYRUS  M.  HAWLEY. 


EYRUS  MADISON  HAWLEY  was  born  in 
Cortland  County,  New  York,  in  January, 
1815.  His  liberal  education,  for  the  times, 
was  received  at  the  Albany  (New  York)  Normal 
School,  under  the  tutelage  of  the  eminent  scholar, 
Professor  Woolworth.  His  law  studies  were 
begun  under  the  guidance  of  the  distinguished 
advocate,  Joshua  A.  Spencer,  of  Utica,  New 
York.  On  coming  to  Chicago,  in  1847,  he  con- 
tinued his  application  until  admission  to  the  local 
bar  in  1849,  and  in  1862,  on  motion,  was  admitted 
to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  Says  a  noted  contemporary,  "By  force 
of  native  genius  and  industry,  he  directly  took  a 
front  position  in  the  ranks  of  his  profession." 
Remarkable  indeed  was  the  degree  of  success 
which  attended  his  twenty-five  continuous  years 
of  legal  practice  here,  being  annually  retained  by 
such  opulent  clients  as  John  V.  Farwell  &  Com- 
pany and  Field,  Leiter  &  Company;  and  his  profes- 
sional affiliations  being  for  many  years  with  such 
1  ^a\  giants  as  Senator  Lyman  Trumbull  and  his 
brother,  George  Trumbull. 

In  1869  he  was  nominated  by  President  U.  S. 
Grant  to  act  as  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  for  the  Territory  of  Utah,  which  appoint- 
ment was,  on  the  I5th  of  April  of  that  year, 
unanimously  confirmed  by  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate. To  this  new  sphere  of  usefulness  he  was 
warmly  welcomed,  delivering  the  Fourth  of  July 
oration  at  Salt  Lake  City  the  year  of  his  arrival, 
which  was  very  highly  complimented  and  at  once 
established  his  ability  as  a  public  speaker,  in 
addition  to  his  known  superior  legal  acquirements 
and  the  laurel  crown  of  jurist  about  to  be  won. 

Of  the  succeeding  four  years,  through  which  he 
sat  upon  the  Supreme  bench  of  that  polygamy- 
practicing  territory,  it  would  be  quite  difficult  to 
speak  in  full  justice,  but,  in  the  language  of  two 


of  his  conservative  biographers,-  we  may  chron- 
icle, "Among  the  distinguished  persons  who 
have  figured  in  the  affairs  of  Utah,  there  is  none 
deserving  a  more  respectful  notice  than  Judge 
Hawley . ' '  '  'Every  subject  demanding  his  official 
attention  has  been  grasped  firmly  and  fearlessly, 
and  his  written  decisions  and  opinions  upon  the 
various  legal  issues  which  have  been  submitted  to 
his  consideration  are  noted  for  their  soundness, 
ability  and  perspicuity." 

Taking  a  firm  stand  against  the  Mormon  sys- 
tem, as  might  have  been  expected,  he  encoun- 
tered the  solid  antagonism  of  its  united  press 
and  public  efforts,  in  which  he  was  made  the  sub- 
ject of  undeserved  censure  and  even  vituperative 
abuse.  But  the  golden  purity  of  his  judgment 
and  decisions  continued  unsullied  by  malign  tra- 
ducers,  living  now  in  the  immortal  canons  of  law 
of  that  region,  wherein  his  own  bravely  sown 
seeds  were  among  the  first  and  noblest  to  bear 
governmental  fruit.  On  all  questions  involving 
polygamy  or  other  associated  evils,  which  were  a 
growing  menace  to  these  United  States,  he  took 
the  most  determined  and  unwavering  stand  against 
further  usurpation  by,  or  continuance  in  the  prac- 
tice of  such  customs.  No  more  doughty  champion 
of  the  right  has  ever  thrown  down  the  glove  of 
challenge  against  Mormon-entrenched  hierarchy; 
for  to  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  as  much  as  to  any 
single  person,  is  due  credit  for  the  improved  pres- 
ent tone  and  condition  of  that  territory,  now  ad- 
mitted to  our  sisterhood  of  States. 

From  among  many  of  his  prominent  decisions, 
afterward  published  in  pamphlet  form,  we  make 
mention  of  the  following:  "Opinion  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  as  to  the  Jurisdiction  of  Probate 
Courts  in  the  Territory  of  Utah,"  1870;  "An 
Important  United  States  Supreme  Court  Decision 
for  Utah,"  1871;  "Arrest  of  Militia  Officers  in 


344 


C.  M.  HAWLEY. 


Utah  Territory,"  after  1870;  "Militia  Officers  in 
Utah  Territory,  Habeas  Corpus  Decision,"  after 
1870;  "Habeas  Corpus  Decision  of  January  28, 
1873;"  "The  Mormons  and  the  Treaty  with 
Mexico;"  "A  Review  of  a  Decision  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,"  after  1870; 
"Opinion  on  the  Original  Jurisdiction  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,"  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  October  term,  1873,  on  appeal. 

One  of  the  most  memorable  acts  of  Judge  Haw- 
ley  in  connection  with  this  epoch  of  his  career 
was  his  causing  the  arrest  of  Bishop  Lee,  leader 
of  the  Mountain  Meadow  Massacre,  who  was  sub- 
sequently indicted,  tried  and  convicted,  the  death 
penalty  being  executed  upon  the  very  spot  of  the 
bloody  massacre.  Because  of  such  heroic  and 
judicial  acts  as  the  foregoing,  upon  the  eve  of  his 
departure  from  Utah — for  he  had  been  too  stu- 
dious in  performance  of  duties  to  seek  subtle 
means  of  continuance  or  preferment  in  office — his 
recent  friends  and  associates,  made  in  these  few 
but  eventful  years,  tendered  him  a  dignified  but 
cordial  banquet  in  this  formal  manner: 

"SALT  LAKE  CITY,  UTAH,  April  8,  1873. 
"Hon.  C.  M.  Hawley, 

'  'Dear  Sir: — Understanding  that  it  is  your 
intention  to  return  to  your  former  home  in  Chi- 
cago, we  desire  to  evince  before  your  departure  in 
some  suitable  manner  our  appreciation  of  your 
character  as  a  citizen,  gentleman,  and  an  able, 
fearless  and  incorruptible  judge. 

"We,  therefore,  respectfully  tender  to  you  the 
compliment  of  a  dinner  on  the  evening  of  the  nth 
instant,  when  we  may  have  another  opportunity 
of  expressing  the  esteem,  confidence  and  friend- 
ship we  now  entertain  and  have  ever  entertained 
for  you  in  your  personal  and  official  capacity." 

The  foregoing  was  signed  by  leaders  at  the 
bar,  and,  upon  acceptance,  was  the  occasion  of  a 
remarkable  gathering,  including  many  distin- 
guished legal  lights,  federal  functionaries  and 
army  officers,  which  called  forth  many  a  brilliant 
and  touching  expression  of  sentiment. 

From  that  post  of  honor,  after  some  journey- 
ings,  he  settled  for  a  time  at  Washington,  D.  C., 
as  a  copartner  of  the  Hon.  A.  G.  Riddle,  where 
his,  by  this  time,  widely  voiced  reputation  brought 
distinguished  and  lucrative  retention.  But  the 
old  home  by  the  lakes  always  held  a  warm  spot 


in  his  heart,  and  returning  to  Chicago,  he  here 
passed  the  final  years  of  a  worthy  life.  The  vital 
spark  too  soon  burned  out  at  his  substantial  resi- 
dence, No.  5326  Washington  Avenue,  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  August  29, 
1894. 

Aside  from  pursuits  of  law,  he  was  profuse  in 
discursive  literary  outpourings  on  social  as  well 
as  legal  problems.  Among  numerous  lectures 
delivered  we  find  gratifying  reviews  of  those  upon 
these  subjects:  "What  is  Life,"  "Corinne," 
"The  Mutations  of  Time."  He  was,  at  the  time 
ol  his  decease,  President  of  the  Hyde  Park  Phil- 
osophical Society.  He  was  very  proud  of  hav- 
ing been  one  of  the  founders,  as  likewise  a  most 
active  and  able  supporter,  of  the  Chicago  "Old 
Tippecanoe  Club, ' '  before  whom  he  repeatedly  ap- 
peared in  edifying  contributions,  notable  among 
which  was  a  paper  in  1891  (afterward  published 
as  a  pamphlet)  upon  the  Italian  Mafia  trouble  at 
New  Orleans.  Therein  was  furnished  a  learned 
review  of  the  international  laws  covering  the  dis- 
pute, together  with  the  treaty  in  force  between 
the  two  countries,  which  was  made  the  occasion 
for  suitable  resolutions.  Most  feelingly  of  their 
recent  loss  the  Tippecanoe  Club  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions  at  a  regular  monthly  meeting, 
held  at  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel,  September  29, 
1894: 

"RESOLVED,  That  the  President  appoint  a 
committee  of  three  to  present  a  paper  expressive 
of  the  profound  sorrow  of  the  Club  for  the  death 
of  Judge  Cyrus  Madison  Hawley." 

The  President  therefore  appointed  the  following 
committee:  Dr.  J.  W.  Harmon,  Henry  Sayrs 
and  Rev.  W.  S.  Post. 

That  committee  presented  the  following  report: 

"Since  our  last  meeting  this  Club  has  met  with 
an  irreparable  loss  in  the  death  of  Judge  Cyrus 
Madison  Hawley. 

"He  was  one  of  our  most  talented  and  influen- 
tial members.  No  member  of  this  Club  could 
speak  upon  questions  which  were  discussed  at 
our  meetings  with  more  force  and  eloquence.  He 
attended  our  meetings  quite  regularly,  and  always 
contributed  to  their  interest. 

"He  was  a  patriot.  Descended  from  a  long 
line  of  revolutionary  and  patriotic  ancestors,  he 
was  a  worthy  son  of  such  noble  sires. 

'  'He  was  an  able  expounder  and  defender  of 


C.  M.  HAWLEY. 


345 


the  foundation  principles  of  this  Club  and  of  the 
Republican  party.  In  him  were  embodied  the 
essential  and  enduring  principles  which  are  the 
foundation  of  the  prosperity  of  our  government. 

"Judge  Hawley  was  a  man  of  great  ability. 
He  was  a  logical  and  consecutive  reasoner.  His 
keen  intellect  enabled  him  to  see  the  pith  and 
very  essence  of  questions  which  he  discussed,  and 
he  always  supported  his  propositions  with  con- 
summate skill,  force  and  ability. 

"He  was  the  author  of  many  papers  which 
have  been  published. 

"He  also  left  a  large  number  of  manuscripts, 
which  the  writer  of  this  has  read,  and  they  all 
give  evidence  of  profound  study  and  research 
and  great  ability. 

"The  death  of  Judge  Hawley  is  a  great  loss  to 
this  Club.  We  all  mourn  the  sad  event.  There- 
fore, be  it 

'  'Resolved,  That  by  the  death  of  Judge  Hawley, 
the  old  Tippecanoe  Club  of  Chicago  loses  one  of 
its  most  esteemed  and  valuable  members,  and 
that  we  all  deeply  deplore  the  sad  event. 

'  'Resolved,  That  this  report  be  entered  upon  the 
records  of  this  Club,  and  that  a  copy  of  it  be  sent 
to  the  family  of  the  deceased." 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  in  political  views  a  Republican,  in 
whose  ranks  few  were  more  modestly  conspicu- 
ous. An  Abolitionist,  he  lived  to  see  the  greatest 
stain  upon  national  and  domestic  annals  wiped 
away;  an  early  advocate  (in  1861)  of  the  right 
and  duty  of  government  to  issue  treasury  notes  as 
a  circulating  medium,  as  a  means  with  which  to 
meet  immediate  fiscal  governmental  demands,  he 
saw  that  opinion  become  an  established  adminis- 
trational  dogma. 

What  affords  a  more  impressive  spectacle  than 
to  see  one  pass  away  in  the  fullness  of  years  and 
fame?  Prominent,  as  lawyer;  consummately 
able,  as  a  jurist;  stanch,  as  a  friend;  devoted,  as 
husband  and  father;  independent  in  means  ac- 
quired through  channels  of  laborious  honor; 
surely  we  may  safely  leave  his  memory  and  his 
fame  to  the  goddess  of  impartial  hand,  who  con- 
siders the  consciences,  and  records  for  all  eternity 
the  deeds  of  each . 

Judge  Hawley 's  charities  were  dispensed  with 
quiet  unostentation,  but  were  none  the  less  very 
substantial  both  in  amount  and  judicious  selection 
of  the  donees.  Witness,  during  his  lifetime  he 


was  a  periodical  giver  to  the  Chicago  Presbyte- 
rian Hospital,  the  Newsboys'  and  Bootblacks' 
Association,  and  the  Protestant  Orphan  Asylum, 
his  contributions  to  each  of  these  often  amounting 
to  as  much  as  $500  yearly.  In  his  will  he  pro- 
vided for  the  annual  payment  to  all  of  said  insti- 
tutions of  $500  during  the  lifetime  of  two  of  his 
immediate  relatives,  and  upon  their  deaths  the 
whole  o£  his  ample  estate  is  devised  in  fee  to  be 
divided  among  the  said  institutions.  Who  can 
foresee  the  amount  of  good  thus  accomplished, 
the  suffering  relieved  and  the  buds  of  many  noble 
manhoods  forever  quickened?  Thus  he  reared  a 
monument  in  the  hearts  of  unborn  thousands  who 
are  yet  to  arise  and  bless  his  life  and  memory. 

Judge  Hawley  was  a  lifelong  Presbyterian  in 
religious  faith,  having  been  a  member  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  of  Chicago,  for  upward  of 
thirty  years.  Its  pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Barrows, 
preached  his  funeral  sermon  in  sincerely  glowing 
terms.  He  was  buried  at  Penfield,  New  York, 
beside  his  deceased  wife. 

In  1862  he  married  Sophia  Fellows,  of  Penfield, 
New  York;  her  father  being  a  lawyer  of  good 
abilities,  and  her  grandfather  the  General  Fellows 
who  performed  heroic  service  for  the  colonies  in 
the  Revolutionary  War. 

Upon  her  decease,  Mr.  Hawley,  January  19, 
1893,  married  Mrs.  Annie  Fulton  Loomis  (a 
widow),  of  Chicago,  who  survives  him.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Fulton,  the  family  being  of 
Scotch-Presbyterian  descent,  one  branch  of  which 
produced  the  immortal  Robert  Fulton,  inventor 
of  the  first  steamboat,  successfully  launched  on 
the  Hudson  River  in  1814.  Her  mother  was 
Elizabeth  Moore,  a  daughter  of  Major  Thomas 
Moore,  famed  in  connection  with  the  War  of  1812. 

He  had  two  children:  C.  Myron  Hawley,  who 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  served  his  father  as 
Clerk  of  the  Court  in  Utah,  where  he  untimely 
died  of  pneumonia;  and  a  daughter,  now  Mrs. 
Charles  Bumford,  of  New  York  City. 

Cyrus  Madison  Hawley  was  a  son  of  Lewis  and 
Sarah  Hawley,  nee  Tanner,  a  daughter  of  James 
and  Hannah  Tanner,  nee  Hazard,  of  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  they  having  been  formerly  of 
Huntington,  Connecticut,  but  removing  to  Solon, 


346 


I.  N.  CAMP. 


New  York,  where  they  were  prominent  residents 
for  upward  of  half  a  century. 

Ascending  the  lineage  in  America,  we  record 
the  following:  His  grandparents  were  Joseph 
and  Anna  Hawley,  nee  Lewis,  a  daughter  of  Na- 
thaniel and  Ruth  Lewis,  nee  Beardsley,  of  Hunt- 
ington,  Connecticut.  Joseph  was  a  son  of  Cap- 
tain Francis  and  Rachel  Hawley,  nee  Davis,  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  Davis,  nee  Chatfield, 
of  "Great  Hill"  Derby,  Connecticut,  residents  of 
Huntington.  Francis  was  a  son  of  Samuel,  Jr., 
and  Bethia  Hawley,  nee  Booth,  a  daughter  of 
Ephraim  and  Mary  Booth,  nee  Clark,  of  Strat- 
ford, Connecticut,  who  lived  at  Stratford,  and 
later  at  Derby,  Connecticut.  Samuel,  Jr.,  was  a 
son  of  Samuel,  Sr.,  and  Mary  Hawley,  nee 
Thompson,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Ann 
Thompson  (nee  Welles,  of  Farmington,  Connect- 
icut) ,  of  Stratford,  Connecticut.  Samuel  was  a 
son  of  Joseph  Hawley,  ' ' Yaoman  and  Town  Re- 
corder," and  Katherine  Birdsey,  of  Stratford, 
Connecticut. 

The  last  said  Joseph  Hawley  came  to  America 
about  1629  or  1630,  from  "Parwidge"  (now  Par- 
wick),  Derbyshire,  England,  which  is  a  place 
located  about  nine  miles  northwest  of  Old  Derby; 
he  settled  upon  "Home  Lot  No.  37,"  as  set  off 
by  the  "first  inhabitants  of  Stratford,  Connecti- 
cut." Here  he  died  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-seven,  his  burial  spot  being  still  identified 
by  a  well-worn  slate  tablet  (an  exceptional  mark 
among  early  New  England  settlers) ,  on  which  is 
yet  legible  its  inscription,  "J.  H.  May  20,  1690." 


From  a  work  embodying  the  results  of  great 
labor  and  research,  into  which  we  have  been 
privileged  to  examine  in  connection  herewith  (the 
volume  being  entitled  the  "Hawley  Record,  1066 
to  1890,"  a  heavy  quarto  tome),  we  ascertain 
that  this  family  is  both  very  ancient  and  honor- 
able. The  line  is  of  Norman  origin;  the  first 
Hawley,  as  appears  from  the  "Roll  of  Battel 
Abbey' '  (that  consummate  aggregate  genealogical 
tree  builded  by  "The  Conqueror,"  back  to  whom 
is  traced  so  much  of  the  good  and  bad  of  the  past 
nine  hundred  years  of  English  history),  came 
into  England  in  1066  from  France  with  the  con- 
quering King  William  I.  The  arms  of  the  Derby 
(England)  Hawleys  are,  "  vert  a  saltier  engrailed 
argent.  Crest,  a  dexter  arm  in  armor  ppr. ,  gar- 
nished or  holding  in  the  hand  a  spear  in  bend 
sinister,  point  downward  ppr.  Motto,  "sitivez 
moi."  The  etymology  of  this  patronymic  sug- 
gests itself  as  a  compound  of  the  root  words, 
"haw"  and  "ley,"  which  might  be  intelligently 
interpreted  as  '  'A  meadow  field  enclosed  by  haw- 
thorns. 

Stratford,  Connecticut,  the  ancestral  American 
seat,  is  situated  very  advantageously  upon  Long 
Island  Sound,  in  Fairfield  County,  which  is  not 
only  the  southwesternmost  in  that  State,  but  all 
New  England;  here  the  Hawley  family  has  been 
prominent  for  many  generations.  As  one  au- 
thority states,  '  'The  name  of  Hawley  has  stood 
pre-eminent  in  the  ranks  of  jurists  and  statesmen 
of  New  England." 


ISAAC  NEWTON  CAMP. 


CVS  AAC  N.  CAMP,  one  of  the  prominent  busi- 
ness men  of  Chicago,  who  has  been  success- 
X  fully  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  in  this 
city  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  is  a 


native  of  Elmore,  Lamoille  County,  Vermont, 
having  been  born  thereon  the  igth  of  December, 
1831.  His  ancestors  were  colonial  settlers  in  the 
Green  Mountain  State.  His  parents,  Abel  and 


I.  N.  CAMP. 


347 


Charlotte  (Taplin)  Camp,  were  both  natives  of 
Vermont.  The  father  was  a  farmer,  whose  sound 
sense  and  good  judgment  gave  him  the  position 
of  leading  citizen  among  the  people  of  the  town 
in  which  he  lived.  For  several  years  he  held  the 
office  of  Postmaster  and  Town  Clerk.  He  died 
on  the  22d  of  December,  1890,  aged  ninety  years. 
In  respect  to  his  longevity,  he  was  like  his  father, 
grandfather  and  great-grandfather,  each  of  whom 
lived  to  a  very  advanced  age.  Among  other 
things  that  came  to  Mr.  Camp,  on  account  of  his 
integrity  and  financial  ability,  was  the  charge  of 
a  large  tract  of  land  which  was  left  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Vermont  by  Guy  Catlin.  In  connec- 
tion with  the  management  of  this  land  was  a 
scholarship  in  the  university  held  by  Mr.  Catlin, 
and  placed  at  Mr.  Camp's  disposal. 

Isaac  Newton  Camp,  after  the  usual  course  in 
the  common  schools,  attended  the  academy  at 
Bakersfield,  Vermont,  where  he  paid  his  board  by 
teaching  music.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  entered 
the  University  of  Vermont,  where  he  made  use 
of  the  scholarship  above  mentioned,  and  in  his 
spare  time  earned  enough  money  to  pay  his  cur- 
rent expenses.  After  four  years  of  hard  study, 
interspersed  with  a  liberal  amount  of  hard  work, 
he  was  graduated  and  received  his  diploma  from 
his  Alma  Mater  in  1856.  Soon  afterward  he  be- 
came assistant  principal  in  Barre  Academy,  which 
had  been  transferred  from  Bakersfield  during  the 
time  he  was  in  college.  There  he  taught  math- 
ematics and  music  for  four  years,  after  which  he 
became  principal  of  the  High  school,  at  Burling- 
ton, Vermont,  filling  that  position  until  he  came 
to  Chicago,  April  20,  1868. 

In  this  city  Mr.  Camp  became  associated  with 
H.  L.  Story,  and  entered  the  business  in  which 
he  spent  a  large  portion  of  his  life.  The  firm 
took  the  name  of  Story  &  Camp,  and  continued 
in  business  until  the  spring  of  1884,  when  the 
Estey  Organ  Company  bought  Mr.  Story's  inter- 
est, and  the  firm  assumed  the  style  of  Estey  & 
Camp,  which  has  been  continued  to  the  present 
date,  1895. 

Mr.  Camp's  life  is  an  exemplification  of  what  a 
man  may  do  if  he  has  ability  and  business  meth- 
ods. He  began  life  on  a  small  capital  which  he 


had  saved  out  of  his  salary  as  a  teacher.  With 
that  as  a  base,  and  an  abundance  of  energy,  per- 
severance, enterprise  and  integrity  of  the  highest 
character,  he  was  prepared  to  enter  the  contest 
for  success  in  commercial  circles  with  a  good 
prospect  of  winning,  and  he  succeeded.  The 
house  of  which  he  is  a  member  is  one  of  the  most 
reputable  and  substantial  in  Chicago,  and  its 
status  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  efforts  of  the  gen- 
tlemen who  have  managed  its  affairs.  It  grew 
up  on  fair  dealing  and  honest  and  successful 
competition  with  its  rivals.  At  the  time  of  Mr. 
Story's  withdrawal  from  the  firm,  the  capital 
exceeded  $500,000,  and  he  received  $250,000  for 
his  interest  in  the  business.  The  capital  to-day 
exceeds  $1,000,000. 

Mr.  Camp  has  been  prominently  connected 
with  public  enterprises.  He  is  a  director  in  the 
Chicago  Theological  Seminary  and  the  Royal 
Trust  Company.  In  April,  1891,  he  was  ap- 
pointed a  director  of  the  World's  Columbian  Ex- 
position, and  served  as  a  member  of  the  commit- 
tees on  Agriculture  and  Liberal  Arts.  In  politics 
Mr.  Camp  is  a  Republican,  but  he  does  not  serve 
his  party  with  a  blind  devotion,  rather  taking  a 
liberal  view  of  political  matters,  and  in  local 
affairs  votes  for  the  man  whom  he  thinks  best 
qualified  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office. 
For  many  years  he  has  been  a  member  of  Union 
Park  Congregational  Church,  and  is  president  of 
its  board  of  trustees.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Illinois  and  Union  League  Clubs. 

On  the  ist  of  January,  1862,  Mr.  Camp  mar- 
ried Miss  Flora  Carpenter,  daughter  of  Hon. 
Carlos  Carpenter,  of  Barre,  Vermont.  Of  the 
four  children  born  of  this  marriage,  three  are  now 
living.  The  daughter,  Charlotte,  is  the  wife  of 
M.  A.  Farr,  of  Chicago;  Edward  N.,  the  elder 
son,  is  in  business  with  his  father;  and  William 
Carpenter,  the  younger  son,  is  also  in  the  business. 

Mr.  Camp  has  found  time  in  his  busy  commer- 
cial life  to  see  his  native  land  quite  thoroughly, 
and  has  also  traveled  extensively  abroad  with  his 
family.  As  a  result  of  his  journeyings,  he  is  a 
better  citizen  and  more  loyal  American  than  he 
would  otherwise  have  been.  He  is  a  generous 
giver  to  the  church  and  for  charitable  purposes. 


E.  A.  JEWETT. 


In  consequence  of  his  industrious,  well-spent  life, 
and  his  energy,  integrity  and  force  of  character, 
Mr.  Camp  has  raised  himself  from  the  bottom 
round  of  the  financial  ladder  to  a  position  of  in- 


dependence, and  at  this  advanced  period  of  his 
life  enjoys  the  luxuries  of  wealth,  the  society  of 
numerous  friends,  and  the  pleasures  of  an  environ- 
ment of  refinements. 


EDWARD  A.  JEWETT. 


ITDWARD  ADAMS  JEWETT,  one  of  the 
1^  successful  sons  of  Vermont,  now  identified 
I  with  the  greatest  enterprise  of  Chicago,  was 
born  at  St.  Johnsbury,  July  18,  1838.  His 
grandfather,  Dr.  Luther  Jevvett,  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  that  town,  where  he  officiated  first  as 
a  clergyman  and  later  as  a  physician.  He  was 
also  a  member  of  Congress  from  Vermont,  elected 
in  1815  and  re-elected  in  1817.  He  was  born  in 
Canterbury,  Connecticut,  and  reached  the  age  of 
eighty-seven  years.  Ephraim  Jewett,  the  father 
of  the  subject  of  this  notice,  was  in  turn  a  promi- 
nent citizen  of  St.  Johnsbury,  where  he  carried 
on  a  mercantile  business.  He  married  Miss  Jane 
Fairbanks,  a  daughter  of  •  ex-Governor  Erastus 
Fairbanks  and  sister  of  ex-Governor  Horace 
Fairbanks — a  name  which  is  a  household  word 
in  the  Green  Mountain  State,  and  familiar  in  this 
and  other  countries  in  connection  with  Fairbanks' 
scales  and  philanthropic  deeds.  Mrs.  Janejewett's 
grandfather  was  remotely  of  English  descent,  his 
ancestors  being  among  the  first  settlers  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Both  he  and  his  wife  lived  to  extreme 
old  age,  departing  this  life  during  the  boyhood  of 
Edward  A.  Jewett — Mrs.  Fairbanks  at  the  age  of 
ninety-nine  years.  Erastus  Fairbanks  was  born  in 
Brimfield,  Massachusetts,  in  1792,  and  was  known 
as  Vermont's  "War  Governor,"  his  second  elec- 
tion to  that  office  having  occurred  in  the  fall  of 
1860.  The  first  election  was  in  1852. 

The  ancestry  of  Edward  A.   Jewett  on  both 
sides  was  of  prime  New  England  stock — a  lineage 


distinguished  for  sturdy  character,  industrious 
habits  and  intellectual  force — and  this  scion  per- 
petuates those  characteristics  to  a  marked  degree. 
He  attended  the  schools  in  St.  Johnsbury,  and 
later  became  a  student  at  Phillips  Academy,  at 
Andover,  Massachusetts,  graduating  from  that 
famous  educational  institution  in  1857.  He  then 
entered  Harvard  University,  but  his  health  hav- 
ing become  impaired,  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish 
his  studies  there  at  the  end  of  the  second  year. 

He  soon  after  entered  upon  the  business  career 
in  which  he  has  since  been  almost  continuously 
occupied.  His  first  employment  was  with  a  large 
wholesale  boot  and  shoe  house  in  Boston,  where 
he  remained  until  1861.  He  was  then  sent  to 
Burlington,  Vermont,  to  settle  up  the  affairs  of  a 
boot  and  shoe  store  which  had  become  largely 
indebted  to  his  employers.  Having  adjusted  this 
business  in  a  manner  creditable  to  himself  and 
satisfactory  to  the  creditors,  he  purchased  the 
business  of  the  bankrupt  concern  and  carried  on 
the  same  for  four  years.  At  the  end  of  that 
period  he  became  interested  in  the  construction  of 
a  railway  from  Swanton,  Vermont,  to  St.  John's, 
Quebec,  which  subsequently  became  a  part  of  the 
Vermont  Central  system.  From  1866  to  1870  he 
was  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment as  deputy  collector  of  internal  revenue  at 
Burlington,  Vermont,  after  which  he  engaged  in 
the  book  and  stationery  business  at  that  place  for 
three  years. 

In  1873  Mr.  Jewett  became  a  resident  of  Chi- 


GOTTLIEB  MERZ. 


349 


cago,  and  in  July  of  that  year  he  was  appointed 
Assistant  Superintendent  of  the  Chicago  division 
of  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company.  On  the  ist 
of  June,  1874,  he  was  promoted  to  the  office  of 
Division  Superintendent,  and  held  that  position 
until  April  i,  1888,  when  he  was  appointed  As- 
sistant General  Superintendent  of  the  company, 
a  position  which  he  still  capably  fills.  This  high 
and  responsible  position  was  given  to  him  in 
recognition  of  his  merits  and  qualifications. 
This  important  trust  involves  in  its  operations 
millions  of  dollars,  under  a  method  so  thoroughly 
systematized  that  the  checks  and  balances  must 
tally  to  a  cent.  The  vast  system  managed  by 
the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company  extends 
throughout  the  United  States,  Canada  and  Mex- 
ico, its  domain  being  so  broad  as  to  be  almost 
incomprehensible — all  under  the  sagacious  super- 
intendency  of  this  quiet  and  unpretentious  gen- 
tleman, whose  hand  is  felt  and  recognized  as 
being  constantly  at  the  helm.  He  has  been  the 
recipient  of  many  evidences  of  the  high  regard  in 
which  he  is  held  by  the  heads  of  this  great  cor- 
poration. 

In  1870  he  married  Miss  Jennie  M.  Hubbell, 
of  Charlotte,  Chittenden  County,  Vermont,  a 
member  of  an  old  and  highly -respected  family, 


the  daughter  of  S.  W.  and  Polly  Hubbell.  The 
home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jewett  in  Chicago  is  the 
seat  of  pleasant  hospitality,  where  their  friends 
are  always  sure  of  cordial  welcome. 

In  his  social  and  fraternal  relations  Mr.  Jewett 
occupies  an  enviable  position.  He  is  an  honored 
member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  being  affiliated 
with  Washington  Lodge,  Burlington  Chapter  and 
Council,  of  Burlington,  Vermont;  of  Chevalier 
Bayard  Commandery,  Chicago;  and  Boston  (Mas- 
sachusetts) Consistory.  He  served  one  year  as 
Deputy  Grand  Master  of  the  State  of  Vermont, 
Grand  High  Priest  of  the  Grand  Chapter.for  two 
years,  and  Grand  Generalissimo  of  the  Grand 
Commandery  for  one  year.  He  was  an  early 
member  of  the  Sons  of  Vermont  in  Chicago,  and 
one  of  the  vice-presidents  of  that  society  in  1894. 
He  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  Republican  principles 
of  government,  and  in  1872  and  1873  he  served 
as  aide-de-camp  on  the  staff  of  Gov.  Julius  Con- 
verse, of  Vermont.  His  bearing  is  uniformly 
courteous  and  dignified,  and  inspires  the  confi- 
dence and  regard  of  all  who  come  in  contact  with 
him.  He  can  have  the  proud  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  it  has  been  to  his  own  capacity, 
diligence  and  careful  observance  of  the  highest 
rules  of  business  that  his  uniform  success  is  due. 


GOTTLIEB  MERZ. 


gOTTLIEB    MERZ.     Among  the  self-made 
and  patriotic  citizens  of  Chicago  of  foreign 
birth,  is  the  subject  of  this  biography.     His 
ancestors  were  among  the  prominent   people  of 
Menziken,  in  the  canton  of  Aargau,  Switzerland, 
and  he  does  honor  to  his  lineage.    His  grandfather 
moved  from  that  city  to  Erlach,  Canton  Berne, 
where  his   parents,  Jacob  and  Elizabeth   Merz, 
were  born.    Jacob  Merz  was  a  carpenter,  and 


passed  his  whole  life  in  the  pursuit  of  his  occu- 
pation at  Erlach. 

Gottlieb  Merz  was  born  at  the  last-mentioned 
place  on  the  I4th  of  October,  1838,  and  attended 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  place  until  he  was 
fourteen  years  old.  He  was  then  apprenticed  to 
a  cabinetmaker  and  became  a  journeyman  two 
years  later,  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  After  this  he 
worked  at  his  trade  in  several  of  the  Swiss  cities 


350 


GOTTUEB  MERZ. 


bordering  on  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  such  as  Neuf- 
chatel,  Locel,  Lucerne,  Vevey  and  Merges.  He 
was  also  employed  for  some  time  in  the  principal 
city  of  Geneva. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-four,  possessed  by  that 
spirit  of  enterprise  which  has  made  the  American 
Nation  pre-eminent  in  the  world's  progress,  he 
determined  to  settle  in  the  western  world,  and 
came  direct  to  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania.  After 
working  six  months  in  a  cabinet  shop  there,  he 
went  into  a  factory  employed  in  the  manufacture 
of  picture  frames,  mirrors  and  show  cases,  and 
after  being  there  two  months,  was  made  foreman 
and  had  charge  of  a  large  business. 

Mr.  Merz  became  a  resident  of  Chicago  in  1865, 
and  was  employed  for  two  years  by  Stotz  &  Wolz, 
makers  of  cabinet  ware.  In  1867  he  established 
his  present  business — the  manufacture  of  cigar 
boxes — which  has  grown  under  his  energetic  and 
judicious  care  to  enormous  magnitude.  His  first 
shop  was  in  the  old  Turner  Hall  on  Kinzie  Street, 
where,  in  1871,  he  lost  everything  in  the  great 
fire.  The  North  Side  residents  did  not  suppose 
the  devouring  element  would  cross  the  river  from 
the  South  Side,  until  it  seemed  to  leap  over  all 
along  the  river  front,  and  Mr.  Merz  was  sur- 
rounded, like  many  others,  before  he  could  make 
arrangements  to  save  anything,  and  was  glad  to 
escape  with  his  family  to  a  place  of  safety.  After 
this  disaster  he  set  cheerfully  to  work  to  repair 
his  losses,  as  far  as  possible,  without  wasting  any 
time  in  repining.  He  began  on  Twenty-second 
Street,  whence  he  removed  in  June,  1872,  to 
North  Franklin  Street.  His  business  continuing 
to  grow  until  he  was  again  compelled  to  move, 
he  built  the  brick  buildings  now  occupied  by  him 
at  209  to  215  Superior  Street,  in  1879.  Here  he 
turns  out  daily  five  thousand  cigar  boxes,  beside 
from  one  to  two  thousand  other  light  packing 
boxes.  The  establishment  is  equipped  with  the 
latest  improved  machinery,  much  of  which  is  the 
result  of  Mr.  Merz'  inventive  genius. 

Mr.  Merz  is  the  founder  and  builder  of  his  own 
fortune,  and  his  example  is  commended  to  the 
youth  of  the  land.  His  success  is  the  result  of 
no  sudden  turn  of  fortune,  but  to  the  persistent 


pushing  of  his  enterprise,  which  is  the  only  real 
"luck"  in  the  world.  Sometimes  a  fortune  is 
rapidly  accumulated,  but  an  examination  of  the 
case  will  show  that,  with  rare  exceptions,  the 
foundation  of  such  success  was  laid  by  long  years 
of  patient  preparation  which  fitted  the  individual 
for  seizing  the  opportunity  when  it  came.  Mr. 
Merz  labored  patiently  many  years  at  his  trade 
to  secure  a  start  in  the  way  of  a  small  capital  and 
a  business  experience  and  knowledge  of  the  En- 
glish language,  which  fitted  him  for  the  promi- 
nent position  he  now  holds  in  the  business  world 
of  Chicago,  that  typical  city  of  American  enter- 
prise. 

While  he  has  been  energetic  in  business,  Mr. 
Merz  has  also  fulfilled  his  duty  to  society.  He 
has  long  been  an  active  member  of  the  Grutli 
Society,  an  organization  of  Swiss-born  citizens, 
of  which  he  was  treasurer  for  ten  years.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Schweitzer  Maennerchor,  the 
North  Side  Turners'  Society,  and  was  for  many 
years  identified  with  the  Sous  of  Herman.  He  holds 
membership  in  Miethra  Lodge,  No.  410,  in  the 
Masonic  Order,  beside  that  of  the  Consistory  and 
Shrine  of  the  same  order.  In  religious  faith  he 
adheres  to  the  German  Lutheran  Church,  and 
has  usually  affiliated  with  the  Republican  party 
in  matters  of  public  policy. 

Mr.  Merz  was  married,  in  1864,  to  Miss  Jo- 
sephine Boppart,  who  is  a  native  of  St.  Gallen, 
Switzerland.  Two  sons  and  a  daughter  of  this 
family  died  in  childhood.  The  living  are,  Emilie, 
widow  of  Henry  Kallemberg;  Louise,  Mrs. 
Charles  Stierlin;  Edward  G.,  who  is  associated 
with  his  father  in  business  (the  firm  now  being 
G.  Merz  &  Son) ;  and  Lily,  still  in  the  home  of 
her  parents.  All  reside  in  Chicago. 

By  his  uniform  courtesy  and  fair  dealing,  Mr. 
Merz  has  won  the  confidence  and  good  will  of  all 
with  whom  he  comes  in  contact,  and  he  is  unan- 
imously voted  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the 
North  Side  citizens.  He  has  never  aspired  to 
public  station,  but  has  been  content  to  fill  his 
place  as  a  gentleman  among  his  fellows  and  at  his 
own  fireside,  where  he  is  the  center  of  conjugal 
and  filial  regard. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

BNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT  I 


J.  W.  TOPE,  M.  D. 


JOHN  W.  TOPE,  M.  D. 


(lOHN  WESLEY  TOPE,  M.  D.,  ofOak  Park, 
I  who  has  achieved  some  distinction  in  medical 
(~/  and  surgical  science,  there  and  elsewhere, 
was  born  at  New  Philadelphia,  Ohio,  November 
10,  1845.  He  is  the  eldest  son  in  the  family  of 
Jacob  J.  and  Mary  (Brown)  Tope. 

John  Tope,  the  grandfather  of  Jacob  J.  Tope, 
was  a  native  of  Maryland,  who  became  a  resident 
of  Holliday's  Cove,  West  Virginia.  During  the 
War  of  1812  he  and  his  brother,  George,  held  ex- 
tensive contracts  with  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment for  furnishing  beef  to  the  army.  In  1815  he 
removed  to  Carroll  County,  Ohio,  of  which  he 
was  one  of  the  original  settlers.  He  and  his  sons 
erected  extensive  mills  at  a  place  still  known  as 
Tope's  Mills.  His  son,  George,  who  became  the 
father  of  Jacob  J.,  was  born  at  Holliday's  Cove, 
West  Virginia.  He  was  a  miller  by  trade  and 
continued  the  business  founded  by  his  father  for 
many  years. 

Jacob  J.  Tope  was  born  at  Tope's  Mills,  Ohio, 
February  22,  1822.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by 
trade,  and  during  his  latter  years  engaged  in 
fanning.  He  also  had  a  taste  for  military  affairs, 
and  served  for  some  time  as  captain  of  a  rifle 
company  in  the  Ohio  militia.  During  the 
Mexican  War  this  company  tendered  its  ser- 
vices to  the  United  States  Government,  but, 
owing  to  the  termination  of  the  conflict  a  short 
time  afterward,  it  was  not  called  into  service. 
Mr.  Tope  died  in  1862,  of  typhoid  fever,  con- 
tracted while  on  a  visit  to  his  son,  John  W. 
Tope,  who  was  then  in  the  United  States  serv- 
ice in  Virginia.  Mrs.  Mary  Tope  is  still  living  at 
New  Philadelphia,  Ohio,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine 


years.  She  was  born  in  Harrison  County,  in  the 
same  State,  and  is  a  daughter  of  John  Brown,  a 
farmer,  who  went  thither  from  Pennsylvania. 
Three  sons  and  one  daughter  were  born  to  Jacob 
J.  and  Mary  Tope.  John  W.  is  the  eldest  of 
these;  George  W.  is  a  farmer  of  New  Philadel- 
phia, Ohio;  William  A.  is  a  physician  at  Dow- 
ner's Grove,  Illinois;  and  Mary  is  the  wife  of 
John  Heaton,  of  Harrison  County,  Ohio. 

John  W.  Tope  passed  his  early  boyhood  upon 
the  homestead  farm.  He  was  in  his  sixteenth 
year  when  the  great  civil  strife,  which  for  years 
had  threatened  to  dismember  the  nation,  devel- 
oped into  actual  warfare.  Though  but  a  youth 
in  stature,  he  already  began  to  manifest  the 
patriotic  determination  and  enthusiasm  which 
foretold  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the 
future  man. 

Embracing  the  first  opportunity,  he  enlisted 
August  20,  1861,  in  Company  I,  Thirtieth  Ohio 
Infantry.  After  serving  three  years,  he  re- 
enlisted  in  the  same  company  and  remained  in  the 
ranks  until  the  close  of  hostilities.  He  was  at  first 
attached  to  the  Army  of  West  Virginia,  under 
General  Rosecranz,  and  participated  in  engage- 
ments at  Gauley  Bridge  and  Fayetteville.  When 
that  commander  was  succeeded  by  General  Coxe 
he  participated  in  the  latter' s  unsuccessful  expedi- 
tion, which  was  designed  to  cut  off  communication 
between  Richmond  and  North  Carolina.  Just 
after  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run  his  regiment 
joined  Pope's  Army  and  took  part  in  the  famous 
battles  of  South  Mountain  and  Antietam.  They 
were  afterward  transferred  to  West  Virginia  and 
went  into  winter  quarters  at  Gauley  Bridge,  under 


352 


CAPT.  J.  D.  COURTRIGHT. 


command  of  Gen.  Joseph  Lightburn.  Thence 
they  were  ordered  South,  and  joining  Sherman's 
army  just  after  the  battle  of  Chickasaw  Bayou, 
were  attached  to  the  First  Brigade,  Second  Divi- 
sion, Fifteenth  Army  Corps.  Mr.  Tope  was  on 
the  first  detail  set  at  work  upon  the  famous  Vicks- 
burg  canal,  but,  having  contracted  the  measles, 
he  was  disabled  for  three  weeks,  and  took  no 
further  part  in  that  gigantic  enterprise.  After  the 
fall  of  Vicksburg  he  accompanied  Sherman's 
army  in  the  march  from  Memphis  to  Chattanooga, 
served  throughout  the  Atlanta  campaign,  the 
March  to  the  Sea,  and  thence  northward  to  the 
city  of  Washington,  where  he  participated  in  the 
Grand  Review.  After  this  his  regiment  was  sta- 
tioned for  a  time  at  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  whence 
they  returned  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  were  mus- 
tered out  August  20,  1865,  just  four  years  from 
the  date  of  Mr.  Tope's  enlistment.  He  had  passed 
through  these  successive  campaigns  without  real 
injury,  and  returned  to  the  pursuits  of  peace, 
matured  and  developed  in  both  mind  and  body. 

He  then  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr. 
J.  D.  Otis,  at  New  Philadelphia,  Ohio.  In  the 
fall  of  1868  he  entered  Rush  Medical  College, 
Chicago,  where  he  spent  two  years  in  practical 
preparation  for  his  chosen  profession.  During 
eighteen  months  of  this  time,  August,  1868,  to 
January,  1870,  he  was  an  interne  in  the  Cook 
County  Hospital,  and  upon  his  graduation  he 


was  appointed  medical  superintendent  of  the  Cook 
County  Insane  Hospital,  which  had  just  been 
completed  at  Jefferson,  a  position  which  he  filled 
with  credit  for  four  years. 

In  1876  he  located  in  Oak  Park,  where  he  has 
ever  since  been  engaged  in  general  practice, 
though  his  field  of  usefulness  is  by  no  means  con- 
fined to  that  village.  He  gives  special  attention 
to  practical  surgery,  and  for  three  years  past  has 
been  an  attending  surgeon  at  the  Cook  County 
Hospital.  From  time  to  time  he  has  become  in- 
terested in  different  business  enterprises;  in  1892 
became  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Oak  Park 
State  Bank,  and  has  ever  since  been  a  member  of 
the  board  of  directors  of  that  thriving  institution. 

The  Doctor  was  most  happily  married  in  1880, 
to  Delia  Whaples,  daughter  of  Reuben  Whaples, 
one  of  the  earliest  pioneers  of  Cook  County.  The 
three  children  which  have  been  born  to  them  are 
named  respectively,  Helen,  John  and  Oliver.  The 
family  attends  the  Congregational  Church  of  Oak 
Park  and  is  welcomed  to  the  most  select  social 
circles  of  that  delightful  suburb,  a  village  justly 
celebrated  for  its  many  cultivated  and  happy 
homes.  The  Doctor  is  identified  with  Phil  Sher- 
idan Post  No. '615,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
and  holds  a  conspicuous  position  in  Masonic 
circles,  having  been  a  charter  member  of  Siloam 
Commandery  No.  54,  of  which  body  he  was 
commander  in  1886. 


CAPT.  JAMES  D.  COURTRIGHT. 


JAMES  DEARBORN  COURT- 
RIGHT,  who  was  long  known  as  one  of  the 
most  skillful  and  reliable  navigators  on  the 
Great  Lakes,  was  born  February  27,  1828,  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  He  was  the  son  of  James 
and  Eliza  (Dearborn)  Courtright.  When  he  was 
a  boy,  his  parents  moved  to  Madison,  Ohio,  and 


later  to  Painesville,  Ohio.  At  the  age  of  sixteen 
years  he  began  sailing  on  the  lakes,  and  he  fol- 
lowed that  business  for  nearly  forty  years,  mak- 
ing trips  to  all  the  ports  on  the  lakes,  but  chiefly 
between  Chicago  and  Buffalo.  For  many  years 
he  commanded  the  "City  of  Painesville,"  one  of 
the  finest  vessels  on  the  lakes,  in  which  he  owned 


W.  M.  MEREDITH. 


353 


an  interest.  At  one  time  he  was  wrecked  in  a 
storm  on  Lake  Erie,  though  fortunately  no  lives 
were  lost.  He  afterwards  commanded  the  "Dick 
Sommers"  for  several  years.  About  the  year 
1 88 1  he  retired  from  business,  owing  to  failing 
health.  He  had  lived  in  Cook  County  since  No- 
vember, 1876,  having  been  two  years  in  Austin, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  time  in  Chicago.  He 
died  in  Chicago,  September  n,  1886,  at  the  age 
of  fifty -eight  years. 

He  was  married  January  8,  1862,  to  Mrs. 
Nancy  Custin,  widow  of  Edwin  Custin,  and  sister 
of  Capt.  Stephen  Seamens,  whose  biography  ap- 
pears elsewhere  in  this  history.  Mrs.  Courtrightis 


now  living  in  Austin,  and  is  nearly  sixty-six  years 
old.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Courtright  had  two  children, 
one  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  The  other  lives  in 
Austin,  and  is  now  Mrs.  Clara  E.  Seamens,  wife 
of  George  R.  Seamens. 

While  a  young  man,  Mr.  Courtright  made  two 
trips  to  California,  but  he  soon  returned  to  the 
pursuits  and  surroundings  in  which  the  most  of 
his  life  was  spent,  and  which  possessed  such 
great  attraction  for  him.  Captain  Courtright  was 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  order  and  was  identified 
with  a  commandery  of  Knights  Templar  at 
Painesville,  Ohio.  He  was  a  lifelong  Democrat, 
but  never  an  office-seeker. 


WILLIAM  M.  MEREDITH. 


fS  QlLLIAM  MORTON  MEREDITH  was  born 
\  A I  in  Centerville,  Wayne  County,  Indiana, 
VV  April  n,  1835.  He  was  educated  in  pri- 
vate schools  and  in  White  Wrater  College,  served 
an  apprenticeship  to  the  printing  business,  in 
1852  commenced  work  as  a  journeyman  in  the 
office  of  the  Indianapolis  Journal,  and  was  en- 
gaged there  as  a  compositor  when  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion  broke  out  in  1861.  In  1860  he  was  a 
delegate  to  the  National  Typographical  Union, 
which  assembled  that  year  in  Nashville,  Tennes- 
see. For  some  years  prior  to  the  war  he  had  been 
a  member  of  the  Indianapolis  City  Grays,  and 
was  among  a  great  many  of  that  organization  who 
at  once  tendered  their  services  to  the  Union.  A 
few  days  after  marching  into  camp,  and  before 
being  regularly  mustered  into  the  service,  young 
Meredith  was  appointed  by  Governor  O.  P.  Mor- 
ton, assistant  to  the  Commissary  General  of  In- 
diana, and  served  in  that  capacity,  instructing 
regimental  quartermasters  and  commissaries,  until 
June,  1862,  when  he  was  commissioned  second 
lieutenant,  with  authority  to  recruit  a  company. 


In  about  one  month  the  company  was  fully  enlisted 
to  the  maximum  number  of  one  hundred  one  men, 
and  Meredith  was  mustered  and  commissioned 
captain  of  Company  E,  Seventieth  Indiana  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  Col.  Benjamin  Harrison  com- 
manding, in  which  he  served  until  discharged  for 
disability  contracted  in  the  line  of  duty  at  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  August  12,  1864.  He  was  with  his 
regiment  every  time  it  was  engaged  in  battle,  re- 
ceiving honorable  mention  for  gallantry  during 
the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  especially  for  his  con- 
duct at  the  battle  of  Resaca,  Georgia.  Return- 
ing to  Indianapolis,  Meredith  again  went  to  work 
as  a  printer  in  \he.  Journal  office  in  that  city,  and 
in  1867  became  foreman  of  the  establishment.  In 
1872  he  removed  to  Saint  Louis  and  accepted  the 
foremanship  of  the  office  of  the  Daily  Democrat  of 
that  city,  which  position  he  retained  until  July, 
1875,  when  the  Democrat  and  Globe  were  consoli- 
dated, and  he  accepted  a  position  with  the 
Western  Bank  Note  Company  of  Chicago,  and 
removed  to  that  city.  After  ten  months  residence 
within  the  city  limits  he  removed  to  the  beautiful 


354 


STEWART  COLLINS. 


suburb  of  Austin,  where  he  bought  a  home,  and 
where  he  has  since  made  his  residence. 

July  ist,  1889,  Captain  Meredith  was  appointed 
by  President  Harrison,  chief  of  the  Bureau  of 
Engraving  and  Printing,  Treasury  Department, 
Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  and  filled 
that  office  with  honor  and  credit  to  himself,  and 
acceptably  to  his  superiors — Secretaries  Windom, 
Foster  and  Carlisle, — until  July  ist,  1893,  when 
he  was  relieved,  to  give  place  to  a  Democrat. 
He  then  returned  to  Chicago,  and  again  entered 
the  service  of  the  Western  Bank  Note  Company, 
as  superintendent  of  the  Steel  Plate  Printing  De- 
partment, which  position  he  holds  to-day. 

He  was  married  April  23,  1867,  to  Miss  Ter- 
ressa  A.  Richey,  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana.  Their 
married  life  has  been  a  most  happy  one.  They 
have  been  blessed  with  five  children,  two  sons  and 
three  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  living. 

Politically,  Captain  Meredith  has  been  a  faith- 
ful Republican.  It  is  his  proud  boast  that  his 
first  vote  was  for  Fremont,  the  first  Republican 
candidate  for  president, — -and  that  he  has  never 
forsaken  the  line. 

He  conies  of  Welsh    descent,  his  great-grand- 


father, Luff  Meredith,  having  come  to  the  colony 
of  Delaware  from  Wales  early  in  1700.  His 
grandfather,  John  Wheeler  Meredith,  served  un- 
der Washington  during  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. His  uncle,  John  Meredith,  was  an  officer 
in  the  regular  army  during  the  War  of  1812;  an- 
other uncle,  Joseph  Busbey  Meredith,  was  an  In- 
dian fighter  during  the  Blackhawk  War;  several 
cousins  served  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  as  stated  above,  served  honor- 
ably in  the  Union  Army  during  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion.  His  father,  Samuel  C.  Meredith,  was 
for  many  years  editor  and  publisher  of  a  newspa- 
per in  Indiana,  and  now  lives,  aged  ninety,  in  the 
city  of  Indianapolis,  beloved  and  respected  by  all. 
Captain  Meredith  belongs  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  is  a  companion  of  the  military 
order  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  a  comrade  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  an  Odd  Fellow,  and  a 
member  of  the  Veterans'  Union  League  of  Chi- 
cago. He  also  belongs  to  the  Army  and  Navy 
Club  of  Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  the 
Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  the  Press  Club 
of  Chicago,  and  is  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Chicago  Typographical  Union. 


STEWART  COLLINS. 


Q  TEW  ART  COLLINS  (whose  genealogy  may 
?\  be  found  in  the  biography  of  W.  H.  Collins, 
C*y  on  another  page  of  this  volume)  was  born 
August  13,  1864,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  He  is  the 
son  of  William  and  Lavinia  (Harvey)  Collins. 
Stewart  Collins  began  earning  his  own  living 
when  a  very  young  boy,  and  until  he  was  twenty 
years  old  he  gave  his  money  to  his  mother  as  he 
earned  it.  He  first  started  to  work  in  a  blast 


furnace  at  New  Straitsville,  Ohio.  In  1882  his 
parents  came  to  South  Chicago,  and  upon  coming 
here  he  began  work  as  a  laborer  in  the  steel  mills. 
Later  he  was  able  to  obtain  a  position  at  work  on 
steel  ladles,  and  he  has  been  at  that  work  ever 
since. 

August  30,  1887,  Mr.  Collins  married  Miss 
Caroline  Horner,  a  daughter  of  William  Peter 
Horner.  She  was  born  in  Ohio,  but  she  had  spent 


CAPT.  STEPHEN  SEAMENS. 


355 


most  of  her  life  previous  to  marriage  in  Ken- 
tuck)'.  They  have  two  children,  William  Peter 
and  Clarence. 

Mr.  Collins  is  numbered  among  the  good  citi- 
zens of  South  Chicago,  and  is  a  hardworking  and 
honest  man,  who  tries  to  do  his  duty  by  his  fel- 
lowmen.  Until  recently  he  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Republican  party,  but  for  the  last  three  years 


he  has  been  identified  with  the  People's  party. 
In  1896  he  was  one  of  the  judges  of  election  in  the 
Fifteenth  Precinct  of  the  Thirty-third  Ward.  Mr. 
Collins  and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Second 
Congregational  Church.  He  takes  an  interest  in 
public  affairs,  and  promotes  any  cause  for  the 
benefit  of  his  City  and  State,  as  well  as  of  the  Na- 
tion. 


CAPT.  STEPHEN  SEAMENS. 


EAPT.  STEPHEN  SEAMENS,  whose  death 
occurred  at  Austin,  Illinois,  June  19,    1896, 
was  a  man  of  remarkable  physical  develop- 
ment and  noteworthy  intellectual  powers,  a  record 
of  whose  life  should  not  be  omitted  from  this  his- 
tory.    He  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  born 
August    25,    1823,    his  parents    being   Stephen 
and    Angeline  (Snyder)  Seamens. 

The  father  of  Stephen  Seamens,  senior,  came 
to  this  country  from  England,  in  company  with 
a  bachelor  brother,  and  was  the  progenitor  of  all 
the  members  of  that  family  now  living  in  Amer- 
ica. Stephen  Seamens,  senior,  was  born  in  the 
State  of  New  York  in  the  year  1783,  and  was 
married  to  Miss  Snyder  in  1807.  He  was  a  far- 
mer by  occupation,  and  lived  for  a  time  in  Penn- 
sylvania, subsequently  removing  to  Lake  County, 
Ohio,  where  his  death  occurred  in  May,  1862. 
His  wife,  who  was  of  German  parentage,  died 
there  in  July,  1852.  Fourteen  children  were 
born  to  this  couple,  eleven  of  whom  became 
grown  men  and  women,  and  five  are  now  living. 
Their  names,  and  the  present  homes  of  the  sur- 
vivors, are  as  follows:  Jeremiah,  Andrus,  Nelson, 
George;  Mary,  widow  of  John  McClintock, 
Elyria,  Ohio;  James;  Stephen;  William,  Seneca, 
Missouri;  Sabra,  widow  of  Leonard  Swetland, 
North  Madison,  Ohio;  Eliza,  Mrs.  Bronson  Robin- 
son, Pierpont,  Ohio;  and  Nancy,  widow  of  James 


D.  Courtright,  Austin,  Illinois.  While  a  young 
man,  Andrus  Seamens  left  his  home  in  Ohio  and 
went  to  New  York  State,  where  he  was  married 
and  had  one  son.  Little  was  known  of  him  or 
his  family  by  their  relatives  until  recently,  when 
it  was  learned  that  he  subsequently  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  died  in  this  State. 

Capt.  Stephen  Seamens,  whose  name  heads 
this  notice,  spent  most  of  his  boyhood  in  Ohio. 
About  1842  he  came  to  Illinois  and  became  a 
sailor  on  the  Great  Lakes,  a  business  which  he 
followed  for  a  number  of  years.  He  also  ac- 
quired an  interest  in  a  packet  on  the  Illinois  & 
Michigan  Canal.  He  made  his  home  for  several 
years  about  New  Buffalo,  Michigan,  and  Michi- 
gan City,  Indiana,  but  about  1851  he  traded  his 
interest  in  the  canal  packet  for  eighty  acres  of 
land  in  Mazon  Township,  Grundy  County,  Illi- 
nois, and  removed  to  that  place,  which  was  then 
a  wilderness,  abounding  in  wolves  and  other  wild 
beasts.  In  1852  he  went  overland  to  California, 
where  he  spent  two  years  in  getting  out  mining 
timbers.  Returning  by  way  of  the  isthmus,  he 
lived  on  his  farm  until  1861,  when  he  removed 
to  another  near  Wheeler  Station,  Porter  County, 
Indiana.  The  next  year  he  came  to  Chicago, 
and  again  became  a  sailor  upon  the  lakes. 

About  1863  he  purchased  five  acres  of  land  in 
the  town  of  Cicero,  now  included  in  the  village  of 


356 


D.  E.  WASHBURN. 


Austin,  and  built  the  third  house  there,  before  a 
name  had  been  given  to  the  place.  For  several 
years  longer  he  continued  to  sail  upon  the  lakes, 
and  also  operated  a  boat  upon  the  canal,  which 
was  chiefly  employed  in  transporting  stone  be- 
tween Chicago  and  Lemont.  During  the  winter 
season,  when  navigation  was  closed,  he  was  ac- 
customed to  find  employment  in  the  packing 
houses  in  Chicago.  After  his  removal  to  Austin 
he  was  employed  for  two  or  three  years  as  fore- 
man in  the  clock  factory  at  that  place.  About 
1880  he  retired  from  active  business  and  found 
recreation  and  diversion  in  the  care  and  subdivi- 
sion of  his  property,  which  had  greatly  increased 
in  value,  its  original  cost  to  him  being  one  hun- 
dred dollars  per  acre. 

Captain  Seamens  was  married  December  5, 
1844,  to  Minerva  F.  Pratt.  She  was  born  at 
Buffalo,  New  York,  July  23,  1823,  and  died  at 


Austin,  Illinois,  March  15,  1891.  The  only  son 
of  this  couple,  Morton  G.  Seamens,  died  at  Aus- 
tin September  20,  1895,  aged  thirty-nine  years 
and  nine  months.  Captain  Seamens  was  an 
exhaustive  reader  and  profound  thinker.  He 
was  well  informed  in  historical  matters  and  the 
leading  questions  of  the  day,  and  enjoyed  nothing 
better  than  the  discussion  of  these  topics  with  his 
neighbors  and  acquaintances,  and  was  always 
able  to  handle  his  side  of  the  debate  with  skill 
and  ability.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  disciple  of 
Thomas  Paine,  and  in  questions  of  national  policy 
a  stanch  Democrat.  He  weighed  over  three  hun- 
dred pounds,  was  six  feet  four  inches  in  height, 
and  was  always  noted  for  his  great  muscular 
powers.  A  feat  which  he  occasionally  practiced 
by  way  of  diversion  was  to  pick  up  a  barrel  of 
salt  by  the  chines  and  toss  it  from  the  deck  of  a 
vessel  to  the  dock. 


DANIEL  E.  WASHBURN. 


0ANIEL  ERASTUS  WASHBURN  was  born 
in  Adrian,  Michigan,  August  13,  1846,  and 
is  the  son  of  Daniel  and  Vashti  H.  (Pratt) 
Washburn.  His  father  was  a  native  of  New 
York,  a  contractor,  and  in  a  small  way  a  specu- 
lator, and  died  in  Adrian  when  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  but  six  weeks  old.  Mrs.  Vashti  Wash- 
burn  was  born  in  Buffalo,  New  York,  and  her 
father,  Mr.  Pratt,  was  a  boy  living  in  Trenton, 
New  Jersey,  when  Gen.  George  Washington 
passed  through  that  place  with  the  army  at  the 
close  of  the  Revolution.  After  his  death,  in  1833, 
his  family  came  from  Buffalo  to  Michigan,  settling 
at  New  Buffalo.  They  drove  a  team  composed 
of  one  ox  and  one  cow. 

After  the  death  of  her  first  husband,  Mrs.  Wash- 
burn  came  to  Chicago.  Later  she  returned  to 
New  Buffalo,  and  married  George  R.  Selkirk,  aeon- 


tractor.  They  moved  to  Michigan  City,  Indiana, 
where  Mrs.  Selkirk  now  lives,  at  the  age  of  nearly 
seventy-eight  years.  George  Selkirk  built  the 
first  piers  and  warehouse  at  Michigan  City,  and 
he  died  at  that  place. 

Daniel  E.  Washburn  is  the  only  surviving  son 
of  his  father.  He  was  an  infant  when  his  mother 
came  to  Chicago,  where  they  lived  on  the  present 
site  of  Hooley's  theatre.  He  afterwards  lived  for 
some  time  with  his  uncle,  Capt.  Stephen  Sea- 
mens, whose  history  can  be  found  on  another 
page  of  this  volume. 

May  5,  1864,  he  enlisted  in  Company  D,  One 
Hundred  and  Thirty-eighth  Indiana  Volunteer 
Infantry.  He  served  until  September  i,  of  the 
same  year,  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  on 
garrison  duty  around  Nashville  and  Chattanooga. 
In  July,  1866,  he  re-enlisted  at  Indianapolis,  In- 


H.  M.  NORTHROP. 


357 


diana,  in  the  regular  army,  and  served  three  years 
in  Texas.  During  this  time  he  was  in  a  number 
of  engagements  with  Indians  and  outlaws.  He 
then  returned  to  Chicago  and  was  for  some  time 
engaged  in  teaming.  He  was  employed  six  years 
in  Walker  Oakley's  tannery,  and  later  with  A.  F. 
Woolensack,  who  handled  hardware  specialties. 
For  the  past  four  years  he  has  been  on  the  special 
police  force  for  the  Town  of  Cicero,  and  has  lived 
in  Austin  since  1892. 

Mr.  Washburn  married  Miss  Emma  E. ,  daugh- 
ter of  William  Bunting,  a  native  of  England,  who 
came  to  Rahway,  New  Jersey,  in  1848,  and  four 


years  later  to  Chicago.  He  was  engaged  in  busi- 
ness at  Market  Hall,  on  West  Randolph  Street, 
for  some  years,  handling  green  groceries,  fish  and 
game.  Mr.  Bunting  was  born  February  21, 
1825,  and  died  in  1891.  His  widow,  Martha 
Bunting,  is  now  living  in  Chicago.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Washburn  have  one  son,  Stephen  A.  Washburn. 
The  family  is  identified  with  the  Methodist 
Church.  Mr.  Washburn  belongs  to  Kilpatrick 
Post,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic;  to  the  An- 
cient Order  of  Foresters,  and  the  Royal  Circle. 
He  has  been  a  Republican  in  political  principle 
all  his  life. 


HENRY  M.  NORTHROP. 


HENRY  MARVIN  NORTHROP,  a  highly 
esteemed  citizen  of  Oak  Park,  was  born  in 
Kent,  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  Au- 
gust 3,  1828.  He  is  the  son  of  Thomas  Grant 
and  Aurelia  (Curtis)  Northrop,  natives  of  Con- 
necticut. Thomas  G.  Northrop  was  born  in  New 
Milford,  Connecticut,  and  was  the  son  of  Amos 
Northrop,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  who  en- 
listed as  first  lieutenant  in  the  Second  Company , 
First  Battalion  of  Connecticut,  in  1776,  and  served 
under  General  Wooster  and  General  Spencer.  His 
farm  in  New  Milford  was  kept  in  the  family  until 
a  few  3'ears  ago. 

Amos  Northrop  was  born  in  Old  Milford,  Con- 
necticut, December  9,  1742.  His  ancestors  were 
of  Welsh  and  Scotch  lineage.  His  wife,  Anne 
Grant,  was  of  the  same  family  from  which  General 
Grant  descended.  His  daughter  Sally,  a  maiden 
lady,  lived  in  Old  Milford  until  her  death  in  1877, 
at  the  age  of  over  one  hundred  years,  having  been 
born  June  28,  1776.  A  photograph  of  her  at  the 
age  of  one  hundred  years  is  in  the  possession  of 
the  family.  Her  birthday  had  been  celebrated 
by  the  children  and  the  New  Milford  citizens  for 


several  years.  Her  faculties  were  well  preserved, 
and  she  was  very  patriotic  and  well  versed  in  his- 
toric lore. 

A  number  of  Amos  Northrop's  descendants  have 
been  students  at  Yale  College,  and  several  are  en- 
gaged in  educational  work,  including  Professor 
Harry  E.  Northrop,  of  Brooklyn,  who  is  a  teacher 
of  German.  Thomas  G.  Northrop  lived  upon  a 
farm  at  Kent  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
when  he  was  eighty  years  old,  in  1850.  He  was 
a  regular  attendant  of  the  Congregational  Church. 
Mrs.  Aurelia  Northrop  died  at  Kent  in  1839.  She 
was  born  in  Huntington,  Connecticut,  and  was  a 
very  superior  woman,  a  devout  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church.  She  had  four  sons  and 
one  daughter,  namely:  Thomas  Welles,  Ann  Au- 
relia (Mrs.  Joel  Pratt),  Agur  Curtis;  Birdsey 
Grant,  LL.  D. ,  a  lecturer  of  Clinton,  Connecti- 
cut, and  formerly  secretary  of  the  boards  of  edu- 
cation of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  for  a 
period  of  about  thirty  years,  being  the  successor 
of  Horace  Mann;  and  Henry  M.;  the  last  two  are 
the  only  ones  living. 

Henry  M.  Northrop  attended  the  public  school 


358 


HENRY  vSCHEURMEIER. 


and  afterward  entered  Yale  College,  Later  he 
went  to  Harvard  Medical  School  and  there  studied 
two  years  under  Drs.  O.  W.  Holmes  and  Eben 
S.  Horsford.  Before  completing  the  course,  he 
began  teaching,  and  spent  five  years  in  the  public 
schools  of  Saint  Louis.  Just  before  the  war  began 
he  returned  to  the  East.  When  at  Alton,  Illi- 
nois, he  saw  a  load  of  arms  and  other  war  imple- 
ments, which  had  been  brought  from  Saint  Louis 
to  prevent  its  confiscation  by  the  Confederate 
army. 

He  enlisted  July  6,  1864,  in  Company  A,  For- 
ty-second Massachusetts  Infantry.  He  was  em- 
ployed in  garrison  duty  at  Alexandria,  Virginia, 
and  was  discharged  in  November,  1864.  Soon 
after  the  war  Mr.  Northrop  came  to  Chicago  and 
entered  the  employ  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwest- 
ern Railway  Company,  as  a  clerk  in  the  freight 
department.  For  twelve  years  past  he  has  been 


in  the  general  ticket  office  of  the  Chicago,  Rock 
Island  &  Pacific  Railroad.  Since  1873  ne  has 
been  a  resident  of  Oak  Park. 

In  1864  Mr.  Northrop  married  Sarah  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Reuben  and  Sarah  (Lamprey)  Hunt- 
ing. Her  father  was  a  native  of  western  Massa- 
chusetts, and  for  a  period  of  forty  years  was  in 
business  in  Boston.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Northrop  are 
connected  with  the  First  Congregational  Church 
of  Oak  Park,  and  Mr.  Northrop  is  a  member  of 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  of  the  Sons 
of  the  American  Revolution.  Mrs.  Northrop  is  a 
member  of  George  A.  Clarke  Chapter,  Daughters 
of  the  Revolution,  at  Oak  Park.  .Her  grand- 
father, Amos  Hunting,  endured  the  horrors  of  the 
historic  winter  at  Valley  Forge  in  General  Wash- 
ington's army.  He  was  detailed  to  bring  back 
the  horses  driven  away  by  General  Arnold,  which 
he  successfully  accomplished. 


HENRY  SCHEURMEIER. 


NENRY  SCHEURMEIER,  a  progressive  and 
public-spirited  citizen  of  South  Chicago,  was 
born  April  26,  1839,  in  Canton  Zurich, 
Switzerland.  He  is  the  son  of  John  and  Katrina 
(Keller)  Scheurmeier,  and  the  only  one  of  his  fam- 
ily to  come  to  this  country.  He  came  in  1870,  and 
located  at  Chicago,  on  the  West  Side.  In  his  na- 
tive country  he  had  learned  the  carpenter's  and 
cabinet-maker's  trades,  which  he  followed  in  Chi- 
cago. He  lived  four  years  on  the  West  Side,  and 
then  went  to  Colehour,  now  a  part  of  Chicago. 
He  bought  some  property  on  Avenue  F,  near  One 
Hundred  Third  Street.  Here  he  built  a  comfort- 
able home  and  lived  there  three  years,  working 
at  his  trade. 

He  returned  to  the  West  Side  of  the  city  in  1878, 
and  lived  there  five  years.  In  1882  he  returned 
to  Colehour  and  remained  five  years.  In  1887  he 
again  made  his  home  in  South  Chicago,  and  be- 


gan working  as  sales  agent  for  the  Peter  Schoen- 
hofen  Brewing  Company,  which  has  ever  since 
been  his  occupation.  His  territory  includes  Grand 
Crossing,  Riverdale,  Kensington,  Colehour  and 
South  Chicago. 

May  4,  1865,  Mr.  Schetirmeier  married  Miss 
Barbara  Wiesendanger,  a  native  of  Switzerland. 
They  are  the  parents  of  two  daughters.  Anna 
Matilda,  the  elder,  married  Leonard  Seiler  and 
lives  at  Colehour;  she  has  four  children,  namely: 
Ella,  Harry,  Edward  and  Arthur.  The  second 
daughter  is  Clara  Louise. 

Mr,  Scheurmeier  is  a  member  of  Fortschritt 
Lodge,  No.  27,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows, which  he  joined  in  1888,  and  is  connected 
with  Chicago  Lodge  No.  i,  Sons  of  Hermann. 
Mr.  Scheurmeier  is  a  man  of  good  principles  and 
of  great  business  ability.  He  is  interested  in 
public  improvements  and  is  a  valuable  citizen. 


LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

OF  ILLINOIS 


LYMAN  G.  HOLLEY 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


L.  G.  HOLLEY. 


359 


LYMAN  G.  HOLLEY. 


I  YMAN  GIDD.INGS  HOLLEY,  a  prominent 
I  C  business  man  of  Chicago,  and  one  of  the 
I \  J  most  influential  citizens  of  Oak  Park,  was 
born  in  Ellisburg,  Jefferson  County,  New  York, 
June  29,  1845.  He  is  the  son  of  Nathan  Tillot- 
son  and  Martha  S.  (Giddings)  Holley.  His  an- 
cestors are  supposed  to  have  removed  from  Con- 
necticut to  Vermont  during  the  colonial  period. 
Nathan  Holley,  the  grandfather  of  Lyman  G. 
Holley,  was  born  (probably  in  Vermont)  August 
6,  1750.  He  removed  from  Dorset,  Vermont,  to 
New  York,  settling  first  in  Oneida  County.  At 
about  the  time  his  son,  Nathan  T.,  was  born,  he 
located  at  Ellisburg,  becoming  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  that  locality.  He  died  there  in  1833, 
having  attained  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-three 
years.  October  26,  1800,  he  married  for  his 
second  wife,  Cynthia  Tillotson,  who  became  the 
mother  of  Nathan  T.  Holley.  She  was  born  Au- 
gust 16,  1771,  and  died  July  20,  1822. 

Nathan  T.  Holley,  who  was  born  January  2, 
1812,  passed  nearly  three-score  years  in  Ellis- 
burg. He  owned  several  farms  in  that  locality, 
and  dealt  in  live  stock  to  a  considerable  extent, 
amassing  a  comfortable  fortune.  In  1870  he  re- 
moved to  Oak  Park,  Illinois,  where  he  made 
some  judicious  investments  in  real  estate.  Among 
his  purchases  was  a  tract  of  five  acres  on  the 
north  side  of  Lake  Street,  which  he  subdivided, 
and  at  the  same  time  laid  out  the  thoroughfare 
known  as  Holley  Court.  He  died  in  that  village 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years,  February  2, 
1890.  He  was  a  man  of  excellent  judgment  and 
stable  character,  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church  and  identified  with  the  Masonic  order  in 


New  York.  In  early  life  he  was  a  Whig,  and 
later  a  Republican,  though  he  never  accepted  any 
public  office.  Mrs.  Martha  S.  Holley  died  Au- 
gust 9,  1845,  aged  twenty-six  years,  in  Ellisburg, 
the  place  where  she  was  born.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Lyman  and  Beulah  (Emerson)  Gid- 
dings, who  removed  from  Dorset,  Vermont,  to 
Ellisburg,  and  died  a  few  years  later.  She  was 
the  mother  of  five  children,  only  two  of  whom 
are  living,  namely:  Augusta  (Mrs.  O.  D.  Allen), 
of  Oak  Park,  and  Lyman  G.  N.  T.  Holley  mar- 
ried for  a  second  wife  Mrs.  Electa  Giddings, 
widow  of  Monroe  Giddings,  who  was  a  brother 
of  the  first  Mrs.  Holley.  He  was  married  the 
third  time  to  Mrs.  Sarah  Angeline,  widow  of 
Rev.  James  Manning,  who  still  lives  at  Oak  Park. 
Lyman  Giddings  Holley  was  educated  in  Union 
College  at  Schenectady,  New  York,  and  grad- 
uated in  1866  as  a  civil  engineer,  after  which  he  re- 
moved to  Chatfield,  Minnesota,  intending  to  follow 
his  occupation  of  engineer,  but  being  offered  a 
position  in  a  bank  he  accepted  and  remained  two 
years;  then  removed  to  Chicago  and  engaged  in 
the  grain  and  flour  commission  business,  being 
one  of  the  firm  of  Easton  &  Holley.  In  1872  the 
firm  name  changed  to  N.  T.  &  L.  G.  Holley, 
two' years  later  to  Holley,  Easton  &  Allen,  and 
in  1878  became  Holley  &  Allen,  which  continued 
until  1887.  Since  that  year  he  has  been  manager 
of  the  Pillsbury-Washburn  Flour  Mills  Com- 
pany in  Chicago,  supplying  the  trade  with  the 
product  of  that  concern,  which  is  everywhere 
recognized  as  a  staple  article  of  merchandise. 
Some  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  local  business 
done  may  be  gained  from  the  fact  that  it  fur- 


3<5o 


C.  A.  SCHROYER. 


nishes  fully  one-third  of  the  flour  sold  for  family 
consumption  in  Chicago. 

He  was  married  in  August,  1872,  to  Miss 
Minnie  Lyon,  daughter  of  Henry  Pilkington  and 
Margaret  (Miller)  Lyon,  of  Utica,  New  York,  .at 
which  place  Mrs.  Holley  was  born.  Since  their 
marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holley  have  been  resi- 
dents of  Oak  Park.  They  move  in  the  most 
select  circles  of  society  in  that  suburb,  which  is 
justly  celebrated  for  the  culture  and  intelligence 


of  its  people.  Since  1885  they  have  been  iden- 
tified with  the  First  Congregational  Church,  of 
which  society  Mr.  Holley  was  treasurer  fourteen 
years.  He  is  secretary  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  the  Scoville  Institute,  and  has  been  a  member 
of  that  body  from  its  incorporation.  While  tak- 
ing a  wholesome  interest  in  all  important  public 
movements,  Mr.  Holley  avoids  the  contaminating 
influence  of  politics,  but  casts  his  ballot  in  sup- 
port of  Republican  principles. 


CHARLES  A.  SCHROYER. 


QHARLES  A.  SCHROYER,  superintendent 
l(  of  the  car  shops  of  the  Chicago  &  North- 
Lj  western  Railroad  in  Chicago,  has  made  a 
specialty  of  car  construction  for  many  years  and 
acquired  his  present  responsible  position  as  the 
result  of  ripe  experience,  accompanied  by  supe- 
rior mechanical  skill  and  executive  ability.  He 
was  born  at  Milton,  Pennsylvania,  October  14, 
1853,  and  is  a  son  of  Allen  and  Rebecca  (Crites) 
Schroyer. 

The  grandfather  of  Allen  Schroyer  came  to  this 
country  from  Germany  before  the  Revolutionary 
War.  His  son,  Abraham  Schroyer,  the  father  of 
Allen,  was  a  skilled  artisan,  and  established  one 
of  the  first  piano  factories  in  America  at  Milton, 
Pennsylvania.  Most  of  the  product  of  this  estab- 
lishment was  shipped  by  water  to  Philadelphia, 
where  the  instruments  were  placed  on  exhibition 
and  sold.  His  granddaughter,  now  Mrs.  George 
Evans,  who  was  an  accomplished  musician,  often 
accompanied  the  shipment  of  goods  to  that  city, 
where  her  skill  was  employed  in  exhibiting  the 
pianos  to  best  advantage. 

Allen  Schroyer,  who  was  a  native  of  Berks 
County,  Pennsylvania,  continued  the  enterprise 
founded  by  his  father  for  a  time,  and  was  subse- 
quently engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cabinet 


goods  at  Lock  Haven  and  Bellefonte,  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  died  at  the  latter  place  in  1883,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight  years.  He  was  a  man 
of  firm  con'victions  and  was  very  pronounced  in 
the  expression  of  his  views  on  public  questions. 
He  held  to  the  Presbyterian  faith  in  religious 
matters,  and  was  one  of  the  early  advocates  of  the 
abolition  movement.  In  his  later  years  he  was 
identified  with  the  Republican  party. 

Mrs.  Rebecca  Schroyer  died  at  Oak  Park,  Ill- 
inois, November  4,  1892,  having  attained  the 
age  of  seventy-five  years.  She  was  born  at  Chil- 
lisquaque,  Northumberland  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  was  a  daughter  of  John  Adams  Crites, 
a  prominent  farmer  of  that  county,  who  was  also 
a  native  of  Germany.  He  was  the  father  of 
thirteen  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Schroyer  was 
the  youngest  and  the  latest  survivor.  She  was 
the  mother  of  five  sons  and  five  daughters,  of 
whom  the  following  is  the  record  :  Margaret  is 
the  wife  of  George  Evans  (who  was  previously 
mentioned  in  this  article),  of  Lock  Haven,  Penn- 
sylvania; Minnie,  Mrs.  Jonathan  Harper,  resides 
at  Bellefonte,  Pennsylvania,  which  place  is  also 
the  home  of  Maria,  Mrs.  Hoffman;  Louisa,  Mrs. 
Garvin,  died  at  the  same  place;  Lydia,  Mrs. 
Hathorne,  died  at  Williamsport,  Pennsylvania, 


FREDERICK  MILLER. 


361 


as  did  her  eldest  brother,  William;  Charles  A.  is 
the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  Benjamin  is  an  agent 
of  the  Adams  Express  Company  at  Hollidays- 
burgh,  Pennsylvania;  Hayes  is  an  auditor  of  the 
same  corporation  at  Altoona,  Pennsylvania;  and 
Harry  Hunter  is  a  dealer  in  groceries  at  Belle- 
fonte,  in  the  same  State. 

Charles  A.  Schroyer  attended  the  public  schools 
of  Lock  Haven  and  learned  the  trade  of  cabinet- 
maker. He  served  an  apprenticeship  of  five 
years  in  his  father's  shop,  acquiring  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  that  line  of  work,  which  has  always 
been  of  great  value  to  him.  In  1878  he  engaged 
in  car-building  in  the  shops  of  the  Philadelphia 
&  Erie  Railroad  at  Renova,  Pennsylvania. 
Thence  he  subsequently  went  to  Jefferson ville, 
Indiana,  where  he  was  employed  for  six  years  as 
car-builder  by  the  Ohio  Falls  Car  Company,  one 
of  the  leading  establishments  in  the  United  States 
in  the  construction  of  railway  coaches.  He  spent 
two  years  more  in  the  shops  of  the  Jeffersonville, 
Madison  &  Indianapolis  Railroad,  at  Indian- 
apolis, and  in  February,  1886,  entered  upon  his 
engagement  with  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroad  Company.  He  has  ever  since  been 
superintendent  of  the  immense  shops  of  this  cor- 
poration near  the  western  line  of  the  city,  and 
about  one  thousand  six  hundred  men  are  em- 
ployed under  his  charge,  including  several  hun- 
dred who  are  dispersed  along  the  lines  of  the 


system.  He  commands  the  highest  respect  of 
his  subordinates  and  associates,  both  as  an  arti- 
san and  as  a  gentleman,  and  under  his  careful 
and  systematic  management  this  gigantic  enter- 
prise proceeds  with  the  least  possible  friction  and 
delay.  The  results  accomplished  during  his 
eleven  years  in  this  connection  have  been  highly 
satisfactory  to  the  company,  as  is  attested  by  his 
long  continuance  in  the  responsible  position  he 
occupies. 

In  October,  1875,  Mr.  Schroyer  was  married  to 
Miss  Amanda  Galbraith,  daughter  of  Bartram 
and  Sarah  Galbraith,  of  Bellefonte,  Pennsylvania. 
In  1882  the  family  was  bereaved  by  the  death  of 
this  lady,  which  occurred  at  the  same  place, 
when  she  was  but  twenty-nine  years  of  age.  She 
was  a  devout  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  at 
Bellefonte,  in  which  she  had  worshipped  from 
childhood.  She  left  two  daughters,  Mary  and 
Minnie,  who  survive  to  cheer  their  father's  home. 
The  family  is  at  present  connected  with  the 
Methodist  Church  at  Oak  Park,  in  which  attract- 
ive suburb  it  has  resided  some  years.  Socially 
Mr.  Schroyer  is  identified  with  the  Oak  Park 
Club,  and  Harlem  Lodge,  Ancient  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons.  In  questions  involving  national 
issues,  he  has  always  supported  the  men  and 
measures  of  the  Republican  party,  but  finds  no 
time  for  participation  in  the  rewards  of  practical 
politics. 


FREDERICK  MILLER. 


f~  REDBRICK  MILLER,  oneof  the  landmarks 
r3  of  Taylor's  Addition,  sometimes  called  Cole- 
|  hour  or  East  South  Chicago,  was  born  March 
22,  1836,  in  Ifenack,  Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 
Germany.  His  father  bore  the  same  name  as  he. 
In  Germany  he  learned  the  trade  of  wagon-maker 
and  blacksmith,  but  he  was  too  ambitious  to  re- 


main there,  and  wished  for  wider  opportunities  than 
were  offered  to  young  men  in  his  own  country. 

In  the  spring  of  1857,  he  came  to  La  Porte,  In- 
diana, and  lived  there  until  1869,  when  he  came 
to  Chicago  and  started  a  shop  for  himself,  locating 
at  Blue  Island  Avenue  and  Henry  Street.  In 
March,  1880,  he  moved  to  South  Chicago,  and 


362 


G.  W.  SHEARBURN. 


bought  some  property  on  Sixth  Avenue  (now  Av- 
enue J) ,  where  he  started  another  shop.  In  1883 
he  bought  his  present  place  of  business  at  No. 
9915  Avenue  K.  He  however  still  owns  the 
property  on  Avenue  J. 

Just  before  leaving  Germany,  in  1857,  he  mar- 
ried Louisa  Koch,  a  native  of  the  village  in  which 
he  was  born,  and  they  came  to  America  together. 
Their  children  are:  William,  Jacob  and  Augusta. 
In  politics  Mr.  Miller  is  a  supporter  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  He  is  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  of 


South  Chicago,  and  is  honored  and  respected  by 
the  early  settlers  of  the  city.  He  is  a  hard  work- 
ing, honest  mechanic,  who  has  prospered  only  by 
his  own  industry,  thrift  and  frugality.  He  has 
enough  of  this  world's  goods  to  make  himself  and 
his  family  comfortable,  and  in  his  wife  he  has  a 
good  helpmate.  Having  lived  in  South  Chicago 
long  enough  to  have  the  opportunity  of  seeing  its 
every  period  of  growth,  he  is  especially  interested 
in  all  that  concerns  its  welfare  and  that  of  its  in- 
habitants. 


GEORGE  W.  SHEARBURN. 


0EORGE  WILSON  SHEARBURN,  a  trusted 
l_  employe  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
^|  Railway  and  a  well-known  citizen  of  River 
Forest,  was  born  in  Whitby,  Yorkshire,  England, 
March  25,  1848.  His  father,  George  Linol 
Shearburn,  was  also  born  in  Whitby,  where  he 
became  a  farmer,  following  the  occupation  of  his 
father,  Thomas  Shearburn.  George  L.  Shear- 
burn  married  Margaretta  Wilson,  and  in  1851 
emigrated  to  America,  locating  in  Macoupin 
County,  Illinois.  There  he  purchased  land  and 
carried  on  general  farming.  He  subsequently  re- 
moved to  Mendota,  La  Salle  County,  Illinois, 
where  he  bought  a  farm  and  made  his  home  until 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  July, 
1891.  Mrs.  Margaretta  Shearburn  passed  away 
at  the  same  place  in  June,  1886.  Ten  children 
were  born  to  this  worthy  couple,  of  whom  the 
following  is  the  record:  George  W.  is  the  subject 
of  this  notice;  John  died  in  infancy;  Thomas  is 
a  farmer  at  Ohio,  Bureau  County,  Illinois;  Ben- 
jamin W.  is  a  farmer  at  Nodaway,  Adams  Coun- 
ty, Iowa;  Elizabeth  Ann  resides  at  Mendota, 
Illinois;  William  Finder  is  a  fanner  at  Corning, 
Adams  County,  Iowa;  Mary  Caroline  is  the  wife 


of  James  Armstrong,  of  Ohio,  Bureau  County, 
Illinois;  Arthur  is  a  physician  at  Walnut,  in  the 
same  county;  Edwin  W.  resides  on  the  old  home- 
stead at  Mendota,  Illinois;  and  Phcebe  Emma 
died  in  September,  1894. 

George  W.  Shearburn  was  but  three  years  of 
-age  when  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  his  parents, 
to  find  a  home  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois.  He  re- 
ceived such  educational  advantages  as  were  offered 
by  the  country  schools  of  Macoupin  County,  and 
alternated  farm  labor  with  attendance  at  school. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  went  to  the  city  of  Peo- 
ria,  with  the  intention  of  learning  the  trade  of 
cabinetmaker.  Not  liking  that  occupation,  he 
returned  to  farm  work,  which  he  followed  until 
1874.  In  that  year  he  came  to  Chicago  and  en- 
tered the  employ  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railway  Company,  and  has  ever  since  been  con- 
nected with  that  corporation.  His  first  position 
was  that  of  brakeman,  which,  together  with  that 
of  train  baggage-man,  occupied  seven  years.  For 
two  years  he  was  cashier  in  the  baggage  depart- 
ment, and  in  1883  he  became  a  clerk  in  the  general 
baggage  department.  He  has  served  in  this  ca- 
pacity fourteen  years,  and  his  long  period  of  serv- 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

DIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


IOHN  M.  RICE 


i  E;rom  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


J.  M.  RICE. 


363 


ice  is  sufficient  evidence  of  his  reliability  and  of 
the  value  of  his  services  to  the  corporation  he 
serves. 

May  8,  1878,  Mr.  Shearburn  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Libbie  Jennette  Gilson.  She 
was  born  in  Syracuse,  New  York,  and  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  Lester  J.  and  Jennette  (Carpenter)  Gilson. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gilson  lived  many  yeajs  in  Men- 
dota,  Illinois,  and  later  removed  to  Chicago, 
where  they  still  reside.  Three  children  have 
blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shearburn,  of 
whom  two  are  living,  Edna  Jennette  and  Ray- 
mond L.  The  family  has  resided  in  River  Forest 


since  June,  1884,  and  is  connected  with  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  of  that  place.  Mr.  Shear- 
burn  is  a  member  of  General  Grant  Council  No. 
916,  Royal  Arcanum,  of  Oak  Park.  His  genial 
disposition  and  excellent  social  qualities  have 
made  him  popular  among  his  associates,  and  his 
fine  business  ability  induced  his  fellow-citizens  to 
elect  him  clerk  of  the  village  of  River  Forest  in 
1888.  With  the  exception  of  the  year  1892  he 
has  held  the  office  continuously  since,  to  the  emi- 
nent satisfaction  of  all  concerned.  In  national 
affairs  he  uniformly  supports  the  men  and 
measures  of  the  Democratic  party. 


JOHN  M.  RICE. 


(JOHN  MILTON  RICE,  a  prominent  business 
I  man  of  Austin,  was  born  in  Freeport,  Illinois, 
G/  May  26,  1845.  He  is  the  son  of  John  and 
Milvira  (Williams)  Rice.  John  Rice  was  a  son 
of  Gershom  Rice,  and  was  born  in  Burlington, 
Vermont.  Gershom  Rice  was  a  farmer  in  Ver- 
mont and  a  son  of  John  Rice,  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Revolutionary  Army.  The  latter  enlisted  from 
Mansfield,  Connecticut.  He  was  of  Welsh  lin- 
eage. 

John  Rice,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  no- 
tice, was  a  contractor  and  builder  in  western  New 
York.  About  1838  he  went  to  Ann  Arbor,  Mich- 
igan, and  from  there  to  Freeport,  Illinois,  where 
he  continued  the  business  of  contracting  with 
great  success.  In  1854  he  abandoned  that  busi- 
ness and  spent  most  of  the  remainder  of  his  life  as 
a  missionary.  He  went  first  to  Nauvoo,  Illinois, 
and  established  the  first  public  school  ever  there, 
and  also  the  first  church,  hiring  the  minister  and 
teacher  at  his  own  expense.  He  spent  several 
years  in  this  place,  working  to  christianize  the 
people.  The  town  had  been  abandoned  by  the 
Mormons  a  short  time  before  he  went  there.  His 


next  field  of  labor  was  Carlinville,  Illinois,  where 
he  established  a  fruit  farm,  having  been  attracted 
thither  by  the  excellent  schools  of  that  place, 
which  afforded  a  good  opportunity  for  the  educa- 
tion of  his  growing  family.  Later  he  lived  at 
Riverside,  near  Hamilton,  Hancock  County,  Illi- 
nois, and  in  the  spring  of  1865  he  came  to  Chi- 
cago, living  here  about  three  years.  In  1868  he 
went  to  Quincy,  and  from  there  he  moved  to 
Hematite,  Missouri,  where  the  remainder  of  his 
days  were  spent.  Froni  1862  he  did  much  mis- 
sionary work,  and  built  several  churches  at  dif- 
ferent places,  his  missionary  work  at  first  being  in 
behalf  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  not 
educated  for  the  ministry,  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church  refused  to  ordain  him  to  preach.  While 
living  at  Riverside  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  and  after  that  his  mis- 
sionary work  was  done  in  the  interest  of  that  de- 
nomination. He  died  at  Hematite,  Missouri,  No- 
vember 19,  1880,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years. 
Mrs.  Milvira  Rice,  wife  of  John  Rice,  was  born 
in  Allegany  County,  New  York,  and  was  the 
daughter  of  John  Williams  (a  millwright)  and 


364 


N.  H.  KRANSZ. 


Sally  (Wright)  Williams.  Like  her  husband, 
she  was  a  devout  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  She  died  November  30,  1856,  at  the  age 
of  forty-three  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Rice 
were  the  parents  of  the  following  children:  Julia 
V.,  widow  of  James  Molineaux,  of  Rogers  Park, 
Illinois;  John  M.;  Harvey  J.,  of  Huron,  South 
Dakota;  Irene  R.  (Mrs.  Cunningham),  whodied 
in  Chicago;  and  Ella  J. ,  who  is  a  resident  of 
New  York. 

John  M.  Rice  attended  Blackburn  Theological 
Seminary,  at  Carlinville,  Illinois,  where  he  pur- 
sued a  scientific  course.  Before  completing  the 
same,  he  enlisted,  August  24,  1861,  in  Company 
C,  Thirty-second  Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  mus- 
tered out  July  19,  1865.  He  took  part  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Shiloh,  being  in  the  Western  Army.  He 
also  participated  in  the  Corinth,  the  Vicksburg 
and  the  Atlanta  campaigns.  He  was  taken  pris- 
oner by  Hood's  troops  soon  after  the  fall  of  At- 
lanta, together  with  part  of  his  own  regiment  and 
the  veteran  portion  of  the  Fourteenth  and  Fif- 
teenth Illinois,  who  were  employed  on  a  skirmish 
line.  He  was  a  prisoner  from  this  time  to  the 
close  of  the  war,  at  Milan,  Savannah,  Blackshear, 
and  Anderson ville,  at  which  latter  place  he  spent 
six  months.  April  28,  1865,  he  was  turned  over 
to  the  Union  lines  at  Jacksonville,  Florida.  He 
was  brought  by  rail  within  twenty  miles  of  the 


lines,  which  he  reached  in  a  very  short  time  by 
walking,  being  more  vigorous  than  many  of  his 
comrades.  He  saw  all  the  principal  features  of 
the  war. 

In  1865  he  came  to  Chicago,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  business  of  building,  and  after  two  years 
began  contracting,  which  he  has  followed  since. 
Since  i86c)  he  has  lived  in  Austin,  where  he  has 
erected  many  buildings.  He  has  built  many  pub- 
lic buildings,  such  as  post-offices  and  court  hous- 
es, in  all  the  States  of  the  Northwest.  He  is  in- 
terested in  quartz  mills  in  Arizona,  and  has  also 
been  interested  in  other  enterprises. 

In  1866  he  married  Miss  Lottie,  daughter  of 
Orrin  and  Myra  Rice,  of  Adrian,  Illinois.  She 
was  born  in  Defiance,  Ohio.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  four  children,  namely:  Lottie  M.,  Helen 
A.,  Myra  K.  and  Irene  B.  The  family  is  con- 
nected with  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Austin.  Mr.  Rice  has  always  favored  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Republican  party,  and  has  filled  a 
number  of  the  principal  offices  of  the  town  of 
Cicero.  He  is  a  member  of  Columbia  Post,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  and  of  Siloam  Command- 
ery,  Knights  Templar.  He  is  a  prominent  Ma- 
son, having  taken  the  thirty-second  degree,  and 
being  a  member  of  the  Mystic  Shrine.  He  is  a 
valuable  citizen  of  Austin,  and  is  universally  ad- 
mired and  respected. 


NICHOLAS  H.  KRANSZ. 


NICHOLAS  HENRY  KRANSZ,  the  eldest 

|  /  son  of  Nicholas  and  Margaret  (Faber) 
|/5  Kransz,  was  born  October  9,  1851,  near 
where  he  now  lives.  He  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  and  reared  to  farm  life,  which  pur- 
suit he  followed  until  1879,  at  which  time  he  en- 
gaged in  the  insurance  business,  in  which  he  has 


been  continuously  engaged  since.  He  has  been 
in  the  employ  of  the  Home  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany for  a  period  of  twelve  years,  having  pre- 
viously been  with  the  American  Insurance  Com- 
pany. 

Mr.    Kransz    is  a    Republican  in  politics,  and 
has  taken   a  lively  interest  in  the  success  of  his 


MICHAEL  CARTER. 


365 


party.  He  served  about  five  years  on  the  school 
board  of  Lake  View.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Cath- 
olic Order  of  Foresters  and  the  National  Union. 
October  7,  1880,  he  married  Miss  Sophia  Dil- 
ger,  who  was  born  in  Cook  County,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Frank  Paul  and  Charlotte  (Wollner) 
Dilger,  natives  of  Prussia,  and  early  settlers  of 
Cook  County,  both  now  deceased.  Mr.  Dilger 
was  born  April  2,  1828,  and  died  in  Cook  County, 
December  26,  1872.  Mrs.  Dilger,  born  March 
7,  1831,  died  November  24,  1869.  They  had  a 


family  of  nine  children,  five  of  whom  are  now 
living,  namely:  Frank  Paul,  of  Milwaukee; 
Robert  F.,  of  Rosehill;  Mrs.  Kransz  is  next; 
Mathias  P.,  of  Waukegan;  and  Anna,  wife  of 
William  Volk,  of  No.  1936  South  Ashland  Ave- 
nue, Chicago. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kransz  have  had  three  children, 
namely:  Charles,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eight 
years;  Lydia  and  Margaret.  They  are  all  mem- 
bers of  Saint  Henry's  Church,  and  most  esti- 
mable people. 


MICHAEL  CARTER. 


ly/llCHAEL  CARTER,  who  has  been  for 
IV I  many  years  a  citizen  of  Oak  Park,  was 
\(S\  born  in  Antigouish,  Nova  Scotia,  April  27, 
1827.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Bridget 
(O'Neal)  Carter,  who  emigrated  from  Limerick, 
Ireland,  to  Nova  Scotia  about  1818.  Thomas 
Carter  was  a  farmer  in  both  countries  and  be- 
longed to  that  sturdy  class  of  Irish  emigrants 
which  has  given  the  New  World  so  many  noble 
men  and  women.  He  was  a  friend  to  education 
and  was  instrumental  in  organizing  the  first 
school  in  his  locality  in  Nova  Scotia.  He  was 
twice  married,  his  first  wife  being  Margaret 
Gallagher,  who  died  in  Ireland,  leaving  five 
children,  of  whom  the  following  is  the  record: 
John  died  in  St.  John's,  Newfoundland;  Mar- 
garet, Mrs.  Ronan,  died  in  Maiden,  Massachu- 
setts; Francis  and  Thomas  died  in  New  Bruns- 
wick; and  William,  whose  home  was  in  Cape 
Ann,  Massachusetts,  was  drowned  at  sea.  Mrs. 
Bridget  Carter  was  the  mother  of  nine  children, 
of  whom  Michael  is  the  only  known  survivor. 
The  names  and  residences  of  the  others  were  as 
follows:  Henry,  on  the  old  homestead  in  Nova 


Scotia;  Ann,  Mrs.  Powers,  Antigonish,  Nova 
Scotia;  James,  Dubuque,  Iowa;  Mary,  Mrs. 
Cluney,  Sacramento,  California;  Bridget,  Mrs. 
Coffin,  Lawrence,  Massachusetts;  Daniel,  Boston, 
Massachusetts;  George,  Woburn,  Massachusetts; 
and  Joseph,  Barre,  Vermont.  George  was  a 
member  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment,  Massachu- 
setts Infantry,  and  was  wounded  at  Newbern, 
North  Carolina.  Joseph,  who  was  a  stone  cut- 
ter by  occupation,  possessed  considerable  literary 
genius  and  was  the  author  of  a  number  of  poems. 
Thomas  Carter  died  in  Newfoundland  in  1863, 
aged  about  eighty  years.  Mrs.  Bridget  Carter 
passed  away  at  Lawrence,  Massachusetts,  in  1870, 
aged  about  seventy  years. 

Michael  Carter,  who  is  the  fifth  child  in  the 
family  of  his  parents,  remained  in  Nova  Scotia 
until  he  reached  his  majority,  attending  the 
school  which  his  father  had  helped  to  establish. 
Like  most  schools  of  that  day  its  methods  were 
crude  and  its  course  of  study  quite  limited. 
Though  of  a  studious  and  thoughtful  nature  he 
was  somewhat  repelled  by  the  harsh  measures 
then  prevalent,  and  much  preferred  to  study  na- 


366 


MICHAEL  CARTER. 


ture  by  himself  and  to  give  his  attention  to  such 
studies  as  pleased  his  fancy.  Still  he  acquired 
considerable  general  knowledge,  and  in  later 
years  became  a  careful  reader,  especially  of 
poetry.  In  1858  he  removed  to  Massachusetts, 
landing  at  Newburyport,  and  going  thence  to 
Cambridge.  There  he  made  his  home  for  nearly 
ten  years,  during  most  of  which  time  he  was  en- 
gaged in  raising  vegetables  for  the  Boston  market. 
Living  in  the  midst  of  such  classical  surround- 
ings, he  naturally  formed  the  acquaintance  of  a 
number  of  noted  literary  men,  whose  influence 
helped  to  develop  his  taste  for  choice  reading. 
Upon  leaving  Cambridge  he  invested  his  savings 
in  land  at  Butler,  Jackson  County,  Iowa,  but 
owing  to  his  inexperience  in  selecting  western 
lands,  this  venture  was  unsuccessful. 

In  1865  he  removed  to  Oak  Park,  Illinois, 
where  he  has  since  carried  on  market-gardening, 
renting  land  first  from  H.  W.  Austin  and  later 
from  J.  W.  Scoville.  His  labors  in  this  direction 
have  been  blessed  with  a  reasonable  degree  of 
success,  and  though  he  still  operates  a  small 
area,  he  has  practically  retired  from  active  busi- 
ness. 

August  19,  1852,  Mr.  Carter  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Catharine  Mooney,  a  native 
of  Nova  Scotia,  and  a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary 
(Dunfey)  Mooney,  both  of  whom  were  born  in 
County  Derry,  Ireland.  Ten  children  have 
blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carter,  of 
whom  the  record  is  as  follows:  George  died  in 
Austin,  Illinois,  in  1883;  Louis  and  Harriet  died 
in  infancy;  Mary,  a  teacher  in  the  Chicago  schools, 
resides  with  her  parents;  Ann  is  a  teacher  in 
Chicago;  Joseph  is  Indian  agent  for  the  United 
States  at  the  Flathead  Reservation  in  Montana; 
Sarah,  Mrs.  Ambrose  Mullen,  resides  at  Austin, 
Illinois;  James  W.  is  a  dealer  in  coal  and  ice  at 
Oak  Park;  Frank  is  a  dealer  in  bicycles  at  Butte 
City,  Montana;  and  Clement  died  at  the  Flat- 
head  Agency  in  Montana  in  1892. 

In  the  spring  of.  1894  Mr.  Carter  made  a  trip 
to  Montana,  visiting  his  son  at  the  Flathead 
Agency,  and  spending  about  four  months  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  His  account  of  his  adventures 
and  experiences  is  very  interesting.  He  pos- 


sesses the  true  poetic  instinct,  and  his  descrip- 
tions of  nature  betoken  keen  observation.  Among 
many  excursions  which  he  made  were  one  to 
Flathead  Lake  and  another  to  McDonald's  Peak. 
The  latter  had  been  scaled  but  once  before  by  a 
white  man,  but  Mr.  Carter's  party  went  nearly 
to  the  summit,  and  his  story  of  the  climb  and  at- 
tending circumstances  is  most  realistic.  A  quota- 
tion is  here  given:  "As  we  feasted  our  eyes  on 
this  magnificent  array  of  peaks  and  domes  and 
minarets,  we  little  dreamed  of  what  the  Moun- 
tain God  was  preparing  for  us,  till,  some  one 
glancing  downward,  noticed  and  remarked  numer- 
ous bodies  of  fleecy  clouds  collecting  below  us. 
They  looked  like  hundreds  of  millions  of  tons  of 
cotton  batting,  and  the  sun  shining  upon  them 
made  them  look  a  sea  of  silver.  The  surround- 
ing mountains  seemed  to  have  been  submerged, 
and  none  but  the  highest  peaks  were  to  be  seen. 
When,  all  at  once,  there  was  an  explosion  at  our 
feet,  and  for  a  moment  we  seemed  to  be  petrified 
and  awe-stricken  as  it  dawned  upon  us  that  a 
thunder  storm  was  raging  below  us,  while  we 
stood  upon  our  giddy  perch,  with  the  sun  shining 
brightly  above  our  heads  and  not  a  cloud  in  the 
sky.  But  all  eyes  were  directed  downward,  for 
such  a  sight  we  had  never  witnessed  before.  The 
clouds,  pierced  and  lashed  by  the  lightning, 
seemed  to  sink  and  roll  and  tumble,  while  the 
thunder  sounded  more  like  explosions  than  any- 
thing else  I  can  liken  it  to.  We  expected  to  find 
the  mountain  torn  to  pieces,  provided  we  should 
be  able  to  make  the  descent,  as  silently,  with 
bated  breath,  we  picked  our  way  down  the  side 
of  the  mountain." 

Mr.  Carter  is  a  member  of  St.  Luke's  Catholic 
Church  of  River  Forest.  In  political  faith  he 
was  originally  a  Democrat,  but  in  the  years  im- 
mediately preceding  the  Civil  War  his  love  of 
liberty  and  just-ice  caused  him  to  affiliate  with  the 
Republican  party,  and  he  has  since  supported  its 
doctrines.  He  is  intensely  patriotic  and  is  ever 
ready  to  protest  against  any  measure  tending  to 
destroy  true  American  sentiments.  He  keeps 
fully  abreast  of  the  times  in  current  events,  and 
spends  considerable  time  in  general  reading  and 
reflection. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


MRS.  M.  A.  ROBERTS 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


MRS.  M.  A.  ROBERTS. 


367 


MRS.  MARGARET  A.  ROBERTS. 


|RS.  MARGARET  AGNES  ROBERTS,  a 
well-known  member  of  North  Side  society 
in  Chicago,  and  a  lady  of  rare  discrimina- 
tion and  business  ability,  has  been  long  a  resident 
of  the  city,  and  is  a  daughter  of  one  of  its  pioneers. 
Her  father,  Edmond  Gleason,  was  born  near 
Thirles,  Ireland,  and  was  educated  for  the  priest- 
hood. His  father  was  a  highly  educated  man 
and  a  landed  proprietor,  a  scion  of  an  old  and 
wealthy  family  of  the  West  of  Ireland.  The 
name  is  derived  from  the  dwellers  in  a  famous 
glen  of  that  region,  and  is  very  ancient. 

Edmond  Gleason  was  not  desirous  of  entering 
the  priesthood,  and  decided  to  emigrate  to  Ameri- 
ca. Soon  after  his  arrival  he  was  married,  in 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  to  Miss  Hannah  Gleason, 
who  was  no  relative,  though  bearing  the  same 
name.  They  settled  on  a  farm  near  Burlington, 
Vermont,  and  remained  there  ten  years.  In  1836 
Mr.  Gleason  paid  a  visit  of  exploration  to  Chi- 
cago, and  concluded  to  remain,  being  followed  by 
his  family  the  next  year.  The  father  died  in  St. 
Louis,  Missouri,  and  the  mother  expired  at  the 
home  of  her  daughter,  Margaret  A.,  in  Chicago, 
May  22,  1878,  aged  eighty-eight  years.  When 
the  family  arrived  in  Chicago  it  included  two 
daughters,  Mary  and  Margaret  A.;  and  a  son  and 
daughter,  John  and  Ellen,  were  born  in  Wau- 
kegan. 


Margaret  Agnes  (Gleason)  Roberts  was  educa- 
ted in  Chicago.  She  was  married  here  to  Andrew 
Gilbert  Benton,  a  son  of  a  New  York  State  clergy- 
man. Mr.  Benton  was  a  clothing  merchant  in 
Freeport,  Illinois,  where  he  died  August  22,1852. 
He  left  a  son,  Charles  F.  Benton,  now  a  resident 
of  Chicago. 

In  1857  Mrs.  Benton  became  the  wife  of  Russell 
M.  Roberts,  of  Chicago,  a  native  of  Binghamton, 
New  York,  who  died  in  August,  1871.  The 
children  of  this  union  are  William  Olney  and 
Marie  Genevieve  Roberts.  Mrs.  Roberts  has 
been  a  resident  of  Chicago  nearly  all  her  life.  She 
takes  a  keen  interest  in  all  things  pertaining  to 
the  history  of  the  city,  and  is  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Old  Settlers'  Society  of  Cook  County, 
being  one  of  its  best-posted  sustainers. 

Being  at  one  time,  by  force  of  circumstances, 
left  to  her  own  resources,  Mrs.  Roberts  made  such 
good  use  of  her  quick  mind  and  willing  hands  as 
to  accumulate  a  comfortable  provision  for  future 
years.  She  has  a  host  of  friends  who  honor  her 
for  her  independence  and  strength  of  character,  as 
well  as  for  her  kind  deeds,  whose  number  is 
known  only  to  a  few,  though  generally  appre- 
ciated. She  has  a  strong  love  for  her  home  and 
friends,  is  still  in  possession  of  the  keenest  facul- 
ties, and  is  well  known  among  the  society  people 
of  Chicago. 


368 


PETER  REINBERG. 


PETER  REINBERG. 


pvETER  REINBERG,  an  extensive  florist  of 
Lj/  Chicago,  is  not  only  a  representative  of  an 
JC)  old  pioneer  family  of  the  city,  but  is  a  lead- 
ing representative  of  his  business  in  the  West. 
His  parents,  Henry  and  Katherine  Reinberg, 
were  natives  of  Germany,  and  were  married  in 
their  native  land.  Soon  after  their  marriage 
they  resolved  to  try  their  fortune  in  the  free  land 
across  the  Atlantic.  So,  leaving  home,  friends 
and  familiar  scenes,  with  little  hope  of  ever  seeing 
them  again,  they  set  out  with  brave  hearts,  in 
1847,  to  begin  life  where  every  face  was  strange, 
and  where  business  must  be  conducted  in  a  lan- 
guage unknown  to  them,  and  which  must  be 
acquired  by  slow  study  and  at  the  cost  of  many 
unpleasant  experiences.  Landing  in  New  York, 
they  were  so  fortunate  as  to  find  employment  at 
once,  and  with  willing  hands  did  they  toil  to 
make  a  beginning  in  the  new  world.  Upon 
arrival,  Mr.  Reinberg  was  in  debt  ten  dollars, 
and  had  only  seven  cents  in  his  pocket,  but  his 
industry  and  good  habits  soon  made  him  friends, 
and  with  the  aid  of  his  good  wife  he  was  able  at 
the  end  of  a  year  to  begin  business  on  his  own 
account. 

After  remaining  in  New  York  a  year  they  came 
to  Chicago  and  soon  secured  a  few  acres  of  land 
in  Lake  View  Township,  Cook  County.  From 
this  time  until  his  death  Mr.  Reinberg  engaged 
in  gardening  for  the  city  market,  and  was  very 
successful.  He  did  not  abandon  his  early  habits 


of  industry  and  thrift,  and  was  enabled  gradually 
to  extend  his  holdings  until  they  included  eighty 
acres  of  land.  All  this  was  accomplished,  with 
no  aid  except  the  co-operation  of  his  faithful  wife, 
in  a  strange  land,  before  he  reached  the  age  of 
fifty-nine  years,  when  he  died,  in  1881.  His 
widow  survived  him  fourteen  years,  reaching  the 
age  of  seventy-one  years.  Mr.  Reinberg  was  a 
public-spirited  citizen,  identified  in  politics  with 
the  Democratic  party,  but  was  never  a  seeker  for 
public  honors.  He  passed  away  at  an  early  age, 
mourned  by  a  wide  circle  of  acquaintances,  and 
all  who  knew  him  honored  him  for  his  sterling 
honesty  and  sturdy  character. 

His  family  included  two  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, all  of  whom  are  living  in  Cook  County,  as 
follows:  Margaret,  wife  of  Mathias  Weiland,  of 
Evanston;  Mary,  widow  of  Lawrence  Zender, 
Rosehill;  Katherine,  Mrs.  Peter  Smith,  Rogers 
Park;  Anna,  wife  of  Mr.  Hoffman,  a  confectioner 
in  Chicago;  Peter,  whose  name  heads  this  article; 
Lena,  wife  of  Adam  Zender,  Rogers  Park;  and 
George,  a  gardener  of  Chicago. 

Peter  Reinberg  was  born  March  5,  1858,  in 
Chicago,  and  was  educated  in  the  public  school 
and  Saint  Henry's  parish  school.  The  intervals  of 
school  life  were  filled  by  assisting  his  father  in  the 
cultivation  of  vegetables,  and  he  was  early  made 
familiar  with  the  duties  and  labors  of  a  market- 
gardener.  He  began  business  for  himself  in  this 
line  in  1883,  and  won  the  success  due  to  industry 


JOHN  HUNTINGTON. 


369 


and  prudence.  Four  years  later  he  commenced 
the  cultivation  of  flowers,  and  has  gradually  ex- 
tended his  operations  until  he  has  about  seven 
acres  under  glass.  He  gives  attention  chiefly  to 
the  cultivation  of  roses  and  carnations,  and  em- 
ploys twenty-five  men  in  his  greenhouses  alone. 
He  maintains  a  wholesale  house  at  No.  51  Wa- 
bash  Avenue,  where  five  men  are  constantly 
engaged  in  packing  and  shipping  cut  flowers. 
The  trade  is  confined  to  this  branch  of  the  indus- 
try, and  the  products  are  shipped  East,  South  and 
West,  some  of  them  going  as  far  as  Denver, 
Colorado.  Mr.  Reinberg  has  built  up  a  steady 
patronage,  and  has  no  seasons,  the  business  being 
almost  uniform  throughout  the  year.  He  is  a 


member  of  the  Chicago  Horticultural  Society, 
and  has  won  many  prizes  at  the  local  flower 
shows. 

Following  the  example  of  his  parents,  Mr. 
Reinberg  is  a  faithful  member  of  Saint  Henry's 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  adheres  to  the 
Democratic  party  in  political  contests.  He  gives 
his  earnest  attention  to  his  own  concerns  and 
does  not  seek  to  manage  those  of  others,  either 
as  a  meddler  or  in  official  positions.  His  only 
association  with  fraternal  orders  consists  in  mem- 
bership in  North  Shore  Commandery,  Catholic 
Order  of  Foresters.  In  May,  1883,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Mary  Kronenberger,  a  native  of 
Cook  County,  of  German  parentage. 


JOHN  HUNTINGTON. 


(JOHN  HUNTINGTON,  of  Niles  Township, 
I  is  an  honored  pioneer  of  Cook  County.  He 
(*/  is  a  native  of  Stephentown,  Rensselaer  Coun- 
ty, New  York,  born  September  9,  1824,  and  is 
descended  from  Revolutionary  stock.  His  par- 
ents were  Ezekiel  and  Phebe  (Berry)  Hunting- 
ton,  natives  of  Connecticut.  The  grandfather 
was  also  named  Ezekiel,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
descended  from  the  same  family  as  Samuel  Hunt- 
ington,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  of  which  C.  P.  Huntington, 
the  great  railroad  king,  is  also  a  scion. 

The  father  of  John  Huntington  came  to  New 
York  State  when  five  years  of  age,  and  was 
reared  on  a  farm.  He  was  born  in  Connecticut, 
March  30,  1790,  and  his  wife,  Mary  Berry  Hunt- 
ington, December  25,  1791.  He  followed  fann- 
ing all  his  life,  and  was  prominent  in  public  af- 
fairs. He  served  several  years  as  justice  of  the 
peace  and  as  sheriff  of  his  county.  He  died  at 


the  age  of  eighty-nine  years,  and  his  wife  passed 
away  several  years  before  his  death. 

John  Huntington  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  obtained  a  limited  education  in  the 
subscription  schools,  which  has  been  largely  sup- 
plemented by  private  reading  and  in  the  practical 
business  affairs  of  life.  He  remained  at  home 
until  of  age,  when  he  began  life  for  himself.  He 
carried  on  farming  and  teaming  until  he  came 
West. 

In  December,  1845,  he  married  Miss  Sarah 
Ann  Finch,  a  native  of  the  same  county  as  him- 
self. In  1855,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  three 
children,  he  came  to  Cook  County,  locating  in 
Niles  Township  on  the  ist  of  April.  The  town- 
ship was  then  but  sparsely  settled.  He  was  for 
some  time  sawyer  in  the  mill  of  Robert  Heartt  and 
John  Gray.  About  a  year  and  a-half  after  his 
arrival,  he  bought  four  acres  of  land. 

In   1857  he  bought  the  stage  line  running  be- 


37« 


JOHN  PROESEL. 


tween  "Dutchman's  Point"  (Niles)  and  Chicago, 
and  ran  the  mail  route  for  a  period  of  about  fifteen 
years.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  engaged  in 
various  occupations,  farming,  teaming  and  similar 
employments.  Mr.  Huntington  was  a  Whig  in 
early  life,  and  has  been  a  Republican  since  the 
organization  of  that  party.  He  has  always  taken 
a  lively  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  especially 
in  educational  matters,  having  served  a  number 
of  years  on  the  school  board.  In  1872  he  was 
elected  supervisor  of  Niles  Township,  and  served 
two  years. 

By  his  first  marriage  he  had  five  children, 
namely:  Julia,  the  wife  of  David  Evans,  of  Chi- 
cago; Phoebe,  wife  of  John  W.  Hamilton,  of  Chi- 
cago (a  flour  dealer) ;  Fidelia,  now  Mrs.  Alex- 
ander Robinson,  of  Chicago;  John,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  three  months;  and  Marvin,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  three  and  one-half  years.  They 
adopted  a  boy  who  bore  the  name  of  Edward 


John,  who  is  now  living  in  Maine  Township. 
Mrs.  Huntington  died  in  1880,  aged  fifty  years. 

August  18,  1881,  Mr.  Huntington  married 
Mrs.  Christena  McKay,  widow  of  John  McKay. 
She  had  been  previously  married  to  Mr.  John 
Tarplit,  by  whom  she  had  two  children,  James 
Tarplit,  of  San  Francisco;  and  Margaret,  wife 
of  James  Sharp,  of  Washington,  District  of 
Columbia.  After  his  death  she  married  Mr.  Mc- 
Kay, but  they  had  no  children.  Mrs.  Hunting- 
ton  is  a  Canadian  by  birth,  and  of  Scotch  origin. 
She  is  the  daughter  of  Hugh  McKay,  of  Simcoe 
County,  Ontario,  and  came  to  Chicago  in  the 
year  1865. 

Mr.  Huntington  is  not  a  member  of  any  church, 
but  Mrs.  Huntington  is  a  Methodist.  Mr.  Hunt- 
ington has  always  been  an  industrious  and  en- 
terprising citizen,  ever  ready  to  espouse  the  cause 
of  the  public  welfare,  and  winning  the  respect 
and  admiration  of  the  community. 


JOHN  PROESEL. 


n  OHN  PROESEL,  a  prominent  German  farm- 
I  er  of  Cook  County,  was  born  in  Bavaria, 
Q)  Germany,  in  October,  1835.  He  was  the 
son  of  George  and  Magdaline  Proesel,  both  na- 
tives of  Bavaria.  They  came,  with  their  family  of 
six  children,  to  the  United  States  in  1845.  They 
embarked  on  a  sailing-ship  from  Bremen,  Ger- 
many, their  sea  voyage  taking  several  weeks. 
From  New  York  they  went  by  way  of  Albany  to 
Buffalo,  and  by  the  Great  Lakes  to  Chicago,  at 
which  place  they  arrived  on  November  ist.  Mr. 
Proesel  had  two  thousand  dollars,  and,  coming 
direct  to  Niles  Township,  bought  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  sixty  acres,  in  section  35.  At  that  time 
there  were  but  a  few  settlers  between  him  and 


Gross  Point.  He  set  about  clearing  and  improv- 
ing the  land,  and  followed  farming  until  his 
death,  in  1884,  aged  eighty-two  years.  His  wife 
died  in  1890,  aged  eighty-nine  years  and  nine 
months.  Their  children  were:  Joseph,  now  of 
Livingston  County,  Illinois;  Katharine,  wife  of 
Frank  Alles,  living  on  Division  Street,  near  Clark 
Street,  Chicago;  George,  deceased;  John,  of  this 
article;  John  Baptiste,  of  Lawrence  Avenue,  Chi- 
cago; and  Anna,  wife  of  Henry  Brandt,  of  Rog- 
ers Park. 

As  John  Proesel  was  but  ten  years  of  age  when 
he  came  from  Germany,  and  the  country  being 
new  where  he  settled,  he  enjoyed  but  meagre 
advantages  for  education.  He  was  reared  to 


P.  N.  KIRSCHT. 


farm  life,  and  at  nineteen  years  of  age  began 
learning  the  trade  of  brick-layer,  which  he  fol- 
lowed sixteen  years  in  the  city.  In  1873  he  went 
to  the  country  and  became  engaged  in  farming, 
at  which  occupation  he  has  since  continued. 

In  1861  he  married  Miss  Magdalene  Lochner, 
and  they  had  two  children,  Michael  and  William. 
Mrs.  Proesel  died  in  1867,  and  in  1869  Mr.  Proe- 
sel  married  Miss  Katharine  Becker,  daughter  of 
Henry  and  Mary  (Green)  Becker.  Mrs.  Proesel 
was  born  in  Prussia,  and  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1867.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Proesel  became 
the  parents  of  ten  children,  namely:  John,  of 


Larrabee  Street,  Chicago;  Robert,  Louisa,  Joseph, 
Oscar,  Franklin,  Nicholas,  Clara,  Ella  and 
Henry.  All  are  identified  with  Saint  Peter's 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  of  Niles  Center.  Mrs. 
Proesel 's  parents  are  deceased,  the  mother  dying 
in  Chicago  in  1872,  and  the  father  at  West  Bend, 
Wisconsin,  in  1888. 

Mr.  Proesel  is  not  a  politician,  and  is  not  bound 
by  party  lines  in  supporting  candidates  for  office, 
but  gives  his  vote  to  those  he  deems  best  qualified 
and  most  worthy.  He  is  a  very  domestic  man, 
honest  and  industrious,  and  a  very  successful 
farmer. 


PETER  N.  KIRSCHT. 


QETER  N.  KIRSCHT,  a  florist  of  Niles  Town- 
yr  ship,  residing  on  section  16,  is  a  member  of 
J«3  an  old  pioneer  German  family.  He  was  born 
in  Niles  Township,  October  20,  1861,  being  the 
eldest  living  son  of  John  H.  and  Clara  (Hauer) 
Kirscht,  of  Trier,  Germany.  Both  of  the  parents 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1854,  the  former 
stopping  a  few  months  in  New  York  before  coin- 
ing to  Cook  County,  and  the  latter  coming  direct. 
In  1857  they  were  married.  Mr.  Kirscht  was  a 
poor  man,  and  began  life  in  the  New  World  by- 
working  at  his  trade  of  carpenter,  which  he 
learned  and  followed  in  his  native  land.  Soon 
after  their  marriage  he  bought  land  in  Niles 
Township,  and  in  1866  engaged  in  farming,  but 
continued  at  his  trade  some  of  the  time. 

For  the  past  two  years  he  has  lived  in  com- 
parative retirement.  He  is  now  sixty-seven,  and 
his  wife  sixty-two  years  of  age.  Mr.  Kirscht  has 
always  been  interested  in  the  affairs  of  his  adopted 
country,  and,  as  a  Democrat,  in  the  success  of  his 


party.  For  five  years  he  has  held  the  office  of 
school  trustee,  of  which  office  he  is  the  present 
incumbent. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kirscht  had  a  family  of  thirteen 
children,  only  nine  of  whom  grew  to  maturity. 
These  are  still  living  (in  the  spring  of  1897), 
namely:  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Adam  Dotzauer,  of 
Niles  Center;  Apolonia,  wife  of  Joseph  Dittiich, 
of  Glencoe;  Peter  N.;  Barbara,  now  Mrs.  Joseph 
Schinler,  of  Glencoe;  Mary,  Mrs.  J.  J.  Durruebeck, 
of  Kenosha,  Wisconsin;  Theodore  M.,  of  Niles; 
Nicholas  H.,  with  Peter  in  the  florist  business; 
Katherine  and  Anna,  who  live  with  their  parents. 

Peter  N.  Kirscht  was  educated  in  a  public  and 
parochial  schools,  and  he  spent  four  winters  at 
a  night  school.  He  grew  to  manhood  on  his 
father's  farm  and  assisted  in  its  cultivation  until 
twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  then  spent  three 
years  as  a  clerk  in  a  general  store  at  Niles  Center. 
In  1887  he  built  greenhouses  and  established  him- 
self in  business  as  a  florist,  in  connection  with  a 


372 


HON.  G.  c.  KLEHM. 


partner,  with  whom  he  continued  only  one  year. 
He  was  then  associated  with  his  father  in  the 
business  four  years,  since  which  time  his  brother, 
Nicholas  Kirscht,  has  been  in  partnership  with 
him.  They  grow  roses,  carnations  and  violets 
for  the  city  market,  which  they  sell  through  com- 
mission houses. 

Mr.  Kirscht  is  public  spirited  and  progressive, 
and  keeps  himself  informed  on  the  public  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  In  politics  he  was  formerly  a 
Democrat  in  national  affairs,  but  for  two  years 


has  favored  the  Republican  party.  He  was 
school  director  of  his  district  six  years.  In  1888 
he  was  elected  town  assessor,  and  served  two 
years,  but  declined  a  re-election.  In  1895  he 
was 'again  elected,  and  has  served  continuously 
ever  since.  Mr.  Kirscht  is  a  member  of  the  Cath- 
olic Order  of  Foresters,  the  Saint  Joseph  Reading 
Society  and  the  Niles  Center  Volunteer  Fire  Com- 
pany. The  members  of  the  family  residing  here 
are  connected  with  Saint  Peter's  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 


HON.  GEORGE  C    KLEHM. 


HON.  GEORGE  CONRAD  KLEHM,  one  of 
the  most  prominent  and  public-spirited  citi- 
zens of  Niles  Township,  is  numbered  among 
the  pioneer  citizens  of  that  community,  having 
been  a  resident  since  1856.  He  was  born  in 
Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany,  on  the  2Qth  of  July, 
1839,  and  is  a  son  of  Paul  and  Katharine ,Klehm. 
The  father  died  when  George  was  a  child  less 
than  one  year  old,  and  the  mother  set  out  with 
her  two  sons,  in  1851,  to  find  a  home  for  them  in 
the  free  land  beyond  the  Atlantic.  These  sons 
were  John  Klehm,  now  a  resident  of  Arlington 
Heights,  Illinois,  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
They  remained  in  Buffalo,  New  York,  until  1856, 
and  then  removed  to  Cook  County.  At  the  time 
of  their  arrival  here  they  were  poor  in  purse, 
though  rich  iti  health  and  ambition,  the  family 
purse  containing  at  that  time  but  seventeen  dol- 
lars. The  mother  continued  to  reside  here  until 
her  death,  at  the  age  of  nearly  ninety  years,  in 
the  spring  of  1886. 

George  C.  Klehm  received  an  elementary  edu- 
cation in  his  native  land,  which  was  supplemented 
by  a  brief  attendance  at  the  public  schools  of 
Jefferson  Township.  In  Buffalo  he  was  appren- 


ticed to  the  trade  of  brick-laying  and  plastering, 
and  completed  his  knowledge  of  these  arts  after 
the  removal  of  the  family  to  Cook  County,  in  the 
then  town  of  Jefferson,  now  a  part  of  the  city  of 
Chicago. 

Mr.  Klehm  has  been  self-supporting  since  early 
boyhood.  While  living  in  the  town  of  Jefferson 
he  attended  the  public  schools  in  winter  and  was 
a  diligent  student.  Being  possessed  of  much 
natural  ability,  his  studious  habits  soon  fitted 
him  to  be  an  educator  of  others,  and  for  several 
years  he  busied  himself  during  the  winter  in 
teaching  school,  and  in  building  operations 
through  the  summer. 

In  1865  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business 
in  what  is  now  Niles  Center,  a  forest  region  then 
known  as  the  ' '  Big  Woods. ' '  This  was  the  sec- 
ond store  established  at  that  point,  the  previous 
one  having  been  opened  a  few  years  before  by 
Mr.  A.  J.  Snell.  With  the  exception  of  eight 
years,  Mr.  Klehm  has  been  continuously  engaged 
in  mercantile  business  since  that  time,  and  has 
been  in  many  ways  conspicuously  identified  with 
the  growth  and  development  of  the  best  interests 
of  the  place.  He  has  borne  no  inconsiderable 


MICHAEL  SCHREIBER. 


373 


part  in  the  conduct  of  local  affairs,  and  has  been 
influential  in  political  matters  since  1860,  in 
which  year  he  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
Abraham  Lincoln.  He  is  in  no  sense  an  office- 
seeker,  but  his  fellow-citizens  have  insisted  on  his 
taking  positions  of  responsibility,  because  of  his 
well-known  capability  and  enterprise.  He  has 
filled  nearly  all  of  the  township  offices,  and 
served  as  treasurer  for  a  period  of  twenty  years. 
He  has  been  treasurer  of  the  village  of  Niles 
Center  since  its  incorporation,  and  has  served 
twelve  years  as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  But  the 
field  of  his  usefulness  could  not  be  confined  with- 
in the  limits  of  a  township,  and  his  ability  and 
public  spirit  soon  made  him  known  throughout 
the  county.  In  1877  he  was  elected  as  a  Repre- 
sentative of  his  district  to  the  General  Assembly. 
But  Mr.  Klehm  was  not  ambitious  for  public 
honors,  preferring  to  give  his  time  and  talents  to 
the  conduct  of  his  own  affairs,  and  leave  political 
emoluments  to  those  whose  desires  ran  in  that 
direction.  He  is  fond  of  his  home  and  family, 
and  is  the  center  of  a  large  group  of  admiring 
and  appreciative  friends.  He  is  a  progressive 
and  intelligent  .citizen,  and  is  distinctly  a  self- 


made  man.  He  owes  his  prosperity  to  his  own 
unaided  efforts,  and  his  popularity  to  his  genial 
and  upright  character.  He  is  an  active  and  val- 
ued member  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 

Mr.  Klehm  has  been  twice  married — first,  in 
1864,  to  Miss  Eliza  Harms,  a  native  of  Germany, 
who  died  in  1878,  leaving  six  children — Emma, 
Edwin,  Lydia,  Amelia,  George  and  Alma.  In 
1 88 1  he  married  Miss  Eliza  Ruesch,  a  native  of 
Niles  Township,  and  a  member  of  one  of  its  old 
families.  She  is  the  mother  of  five  children, 
namely:  Florence,  Hubert,  Harold,  Grace  and 
Raymond. 

Mr.  Klehm  has  fitted  up  at  Morton  Grove 
station,  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railway,  near  Niles  Center,  a  spacious  and 
handsome  picnic  ground,  known  as  St.  Paul 
Park.  This  is  covered  with  natural  trees,  and  is 
traversed  by  a  stream  of  water,  which  has  been 
dammed,  thus  creating  pleasant  boating  privi- 
leges, and  is  a  very  popular  resort.  It  is  kept  in 
excellent  condition  by  its  obliging  and  enterpris- 
ing proprietor,  and  on  account  of  this  and  its 
proximity  to  the  city  of  Chicago,  is  much  fre- 
quented by  societies  and  pleasure  parties. 


MICHAEL  SCHREIBER. 


[ICHAEL  SCHREIBER,  a  representative 
of  one  of  the  old  German  families  of  Cook 
County,  residing  at  No.  3393  Ridge  Ave- 
nue, Chicago,  was  born  June  18,  1853,  on  the 
spot  where  he  now  lives.  His  parents,  Nicholas 
and  Katharine  (Metzler)  Schreiber,  were  born 
near  the  city  of  Mainz,  Germany,  and  came  to 
the  United  States  in  1848.  They  located  in 
Evanston  Township,  Cook  County,  where,  soon 
after  their  arrival,  Mr.  Schreiber  bought  forty 
acres  of  land  and  engaged  in  fanning  and  garden- 
ing. This  he  continued  until  his  death,  which 


occurred  November  25,  1852.  Mrs.  Schreiber  is 
still  living,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years,  and 
her  declining  years  are  made  happy  by  the  loving 
care  of  four  of  her  seven  children,  who  are  com- 
fortably settled  near  her.  Two  died  in  the  old 
country,  and  John,  the  fourth,  died  in  Chicago, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-six  years.  The  others  are: 
Frederick,  a  gardener  of  Niles  Center;  Anna 
Mary,  wife  of  John  Letto,  residing  at  No.  243 
Townsend  Street,  Chicago;  and  Dominick  and 
Michael,  twins. 

Michael  Schreiber  was  educated  chiefly  in  Saint 


374 


FREDERICK  MIGELY. 


Henry's  parish  school,  and  filled  the  intervals  of 
study  by  assisting  his  father  on  the  farm.  He  is 
now  engaged  largely  in  market-gardening,  and  is 
reckoned  among  the  successful  and  leading  citi- 
zens of  the  community  in  which  he  resides.  He 
has  never  sought  to  manage  any  but  his  own  af- 
fairs, and  has  never  had  a  desire  to  occupy  official 
positions,  but  is  a  steadfast  supporter  of  Demo- 
cratic policies  and  candidates.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Catholic  Order  of  Foresters,  and,  with  his 
family,  affiliates  with  Saint  Henry's  Roman 
Catholic  Church. 


May  17,  1 88 1,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Kathar- 
ine, daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Alles,  both  of 
whom  were  born  in  German}'.  Mrs.  Schreiber 
is,  like  her  husband,  a  native  of  Cook  County, 
born  November  14,  1859.  Of  the  seven  children 
born  to  Michael  and  Katharine  Schreiber,  five 
are  now  living,  namely:  John,  Eva,  Mary,  Amelia 
and  Aluyse.  Mr.  Schreiber  is  an  industrious, 
enterprising  and  public-spirited  man,  who  gives 
his  hearty  support  to  all  movements  which  he 
considers  valuable  to  the  community  or  the  world 
at  large. 


FREDERICK  MIGELY, 


r~  REDBRICK  MIGELY  was  born  in  Chicago, 
rft  August  26,  1845,  at  Nos.  180-182  Ran- 
|  dolph  Street,  where  the  Hotel  Bismarck  now 
stands.  This  property  was  then  owned  by  his 
father,  Rudolph  Migely,  and  is  now  owned  by  the 
subject  of  this  sketch. 

The  family  is  of  Swiss  descent.  The  grand- 
father, Emanuel  Migely,  was  a  native  of  Bern, 
Switzerland,  where  the  family  held  positions  of 
trust  and  responsibility.  The  old  way  of  spelling 
the  name  was  Muegely. 

Rudolph  Migely  was  educated  in  the  schools 
of  Bern,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  came  to 
the  United  States,  and  located  at  Buffalo,  New 
York.  In  1835,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  he 
came  to  Chicago,  and  found  employment  as  a 
wagonmaker  for  Briggs  &  Humphrey.  (Briggs 
later  built  the  hotel  which  bears  his  name.) 
This  firm  manufactured  the  heavy,  strong  wagons 
used  at  that  time.  Finally  Mr.  Migely  started  a 
general  store  and  hotel  at  Nos.  180  182  Ran- 
dolph Street,  where  he  conducted  a  successful 
business  fifteen  years,  and  then,  having  bought 


considerable  property  and  improved  it,  he  retired 
from  active  business.  He  was  well  and  favorably 
known  by  all  of  the  old  settlers  of  Chicago,  who 
honor  his  memory.  His  death  occurred  in  Chi- 
cago, September  5,  1885,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
five  years. 

Mr.  Migely  married  Katharine  Goodman, 
daughter  of  Frederick  and  Mary  Goodman,  na- 
tives of  Bavaria.  Frederick  Goodman  was  a 
merchant  tailor,  and  died  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
seven  years.  He  was  a  very  well-preserved  man, 
and  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight,  could  walk  to  the 
city  and  back.  Katharine  (Goodman)  Migely  died 
in  Chicago,  August  26,  1883,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
six  years. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  only  child  of 
his  parents  who  reached  maturity.  He  was  edu- 
cated here,  and  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  business 
for  many  years,  and  was  for  a  short  time  in  the 
grocery  trade.  After  the  death  of  his  father  he 
retired  from  business,  and  now  looks  after  his 
real-estate  interests  in  Chicago  and  elsewhere. 

He  was  married  in  Chicago,  May  4,  1869,  to 


I.  G.  SMITH. 


375 


Miss  Mary  Schall,  a  daughter  of  Andrew  Schall, 
a  former  hotel-keeper  and  ex-alderman  of  Chicago. 
To  this  union  were  born  seven  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Rudolph  E.,  William  J.,  Jeanette  B., 
Frederick,  Andrew  P.,  Katharine  and  Walter 
Louis. 


In  political  matters  Mr.  Migely  has  always 
favored  the  Republican  party.  He  is  a  good  citi- 
zen, and  belongs  to  the  class  of  well-to-do  de- 
scendants of  Chicago  pioneers,  who,  by  their 
honorable  and  conservative  lives,  give  tone  and 
security  to  our  great  commonwealth. 


ISRAEL  G.  SMITH. 


CVSRAEL  GROVER  SMITH,  one  of  the  oldest 
settlers  of  Cook  County ,  was  born  September 
I    7,  1816,  at  White  Creek,  Washington  Coun- 
ty, New  York,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and  Ann 
(Waite)    Smith,    natives   of  that   county.     The 
family  is  an  old  one  in  this  country,  having  re- 
sided here  since  the  Revolutionary  War. 

Henry  Smith  and  his  wife  had  ten  children,  as 
follows:  Gustavus,  who  came  to  Cook  County  in 
1835,  and  died  here  in  January,  1855;  Marcellus 
B.;  Israel  Grover,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Waldo  W.,  Harlon  H.,  Edwin  D.,  Lafayette  W., 
Sarah  A.,  Adoniram  J.  and  Emily  M.  Of  this 
number  only  two  are  still  living — Israel  G.  and 
Sarah  A.  Henry  Smith  died  in  Cook  County,  in 
March,  1841,  and  his  wife  survived  him  until 
1872,  and  died  in  Chicago.  The  first  of  the  fam- 
ily to  come  to  the  West  was  Gustavus,  in  1835, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  family  followed  in  1836. 
Israel  and  his  brother  Marcellus  came  through 
with  a  horse  and  jumper,  starting  March  16  and 
coming  through  Ontario  to  the  place  where  the 
home  of  the  former  is  still  located,  which  they 
reached  April  10.  They  settled  on  this  land,  then 
in  what  was  called  Monroe  Precinct,  afterward 
Jefferson  Township,  and  when  it  was  surveyed 
and  put  upon  the  market,  they  bought  a  large 
tract  on  a  beautiful  ridge,  which  for  many  years 
was  called  Smith's  Ridge,  and  much  of  this 


land    is    still  in   the   possession  of    the  family. 

Israel  G.  Smith  was  educated  in  the  subscrip- 
tion schools  of  his  neighborhood,  and  was  reared 
on  a  farm,  where  he  learned  the  usual  farmer's 
work.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  began  learning 
the  trade  of  blacksmith,  but  six  months  later  he 
came  to  the  West.  Since  coming  here  he  has 
been  engaged  in  agriculture.  He  owns  one 
hundred  fifty-three  acres  of  fertile  land  in  section 
1 8,  in  the  town  of  Norwood  Park. 

Mr.  Smith  was  a  successful  farmer,  and  in  a 
comparatively  few  years  became  wealthy.  In 
1853  he  built  a  house  on  what  is  now  Jackson 
Boulevard,  between  Desplaines  and  Halsted 
Streets,  where  he  lived  a  few  years  and  then  re- 
turned to  his  farm.  Later  he  bought  a  stock  ot 
groceries  on  State  Street  and  conducted  the  busi- 
ness about  a  year,  when  he  sold  out  and  returned 
to  his  farm.  He  had  built  a  couple  of  stores  on 
Lake  Street,  one  of  which  he  rented.  Failing  to 
find  a  tenant  for  the  other,  he  opened  a  boot  and 
shoe  store  in  it,  in  company  with  a  Mr.  Barney, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Smith  &  Barney.  This 
business  venture  again  necessitated  his  becoming 
a  resident  of  the  city,  to  enable  him  to  give  the 
business  his  personal  supervision.  This  connec- 
tion continued  about  a  year,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  Mr.  Smith  abandoned  mercantile  pursuits. 
In  1869  he  bought  the  Judge  Bradwell  home- 


376 


M.  L.  ECKERT. 


stead  on  Washington  Street,  intending  to  improve 
it  and  remain  permanently  in  the  city.  Having 
always  been  accustomed  to  an  active  life,  idleness 
soon  became  irksome  to  him,  and  after  the  fire  of 
1871  he  returned  to  his  farm,  and  a  few  years 
later  built  the  beautiful  farm  residence  which  has 
been  his  home  ever  since. 

Mr.  Smith  has  always  taken  an  active  interest 
in  public  affairs,  and  keeps  himself  well  informed 
on  the  great  questions  of  the  day.  He  was  a 
Whig  until  the  establishment  of  the  Republican 
party,  since  which  time  he  has  been  one  of  its 
most  ardent  supporters.  At  the  first  election 
held  in  Jefferson  Township  he  was  elected  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  and  held  the  office  several  years. 
He  was  never  an  office-seeker,  but  he  has  filled 
several  local  offices. 

April  13,  1843,  Mr.  Smith  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Susannah  Pennoyer,  who  was 
born  June  17,  1814,  in  the  Empire  State.  Her 
father,  John  Pennoyer,  was  born  June  16,  1780, 
in  Connecticut.  March  4,  1807,  he  married 
Sallie  Fox,  who  was  born  September  17,  1780. 
They  came  to  Cook  County  in  1837.  Mrs.  Pen- 
noyer died  May  15,  1843,  and  Mr.  Pennoyer 
passed  away  August  28,  1856. 

Mrs.  Smith  was  well  educated  for  her  time, 
and  was  of  a  studious  nature.  She  was  a  suc- 
cessful teacher  in  her  native  State,  and  taught  the 
first  school  in  Leyden  Township,  this  county. 


She  was  very  highly    respected    for   her   many 
excellencies  of  head  and  heart. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  had  seven  children,  as 
follows:  Frederick  A.,  an  attorney  of  Chicago; 
Frank  G.,  deceased;  Milton  Henry,  who  died  of 
cholera;  Emily,  wife  of  H.  R.  Clissold,  who 
resides  in  Morgan  Park;  Edwin  D.,  a  farmer; 
Sarah  M.,  now  the  wife  of  George  W.  Wilcox,  a 
resident  of  Minneapolis;  and  Stella,  Mrs.  D.  C. 
Dunlap,  who  resides  in  Chicago.  Mrs.  Smith 
died  March  28,  1893,  in  her  seventy-eighth  year, 
after  nearly  fifty  years  of  happy  married  life. 
When  the  family  first  came  to  their  present  home 
the  nearest  neighbors  were  Christian  Ebinger  on 
the  north,  and  Elijah  Wentworth  on  the  east. 
Mr.  Smith  has  witnessed  almost  the  entire  growth 
of  the  great  metropolis,  its  population  being 
about  four  thousand  when  he  came  to  Cook 
County,  and  he  is  well  known  by  the  oldest  set- 
tlers of  this  part  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Smith's  life  has  been  one  of  activity  and 
usefulness,  and,  although,  by  reason  of  a  good 
constitution  and  temperate  habits,  he  has  exceeded 
by  a  decade  the  psalmist's  limit  of  "three-score 
years  and  ten,"  the  cares  of  life  have  rested  lightly 
upon  him.  He  is  still  in  good  health,  vigorous 
intellectually,  cheerful  in  disposition,  of  a  pleas- 
ing personality,  and,  from  his  sprightly  step, 
might  easily  be  taken  for  a  much  younger  man 
than  he  is. 


MICHAEL  L    ECKERT. 


IV^ICHAEL  L.  ECKERT,  wholesale  and  re- 
IV I  tail  dealer  in  cigars,  at  No.  1632  North 
\(£\  Clark  Street,  is  an  enterprising  young 
business  man.  He  was  born  in  Lake  View  Town- 
ship, near  Rosehill,  July  9,  1860,  and  is  the  son 
of  John  Eckert,  whose  biography  appears  on 


another  page  of  this  work.  He  received  a  good, 
common-school  education  in  the  public  school, 
which  has  been  largely  supplemented  by  his 
reading,  observation  and  practical  experience. 
His  boyhood  was  passed  upon  his  father's  farm, 
which  he  helped  to  cultivate  until  he  attained  his 


HENRY  RUMSTICK. 


377 


majority,  after  which  he  was  engaged  for  nearly 
four  years  in  the  wholesale  crockery  house  of 
Burley  &  Tyrrel.  His  next  occupation  was  that  of 
traveling  salesman  for  the  firm  of  O.  Schroeder 
&  Company. 

In  1891  he  established  himself  in  business  near 
his  present  location,  and  has  built  up  a  good 
trade.  In  public  affairs  he  has  always  taken  a 
deep  interest  and  he  keeps  himself  informed  on 
the  issues  of  the  times.  In  1881  he  acceptably 
filled  the  office  of  assistant  assessor  of  Lake 
View  Township. 

To  the  men  and  measures  of  the  Republican 
party  he  formerly  gave  his  support,  but  for  some 
years  past,  he  has  not  been  bound  by  party  ties, 
preferring  to  support  the  man  who  seems  to  him 
to  be  best  qualified,  and  who  will  most  faithfully 


discharge  the  duties  of  office,  regardless  of  his 
political  opinions. 

On  the  isth  of  October,  1886,  Mr.  Eckert  was 
married  to  Miss  Mary  Spelz,  who  was  born  in 
Chicago,  and  is  a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary 
Spelz,  both  natives  of  Germany,  who  came  to 
Chicago  some  years  ago.  To  them  were  born 
three  sons,  namely:  John,  Fred  and  Harold. 

Mr.  Eckert  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  Royal  League,  National  Union,  Lincoln 
Turner  Society,  and  the  Harmonia  Singing 
Society.  He  is  progressive  in  his  ideas,  courteous 
to  his  patrons  and  all  others,  and  very  public- 
spirited.  He  gives  encouragement  and  support 
to  every  deserving  public  enterprise,  and  is  de- 
servedly popular  throughout  a  wide  acquaintance, 
having  a  large  number  of  true  friends. 


HENRY  RUMSTICK. 


HENRY  RUMSTICK,  a  member  of  one  of 
the  early  North  Side  German  families  of 
Chicago,  is  engaged  in  gardening  in  that 
section  of  the  city.  He  was  born  on  the  3d  of 
May,  1850,  in  North  Berlin,"  Prussia.  Both 
his  parents,  Christian  and  Doris  (Arndt)  Rum- 
stick,  were  natives  of  Prussia,  and  came  in  1851 
to  Chicago,  with  their  son  Henry,  the  eldest  of 
the  family,  whose  life  has  been  mostly  passed 
here.  On  reaching  Chicago  they  proceeded  di- 
rectly to  Lake  View,  where  the  father  purchased 
five  acres  of  land,  and  at  once  engaged  in  garden- 
ing for  the  city  markets,  and  also  worked  as 
laborer  for  his  neighbors. 

Five  children  were  born  after  their  arrival, 
namely:  Otto,  now  a  resident  of  Indiana;  Augus- 
ta, who  became  the  wife  of  John  Paccaduck,  of 
Chicago;  Otto,  who  died  at  the  age  of  seventeen 


years;  Minnie,  wife  of  Henry  Rosch,  of  Indiana. 
The  father  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years,  residing  with  his  son  Henry,  and  is  active 
and  industrious.  His  wife  died  in  1883.  They 
were  members  of  Saint  Paul's  Lutheran  Church, 
with  which  the  former  is  still  identified.  He  has 
served  several  years  as  school  trustee  of  Rogers 
Park.  Since  becoming  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  he  has  given  his  support  uniformly  to  the 
Republican  party. 

Henry  Rumstick  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Cook  County,  but  was  obliged  to  give 
most  of  his  time  from  an  early  age  to  his  own 
support,  and  that  of  the  family.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  years  he  went  to  learn  the  trade  of 
stone-cutter,  and  after  serving  an  apprenticeship 
of  three  years  he  continued  as  journeyman  until 
1890.  He  then  engaged  in  gardening  and  now 


378 


JOSEPH  CLARK. 


tills  thirteen  acres  of  land.  He  has  never  sought 
for  political  preferment,  and  has  given  his  time 
and  talents  to  the  prosecution  of  his  private 
business,  but  has  always  been  an  enthusiastic 
Republican  in  politics. 

July  4,  1874,  Mr.  Rumstick  was  married  to 
Miss  Barbara  Klein,  a  daughter  of  Christopher 
and  Anna  Klein,  whose  history  is  given  in  this 
volume,  in  connection  with  the  sketch  of  Celestial 
Keller.  Mrs.  Rumstick  was  born  January  24, 
1856,  in  Germany,  and  has  had  five  children, 


namely:  Anna,  born  June  26,  1875,  now  the  wife 
of  Axel  Lindgren  of  Chicago;  Otto,  July  13,  1877, 
died  October  13,  1879,  at  the  age  of  two  and 
one-half  years;  Minnie,  April  7,  1879;  Emma, 
August  13,  1882;  Katharine,  December  28,  1886. 
The  family  is  associated  with  the  Lutheran 
Church,  and  Mr.  Rumstick  is  a  member  of  the 
Knights  of  Honor;  he  is  a  progressive  citizen, 
who  appreciates  the  advantages  and  benefits  of 
American  institutions,  and  is  providing  his  chil- 
dren with  excellent  educational  opportunities. 


JOSEPH  CLARK. 


(JOSEPH  CLARK,  one  of  the  worthy  pioneers 
I  of  Cook  County,  was  born  August  8,  1826, 
Q)  in  Brechin,  Forfarshire,  Scotland.  He  is  a 
son  of  David  and  Catherine  (Dackers)  Clark,  both 
natives  of  that  county.  David  Clark  died  when 
Joseph,  his  son,  was  a  child,  leaving  his  nine 
children  to  the  care  of  his  wife.  They  were:  John, 
who  came  in  1832  to  Chicago,  where  he  died 
many  years  ago;  Margaret,  Elizabeth,  James, 
William,  Alexander,  David,  Robert,  and  Joseph, 
the  last-named  being  the  only  one  surviving. 

Joseph  Clark  received  a  good  common-school 
education  in  his  native  land.  His  brothers  John 
and  Alexander  were  so  well  pleased  with  the  op- 
portunities offered  to  young  men  in  the  United 
States,  whither  they  had  come,  that  Joseph  was 
ambitious  to  come  to  this  country  also.  He  sailed 
from  Greenock  in  May,  1844,  on  a  sailing-ship, 
spending  three  months  on  the  voyage.  He  land- 
ed in  Quebec,  and  came  through  to  Chicago  by 
the  lakes.  When  he  arrived  in  Chicago,  in 
August,  he  had  a  cash  capital  of  but  twenty- 
five  cents.  He  went  immediately  to  section  14, 
Jefferson  Township,  where  his  brothers  were  lo- 


cated. He  began  gardening  on  land  which  was 
furnished  him  by  his  brother,  who  had  bought  it 
from  the  Government  for  one  dollar  and  a-quarter 
an  acre.  Ever  since  that  time,  Mr.  Clark  has 
lived  on  this  land,  with  the  exception  of  three 
years  spent  in  California.  He  originally  had 
eighty  acres,  but  has  given  each  of  his  children 
five  acres,  and  has  only  about  twenty-five  acres 
remaining. 

In  1849,  attracted  by  the  vast  fortunes  being 
made  in  the  gold-mining  regions  of  California, 
he  went  thither  by  the  overland  route,  seven 
months  being  consumed  by  the  journey.  He  spent 
a  short  time  in  mining,  and  then  bought  a  mule- 
train  and  engaged  in  packing  for  the  miners, 
which  business  was  so  lucrative  that,  at  the  end 
of  three  years,  he  returned  to  Cook  County,  Illi- 
nois, well  satisfied  with  his  expedition.  At  the 
time  of  his  return,  the  county  was  only  sparsely 
settled,  and  he  engaged  in  farming  and  gardening, 
which  he  continued  until,  in  1890,  he  was  obliged 
to  retire  on  account  of  advancing  years. 

Mr.  Clark  has  always  taken  an  active  interest  in 
public  affairs,  and  has  been  a  useful  member  ofsoci- 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


FRANK  A.  BAER 


F.  A.  BAER. 


379 


ety,  having  filled  many  local  offices.  In  1857  he 
married  Miss  Sallie  Ann  Ferguson,  daughter  of 
Stauts  Morrison  and  Neoma  (Rice)  Ferguson,  pio- 
neers of  this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  have  five 
children,  namely:  Charles,  a  gardener;  Richard; 
Martin;  Maud,  the  wife  of  Winfield  Glenn;  and 
Kittie,  wife  of  Harry  Jackson,  of  Bowmanville. 

Mr.  Clark  was  a  Whig  until  the  formation  of 
the  Republican  party,  whose  cause  he  has  since 
espoused.  He  is  intimately  connected  with  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  town  of  Jefferson, 
and  has  always  favored  public  enterprises.  He 
has  given  his  faithful  service  to  his  adopted  land 
on  all  occasions,  and  is  a  progressive  citizen.  He 
is  a  member  of  Myrtle  Lodge  No.  795,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  of  Irving  Park. 

Stauts  M.  Ferguson,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Clark, 
was  born  in  Orange  County,  New  York,  of  Scotch 
and  English  ancestry.  Neoma  Rice  was  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania.  After  their  marriage  they  set- 
tled in  Tioga  County,  New  York,  where  Mr. 
Ferguson  engaged  in  mercantile  business  at  Fac- 
toryville,  until  he  came  to  Cook  County  in  1838. 


He  bought  land  in  Ley  den  Township,  where  the 
village  of  Norwood  Park  now  is.  He  owned  two 
hundred  acres  of  land  and  engaged  in  farming, 
stock-raising  and  dairying,  continuing  until  1859, 
when  he  sold  out  and  moved  into  Chicago.  He 
lived  retired  until  his  death,  which  occurred  while 
on  his  way  from  California  about  1873.  His  wife 
passed  away  in  Chicago  in  1862.  They  had  nine 
children,  namely:  Emily  and  Henrietta  (now  de- 
ceased); Mary,  who  married  Dr.  Richard  Ever- 
ett, a  pioneer  physician  of  Cook  County,  and  died 
in  1894;  Martha  (Mrs.  B.  Bryant),  of  California; 
Mrs.  Clark  is  next  in  order  of  birth;  Caroline, 
wife  of  Thomas  Turner,  of  Ellis  Park,  Chicago; 
Charles  G.,  now  a  miner  of  Cripple  Creek,  Colo- 
rado; Frances,  wife  of  Anson  Bryant,  of  Gait, 
California;  and  Jennie,  now  Mrs.  Samuel  Wrist- 
on,  also  of  Gait,  California. 

Mr.  Ferguson  was  quite  prominently  identified 
with  the  early  history  of  Cook  County.  Although 
not  an  office-seeker  he  held  a  number  of  official 
positions,  and  was  a  very  earnest  worker  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 


FRANK  A.  BAER. 


|~~RANK  ADAM  BAER.  Among  the  well- 
r3  known  and  popular  men  of  the  }'ounger  gen- 
|  eration,  comprising  North  Siders,  none  were 
held  in  higher  esteem  or  more  widely  known  than 
Frank  A.  Baer.  He  was  born  in  Rosehill  in  1853, 
and  was  the  son  of  Franz  and  Dorothea  Baer,  na- 
tives of  Germany,  who  emigrated  to  America  and 
settled  in  Rosehill  in  1851.  Here  Mr.  Baer  was 
engaged  in  business  for  many  years,  and  was  a 
prosperous  and  influential  citizen. 

The  boyhood  of  Frank  Baer  was  spent  in  Rose- 
hill,   and  in  the  parochial  schools  he  received  a 


practical  education  in  the  English  branches.  He 
remained  under  the  parental  roof  until  he  became 
of  age,  when  he,  in  company  with  his  brother 
Lawrence,  started  a  saloon  business,  at  which  they 
were  engaged  for  several  years. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  moved  to  Ravenswood 
and  conducted  a  greenhouse  three  years,  and  was 
prosperous  in  this  venture.  In  1892  he  disposed 
of  his  interest  and  established  the  Lake  View 
Exchange,  which  became  a  popular  resort,  and 
which  he  conducted  until  his  death.  In  his  busi- 
ness relations  Mr.  Baer  reached  a  high  standard. 


380 


COL.  JAMES  QUIRK. 


His  reputation  for  integrity  and  fair  dealing  was 
of  an  order  that  always  inspired  confidence  in  his 
business  associates.  His  attentiveness  to  his  per- 
sonal business  was  marked,  and  led  to  the  achieve- 
ment of  financial  success. 

Public  office  had  no  allurement  for  him.  In 
politics  he  was  a  Republican,  and  always  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  citizenship  at  the  polls.  The 
only  office  he  ever  held  was  that  of  street  commis- 
sioner, while  he  was  living  at  Rosehill.  He  was 
an  honored  member  of  the  Catholic  Order  of  For- 
esters and  Sons  of  Chicago,  and  a  communicant  of 


the  Mount  Carmel  Roman  Catholic  Church,  of 
which  he  was  a  liberal  supporter.  He  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Anna,  daughter  of  Margar- 
ita Koch,  who  settled  in  Chicago  in  1865.  To 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baer  were  born  four  children,  three 
of  whom  are  living,  Frank  P.,  Anna  and  Julius. 
Margaret,  the  other,  lived  only  to  the  age  of  five 
years.  Mr.  Baer  was  a  kind  and  indulgent  hus- 
band and  father,  and  a  most  exemplary  citizen. 
His  last  illness  was  of  brief  duration,  and  after  five 
days  of  suffering  he  passed  away,  March  29, 
1897. 


COL.  JAMES  QUIRK. 


EOL.    JAMES   QUIRK,  a  valiant  soldier  of 
the  Civil  War,  and  a  prominent  citizen  of 
Chicago,  was  born  April  27,  1832,  in  Castle 
Gregory,  County  Kerry,  Ireland.     He  is  a  son  of 
Francis  and  Ellen    (Lynch)    Quirk,    who   were 
born  in  the  same  town. 

Francis  Quirk  was  a  shoe  manufacturer  and 
employed  a  number  of  people  in  his  business.  He 
was  induced  by  friends  to  come  to  the  United 
States,  and  sailed  from  Ireland  about  1840.  For 
a  few  years  he  was  located  in  Buffalo,  New  York, 
whence  he  came  to  Chicago  in  1844,  arriving  in 
this  city  September  14  of  that  year.  He  brought 
with  him  his  wife  and  eight  children. 

He  continued  in  the  business  of  shoe  manu- 
facturer in  this  city,  and  some  of  his  sons  became 
familiar  with  the  trade.  Only  two  of  these  are 
now  living,  Capt.  Bartholomew  Quirk  (see  biog- 
raphy on  another  page)  and  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  All  of  the  others,  as  well  as  the  parents, 
died  in  Chicago,  except  John,  who  died  in  St. 
Joseph,  Missouri.  The  father  reached  the  good 
age  of  eighty- four  years,  and  the  mother  that  of 
eighty-eight  years.  Both  of  Mr.  Quirk's  grand- 
parents lived  to  be  over  ninety  years  of  age.  He 
was  an  intelligent  and  successful  business  man, 


and  was  numbered,  with  the  members  of  his  fam- 
ily, among  the  faithful  adherents  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith. 

James  Quirk  attended  school  in  Chicago,  being 
a  pupil  in  the  old  Dearborn  School,  the  first  free 
public  school  erected  in  the  city.  In  early  life  he 
was  employed  as  a  clerk  in  a  shoe  store  kept  by 
William  H.  Adams,  where  he  continued  several 
years.  In  1857  he  entered  the  employ  of  the 
city,  as  a  clerk  in  the  old  Court  House.  In 
1854  he  joined  the  State  militia,  in  a  company 
known  as  the  Shields  Guards,  belonging  to 
the  Sixtieth  Regiment,  Illinois  National  Guard, 
in  which  five  of  his  brothers  also  served.  He 
enjoyed  the  military  training  which  this  connec- 
tion afforded,  and  became  quite  proficient  in  mili- 
tary tactics,  and  was  elected  captain  of  the  com- 
pany. In  this  capacity  he  entered  the  Union 
army,  having  in  the  mean  time  raised  another 
company  known  as  Company  B,  of  the  Shields 
Guards.  These  were  technically  known  as 
Companies  I  and  K  of  the  Twenty-third  Illinois 
Regiment.  When  he  opened  his  recording  office 
for  the  first  company,  on  the  I7th  of  April,  1861, 
he  enrolled  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  men  in 
one  hour. 


REV.  W.  H.  GANSKE. 


In  the  following  June  he  was  elected  lieuten- 
ant-colonel of  the  Twenty-third  Regiment,  with 
which  he  proceeded  to  Missouri,  the  services  of 
the  regiment  being  accepted  by  President  Lincoln, 
although  rejected  by  the  State  of  Illinois  under 
the  Twelve  Regiment  Bill.  They  participated  in 
the  Siege  of  Lexington,  Missouri,  where  the 
regiment  was  captured  and  paroled,  and  sent  to 
Benton  Barracks,  Missouri,  to  await  exchange. 

Owing  to  the  supersedure  of  General  Fremont 
by  General  Halleck,  the  regiment  was  mustered 
out  of  the  service  by  order  of  the  latter.  This 
justly  provoked  the  leading  officers  of  the  regi- 
ment, and  Colonel  Mulligan,  Major  Moore  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Quirk  visited  General  Mc- 
Clellan  and  President  Lincoln  at  Washington, 
and  secured  the  countermanding  of  General  Hal- 
leek's  order.  The  regiment  went  East  in  June, 
1862,  and  joined  the  Eighth  Army  Corps  in 
Virginia. 

Colonel  Quirk  remained  with  his  regiment, 
participating  in  its  active  service,  until  Septem- 
ber 28,  1864,  when  he  resigned  and  returned  to 
Chicago.  He  had  been  in  command  of  the  regi- 
ment nearly  three  years,  as  his  superior,  Colonel 
Mulligan,  was  most  of  the  time  in  charge  of  a 
brigade  or  division.  Colonel  Quirk  received  a 
wound  in  Missouri,  from  which  he  quickly  recov- 
ered, and  was  an  efficient  and  brave  officer.  He 


was  a  good  disciplinarian,  kind  though  just,  and 
very  popular  with  his  men,  whom  he  was  willing 
to  lead  and  never  followed. 

After  the  war  Colonel  Quirk  was  for  many  years 
the  incumbent  of  prominent  civil  positions.  He 
entered  the  Custom  House  service  as  inspector, 
and  was  connected  with  the  United  States  Custom 
House  of  Chicago  about  twenty  years.  For  some 
time  he  was  in  the  auditor's  department,  later  in 
the  clearance  department,  and  organized  the 
weighing  department,  of  which  he  was  chief. 
Later,  he  was  gas  inspector  under  Mayor  Roche. 
In  politics  he  has  always  been  a  Republican. 
Having  made  judicious  investments  in  real  estate, 
his  wealth  has  been  much  increased  by  its  appre- 
ciation in  value,  and  he  is  now  the  owner  of  many 
houses  in  Chicago,  and  has  practically  retired 
from  active  business. 

September  5,  1854,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Rose  C.  McKenna,  a  native  of  central  New  York, 
born  in  1835.  She  came  to  Chicago  with  her 
parents  when  an  infant.  Mrs.  Quirk  died  May 
6,  1895.  She  was  a  faithful  member  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  as  are  her  husband  and 
children. 

The  latter  were  three  in  number,  namely:  Daniel 
F.,  who  died  in  California;  Alice,  wife  of  Ed  F. 
Haydon;  and  James  P.,  a  successful  physician 
of  Chicago. 


REV.  WILLIAM  H.    GANSKE. 


REV.  WILLIAM  H.  GANSKE  is  pastor  of 
Saint   Philippus'  German  Evangelical  Lu- 
theran Church  and  teacher  of  the  parochial 
school  connected  therewith.     The  church  build- 
ing is  located  on  the  corner  of  Oakley  and  Law- 
rence Avenues,  Chicago. 


Mr.  Ganske  has  been  pastor  and  teacher  since 
August,  1893.  For  about  two  years  previous  to 
that  time,  this  was  a  mission-post  in  charge  of 
Rev.  J.  H.  Miller,  the  present  pastor  being  the 
first  settled  minister.  The  church  was  completed 
in  October,  1896.  Previous  to  the  completion  of 


382 


P.  L.  GORMAN. 


the  church,  religious  services  were  held  in  the 
present  school  building.  The  Saint  Philippus' 
Church  property  is  valued  at  about  eleven  thou- 
sand dollars  and  the  school  property  at  fifteen 
thousand  dollars.  The  church  has  forty-two 
members,  but  the  families  that  attend  its  services 
number  about  two  hundred. 

Rev.  William  H.  Ganske  is  a  native  of  Chi- 
cago, having  been  born  on  the  West  Side.  His 
father,  William  Ganske,  is  a  pioneer  in  school 
work  in  that  part  of  the  city,  and  has  had  charge 
of  Saint  Matthew's  Church  and  parochial  school 
for  the  past  twenty -seven  years.  He  is  a  native 
of  Germany,  a  successful  educator  and  a  well- 
known  and  esteemed  citizen . 


Rev.  William  H.  Ganske  received  his  early 
education  in  the  school  under  his  father's  super- 
vision, and  later  was  a  student  at  Concordia  Col- 
lege, Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  for  four  years.  He 
graduated  from  the  college  of  the  same  name  at 
Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  in  the  class  of  1890.  He 
pursued  a  theological  course  at  Concordia  Col- 
lege, at  St.  Louis,  and  was  ordained  pastor  Au- 
gust 6,  1893.  Previous  to  that  time  he  had  been 
assistant  to  Rev.  J.  H.  Miller  for  one  year.  He 
was  married  January  20,  1897,  to  Miss  Emma 
Wegner,  also  a  native  of  Chicago.  Saint  Philip- 
pus'  Church,  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  W.  H. 
Ganske,  is  making  rapid  progress  and  takes  high 
rank  among  the  churches  of  that  denomination. 


PATRICK  L,    GORMAN. 


QATRICK  LAWRENCE  GORMAN  was  born 

LX  in  County  Mayo,  Ireland,  in  the  year  1837, 
[3  and  is  a  son  of  Patrick  and  Margaret  (Dur- 
kin)  Gorman.  The  family  moved  to  England 
when  Patrick  Gorman,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  eleven  years  of  age.  He  began  the  serious 
business  of  life  at  a  very  early  age,  his  first  work 
being  at  a  furnace.  This  was  soon  after  the  family 
moved  to  England,  and  he  carried  pig  iron  twenty 
years.  They  were  first  located  in  Staffordshire, 
and  later  in  North  Lancashire,  where  young 
Patrick  worked  at  the  furnace  at  Barrow. 

In  1866  he  came  to  America,  being  the  only  one 
of  the  family  to  do  so.  He  located  first  at  Scran- 
ton,  Pennsylvania,  and  worked  there  at  a  furnace 
three  and  one-half  years.  He  left  Scranton  for 
Shenandoah,  Pennsylvania,  in  1870,  and  there 
worked  in  mines  a  few  years.  In  1881  Mr.  Gor- 
man came  to  South  Chicago,  and  entered  the 
service  of  the  Potter  Company,  tending  a  furnace. 


He  has  been  in  the  same  employ  most  of  the  time 
since.  He  has  thus  continued  at  the  same  kind 
of  work  till  the  spring  of  1897,  a  thing  which  is 
done  by  very  few  men. 

Before  leaving  England,  Mr.  Gorman  married 
Catherine  Durkin,  daughter  of  John  and  Bridget 
(Jordan)  Durkin.  They  were  married  June  10, 
1861,  and  their  children  are:  Mary,  Agnes,  Sa- 
bina,  John,  Catherine  and  Gertrude.  Sarah  and 
William  P.  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  re- 
spectively. Beside  these,  they  lost  three  children. 
All  are  communicants  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Mr.  Gorman  is  a  member  of  the  Cath- 
olic Order  of  Foresters,  and  of  the  Ancient  Order 
of  United  Workmen.  He  is  an  honest,  industri- 
ous citizen,  and  is  careful  and  trustworthy  in  his 
work.  Mrs.  Gorman  has  been  a  faithful  help- 
meet to  her  husband,  and  both  have  the  con- 
fidence and  esteem  of  the  community  in  which 
they  reside. 


S.  E.  GROSS. 


383 


SAMUEL  EBERLY  GROSS. 


(3  AMUEL  E.  GROSS  is  one  of  Chicago's  best 
?\  known  business  men,  and  especially  in  real- 
Q}  estate  circles  has  he  a  wide  acquaintance. 
He  has  long  been  active  in  promoting  the  growth 
and  advancement  of  the  city,  not  merely  for  his 
own  interest,  but  largely  for  the  benefit  of  the 
community  as  well.  He  was  born  on  the  Old 
Mansion  Farm  in  Dauphin  County,  Pennsylva- 
nia, November  1 1,  1843.  He  is  descended  from 
Huguenot  ancestry,  and  reliable  information 
shows  that  the  family  lived  in  America  in  1 726, 
at  which  time  Joseph  Gross  was  the  owner  of 
property  in  Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania. 
His  grandson,  who  was  the  great-grandfather  of 
our  subject,  valiantly  aided  the  colonies  in  their 
struggle  for  independence  and  became  a  captain 
in  the  sen-ice,  his  commission,  dated  November 
25,  1776,  being  signed  by  John  Hancock,  Gov- 
ernor of  Pennsylvania.  When  the  war  was  over 
he  went  to  Dauphin  County,  Pennsylvania,  where 
he  owned  extensive  farm  and  milling  interests. 
His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Sahler, 
was  of  Holland  descent  on  the  paternal  side,  and 
of  Huguenot  on  the  maternal,  coming  from  the 
Du  Bois  family,  which  was  prominent  in  Kings- 
ton, New  York,  as  early  as  1649.  The  mother 
of  Mr.  Gross  was  in  her  maidenhood  Elizabeth 
Eberly.  She  came  of  a  family  of  German  origin, 
whose  representatives  have  been  prominent  in 
various  professional  walks  in  life. 

The  American  people  are  coming  ..o  recognize 
more  fully  ever}-  day  the  fact  that  good  blood  tells. 
The  most  prominent  characteristics  of  Mr.  Gross 
are  inherited  from  ancestors  who  were  active  in 
war  and  in  the  same  lines  of  business  as  himself. 
His  genealogy  is  traced  as  follows:  Seigneur 
Jean  de  Gros,  Master  of  the  Chamber  of  the 
Count  of  Dijon,  (died  1456),  married  Peronette 
le  Roye;  their  eldest  son,  Jean,  of  Dijon,  Secre- 


tary to  Due  de  Bourgogne,  married  Philiberte  de 
Sourlam;  their  son,  Ferry,  of  Dijon,  in  1521, 
married  Phillipolte  Wielandt;  their  son,  Jean,  of 
Dijon,  (died  1548),  married  Catharine  Laurym; 
their  son,  Jean,  of  Dijon,  in  1599,  married  Jacque- 
line de  Berneincourt;  their  son,  Jean,  of  Dijon, 
in  1620,  married  Leonore  de  Briard;  their  son, 
Jacob,  married  Marie  Debar,  and  removed  from 
France  at  the  time  of  the  persecution  of  the  Hugue- 
nots to  the  Palatinate,  Germany,  and  later  re- 
moved to  Mannheim  on  the  Rhine.  Their  son, 
Johann,  of  Mannheim,  in  1665,  married  Miss 
Neihart;  their  son,  Johann  Christopher,  of  Mann- 
heim, in  1703,  married  Elizabeth  Metger;  and 
their  son,  Joseph,  in  1719,  accompanied  the  Men- 
nonites  from  the  Palatinate  to  America,  residing 
for  some  time  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  and 
removing  afterward  to  Pennsylvania.  He  mar- 
ried Catherina  ,  owned  property  in 

the  neighborhood  of  the  Trappe,  Montgomery 
Count}',  Pennsylvania,  previous  to  1726,  and  land 
in  Philadelphia  County  in  1728,  and  died  in  1753; 
their  son,  John,  of  Montgomery  County,  married 

Clara ,  and  died  in  1788;    their  son, 

John,  born  in  1749,  was  a  Captain  in  the  War  of 
the  Revolution.  In  1778  he  married  Rachel  Sah- 
ler, and  died  in  1823;  their  son,  Christian,  born 
in  1788,  of  Dauphin  County,  Pennsylvania,  mar- 
ried Ann  Custer,  of  Montgomery  County,  and 
died  in  1843;  their  son,  John  C.,  in  1843,  married 
Elizabeth  Eberly,  of  Cumberland  County,  Penn- 
sylvania; and  their  eldest  son,  Samuel  E.,  is 
the  subject  of  this  biography. 

Through  his  great-grandmother,  Rachel  Sah- 
ler, wife  of  Capt.  John  Gross  of  Revolutionary 
fame,  Samuel  E.  Gross  is  directly  descended  from 
Matthew  Blanshan,  Louis  Dubois  and  Christian 
Deyo,  Huguenots  of  France,  who,  like  Jacob  de 
Gros,  at  the  time  of  the  persecution,  removed  to 


S.  E.  GROSS. 


the  Palatinate  in  Germany,  and  thence  emigrated 
to  America  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Matthew  Blanshan  and  his  family  were  the 
first  of  the  refugees  to  try  their  fate  in  the  New 
World,  sailing  from  the  Palatinate  April  27,  1660. 
Louis  Dubois  and  Christian  Deyo  soon  followed, 
and  were  two  of  the  twelve  patentees  who,  in 
1677,  obtained  title  to  all  the  lands  in  Eastern 
New  York  State  lying  between  the  Shawangunk 
Mountains  and  the  Hudson  River,  and  were  in- 
strumental in  founding  New  Paltz  and  Kingston 
in  Ulster  County. 

Rachel  Sahler  was  the  daughter  of  Abraham 
Sahler  and  Elizabeth  Dubois.  Her  mother,  Eliza- 
beth Dubois,  was  the  daughter  of  cousins,  Isaac 
Dubois  and  Rachel  Dubois.  Isaac  Dubois,  her 
father,  was  the  son  of  Solomon  Dubois,  and  her 
mother,  Rachel  Dubois,  was  the  daughter  of  Sol- 
omon Dubois'  eldest  brother,  Abraham.  The 
mother  of  Rachel  Dubois  was  Margaret  Deyo, 
daughter  of  Christian  Deyo,  the  patentee.  Abra- 
ham Dubois,  Rachel's  father,  and  Solomon  Du- 
bois, her  husband's  father,  were  both  sons  of 
Louis  Dubois,  the  patentee  and  founder  of  New 
Paltz,  and  his  wife,  Catherine  Blanshan,  daugh- 
ter of  Matthew  Blanshan,  the  first  of  these  Hugue- 
not arrivals. 

In  1846,  Mr.  Gross  came  with  his  parents  to 
Illinois,  and  after  residing  for  a  time  in  Bureau 
County  removed  to  Carroll  County.  His  early  ed- 
ucation was  acquired  in  the  district  schools,  and 
he  afterwards  attended  Mt.  Carroll  Seminary. 
Prompted  by  patriotic  impulses,  he  enlisted  in  his 
country's  service  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  late 
war,  although  only  seventeen  years  of  age.  He 
joined  the  Forty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  and  took 
part  in  the  Missouri  campaign,  but  was  then  mus- 
tered out  by  reason  of  the  strong  objections  made 
by  his  parents  to  his  service,  on  account  of  his 
youth.  He  spent  the  following  year  as  a  student 
in  Whitehall  Academy,  Cumberland  County, 
Pennsylvania,  but  in  June,  1863,  he  again  left 
school,  for  the  Confederates  had  invaded  the  Key- 
stone State  and  he  could  no  longer  remain  quiet- 
ly at  his  books.  On  the  29th  of  June  he  was  made 
First  Lieutenant  of  Company  D,  Twentieth  Penn- 
sylvania Cavalry,  being  one  of  the  youngest  offi- 


cers of  that  rank  in  the  army.  His  faithful  and 
valiant  service  won  him  promotion  to  the  rank  of 
Captain  of  Company  K.  February  17,  1864.  He 
participated  in  many  of  the  important  battles  of 
the  eastern  campaign,  and  when  the  war  was 
over  was  mustered  out  at  Cloud  Mills,  Virginia, 
July  13,  1865. 

At  this  time  Chicago '  was  becoming  a  city  of 
prominence  and  gave  rich  promise  for  a  brilliant 
future.  Attracted  by  its  prospects,  Mr.  Gross 
here  located  in  September,  1865,  and  entered  Un- 
ion Law  College.  The  following  year  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar,  entering  at  once  upon  practice. 
In  the  mean  time,  however,  he  had  invested  a 
small  capital  in  real  estate.  He  built  upon  his 
lots  in  1867,  and  as  his  undertakings  in  this  di- 
rection met  with  success,  he  gave  more  and  more 
attention  to  the  business.  He  was  instrumental 
in  the  establishment  of  the  park  and  boulevard 
system  in  the  winter  of  1869.  When  the  great 
fire  broke  out  in  1871,  and  Mr.  Gross  saw  that  his 
office  would  be  destroyed,  he  hastily  secured  his 
abstracts,  deeds  and  other  valuable  papers,  as 
many  as  he  could  get,  and,  putting  them  in  a  row- 
boat,  carried  them  to  a  tug.  When  the  flames 
had  completed  their  disastrous  work,  he  returned 
to  the  old  site  of  his  office  and  resumed  business. 
A  financial  depression  from  1873  until  1879  fol- 
lowed the  boom,  and  Mr.  Gross  gave  his  time  to 
the  study  of  politics,  science,  and  to  literary 
pursuits. 

On  the  revival  of  trade,  Mr.  Gross  determined 
to  devote  his  entire  time  to  real-estate  interests, 
and  to  the  southwest  of  the  city  founded  several 
suburbs.  In  1882,  to  the  north,  he  began  what 
has  now  become  Gross  Park.  In  1883,  he  began 
the  work  which  has  made  him  a  public  benefac- 
tor, that  of  building  homes  for  people  of  moderate 
means,  and  the  selling  the  same  to  them  on  time. 
Thus  many  a  family  has  secured  a  comfortable 
home,  where  otherwise  their  wages  would  have 
been  expended  in  rent,  and  in  the  end  they  would 
have  had  nothing  to  show  for  it.  Unimproved 
districts  under  his  transforming  hand  became  pop- 
ulated and  flourishing  neighborhoods.  In  1886, 
Mr.  Gross  founded  the  town  of  Brookdale;  platted 
Calumet  Heights  and  Dauphin  Park  the  following 


CALVIN  DE  WOLF. 


385 


year,  and  platted  a  forty-acre  subdivision  on  Ash- 
land Avenue.  A  large  district  near  Humboldt 
Park  was  improved  by  him,  and  some  three  hun- 
dred houses  were  built  near  Archer  Avenue  and 
Thirty-ninth  Street.  The  beautiful  town  of  Gross- 
dale  has  been  one  of  his  most  successful  ventures. 
He  established  the  town  one  mile  west  of  River- 
side, and  beautiful  drives,  lovely  homes,  churches, 
a  theatre  and  fine  walks  make  this  one  of  Chica- 
go' s  best  suburbs.  He  has  also  recently  founded 
the  beautiful  town  of  Hollywood,  and  during  the 
last  twelve  years  he  has  founded  sixteen  thriving 
suburban  towns  and  cities.  His  fortune  is  esti- 
mated at  $3,000,000,  or  over,  and  although  his 
reputation  is  that  of  a  multi-millionaire  the  United 
Workingmen's  societies  showed  their  confidence 
in  him  by  nominating  him  to  the  mayoralty  in 
1889,  an  honor  which  from  press  of  private  busi- 
ness he  was  obliged  to  decline. 

Constantly  has  the  business  of  Mr.  Gross  in- 
creased, until  his  dealings  have  reached  the  mill- 
ions. He  buys  property  outright,  and  then  sells 
as  the  purchasers  feel  that  they  can  pay.  It  is 
said  that  he  has  never  foreclosed  a  mortgage,  and 
his  kindliness,  forbearance  and  generosity  have 
won  for  him  the  love  and  confidence  of  the  poorer 
people  and  the  high  regard  of  all. 

Mr.  Gross  was  married  in  January,    1874,  to 


Miss  Emily  Brown,  a  lady  of  English  descent. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Club,  the  Union 
Club,  the  Washington  Park,  the  Athletic,  Mar- 
quette  and  Iroquois  Clubs.  He  is  a  patron  of  the 
Art  Institute  and  the  Humane  Society,  and  his 
support  is  given  to  other  benevolent  organizations. 
He  holds  membership  with  the  Chicago  Union 
Veteran  Club;  U.  S.  Grant  Post  No.  28,  G.  A. 
R.;  the  Western  Society  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution. 

In  1886,  Mr.  Gross  made  a  trip  to  Europe, 
spending  four  months  in  visiting  the  leading  cit- 
ies and  points  of  interest  in  that  continent.  He 
also  made  investigations  concerning  city  develop- 
ment. In  1889,  he  traveled  through  Mexico  and 
the  cities  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  later  in  the 
year  attended  the  Paris  Exposition.  In  1892,  he 
went  to  Europe  once  more,  and  also  visited  the 
Orient.  In  manner,  Mr.  Gross  is  genial,  pleas- 
ant and  entertaining,  and  the  kindliness  of  his  face 
at  once  wins  him  friends.  Although  he  would 
not  be  called  a  professing  philanthropist,  his  life 
has  certainly  been  characterized  by  a  practical 
charity,  which  has  probably  proven  of  more  bene- 
fit than  the  acknowledged  philanthropic  work  of 
some  others.  His  success  in  business  seems  mar- 
velous, yet  it  is  but  the  result  of  industry,  enter- 
prise, and  careful  and  well-directed  management. 


CALVIN  DE  WOLF. 


eALVIN  DE  WOLF,  now  one  of  the  foremost 
citizens  of  Chicago,   is  an  example  of  the 
manner   in   which   men  rise  to   stations  of 
wealth  and  honor  through  sturdy  moral  integrity 
and  unceasing,  ambitious  toil.     His  story  is  that  of 
a  young  man  who  came  to  Chicago  with  nothing 
in  the  days  of  the  city's  infancy,  and  by  a  sustained 
effort  has  grown  with  the  city's  growth,  until  he 
is  numbered  among  the  representative  men  of  the 
"great  city  by  the  inland  sea." 


Calvin  De  Wolf  was  born  in  Braintrim,  Luzerne 
County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  i8th  of  February, 
1815,  and  was  one  of  the  family  offifteen  children 
of  Giles  M.  De  Wolf,  a  well-to-do  farmer.  His 
father  and  grandfather  were  born  in  Pomfret,  Con- 
necticut, and  his  more  remote  ancestors  were 
among  the  early  settlers  in  Lyme,  Connecticut, 
being  colonists  who  came  over  from  Holland,  to 
which  country  they  had  probably  been  driven  from 
France  (where  the  family  originated)  by  religious 


386 


CALVIN  DE  WOLF. 


persecution.  His  mother,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Anna  Spaulding,  was  born  in  Cavendish,  Ver- 
mont, and  was  a  descendant  of  Edward  Spaulding, 
who  settled  in  Chelmsford,  Massachusetts,  in 

1633- 

Soon  after  the  birth  of  Calvin  De  Wolf,  his  par- 
ents removed  to  his  mother's  native  place  and  re- 
mained there  until  he  was  five  years  of  age,  and 
then  returned  to  Braintrim,  Pennsylvania,  from 
whence,  four  years  later,  they  removed  to  the  ad- 
joining county  of  Bradford,  where  his  father  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  the  beech  woods  of  that  county. 
This  farm  was  covered  with  heavy  timber,  the 
clearing  of  which  was  a  task  of  a  different  kind 
and  of  much  greater  magnitude  than  falls  to  the 
lot  of  most  farmers  of  the  present  day.  Putting 
this  land  into  condition  to  be  sufficiently  produc- 
tive to  support  the  large  family  of  its  owner  fur- 
nished work  for  every  hand  for  years. 

Calvin  De  Wolf  was  the  eldest  of  his  father's 
sons  who  lived  beyond  the  infantile  period,  and 
converting  the  beech  forest  into  tillable  land  was 
a  task  in  which  he  was  required  to  practice,  and 
which,  with  the  tilling  of  the  soil,  required  all  his 
time  except  the  three  winter  months,  when  he  at- 
tended school  until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  After  attaining  his  majority  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  obtain  an  education,  and,  under  the  in- 
struction of  his  father,  who  was  a  man  of  more 
than  ordinary  ability,  had  a  good  common-school 
education  and  was  well  versed  in  mathematics,  he 
obtained  a  good  knowledge  of  arithmetic,  algebra 
and  sun-eying.  He  was  also  assisted  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  elements  of  Latin  by  a  gentleman  of 
liberal  education  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood. 
When  he  had  progressed  to  this  point  in  educa- 
tion, he  left  home  and  entered  Grand  River  In- 
stitute, in  Ash  tabula  County,  Ohio,  in  1836.  That 
institution,  then  famous  throughout  eastern  Ohio 
and  western  Pennsylvania,  was  conducted  some- 
what on  the  plan  of  agricultural  colleges  of  the 
present  day,  in  that  students  who  desired  to  do  so 
could  partially  support  themselves  by  manual  la- 
bor and  pursue  a  course  of  study  at  the  same  time. 
For  a  year  and  a  half  young  De  Wolf  maintained 
himself  at  this  school  and  fitted  himself  for  teach- 
ing; he  also  presided  for  a  term  or  two  at  the  peda- 


gogue's desk.  At  all  times,  however,  when  op- 
portunity offered,  he  was  intent  on  study  and  made 
the  most  of  his  educational  opportunities. 

Then,  as  now,  the  West  was  looked  to  as  the 
land  of  opportunities  and  the  goal  of  the  ambition 
of  every  aspiring  young  man.  Calvin  De  Wolf, 
with  his  industrious  habits  and  ambitious  desires, 
was  not  content  to  spend  his  days  in  the  East,  but 
looked  westward  with  longing  eyes,  and  in  those 
days  the  West  was  not  so  far  away  as  now  and 
Chicago  was  included  in  the  term.  In  the  fall  of 
1837,  young  De  Wolf  arranged  with  a  trader  who 
was  making  a  shipment  of  fruit  by  boat  from  Ash- 
tabula  to  Chicago  to  pay  his  passage  between  the 
cities  by  assisting  to  load  and  unload  the  fruit  and 
take  charge  of  it  in  transit,  which  agreement  he 
faithfully  carried  out  and,  in  due  time,  found  him- 
self in  this  city,  then  covering  a  small  area  of  ter- 
ritory at  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River  and  hav- 
ing but  one  four-story  brick  building— the  old 
Lake  House,  then  the  pride  of  the  West.  The 
first  thing  the  young  man  had  to  do  was  to  look 
for  employment,  for  he  had  come  West  with  very 
little  money.  He  hoped  to  obtain  a  situation  as 
teacher  in  the  city  schools,  and  passed  the  required 
examination  for  license  to  teach,  but  his  hopes 
were  disappointed  and  he  had  to  seek  elsewhere, 
as  there  were  others  whose  claims  had  to  be  first 
considered.  Disappointed  but  not  cast  down,  he 
set  out  on  foot  across  the  prairie  to  seek  like  em- 
ployment in  some  other  locality.  After  traveling 
thirty-five  or  forty  miles,  he  at  last  arrived  at 
Hadley,  Will  County,  Illinois,  with  only  a  York 
shilling  in  his  pocket.  He  was  more  fortunate  in 
his  quest  there,  and  obtained  the  position  of  vil- 
lage schoolmaster,  teaching  during  the  winter  of 
1837-38,  and  returning  the  following  spring  to 
Chicago.  Here  he  again  made  application  for  em- 
ployment as  teacher,  and  was  successful.  While 
teaching  school  he  also  engaged  in  various  other 
occupations  which  were  calculated  to  improve  his 
financial  condition. 

In  1838,  Mr.  De  Wolf  began  the  study  of  law 
in  the  office  of  Spring  &  Goodrich,  a  firm  com- 
posed of  Giles  Spring,  afterward  Judge  of  the  Su- 
perior Court  of  Chicago,  and  Grant  Goodrich,  for 
many  years  one  of  the  prominent  lawyers  of  the 


CALVIN  DE  WOLF. 


387 


city.  In  1843,  he  was  examined  and  admitted  to 
the  Bar  by  Judge  Richard  M,  Young,  and  The- 
ophiltis  W.  Smith,  then  sitting  on  the  Supreme 
Bench,  and  immediately  after  began  practice  in 
this  city,  which  then  had  a  Bar  consisting  of  about 
thirty  lawyers,  a  large  number  of  whom  became 
prominent  as  jurists  in  later  years.  Up  to  1854, 
Mr.  De  Wolf  was  engaged  in  the  active  practice 
of  law.  He  was  then  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
an  office  which  at  that  time  and  place  was  a  highly 
important  and  responsible  one,  as  the  city  was  de- 
veloping rapidly  and  the  amount  of  business  in- 
cident to  its  growth  gave  rise  to  a  great  deal  of 
friction,  which  had  to  be  adjusted  in  the  tribunal  of 
law.  Mr.  De  Wolf  held  this  office  six  successive 
terms,  four  by  popular  election  and  two  by  ap- 
pointment. The  whole  period  covered  was  more 
than  twenty-five  years,  and  more  than  ninety 
thousand  cases  were  disposed  of  by  him,  a  far 
greater  number  than  any  other  judicial  officer  in 
this  State  had  ever  decided.  Preliminary  exam- 
inations in  many  important  cases  which  afterward 
became  celebrated  in  the  higher  courts  were  heard 
in  the  earlier  years  of  his  magistracy  by  Judge 
De  Wolf,  as  he  was  then  known  to  the  profession 
and  the  public. 

Judge  De  Wolf  had  been  taught  from  childhood 
to  hate  slavery,  and  as  early  as  1839  became  Sec- 
retary of  an  anti-slavery  society,  of  which  Rev. 
Flavel  Bascom,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  was  the 
first  President,  and  Judge  Manierre,  Treasurer, 
and  of  which  many  of  the  prominent  business  and 
professional  men  of  the  city  were  earnest  and  ac- 
tive members.  In  1842,  the  Illinois  State  Anti- 
Slavery  Society  held  a  meeting  in  Chicago,  at 
which  an  organization  was  effected  to  raise  funds 
for  establishing  an  anti-slavery  newspaper  in  Chi- 
cago. Henry  L.  Fulton,  Charles  V.  Dyer,  Shu- 
bal  D.  Childs  and  Calvin  De  Wolf  were  appointed 
a  committee  to  collect  funds  and  set  the  enterprise 
on  foot,  Mr.  De  Wolf  being  made  Treasurer  of  the 
committee.  As  a  result  of  their  efforts,  the  West- 
ern Citizen  came  into  existence,  with  Z.  Eastman 
as  editor  and  publisher,  and  for  several  years  it 
was  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  Abolition 
newspapers  in  the  country.  It  was  in  1858,  that 
Mr.  De  Wolf,  in  connection  with  other  Abolition- 


ists of  Chicago,  brought  down  upon  himself  the 
wrath  of  a  disappointed  slave-hunter  and  his  sym- 
pathizers, who  sought  to  inflict  upon  him  condign 
punishment  for  facilitating  the  escape  of  a  liberty- 
seeking  black  woman. 

Stephen  F.  Nuckolls  was  a  southern  man  who 
had  carried  his  slaves  with  him  into  Nebraska. 
One  of  these  slaves,  a  young  negro  woman,  Eliza, 
made  her  escape,  and  by  some  means  or  other 
found  her  way  to  Chicago,  to  which  place  she  was 
followed  by  her  master,  Nuckolls,  who  came  near 
effecting  her  capture.  His  scheme  was  frustrated 
by  the  parties  who  appeared  before  Judge  De 
Wolf,  charging  him  with  riotous  conduct.  Under 
the  warrant  issued  from  the  magistrate's  court, 
the  slave-owner  was  arrested  and  locked  up  for 
a  few  hours,  and  in  the  mean  time  the  colored  wo- 
man made  her  escape  from  the  city.  Nuckolls 
carried  the  matter  to  the  United  States  Courts,  and 
succeeded  in  having  the  magistrate,  Mr.  De  Wolf, 
George  Anderson,  A.  D.  Hayward  and  C.  L. 
Jenks  indicted  for  "aiding  a  negro  slave  called 
Eliza  to  escape  from  her  master,"  she  having 
been  '  'held  as  a  slave  in  Nebraska  and  escaped  to 
Illinois. ' '  This  involved  the  constitutional  ques- 
tions as  to  whether  or  not  slaves  could  be  held 
in  free  territory.  The  defendants  held  that  the 
negro  woman  was  not  lawfully  held  as  a  slave  in 
Nebraska,  and  moved  to  quash  the  indictment  on 
that  ground.  This  motion  was  never  passed  upon 
by  thecourt,  but,  in  1861,  the  case  was  dismissed 
by  advice  of  the  Hon.  E.  C.  Larned,  United  States 
District  Attorney. 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  state  that  a  man  hold- 
ing the  radical  views  of  Calvin  De  Wolf  became 
identified  at  the  outset  of  its  existence  with  the 
Republican  party,  and  that  he  still  remains  in 
the  ranks  of  the  same  organization.  But  he  has 
never  been  an  active  politician.  He  served  two 
terms  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  ol 
Chicago,  and  from  1856  to  1858  served  as  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Revision  and  Publication 
of  Ordinances,  where  he  rendered  important  service 
to  the  city  in  codifying  and  putting  the  ordinances 
in  form  to  be  easily  referred  to,  to  be  generally  un- 
derstood and  easily  and  systematically  enforced. 
He  retired  from  the  position  of  Magistrate  in  1879, 


388 


C.  IvI.  FITCH. 


and  is  not  now  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law,  but 
devotes  his  time  mainly  to  the  management  of  his 
financial  affairs. 

Mr.  De  Wolf  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  is  now  one  of  the  Elders  of  the  Sixth 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Chicago,  in  which  he  is 
an  influential  member,  and  in  the  work  of  which  he 
bears  a  prominent  part.  "Do  right"  is  a  motto 
which  he  has  made  the  rule  of  his  life.  In  the 
discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  public  official  he  was 


conscientious  and  upright;  as  a  lawyer,  watchful 
over  his  client's  interests  and  honorable  in  his 
dealings  with  both  court  and  client;  in  his  general 
business  dealings  he  "has  been  a  man  of  his  word, 
upright  and  honest.  His  residence  in  Chicago 
from  pioneer  times  has  caused  him  to  be  well 
known,  and  he  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  land- 
marks of  a  generation  of  sagacious  business  men 
now  rapidly  passing  away. 


DR.  CALVIN  M.  FITCH. 


0R.  CALVIN  MAY  FITCH,  one  of  the  oldest 
physicians  now  in  active  practice  in  this  city, 
graduated  at  the  medical  department  of  the 
university  of  New  York  in  1852,  and  subse- 
quently studied  in  Europe.  He  came  to  Chicago 
in  1855,  and  is  therefore  in  the  fortieth  year  of 
his  practice  in  this  city.  Doctor  Fitch  was  born 
January  3,  1829,  in  Sheldon,  Franklin  County, 
Vermont.  His  grandfather,  Dr.  Chauncey  Fitch, 
married  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Sheldon,  for 
whom  the  town  of  Sheldon  was  named,  and  prac- 
ticed there  until  his  death.  Colonel  Sheldon  com- 
manded the  Connecticut  Cavalry  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  and  the  family  have  several  letters 
of  Washington's  still  in  their  possession.  Doctor 
Fitch's  father,  Rev.  John  Ashley  Fitch,  an  Epis- 
copal clergyman,  married  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Cal- 
vin May,  who  for  nearly  fifty  years  practiced 
medicine  in  St.  Armand,  Canada,  just  across  the 
Vermont  line.  Doctor  May  graduated  from  Yale 
about  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  he 
and  Dr.  Chauncey  Fitch  were  the  pioneer  physi- 
cians in  that  section,  and  although  eighteen  miles 
apart,  frequently  met  in  consultation. 

Doctor  Fitch  is  of  old  New  England  stock,  the 
sixth  in  descent  from  Rev.  James  Fitch,  who  came 
to  this  country  from  Becking,  England,  in  1638. 
Maj.  James  Fitch,  son  of  Rev.  James  Fitch,  served 


in  King  Philip's  War.  He  was  active  in  promot- 
ing the  founding  of  Yale  College,  donating  to  the 
college  in  October,  1731,  six  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  acres  of  land  in  the  town  of  Killings!}-,  and 
all  the  glass  and  nails  which  should  be  necessary 
to  build  the  college  edifice.  Rev.  Ebenezer  Fitch, 
a  grandson  of  this  Maj.  James  Fitch,  and  brother 
of  Dr.  Chauncey  Fitch,  was  a  tutor  in  Yale  for 
several  years  prior  to  1791,  when  he  resigned  from 
Yale  to  take  charge  of  the  Academy  at  Williams- 
town,  Massachusetts,  and  when  that  academy  was 
chartered  as  a  college  (Williams  College)  in  1793, 
Mr.  Fitch  was  elected  its  first  President,  which 
position  he  held  for  twenty-two  years. 

In  1860  Doctor  Fitch  married  Susan  Ransom, 
daughter  of  Daniel  Ransom,  originally  from 
Woodstock,  Vermont,  and  for  many  years  in 
business  in  this  city.  In  1871  Mr.  Ransom  re- 
moved to  L,ongmont,  Colorado,  where  he  recently 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty-one.  Doctor  Fitch  has 
one  son,  Dr.  Walter  May  Fitch,  a  graduate  of 
Rush  Medical  College,  who  is  associated  with  his 
father  in  practice. 

Doctor  Fitch  is  or  has  been  a  member»of  several 
medical  societies,  the  Chicago  Medical,  the  South 
Avenue,  the  State  Medical  and  American  Medical 
Associations,  but  has  never  been  connected  with 
any  medical  school,  although  a  professorship  has 


CHARLES  HUNTINGTON. 


389 


been  twice  offered  him.  He  has  always  enjoyed 
the  study  of  languages,  and  speaks  several  fluently, 
and  it  is  partly  in  consequence  of  this  fact  that  no 
small  percentage  of  his  large  practice  is  among 


our  foreign-born  citizens.  A  practice  of  this  char- 
acter involves  much  hard  work,  but  carries  with  it 
the  chance  to  do  much  good. 


CHARLES  HUNTINGTON. 


CJHARLES  HUNTINGTON,  a  veteran  of  the 
I  {  railroad  service  in  Chicago  and  the  oldest 
U  general  baggage  agent,  in  point  of  service, 
in  the  United  States,  was  born  in  Hartford,  Con- 
necticut, May  29,  1824.  He  is  a  son  of  Christo- 
pher and  Mary  (Webb)  Huntingdon.  The  Hunt- 
ington  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  Connecticut. 
All  persons  of  that  name  in  America  are  supposed 
to  be  descendants  of  Christopher  Huntington  and 
his  brothers,  who  came  from  England  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Connecticut  colony.  They  sprang 
from  an  ancient  English  family,  and  the  name  is 
supposed  to  have  originated  as  a  military  title. 
Their  posterity  is  numerous,  and  includes  many 
noted  American  citizens.  The  name  of  Christo- 
pher Huntington  was  perpetuated  through  seven 
successive  generations,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  being  the  last.  His  father,  Christo- 
pher Huntington,  was  a  physician  who  practiced 
in  Connecticut.  The  father  of  Charles  Hunting- 
ton  was  a  wholesale  manufacturer  of  shoes,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Foot  Guards,  a 
regiment  of  Connecticut  militia.  He  died  in  1832, 
at  the  premature  age  of  thirty-five  years. 

Mrs.  Mary  Huntington  was  a  daughter  of  Ab- 
ner  Webb,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  who  also  rep- 
resented one  of  the  early  Connecticut  families. 
She  survived  her  husband  but  one  3-ear,  dying  in 
1833,  and  leaving  three  orphaned  sons.  Charles 
is  the  eldest.  Henry  is  now  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Burnham,  Michigan,  and  George  died  in  1850, 
of  yellow  fever,  at  Mobile,  Alabama. 

Soon  after  his  father's  death,  on  the  3d  of  July, 
1832,  .Charles  Huntington  left  his  boyhood  home 
and  took  passage  by  stage  to  Albany,  en  route  to 
the  home  of  an  uncle  at  Penn  Van.  His  young 


heart  was  sorely  tried  by  this  separation  from 
natal  ties,  but  the  celebration  of  the  Nation's 
birthday  at  Albany  the  next  morning  after  his  ar- 
rival there  distracted  his  attention  from  his  child- 
ish sorrow  and  so  cheered  the  way  that  his  further 
stage  journey  to  Schenectady  was  made  in  com- 
parative comfort.  Here  he  took  passage  on  the 
Erie  Canal  as  far  as  Geneva,  whence  the  journey 
was  completed  by  stage.  At  Penn  Yan,  he  found 
a  comfortable  home  with  his  uncle,  Elisha  H. 
Huntington,  who  afterwards  became  a  banker  in 
Chicago. 

Charles  received  about  two  years'  schooling  in 
all,  spending  most  of  his  boyhood  in  working  at 
odd  jobs.  Being  a  robust  youth,  he  was  adapted 
to  many  useful  employments,  and  among  other 
things,  assisted  in  building  the  Congregational 
Church  at  Penn  Yan,  for  which  his  uncle  had  the 
contract,  handling  all  the  material  for  that  struc- 
ture. At  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  was  entrusted 
by  his  uncle  with  an  important  mission  to  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  was  sent  to  purchase  an  outfit 
for  bottling  mineral  waters,  and  subsequently  took 
charge  of  a  drug  store  at  Rochester,  owned  by 
Elisha  Huntington.  At  one  time,  he  was  em- 
ployed as  conductor  of  a  construction  train  on  the 
Canandaigua  &  Elmira  Railroad.  . 

At  an  early  age,  he  went  to  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  to  take  charge  of  the  machine  depart- 
ment of  the  Panama  Railroad,  at  Aspinwall.  He 
was  one  of  the  very  few  non-residents  who  escaped 
the  Chagres  fever,  and  at  the  end  of  his  one  year's 
engagement,  he  resigned  and  returned  to  New 
York.  Thence,  in  March,  1854,  he  came  to  Chi- 
cago and  soon  after  accepted  a  position  as  en- 
gineer on  the  Great  Western  Railroad — now  a 


390 


CHARLES  HUNTINGTON. 


part  of  the  Wabash  system — his  headquarters  be- 
ing at  Springfield,  Illinois.  On  the  loth  day  of 
January,  1855,  he  entered  the  employ  of  the 
Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad,  with  which  he  has 
been  since  continuously  engaged.  He  was  pro- 
moted from  engineer  to  freight  conductor,  and 
soon  afterward  became  a  passenger  conductor. 
In  1858,  he  was  made  general  baggage  agent  with 
office  on  the  site  of  the  present  Chicago  Union 
Passenger  Station.  His  appointment  was  made 
by  a  receiver,  in  whose  hands  the  affairs  of  the 
company  were  then  placed,  and  as  the  duties  of 
the  office  were  comparatively  light,  he  continued 
to  run  a  passenger  train  between  Chicago  and  St. 
I/ouis  until  1865,  employing  only  one  assistant  in 
his  office  at  Chicago.  These  statements  show  a 
vast  difference  between  the  passenger  traffic  of 
those  days  and  the  present.  When  he  first  en- 
tered the  service  of  this  road,  the  eastern  terminus 
was  at  Joliet,  whence  all  freight  for  Chicago  was 
transferred  to  the  canal,  the  passenger  trains 
reaching  this  city  by  way  of  the  Chicago  &  Rock 
Island  tracks.  The  southern  terminus  was  at 
Alton,  where  all  passengers  and  freight  for  St. 
Louis  were  transferred  to  Mississippi  steamboats. 

In  1857,  Mr.  Huntington  took  a  prominent 
part  in  a  strike  on  the  part  of  employees  of  this 
line,  which  suspended  all  business  thereon  for 
eighteen  days.  This  strike  was  caused  by  arrear- 
age of  salaries,  ranging  from  three  to  eighteen 
months.  Mr.  Huntington  was  a  member  of  a 
committee  which  settled  the  matter  with  ex-Gov. 
Joel  A.  Matteson,  who  was  lessee  of  the  road,  the 
trouble  being  compromised  by  payment  of  part  of 
the  arrearages  at  once  and  the  promise  of  double 
payments  each  month  until  all  were  paid  up  in 
full. 

The  scarcity  of  currency  at  that  time  is  illus- 
trated by  the  fact  that  the  conductor  rarely  col- 
lected sufficient  cash  on  a  trip  to  pay  the  board 
bills  of  his  crew  for  the  same  time.  The  rude 
appliances  and  equipments  of  railroads  in  those 
days  made  railroad  operation  a  very  difficult  mat- 
ter. Many  cars  were  without  sufficient  brakes, 
and  a  "down  grade"  had  terrors  for  the  men  on  a 
heavy  train.  It  was  often  necessary  to  set  out  cars 
with  defective  brakes  or,  as  was  not  infrequent, 


with  no  brake  at  all,  to  avoid  disaster.  On  one 
occasion,  while  approaching  Alton  on  a  steep 
down  grade,  Conductor  Huntington  was  horrified 
by  the  discovery  that  there  was  not  a  working 
brake  on  the  train.  The  labors  of  the  reversed 
engine,  however,  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
Alton  station  agent,  who  ran  out  and  so  placed 
the  switches  that  they  passed  the  station  without 
doing  any  damage  and  were  able  to  bring  the 
train  to  a  stop  after  running  a  mile  beyond  their 
destination. 

In  his  domestic  affairs,  Mr.  Huntington  has 
been  sorely  afflicted.  In  July,  1845,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Amelia,  daughter  of  Harvey  Tomlin- 
son,  of  Geneva,  New  York.  In  1856,  he  was 
called  upon  to  mourn  her  death.  Of  their  three 
children,  but  one  survives — Mary  Isabella,  who  is 
now  the  wife  of  Edward  L-  Higgins,  ex-Adjutant 
of  Illinois.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Higgins  have  four  chil- 
dren, and  reside  at  Springfield,  Illinois.  Mr. 
Huntington's  two  sons,  Edwin  and  William,  died 
in  childhood,  of  scarlet  fever.  He  was  again  mar- 
ried, in  1866,  to  Mary  Goodrich,  of  Chicago,  whose 
death  occurred  on  the  i6th  of  April,  1890,  at  the 
age  of  sixty  years.  The  death  of  his  sons  and  of 
his  first  wife  occurred  during  his  absence  from 
home,  and  was  more  trying  on  this  account. 

Mr.  Huntington  has  been  for  many  years  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  order,  being  connected  with 
Bloomington  Lodge.  He  is  Secretary  and  Treas- 
urer of  the  Conductors'  Mutual  Aid  Association, 
which  he  helped  to  organize  in  1874.  In  early 
life,  he  was  a  Whig,  and  supported  the  candidacy 
of  William  H.  Harrison  in  1840,  though  not  old 
enough  to  vote  at  that  time.  Since  1860  he  has 
been  a  Republican.  Before  leaving  New  York, 
he  served  as  Deputy  Sheriff  of  Yates  County,  and 
the  State  still  owes  him  for  a  tedious  trip  which 
he  made  in  securing  a  requisition  from  the  gov- 
ernor of  New  Yoik  and  serving  the  same  on  the 
governor  of  Pennsylvania,  in  securing  and  bring- 
ing to  justice  a  notorious  thief.  While  a  boy, 
he  visited  Baltimore  and  witnessed  the  operation 
of  the  first  telegraph  line  in  the  world,  which 
had  just  been  completed.  He  is  now  the  oldest 
employee  of  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad,  in 
point  of  service. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

HNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


c 


'/?    // 

e?  *~/vt>  t 


C.  M.  HENDERSON. 


CHARLES  M.  HENDERSON. 


HARLES  MATHER  HENDERSON,  a  rep- 
resentative  business  man  and  exemplary  citi- 
\J  zen  of  Chicago,  a  scion  of  the  old  Puritan 
stock,  was  born  in  New  Hartford,  Litchfield 
County,  Connecticut,  and  is  a  son  of  James  F. 
Henderson  and  Sabrina  (Marsh)  Henderson,  both 
natives  of  the  "Land  of  Steady  Habits."  His 
paternal  grandmother,  in  maidenhood,  bore  the 
name  of  Mather,  being  a  lineal  descendant  of  Cot- 
ton Mather,  the  noted  Puritan  divine  and  author, 
of  Massachusetts  colony.  His  maternal  grand- 
father, Roswell  Marsh,  was  a  Revolutionary  sol- 
dier and  witnessed  the  execution  of  the  unfortu- 
nate Major  Andre. 

The  first  fifteen  years  of  C.  M.  Henderson's 
life  were  passed  in  the  usual  manner  of  urban 
New  England  boys  of  that  period,  during  which 
time  he  was  a  pupil  in  the  district  school  of  his 
native  village.  After  attending  the  Baptist  School 
at  Suffield  one  year,  he  went  out,  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  years,  to  teach  a  district  school,  in  which 
undertaking  he  acquitted  himself  with  credit,  re- 
turning at  the  end  of  one  term  to  his  studies  at 
Suffield,  where  he  continued  another  year.  His 
tastes  and  ambition  pointed  to  a  commercial  career, 
and  when,  in  1853,  an  uncle  in  Chicago  offered 
him  a  position  in  the  wholesale  boot  and  shoe 
house  of  C.  N.  Henderson  &  Co.,  he  promptly 
accepted.  He  was  then  eighteen  years  of  age, 
and  was  installed  as  general  clerk  and  salesman. 
Applying  himself  diligently  in  both  store  and  of- 
fice, wherever  his  services  were  most  needed,  he 
rapidly  acquired  a  general  knowledge  of  the  busi- 
ness, and  shortly  became  very  useful  to  his  em- 
ployers. So  rapid  was  his  advancement  that  in 
less  than  four  years  after  entering  the  establish- 
ment he  became  a  partner  in  it,  in  which  connec- 
tion he  continued  until  the  death  of  his  uncle  in 
1859. 


Mr.  Henderson  immediately  organized  a  new 
firm,  under  the  name  of  C.  M.  Henderson  &  Co., 
his  partner  being  Mr.  Elisha  Wadsworth,  for- 
merly the  head  of  the  great  dry  goods  house  of 
Wadsworth,  Farwell  &  Co.  Mr.  Wadsworth  was 
virtually  a  silent  partner,  as  the  entire  manage- 
ment of  the  business  was  left  to  Mr.  Henderson, 
who  carried  it  on  so  successfully  that,  at  the  end 
of  two  or  three  years,  he  was  enabled  to  purchase 
the  interest  of  his  partner.  He  now  associated 
with  himself  his  brother,  Wilbur  S.  Henderson, 
who  had  been  several  years  in  his  employ  as  clerk, 
and  also  gave  an  interest  to  his  bookkeeper,  Ed- 
mund Burke,  who  sold  his  share  to  Mr.  Hender- 
son some  years  later. 

The  firm  continued  to  do  a  jobbing  business 
until  1865,  when  a  small  factory  was  established 
for  the  production  of  the  heavy  goods  demanded 
by  the  western  trade.  This  was  the  nucleus  of 
what  has  become  one  of  the  largest  establishments 
of  its  kind  in  the  United  States.  The  original 
factory  is  still  in  operation,  surrounded  by  im- 
mense modern  buildings,  equipped  with  all  that 
genius  has  supplied  for  the  saving  of  labor  and  the 
improvement  of  the  quality  of  finished  products. 
In  1880  a  building  was  constructed,  devoted  to  the 
production  of  ladies'  fine  wear,  and  recently  an- 
other immense  structure  has  risen,  whose  mission 
is  the  construction  of  gentlemen's  fine  shoes. 
These  factories  are  located  at  Dixon,  Illinois,  and 
the  offices  and  shops  employ  over  one  thousand 
people  daily.  In  1888  the  firm  was  incorporated 
under  the  laws  of  Illinois,  the  name  remaining 
unchanged,  and  several  of  the  old  and  faithful 
employes  became  stockholders. 

The  business  has  occupied  many  locations  in 
the  city,  the  first  being  on  South  Water  Street. 
Subsequently  three  different  stores  on  Lake  Street 
were  used  in  succession,  and  in  1868  the  building 


392 


ALEXANDER  BEAUBIEN. 


and  stock  at  the  corner  of  that  thoroughfare  and 
Michigan  Avenue  were  swept  away  by  fire.  The 
great  fire  of  1871  found  the  business  located  at 
Nos.  58  and  60  Wabash  Avenue,  and  in  common 
with  thousands  of  others  it  was  annihilated.  No 
time  was  wasted  in  repining,  and  inside  of  three 
weeks  after  this  disaster  business  was  resumed  in 
a  one-story  board  shanty  on  Michigan  Avenue. 
In  four  months  after  the  loss,  the  firm  was  estab- 
lished in  a  new  brick  building  on  Wabash  Avenue, 
the  plastering  being  completed  after  its  occupancy. 
In  the  fall  of  1872,  another  removal  was  made,  to 
the  corner  of  Madison  and  Franklin  Streets,  and 
five  years  later  it  was  moved  to  the  corner  of 
Monroe  Street,  one  block  south,  where  it  con- 
tinued until  the  firm  was  able  to  occupy  its  own 
fine  building.  This  is  located  at  the  northeast 
corner  of  Adams  and  Market  Streets,  and  was 
built  in  1884.  It  covers  a  ground  space  170x120 
feet,  is  six  stories  high,  and  is  devoted  exclusively 
to  the  purposes  of  an  office  and  distributing  depot. 
The  development  of  this  immense  and  successful 
business  is  the  result  of  Mr.  Henderson's  execu- 
tive ability,  industry  and  well-known  integrity. 
As  a  business  man,  he  commands  high  standing 
among  Chicago's  enterprising  and  superlatively 
aggressive  business  circles,  while  he  enjoys  the 
respect  and  friendship  of  a  wide  acquaintance  as 
a  man  and  gentleman. 

Mr.  Henderson  is  somewhat  socially  inclined, 
and  holds  membership  in  several  clubs,  among 
which  are  the  Union  League,  Chicago,  Calumet 
and  Commercial.  Of  strong  religious  nature,  he 
early  adopted  the  Christian  religion  as  his  rule  of 


practice,  and  has  been  a  communicant  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Chicago  since  1868.  He 
has  been  active  and  useful  in  church  and  mission 
work,  was  two  years  President  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  and  for  ten  years, 
until  failing  health  compelled  him  to  resign  some 
of  his  work,  acted  as  Superintendent  of  the  Rail- 
road Chapel  Mission. 

In  political  sentiment,  he  is  a  Republican  from 
principle,  and  has  always  been  active  in  every  ef- 
fort to  promote  good  government  for  the  city.  In 
the  reform  movement  of  1874,  which  secured  a 
re-organization  of  the  fire  department  and  numer- 
ous other  changes—  among  them  a  new  city  char- 
ter, the  present  one — he  was  especially  active, 
contributing  liberally  in  money  to  carry  on  the 
work,  and  giving  of  his  time  and  counsel.  In 
many  other  ways  he  has  shown  his  disposition  to 
discharge  his  whole  duty  and  shirk  no  responsi- 
bility as  a  citizen.  He  seeks  the  best  and  right 
thing  in  government,  regardless  of  partisan  preju- 
dices or  advantage.  As  a  part  of  his  duty  to  the 
public,  he  is  now  acting  as  Trustee  of  the  Home 
for  Incurables  and  the  Lake  Forest  University. 
He  is  devoted  to  his  home  and  family,  and  when 
duty  does  not  call  him  away,  he  is  found,  out  of 
business  hours,  at  his  pleasant  home  on  Prairie 
Avenue.  In  1858  he  was  married  to  Miss  Emily, 
daughter  of  James  Hollingsworth,  of  Chicago. 
A  son,  who  died  in  infancy,  and  three  daughters 
have  been  given  him.  Amid  kind  friends  and 
many  other  surroundings  that  conduce  to  peace 
and  happiness,  he  is  enjoying  the  fruits  of  a  busy 
and  useful  life. 


ALEXANDER  BEAUBIEN. 


LEXANDER  BEAUBIEN  enjoys  the  dis- 

Htinction  of  being  the  oldest  individual  born 
in  Cook  County.     The  date  of  his  birth  was 
January   28,    1822,   and  the  place  is  on  the  east 
side  of  Michigan  Avenue,  between  Randolph  and 


Washington  Streets.  The  house  in  which  he 
was  born  had  been  built  a  few  years  earlier  by 
John  Dean,  and  was  one  of  five  or  six  buildings, 
including  Fort  Dearborn,  which  then  stood  upon 
the  site  of  Chicago. 


ALEXANDER  BEAUBIEN. 


393 


Alexander  is  one  of  twelve  children  born  to 
John  B.  and  Rosette  (La  Frambois)  Beaubien. 
The  father  was  born  at  Detroit,  Michigan,  during 
the  closing  days  of  the  American  Revolution. 
His  father,  Antoine  Beaubien,  and  his  grand- 
father, who  also  bore  the  name  of  Antoine, 
were  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Detroit,  and 
carried  on  an  extensive  farm  at  that  place.  An- 
toine Beaubien,  Sr. ,  was  a  native  of  France,  and 
doubtless  came  to  America  before  the  French  and 
Indian  War. 

John  B.  Beaubien  first  visited  Fort  Dearborn  in 
1809.  His  purpose  in  coming  hither  was  to 
trade  with  the  Indians,  and  in  the  pursuit  of  that 
object  he  was  quite  successful,  remaining  in  the 
vicinity  for  some  time.  At  the  time  of  the  mas- 
sacre, in  1812,  he  had  gone  to  Mackinaw,  but 
the  following  year  he  returned  as  agent  of 
John  Jacob  Astor  and  built  a  trading-post  near 
the  site  of  the  old  fort.  Branch  posts  were  also 
established  at  Milwaukee,  Pecatonica,  Hennepin 
and  Danville,  goods  being  transported  on  pack- 
horses  between  these  points  and  the  main  store- 
house at  Chicago.  Mr.  Beaubien  had  the  super- 
vision of  all  these  posts,  and  remained  in  charge 
of  them  for  some  years.  He  made  a  pre-emption 
claim  to  the  land  between  State  Street  and  the 
lake,  extending  as  far  south  as  Madison  Street, 
and  including  about  one  acre  on  the  north  side 
of  the  river;  but,  owing  to  some  technicality,  the 
government  refused  to  give  him  a  title  to  the 
same.  About  1840  he  settled  on  a  half-section 
of  land  near  the  Desplaines  Eiver,  in  Leyden 
Township,  with  his  familj*,  improving  the  same 
until  it  became  a  desirable  farm.  He  died  at 
Naperville,  Illinois,  in  1864,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four  years.  Had  all  white  men  manifested  the 
spirit  of  justice  and  fairness  exhibited  by  him  in 
dealing  with  the  Indians,  much  trouble  and  mis- 
ery might  have  been  averted. 

Mrs.  Rosette  Beaubien  was  born  in  Michigan. 
Her  father,  Joseph  La  Frambois,  was  a  French- 
man, and  her  mother  was  a  member  of  the  Potta- 
watomie  tribe.  In  1804,  while  still  a  young  girl, 
Mrs.  Beaubien  came  to  Chicago,  accompanying 
the  party  in  command  of  Major  Whistler,  which 
originally  built  Fort  Dearborn.  She  was  living 


with  the  Kinzie  family  when  the  fort  was  aban- 
doned in  1812,  and  with  her  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kin- 
zie, and  one  or  two  other  persons,  started  in  a 
canoe  to  follow  the  troops.  They  were  near 
shore  and  in  plain  sight  of  the  massacre  which 
took  place  near  the  foot  of  Eighteenth  Street,  and 
Mrs.  Beaubien  often  described  the  scene  to  her 
children  in  later  years.  After  the  battle  was 
over,  Mr.  Kinzie  and  party  continued  the  journey 
in  safety  to  St.  Joseph  and  thence  to  Detroit. 
Mrs.  Beaubien  died  at  River  Park,  Illinois,  in 
1845.  Following  are  the  names  of  her  children: 
George,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years; 
Susan  and  Monique,  twins;  Julia;  Henry  and 
Philip,  twins;  Alexander;  Ellen  Maria,  wife  of 
Joseph  Robeson;  William  S.;  Margaret  (Mrs. 
De  Witt  Robinson) ;  Louise  (Mrs.  N.  D.  Wood); 
and  Caroline  (Mrs.  Stephen  Fields).  Alexander 
and  the  four  last  mentioned  are  the  only  members 
of  this  family  now  living,  but  they  probably  know 
more  of  the  early  history  of  Chicago  than  any 
other  family  in  existence. 

The  circumstances  attending  his  youth  gave 
Mr.  Beaubien  little  opportunity  for  education  save 
that  gained  in  the  school  of  experience,  but  ex- 
tensive reading  and  observation  have  given  him 
a  well-stored  mind.  He  was  eighteen  years  old 
when  the  family  removed  from  Chicago  to  Ley- 
den  Township, where  he  became  one  of  the  leading 
farmers,  and  filled  all  the  township  offices  except 
that  of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  which  he  declined. 
In  1862  he  returned  to  Chicago,  which  has  since 
been  his  home.  During  the  most  of  this  time  he 
has  been  connected  with  the  police  force  of  the 
city,  and  for  seven  years  past  has  been  in  charge 
of  the  lock-up  at  the  Harrison  Street  Station, 
discharging  the  duties  of  that  position  in  a  man- 
ner which  meets  the  approval  of  all  his  superior 
officers,  though  the  administration  of  the  city 
government  has  several  times  changed  during  this 
period. 

He  readily  recalls  the  time  when  every  house 
in  the  then  village  of  Chicago  could  be  counted 
from  the  roof  of  his  father's  home.  He  saw  the 
first  frame  house  built  by  his  uncle,  Mark  Beau- 
bien. The  latter  also  built  the  first  brick  resi- 
dence, a  one  and  one-half  story  structure,  on  the 


394 


J.  S.  TOPPAN. 


north  side  of  Lake  Street,  about  fifty  feet  west  of 
Fifth  Avenue.  Mr.  Beaubien  witnessed  the  first 
public  execution  in  Cook  County,  when  John 
Stone  was  hung  for  murder.  This  took  place  on 
the  prairie,  about  where  Thirty-first  Street  now 
is,  and  one-quarter  of  a  mile  west  of  the  lake. 

Mr.  Beaubien  was  married,  in  1850,  to  Miss 
Susan  Miles,  a  daughter  of  Stephen  Miles  of  Can- 
andaigua,  New  York.  Five  children  have  blessed 
their  union,  as  follows:  Julia  Caroline,  wife  of 
Eugene  Wait;  Ida  E.  (Mrs.  Albert  H.  Moulton, 
of  Alexander,  Genesee  County,  New  York) ; 
Fannie  G.,  wife  of  Richard  S.  Beaubien;  William 
S.,  Jr.;  and  Harry  Miles;  all  except  Mrs.  Moul- 
ton living  in  Chicago.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beaubien 
also  have  five  grandchildren,  in  whose  company 
they  find  great  comfort  and  delight. 


Mr.  Beaubien  was  the  first  child  baptised  by  a 
Catholic  priest  in  Chicago,  although  the  rite  was 
not  performed  until  he  was  six  years  of  age, 
when  Father  Badden  chanced  to  visit  this  place. 
It  is  needless  to  add  that  Mr.  Beaubien  has  con- 
sistently retained  that  faith  to  the  present  time. 
Since  1882  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Police- 
men's Benevolent  Association.  He  is  independ- 
ent in  political  action,  supporting  such  men  and 
measures  as  he  deems  best  suited  to  the  public 
interests,  irrespective  of  party  allegiance.  He 
leads  a  quiet,  unassuming  life,  and  takes  great 
pleasure  in  discussing  events  connected  with  the 
pioneer  days  of  Cook  County,  the  most  important 
of  which  either  came  under  his  own  observation 
or  that  of  his  parents. 


JAMES  S.  TOPPAN. 


(TAMES  SMITH  TOPPAN,  a  man  of  broad 
I  business  experience,  has  been  an  extensive 
(*/  traveler  and  has  resided  and  been  engaged 
in  business  in  nearty  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
He  was  born  in  Newburyport,  Massachusetts, 
October  7,  1830,  of  good  old  New  England  stock, 
as  is  shown  by  the  following  resume  of  his  gene- 
alogy: 

The  name  Toppan  was  originally  Topham, 
taken  from  the  name  of  a  place  in  Yorkshire, 
England,  meaning  upper  hamlet  or  village.  The 
pedigree,  as  far  back  as  it  has  been  traced,  com- 
mences with  Robert  Topham,  who  resided  at 
Linton,  near  Pately  Bridge,  which  is  supposed  to 
have  been  in  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire.  He 
made  his  will  in  1550.  His  second  son,  Thomas 
Topham,  was  of  Arnecliffe,  near  L,inton.  He 
died  in  1589,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  at 
Arnecliffe.  Edward  Topham,  alias  Toppan,  eld- 
est son  of  Thomas  Topham,  was  of  Aiglethorpe, 
near  L,inton,  and  has  his  pedigree  recorded  in  the 


College  of  Arms,  with  armorial  bearings.  Will- 
iam Toppan,  fourth  son  of  Edward  Toppan,  of 
Aiglethorpe,  lived  for  some  time  at  Calbridge, 
where  his  son  Abraham  was  baptised  April  10, 
1606. 

The  family  still  exists  in  England,  and  is 
now  of  Middleham,  in  the  northwest  part  ot 
Yorkshire,  on  the  river  Ouse.  The  crest  is  a 
Maltese  cross  (croix  patee)  with  entwined  ser- 
pents. As  early  as  1637  Abraham  Toppan  re- 
sided at  Yarmouth.  His  wife  was  Susanna  Taylor. 

In  the  first  volume  of  the  fourth  series  of  the 
publications  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, pp.  98-99,  is  the  following: 

'  'A  Register  of  the  names  of  such  persons  who 
are  21  years  and  upward  and  have  license  to 
passe  into  forraigne  parts  from  March,  1637,  to 
2gth  of  September,  by  virtu  of  a  Commission  of 
Mr.  Thomas  May  hew,  Gentleman." 

Among  these  persons  are  the  following: 

"Abraham  Toppan,  cooper,  aged  31,  Susanna, 


J.  S.  TOPPAN. 


395 


his  wife,  aged  31,  with  their  children  Peter  and 
Elizabeth,  and  one  mayd  servant,  Anne  Goodin, 
aged  18  years,  sailed  from  Yarmouth,  10  May, 
1637,  in  the  ship  'Rose,'  of  Yarmouth,  Wm. 
Andrews,  Master." 

In  October,  1637,  Abraham  Toppan  was  in 
Newbury,  Massachusetts,  as  appears  by  the  fol- 
lowing extract  from  the  town  records: 

"Abraham  Toppan  being  licensed  by  John  En- 
dicott  Esqr.  to  live  in  this  jurisdiction,  was  re- 
ceived into  the  town  of  Newberry  as  an  inhabi- 
tant thereof,  and  has  promised  under  his  hand  to 
be  subject  to  any  lawful  order  that  shall  be  made 
by  the  towne. 

"Oct.  1637.  ABRAHAM  TOPPAN.  " 

The  genealogy  from  this  time  on  is  as  follows: 

Jacob  (son  of  the  above) ,  b.  1645,  m.  Hannah 
Sewall  24th  August,  1670. 

Abraham,  b.  2gth  June,  1684,  m.  Esther 
Sewall  24th  October,  1713. 

Edward,  b.  7th  September,  1715,  m.  Sarah 
Bailey  7th  September,  1743. 

Enoch,  b.  7th  May,  1759,  m.  Mary  Coffin 
2nd  February,  1794. 

Edward,  b.  7th  April,  1796,  m.  Susan  L. 
Smith,  22nd  January,  1821. 

James  S.,  b.  7th  October,  1830,  m.  Juliet  A. 
Lunt,  1 3th  August,  1861. 

The  old  homestead  upon  Toppan  Street,  in 
Newburyport,  was  built  by  Jacob  Toppan  in  1670, 
and  was  first  occupied  by  himself  and  his  bride. 
The  house  has  been  lived  in  almost  continually 
since,  and  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  fam- 
ily, being,  even  now,  in  a  remarkably  well-pre- 
served condition. 

Edward  Toppan,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  spent  his  entire  life  as  a  farmer  in  the 
neighborhood  of  his  native  town,  and  was  the  fa- 
ther of  the  following  children :  EdwardS.,  Charles, 
Hannah,  James  S.,  Margaret,  Susan  L,.,  Serena 
D.  and  Roland  W. 

James  S.  left  school  at  twelve  years  of  age, 
and  remained  at  home  upon  the  farm  until  he  was 
fifteen,  when  he  entered  a  stationery  store  in  his 
native  town. 

In  May,  1849,  when  less  than  nineteen  years 
of  age,  he  left  Boston  for  California  in  the  barque 


'  'Helen  Augusta." '  A  stop  of  seven  days  was  made 
at  St.  Catherines,  Brazil,  where,  on  the  day  after 
their  arrival,  six  of  the  crew  deserted,  and  as  no 
others  could  be  had  to  fill  their  places,  four  pas- 
sengers, including  Mr.  Toppan,  volunteered  to 
fill  them,  and  did  sailors'  duties  for  the  remainder 
of  the  voyage.  After  rounding  Cape  Horn,  they 
spent  one  day  on  the  island  of  Juan  Fernandez, 
made  famous  as  the  home  of  Robinson  Crusoe. 
Another  stop  of  a  week's  duration  was  made  at 
the  Gallapagos  Islands  for  the  purpose  of  secur- 
ing supplies  of  water,  terrapin  and  fish,  and  on 
the  ist  of  October  they  arrived  in  San  Francisco. 

Mr.  Toppan's  first  work  here  was  to  build 
a  fence  around  some  lots  on  the  Sand  Hills  for  a 
Mr.  David  Murphy,  and  also  to  cloth  and  paper 
two  houses  for  the  same  person.  When  this  was 
completed,  he,  in  company  with  another  young 
man,  bought  a  whale-boat,  which  they  ran  as  a 
ferry-boat  between  San  Francisco  and  what  is 
now  Oakland. 

Shortly  afterwards  this  was  sold  out  at  a  good 
profit,  and,  in  company  with  two  others,  Mr. 
Toppan  laid  claim  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  mission  land,  supposing  it  to  be  public  property. 
A  redwood  tree,  measuring  eight  feet  in  diameter 
at  the  butt,  was  cut  down,  and  from  one  length  of 
the  trunk  they  built  a  house  some  thirty  by  eigh- 
teen or  twenty  feet  in  size.  Two  yoke  of  oxen 
and  an  old  prairie  wagon  were  purchased  for 
$1,200,  and  the  land  was  cleared,  plowed  and 
planted. 

While  waiting  for  their  crops  to  mature  they 
employed  their  leisure  time  in  cutting  wild  hay 
and  building  a  lever  press — a  young  sycamore 
tree  serving  as  the  lever.  Strips  of  green  raw- 
hide were  used  in  binding  the  bales,  and  in  this 
manner  six  tons  of  hay  were  baled.  They  then 
loaded  it  on  old  overland  wagons,  two  of  which 
were  borrowed,  drawn  by  oxen,  and  started  for 
San  Francisco,  a  distance  of  forty-eight  miles. 

Upon  arriving  at  the  Dolores  Mission,  they 
found  a  large  number  of  persons  waiting  to  pur- 
chase the  ha}%  and  in  less  than  an  hour  they  had 
disposed  of  their  loads  for  $2,400.  This  was  the 
first  large  quantity  of  hay  that  had  ever  reached 
San  Francisco. 


396 


J.  S.  TOPPAN. 


On  their  return  they  gathered  their  crops  and 
purchased  a  sloop,  with  which  to  take  them  to 
market  at  San  Francisco.  Potatoes  brought  eigh- 
ty-five cents  per  pound,  and  other  products  were 
proportionately  high.  After  remaining  in  this 
business  for  a  year,  Mr.  Toppan  was  prostrated 
with  fever  and  ague,  and  was  obliged  to  sell  out 
and  return  to  San  Francisco.  Having  remained 
there  three  months  and  experienced  no  improve- 
ment, he  accepted  an  invitation  from  the  master 
of  the  ship  "Lowell,"  of  Newburyport,  to  take  a 
trip  with  him  to  Mazatlan,  Mexico.  From  there 
the  vessel  was  ordered  to  Ypala,  a  thousand  miles 
south,  where  it  was  loaded  with  a  cargo  of  dye- 
woods  for  Boston.  As  Mr.  Toppan  did  not  care 
to  return  home  by  the  way  of  Cape  Horn,  he  ac- 
cepted an  invitation  from  a  wealthy  Spanish  gen- 
tleman to  accompany  him  to  the  City  of  Mexico. 
They  made  their  way  to  Typic,  and  thence  to 
their  destination,  making  the  entire  trip  on  horse- 
back, stopping  at  the  principal  towns  along  their 
route.  Mr.  Toppan  remained  in  the  City  of 
Mexico  six  weeks,  and  was  then  appointed  a 
special  bearer  of  dispatches  to  Washington  by  the 
United  States  Minister. 

After  delivering  these  dispatches  and  visiting 
his  home  he  went  to  New  York  and  took  passage 
in  the  Vanderbilt  steamer  "Daniel  Webster"  for 
San  Francisco,  by  way  of  Nicaragua. 

They  reached  Nicaragua  during  the  rainy  sea- 
son, and  were  eighteen  days  in  crossing  the  Isth- 
mus, and  while  passing  up  the  Pacific  Coast  to 
San  Francisco  eleven  stops  were  made  for  the 
purpose  of  burying  people  who  had  died  of  fever 
contracted  on  the  Isthnius. 

On  reaching  the  Golden  Gate  City,  Mr.  Top- 
pan  formed  a  partnership  with  George  Mansfield, 
a  former  chief  steward  of  the  Massasoit  House,  of 
Springfield,  Massachusetts,  and  they  opened  a 
hotel  on  Clay  Street,  which  they  called  the  Mas- 
sasoit House.  This  venture  proving  a  success, 
they  carried  on  the  hotel  until  it  was  destroyed  in 
the  second  big  fire.  They  then  purchased  an  in- 
terest in  a  stern-wheel  boat  called  '  'The  Fashion, ' ' 
which  they  ran  between  San  Francisco  and  Colusa, 
the  latter  place  being  on  the  Sacramento  River, 
one  hundred  miles  above  the  city  of  Sacramento. 


A  year  after  this  Mr.  Toppan,  being  ill  with 
bilious  fever,  sold  his  interest  in  the  boat  and 
took  passage  for  Honolulu,  Sandwich  Islands. 
After  a  stay  of  six  weeks  he  boarded  the  clipper 
ship  "Sovereign  of  the  Seas,"  bound  for  New 
York.  At  that  time  this  ship  was  the  largest 
sailing-vessel  afloat,  and  eighty  days  after  leaving 
Honolulu  they  reached  New  York,  having  made 
the  shortest  passage  ever  made  by  a  sailing-vessel. 

Two  months  were  now  passed  at  home,  and 
then,  the  family  physician  having  advised  a 
warmer  climate  for  him,  he  sailed  from  Boston  to 
Calcutta,  going  as  third  mate  of  the  vessel.  Be- 
fore starting  he  had  made  arrangements  with 
Frederick  Tudor,  a  large  dealer  in  and  shipper  of 
ice,  to  act  as  his  agent.  He  represented  Mr.  Tudor 
for  eight  years  in  Calcutta,  two  years  in  Ceylon, 
two  years  in  Singapore,  and  two  years  in  Java, 
opening  new  houses  in  the  last  three  places. 

During  his  residence  in  the  East,  Mr.  Toppan 
visited  Newburyport  three  times,  remaining  about 
three  months  on  each  occasion.  These  trips  were 
made  through  the  Red  Sea,  Suez  Canal,  the  Med- 
iterranean and  overland  across  Europe  to  Liver- 
pool. He  was  on  the  eve  of  going  to  Hong  Kong, 
to  open  an  ice-house  there  when  Mr.  Tudor' s 
death  prevented. 

Mr.  Toppan  then  returned  home  and  accepted 
a  position  with  Addison,  Gage  &  Co.,  of  Boston, 
to  start  an  ice  business  in  Havana,  Cuba,  but  af- 
ter three  years  they  were  obliged  to  discontinue 
operations  on  account  of  the  internal  dissensions 
of  the  people  of  Cuba. 

He  then  returned  to  Boston  and  became  inter- 
ested in  petroleum  oil.  By  experimenting,  he 
discovered  a  new  way  of  filtering,  and  went  to 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  made  arrangements 
for  manufacturing  and  placing  his  oil  upon  the 
market.  This  business  venture  continued  until 
the  peculiar  grade  of  oil  which  was  used  as  a  base 
became  exhausted,  since  which  time  none  like  it 
has  been  found. 

Again,  he  went  to  Boston  and  purchased  a  one- 
third  interest  in  a  large  fish-oil  house,  taking 
possession  on  the  i5th  of  September,  1872.  On 
the  loth  of  November  the  entire  plant  was  de- 
stroyed in  the  great  Boston  fire.  The  business, 


N.  S.  HAYNES. 


397 


however,  was  soon  resumed,  and  continued  until 
the  following  September,  when  the  Jay  Cook 
panic  caused  a  failure. 

Four  years  after  this,  or  in  May,  1877,  Mr. 
Toppan  became  identified  with  the  Galena,  and 
the  Signal  Oil  Works,  Limited,  of  Franklin,  Penn- 
sylvania, coming  to  Chicago  as  their  Resident 
Manager  for  this  territory. 

He  was  the  originator  of  the  contract  system 
of  supplying  railroads  with  their  lubricating  oils, 
these  contracts  being  based  upon  the  car  and  lo- 
comotive mileage  of  the  different  roads.  So  sat- 
isfactory and  successful  has  this  system  proved, 
that  to-day  upwards  of  seventy  per  cent,  of  the 
railway  mileage  of  the  United  States  and  Mexico 
is  supplied  in  this  manner  by  the  above-named 
concerns. 

Mr.  Toppan  was  married,  August  13,  1861,  in 
Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  to  Miss  Juliet  A. 
Lunt,  who  immediately  accompanied  him  to  Java. 
She  is  the  daughter  of  the  late  George  and  Caroline 
(Chase)  Lunt,  and  had  one  sister.  Both  her  parents 
died  in  Newburyport,  the  father  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six,  and  the  mother  at  seventy-five.  Mr. 
Lunt  was  a  ship-owner  and  master,  and  spent  the 
major  part  of  his  life  at  sea.  Mrs.  Toppan 
made  two  or  three  trips  with  him  around  the 
world,  and  first  met  her  husband  in  Calcutta. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Toppan  became  the  parents  of 
four  sons  and  two  daughters.  The  first  child, 
James  S.,  was  born  in  Batavia,  Java.  When  this 
child  was  ten  months  old,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Toppan 
left  Java  for  home,  sailing  from  Liverpool  on  the 
old  Cunarder  "Africa."  When  two  days  out, 
small-pox  broke  out  in  the  cabin,  the  child  took 
it  and  died  ten  da\'s  after  reaching  home.  Frank 
W.  was  born  in  Cleveland,  and  lived  only  a  few 
weeks. 

Of  the  remaining  children,  George  L.,  who 
married  Grace  D.  Chapman,  of  Boston,  resides  in 
Evanston.  William  R.  married  Carrie  H.  Clark, 
01  this  city,  and  has  a  son  and  daughter.  Carrie 
L.  married  George  T.  Loker,  of  this  city;  and 
Fannie  C.  is  still  at  home. 

Mr.  Toppan  is  a  member  of  the  society  of  Cali- 
fornia Pioneers,  and  of  the  Sons  of  Massachusetts; 
is  domestic  in  his  tastes  and  fond  of  his  family. 
He  was  brought  up  in  the  Unitarian  faith,  and 
he  and  his  wife  attend  Prof.  Swing's  and  Bishop 
Cheney's  Churches. 

He  always  votes  the  Republican  'ticket,  and  is 
a  stanch  supporter  of  his  party,  keeps  abreast  of 
the  times,  is  broad-gauged  and  well  informed, 
and  is  a  pleasant,  genial  man  and  an  entertain- 
ing companion. 


REV.  N.  S.  HAYNES. 


REV.  N.  S.  HAYNES,  pastor  of  the  Engle- 
wood  Church  of  Christ,  Chicago,  is  a  native 
of  Kentucky,  his  birth  having  occurred  in 
Washington,  Mason  County,  on  the  yth  of  March, 
1844.     When  he  was  a  lad  of  eight  summers,  his 
parents  removed  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Woodford 
County,  on  a  farm  near  the  town  of  Eureka.    No 


event  of  special  importance  occurred  during  his 
youth,  which  was  passed  in  the  usual  manner  of 
farmer  lads.  During  the  summer  he  aided  in  the 
labors  of  the  field,  and  in  the  winter  months  be- 
came familiar  with  the  common  branches  of  learn- 
ing by  study  in  the  district  schools.  In  1859,  he 
became  a  student  in  Eureka  College,  where  he 


39» 


N.  S.  HAYNES. 


remained  until  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion,  when,  prompted  by  patriotic  im- 
pulses, he  joined  an  Illinois  regiment  and  went  to 
the  front.  On  his  return  from  the  South,  he  re- 
sumed his  study  in  college,  and  in  1867  was  grad- 
uated from  the  full  classical  course.  He  con- 
tinued his  studies  after  this,  however,  and  in 
1868  the  degree  of  Master  oi  Arts  was  conferred 
upon  him. 

In  the  fall  of  1867,  Mr.  Haynes  received  the  ap- 
pointment of  principal  of  the  public  schools  of  Kan- 
sas, Edgar  County,  Illinois,  and  for  a  year  filled 
that  position  in  a  creditable  and  acceptable  man- 
ner. In  May,  1868,  he  determined  to  enter  the 
ministry,  feeling  that  his  services  were  needed  in 
the  cause  of  Christianity,  and  in  June  of  that  year 
he  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  by  the  churches 
of  Kansas  and  Eureka.  In  July  he  became  the 
regular  pastor  of  the  churches  of  Kansas  and  Dud- 
ley, and  did  good  work  in  both.  During  that  time 
he  also  organized  the  church  in  Newman.  In  the 
fall  of  1869,  he  entered  the  Bible  College  of  Lex- 
ington, Kentucky,  where  he  remained  during  the 
school  year,  and  then  returned  to  his  former  field 
in  Edgar  County.  In  July,  1872,  he  went  to 
Prince  Edward  Island,  where  he  spent  one  hun- 
dred and  two  days,  during  which  time  he  delivered 
one  hundred  and  five  sermons  and  held  a  two-days 
public  discussion  with  Rev.  Mr.  Melville,  a  min- 
ister of  the  Kirk  and  a  graduate  of  Edinburgh  Uni- 
versity. As  a  result  several  prominent  members 
of  the  Kirk  were  converted  and  a  strong  and  influ- 
ential church  was  organized  at  Montague  Bridge, 
where  the  debate  was  held. 

After  his  return  from  abroad,  Mr.  Haynes,  in 
August,  1873,  became  pastor  of  the  church  in  De- 
catur,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  almost  uninter- 
ruptedly until  January,  1 88 1.  He  found  there  a 
church  of  small  membership,  with  little  influence, 
and  the  services  were  held  in  a  very  dilapidated 
house.  Undaunted  by  the  obstacles  in  his  path, 
with  zeal  and  energy  he  began  his  labors  there, 
and  during  his  pastorate  a  commodious  chapel  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  over  $7,000,  the  membership 
of  both  the  Sunday-school  and  congregation  was 
more  than  doubled,  and  the  church  was  placed  on 


a  good  working  basis,  becoming  one  of  the  lead- 
ing religious  organizations  in  the  city. 

Soon  after  his  removal  to  Decatur,  Mr.  Haynes 
was  married.  On  the  2oth  of  November,  1873,  he 
was  joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Rose  Frazier,  the 
ceremony  being  performed  near  Paris,  Illinois. 
Three  children  have  been  born  to  them,  but  Ruth, 
the  eldest,  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen  months. 
Rose,  aged  fifteen,  and  Ethel,  ten  years  of  age,  are 
still  at  home. 

On  resigning  the  pastorate  of  the  Decatur 
Church,  Mr.  Haynes  entered  upon  his  duties  as 
State  Evangelist,  to  which  position  he  was  elected 
by  the  Illinois  Christian  Missionary  Convention 
on  the  ist  of  January,  1881.  He  thus  served  un- 
til September  i,  1886,  during  which  time  the 
Permanent  Fund  of  the  society  grew  from  less  than 
$2,000  to  $20,000,  and  it  is  now  a  source  of  constant 
income  for  the  evangelistic  work  in  the  State. 
He  traveled  extensively  all  over  Illinois,  laboring 
untiringly,  aiding  missions,  preaching  the  gospel, 
locating  pastors,  and  performing  all  the  labors  that 
came  to  his  hand  which  were  calculated  to  ad- 
vance the  cause  of  Christianity. 

On  the  ist  of  September,  1886,  Mr.  Haynes  be- 
came pastor  of  the  First  Christian  Church  in  Pe- 
oria,  Illinois,  where  he  continued  until  the  ist  of 
March,  1892.  There  again  his  labors  were  very 
successful  and  he  left  the  church  in  a  flourishing 
condition, its  work  being  carried  on  systematically, 
while  everything  was  in  a  harmonious  condition. 
On  the  ist  of  March,  1892,  he  accepted  a  call  from 
the  church  of  Englewood,  where  he  has  since  con- 
tinued, winning  the  love  and  respect  of  his  con- 
gregation and  the  esteem  of  all  with  whom  he  has 
been  brought  in  contact,  of  whatever  denomina- 
tion. He  is  an  able  writer  and  has  long  been  a 
valued  contributor  to  the  Christian  Evangelist, 
one  of  the  leading  papers  of  the  denomination. 
His  writings  are  clear,  logical  and  to  the  point, 
and  in  every  department  of  church  work  he  has 
proven  almost  equally  successful.  As  a  teacher, 
evangelist,  pastor,  writer  and  superintendent  of 
missionary  operations,  he  has  indeed  shown  him- 
self to  be  "a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed. ' ' 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


JOHN  CHIPP 


JOHN  CHIPP. 


399 


JOHN  CHIPP. 


(JOHN  CHIPP  was  bom  June  24,  1828,  in 
I  Worcestershire,  England,  and  was  the  son 
Q)  of  Isaac  and  Martha  (Lanning)  Chipp.  Isaac 
Chipp  and  his  wife  lived  to  the  unusual  age  of 
more  than  eighty  years;  he  died  in  1868,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-six  years,  and  his  wife  in  1872,  at 
the  age  eighty-three  years.  Their  children  were: 
Elizabeth,  Hannah,  Richard,  Obadiah,  John, 
Isaac  and  Samuel.  Samuel  and  Richard  came 
to  America,  where  Samuel  died,  and  Richard  is 
still  living  on  a  farm  in  Du  Page  County,  Illinois. 
When  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  John  Chipp 
was  apprenticed  to  a  butcher,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained five  years,  and  then,  not  liking  his  work, 
ran  away  to  the  Isle  of  Guernsey,  where  he  con- 
ducted a  business  for  himself  six  years,  and  there 
he  was  married  in  1853.  I"  I^54  ne  decided  to 
come  to  America,  and  emigrated  to  Chicago, 
locating  at  what  is  now  Blue  Island  Avenue  and 
Morgan  Street,  and  he  opened  a  meat  market  in 
stall  No.  7,  in  the  old  West  Side  Market.  He 
remained  here  doing  business  until  the  building 
was  condemned,  when  he  started  a  market  on 
West  Polk  Street,  near  Blue  Island  Avenue,  and 
later  had  a  market  on  Jefferson  Street,  near  Har- 
rison. His  next  venture  was  packing  and  ship- 
ping meat  for  the  pinery  trade.  After  some 
time  spent  in  this  way,  he  moved  to  Pike's  Peak, 
at  which  place  he  started  in  business,  buying 
about  seven  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  stock  and 
opening  a  store  in  California  Gulch.  His  busi- 
ness here  was  unprofitable,  so  he  returned  to  Chi- 
cago at  the  end  of  eleven  months,  but  did  not 
remain  long. 

In  the  latter  part  of   1863  he  again  went  to 


California  Gulch  and  opened  a  store  with  ten 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  stock,  and  this  venture 
was  a  success.  In  a  year  and  a-half,  however, 
he  returned  to  Chicago,  where  he  built  three 
houses,  one  of  which  he  occupied  himself  five 
years  in  the  dry-goods  business.  He  lived  a  re- 
tired life  the  next  six  years,  and  then  built  two 
stores  at  the  corner  of  Sixteenth  Street  and  Blue 
Island  Avenue.  He  exchanged  this  property 
for  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  acres  of  improved 
land  in  section  n,  Virgil  Township,  Kane 
County,  Illinois.  The  object  of  this  was  that  he 
might  live  a  retired  life,  having  the  farm  culti- 
vated by  a  tenant. 

Mr.  Chipp  was  married  February  20,  1853,  to 
Miss  Jane,  daughter  of  Abraham  and  Jane 
(Wales)  Crossland.  She  was  born  December  29, 
1832,  in  the  Isle  of  Guernsey.  Her  father, 
Abraham  Crossland,  was  born  in  Leeds,  and  her 
mother,  Jane  Wales,  was  born  in  Kendall,  Wales. 
John,  the  father  of  Abraham  Crossland,  was  a 
silk  weaver,  and  lived  in  Wales  all  his  life.  He 
married  Elizabeth  Wincupp,  and  their  only  chil- 
dren were  Abraham  and  John.  Mrs.  Jane  Cross- 
land's  father,  William  Wales,  was  a  tanner,  who 
came  to  America  and  located  in  Philadelphia, 
where  he  was  accidentally  killed  by  falling  from 
a  bugg3r.  His  wife  was  Jennie  Riggs,  and  their 
children  were  John,  William  and  Jane.  Abra- 
ham Crossland  died  in  1862,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
seven  years,  and  his  wife,  Jane,  died  in  1853,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  Their  children 
were:  John,  Mary,  Elizabeth,  Louisa,  Annie  and 
Jane,  Mrs.  Chipp. 

Mr.   and  Mrs.  John  Chipp  became  the  parents 


400 


J.  A.  SIMPIER. 


of  the  following  children:  Martha  Jane,  born  No- 
vember 20,  1854,  in  Guernsey;  she  married  John 
Keating,  living  in  Aurora  until  her  death,  January 
n,  1897.  ( Her  children  are  Lena,  born  July  20, 
1886;  Roy,  June  17,  1887;  and  Edward,  February" 
3,  1890.)  James  Harris,  who  was  born  in  this 
city  November  17,  1856,  and  died  August  12, 
1872;  Vincent,  born  September  12,  1857,  and 
died  in  December,  1867;  Wales  fanning,  born 
April  8,  1873,  in  Kane  County,  and  is  in  busi- 
ness in  the  city. 

Mr.  Chipp  died  at  his  comfortable  home  on  his 
farm  in  Kane  County,  February  9,  1888,  and  he 
was  laid  to  rest  in  Rosehill  Cemetery,  Chicago. 
He  united  with  the  Masonic  order  in  1859,  by 
becoming  a  member  of  Old  Bigelow  Lodge  in 
Chicago.  Subsequently  he  became  a  member  of 
Ashland  Lodge,  and  was  buried  under  the 


auspices  of  the  Masons.  In  politics  he  was  an 
ardent  Republican.  He  was  nominated  for  alder- 
man on  the  West  Side,  but  did  not  accept  the 
nomination.  He  was  a  worthy  member  of  the 
English  Church.  Mr.  Chipp's  wife  survives  him, 
and  she  is  a  valuable  citizen  of  South  Chicago. 
She  is  a  member  of  Lady  Garfield  Lodge,  Order 
of  the  Eastern  Star;  of  Charity  Lodge,  Daughters 
of  Rebekah,  and  a  valued  member  of  Burnside 
Relief  Corps.  Since  her  husband's  death  she 
has  very  ably  managed  the  business  of  his  estate. 
Her  son,  Wales  Lanning  Chipp,  and  her  nephew, 
George  Dobin,  have  a  large  grocery  business  in 
South  Chicago,  which  is  conducted  at  three 
different  stores.  She  has  been  an  active  business 
woman,  showing  great  ability  in  the  conduct  of 
all  her  affairs,  and  she  has  won  the  admiration 
and  esteem  of  the  community. 


JOSEPH  A.  SIMPIER. 


(JOSEPH  ASDRASE  SIMPIER  was  born  in 
I  Montreal,  Canada,  August  i,  1846.  He  is 
G/  of  French  descent,  and  is  the  son  of  Amos  and 
Sophia  (Brothers)  Simpier,  natives  of  France. 
His  grandfather,  Amhern  Simpier,  was  born  in 
Paris,  France,  and  was  a  watchmaker  by  trade. 
He  traveled  from  place  to  place,  making  and  re- 
pairing watches  and  clocks.  In  1812  he  emigra- 
ted to  Canada  and  located  at  Montreal,  where  he 
died  in  1862.  His  wife  was  Mary  Robscheo,  and 
they  had  three  children,  among  them  Amos  Sim- 
pier,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  notice. 

Amos  Simpier  was  born  in  Montreal  and  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1852,  settling  in  Olean, 
New  York.  Here  he  remained  one  year  and  then 
returned  to  Canada,  and  lived  there  until  1867, 
when  he  again  came  to  this  country,  and  located 
at  Chicago.  He  brought  his  family  this  time, 
and  worked  at  his  trade,  shoemaking,  in  South 


Chicago.  He  married  Miss  Sophia  Brothers  in 
Point  de  Tremble,  Canada,  and  they  had  fourteen 
children,  of  whom  Joseph  A.  is  the  eldest.  Amos 
Simpier  died  in  1885,  in  South  Chicago,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-four  years,  and  his  wife  survives  him 
and  lives  in  this  city. 

Joseph  Simpier  was  born  in  Montreal  and  learned 
the  shoemaker's  trade  there  when  a  youth.  When 
he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  went  to  Olean, 
New  York.  This  country  has  always  offered  to 
young  men  of  courage  and  ambition,  a  field  for 
study  or  labor,  where  they  can  make  good  prog- 
ress in  whatever  line  of  work  they  follow.  Wheth- 
er rich  or  poor,  whether  born  of  the  aristocracy 
or  of  the  common  people,  only  those  are  able  to 
rise  who  are  fitted  by  intellect,  energy,  and  firm- 
ness of  character.  Mr.  Simpier  remained  at  Olean 
nine  years  and  was  there  engaged  in  business. 
In  1873,  attracted  by  the  wider  field  of  opportuni- 


J.  H.  JONES,  SR. 


401 


ties  in  the  Great  West,  he  came  to  Chicago.  He 
bought  a  triangular  lot  in  South  Chicago,  at  the 
corner  of  Harbor  and  Mackinaw  Avenues,  and 
there  built  the  house  in  which  he  lived  until  1887. 
In  that  year  he  bought  a  lot  at  No.  9142 
Mackinaw  Avenue,  and  built  his  present  comfort- 
able home,  where  he  still  carries  on  the  boot  and 
shoe  business.  When  Mr.  Simpier  first  came  to 
Chicago,  he  engaged  successfully  in  the  dry-goods 
business,  and  owned  one  of  the  largest  stores  in 
the  city,  which  he  sold  out  in  1891. 

When  he  was  only  twenty  years  old,  he  married 
Mary  Butcher,  but  they  had  no  children.     Mrs. 


Simpier  died  when  they  had  been  married  only  a 
few  years,  and  in  1883  Mr.  Simpier  married  Mary 
O'Marro,  daughter  of  Timothy  O'Marro,  and  a 
native  of  Watertown,  Wisconsin.  They  have  two 
children  living — Amos,  aged  twelve,  and  Laura, 
aged  ten  years.  One  child,  Lulu,  died  at  the  age 
of  two  years. 

Mr.  Simpier  was  reared  in  the  Catholic  faith, 
but  never  has  been  active  in  church  matters.  He 
is  an  upright,  law-abiding  citizen,  and  is  inter- 
ested in  all  that  concerns  the  welfare  of  his  adopt- 
ed country.  In  politics  he  favors  the  Republican 
party,  but  has  never  cared  for  any  office. 


JOHN   H.  JONES,  SR. 


(JOHN  HUGH  JONES,  Senior.  This  is  a 
I  name  that  will  readily  be  recognized  in  Chi- 
C/  cago  building  circles  as  that  of  one  of  the 
most  honorable  and  reliable  contractors  with 
which  large  building  interests  in  the  city  have 
ever  had  occasion  to  deal.  He  was  killed  while 
superintending  the  construction  of  the  plant  of 
the  North  Chicago  Rolling  Mill  Company  in 
South  Chicago,  the  circumstances  attending 
his  death  being  peculiarly  sad  and  tragic. 

His  father,  Hugh  Jones,  died  October  19,  1893, 
in  Llangfui,  County  Anglesea,  North  Wales,  at 
the  advanced  age  of  eighty- four  years.  He  was 
a  farmer,  and  had  a  life  lease  of  twenty  acres  of 
land,  which  he  held,  without  rent,  from  his 
brother,  Harry  Jones. 

John  Hugh  Jones,  senior,  was  born  March  28, 
1831,  in  North  Wales,  and  came  to  this  country 
in  1849,  in  company  with  his  brother  Hugh.  He 
settled  at  Rome,  New  York,  where  he  remained 
one  year,  and  then  found  work  in  Milwaukee, 
where  he  lived  until  1862.  He  moved  that  year 
to  Winona,  Minnesota,  where  he  followed  the 
builders'  trade  for  ten  years.  The  year  of  the 


big  fire  brought  him  to  Chicago  to  engage  in  re- 
building the  ruined  city.  He  took  up  his  resi- 
dence at  No.  227  Fulton  Street,  and  devoted  his  last 
years  to  the  gigantic  work  of  reconstruction 
that  the  rapid  growth  of  Chicago  made  necessary. 
He  was  a  practical  mason,  and  served  as  foreman 
in  Milwaukee.  In  Winona  he  did  independent 
contracting  on  an  extensive  scale,  and  was  the 
principal  partner  of  the  building  firm  of  Jones  & 
Butler.  In  Chicago  he  built  some  of  the  most 
imposing  buildings  that  were  completed  in  the 
seventies,  among  them  being  the  Hale-Ayer 
building,  Orrin  W.  Potter's  residence,  as  super- 
intendent of  mason  work  for  Carter  Brothers,  and 
Adolph  Loeb's  fine  house  on  the  North  Side.  He 
built  the  mill  work  for  the  Joseph  H.  Brown  Com- 
pany at  Irondale,  and  the  D.  K.  Pierson  block  on 
North  Clark  and  Schiller  Streets.  He  put  up  the 
blast  furnace  at  Irondale,  and  laid  the  first  track 
for  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Rail- 
road that  was  put  across  Halsted  Street.  In  a 
contracted  sketch  like  this  it  is  impossible  to  re- 
count all  his  varied  activities  and  labors.  But 
this  is  enough  to  show  the  manner  of  the  man 


402 


C.  W.  TRAVIS. 


and  the  bent  of  his  disposition.  He  was  capable 
and  energetic,  and  not  afraid  of  the  largest  un- 
dertakings. 

Mr.  Jones  wedded  Jane  Thomas,  in  Waukesha, 
Wisconsin,  December  18,  1856.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  John  William  and  Elizabeth  (Jones) 
Thomas.  Her  father  died  April  13,  1894,  at 
Waukesha,  when  over  eighty-three.  He  was  a 
farmer,  and  came  from  Wales  to  Wisconsin  in 
1849.  He  bought  Government  land,  which  he 
cultivated  with  much  profit,  and  was  a  successful 
man.  Elizabeth  (Jones)  Thomas  died  May  10, 
1884,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  Her  children  are: 
Owen,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen;  William, 
who  is  at  Waterville,  Wisconsin;  Jane,  who  was 
born  October  16,  1837;  Ellen,  Mrs.  Howell  Will- 
iams, of  Delta,  Pennsylvania;  and  Mary,  who 
married  William  C.  Jones,  and  lives  in  Waukesha. 


To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Hugh  Jones  were 
born  five  children,  of  whom  John  Hugh  was  the 
eldest.  His  sketch  appears  elsewhere.  William 
Owen  was  born  July  15,  1860,  and  lives  at  No.  175 
Seventy-third  Place.  He  is  doing  a  good  commis- 
sion business.  David  Richard,  whose  sketch  is 
in  this  work,  was  born  June  12,  1863,  and  is 
deputy  sheriff.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  born  De- 
cember 3,  1865,  and  died  January  i,  1870.  Eliz- 
abeth Jane  was  born  August  7,  1870,  and  married 
Martin  Weightman,  whose  sketch  forms  a  part  of 
this  work.  Mr.  Jones  united  with  the  Indepen- 
dent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  in  Winona,  and 
throughout  his  life  was  much  interested  in  its 
welfare.  He  filled  all  its  chairs  and  reflected 
credit  upon  the  institution.  He  was  a  Presbyte- 
rian, and  a  Republican,  but  never  held  a  public 
office. 


CHARLES  W.  TRAVIS. 


/TJHARLES  WINFIELD  TRAVIS,  a  promi- 
1 1  nent  man  among  railroaders,  was  born  April 
\^J  25,  1849,  in  Fishkill  Village,  Dutchess 
County,  New  York.  He  is  the  son  of  Jeremiah 
Banker  and  Catharine  (Bogardus)  Travis,  both 
of  whom  are  native-born  Americans.  Richard, 
father  of  Jeremiah  Travis,  was  a  native  of  New 
York.  His  children  were:  John,  Susan,  Jere- 
miah and  Nathaniel.  Susan  married  Henry  Slau- 
son,  and  is  living  at  Dwight,  Illinois.  Jeremiah 
Travis  was  a  stone  mason  and  plasterer.  He  was 
foreman  of  repairs  on  the  Chicago  &  Alton  Rail- 
road fourteen  years,  and  during  the  fifteen  years 
preceding  his  death  he  lived  a  retired  life  at  his 
home,  No.  134  Forty-third  Place,  Chicago.  He 
died  May  25,  1897,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine 
years.  His  wife,  Catharine  Bogardus,  was  born 
October  15,  1817,  at  Fishkill,  and  died  June 
8,  1884.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Abraham 


Bogardus,  whose  children  were:  Catharine,  John, 
Oliver,  Frederick,  Jeanette  and  Phrebe.  Jere- 
miah Travis  and  his  wife  were  the  parents  of 
the  following  children:  Daniel,  George,  Martha, 
William,  Alonzo,  Richard,  Mary,  Charles,  Jere- 
miah and  Annie,  the  first  five  of  whom  are  now 
dead. 

Charles  W.  Travis  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Dwight,  Illinois,  in  1855.  In  1864  he  left  home 
to  earn  his  own  living,  though  then  only  fifteen 
years  of  age.  At  first  he  was  a  brakeman  for  the 
Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne  &  Chicago  Railroad, 
and  was  later  employed  in  switching,  and  after 
some  time  was  promoted  to  be  a  conductor.  He 
was  in  the  service  of  the  Fort  Wayne  Road  until 
1870,  and  subsequently  worked  for  the  Chicago  & 
Alton  as  a  brakeman.  Then  he  went  back  to  the 
Fort  Wayne  Railroad,  and  continued  with  it  until 
the  strike  of  1894,  in  the  positions  of  brakeman 


FRANK  HENNEBOHLE. 


403 


and  switchman,  and  finally  as  a  conductor.  In 
1895  he  engaged  with  the  Calumet  &  Blue  Island 
Railway,  and  is  at  present  in  the  same  serv- 
ice. Altogether  he  has  worked  about  twenty 
years  as  a  conductor,  and  he  has  in  that  time 
made  a  good  record  for  himself. 

October  27,  1870,  Mr.  Travis  married  Frances 
Jane,  daughter  of  Martin  and  Lejah  (Graham) 
Berry.  Mrs.  Travis  was  born  April  i,  1852,  on 


Polk  Street,  in  Chicago.  She  is  the  mother  of  one 
child,  Charles  Edward  Travis,  born  at  Washing- 
ton, Illinois,  June  20,  1872.  Mr.  Travis  is  a 
member  of  Renfrew  Lodge  No.  144,  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  of  Washington, 
Illinois.  In  political  matters  he  supports  the 
principles  upheld  by  the  Democratic  party.  He 
is  a  man  who  is  esteemed  by  his  fellow-workmen 
as  an  honest  and  reliable  friend. 


FRANK  HENNEBOHLE. 


j"~  RANK  HENNEBOHLE,  one  of  the  most 
JM  successful  inventors  of  this  country,  and  an 
|  expert  mechanic,  was  born  September  30, 
1856,  in  the  city  of  Ruethen,  Westphalia,  Ger- 
many. He  is  the  son  of  Casper  and  Theresa 
(Tillman)  Hennebohle,  natives  of  Germany,  and 
the  first  one  of  his  family  to  come  to  America. 
He  landed  in  New  York,  April  2,  1880,  and  went 
to  Pittsburgh,  where  he  worked  a  year  for  the 
Pittsburgh  Locomotive  Works,  and  afterward  a 
year  for  the  McKinney  Hinge  Factory. 

In  1882  he  came  to  Chicago  and  worked  in  the 
Allen  Paper  Car- Wheel  Works,  at  Pullman,  six 
months.  He  worked  four  months  in  the  city, 
and  then  went  to  South  Chicago,  where  he  was 
employed  by  Fieldhouse,  Butcher  &  Belden, 
manufacturers  of  wrought-iron  pipe,  for  a  period 
of  eight  months.  From  August,  1883,  till  1889, 
he  worked  for  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  as  head 
machinist.  He  then  began  business  for  himself, 
with  his  factory  on  Ontario  Avenue  near  Ninety- 
first  Street.  He  moved  to  his  present  location, 
South  Chicago  and  Erie  Avenues,  in  July,  1894, 
and  has  since  done  business  under  his  individual 
name. 

He  had  been  working  at  the  machinist's  trade 
since  he  was  twelve  years  old,  having  then  begun 
his  apprenticeship  of  three  and  a-half  years.  This 


was  at  the  time  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War, 
when  this  business  was  very  lucrative.  From 
1875  to  1878  he  served  as  foreman  for  the  Bochu- 
mer-Verein  (manufacturers  of  steel  rails  and  all 
kinds  of  railroad  equipments,  as  well  as  cannon 
and  other  implements  of  war,  such  as  steel  pro- 
jectiles, etc.),  located  at  Bochumer,  Germany. 
Mr.  Hennebohle  has  perfected  and  patented  more 
than  twenty-four  inventions,  including  useful 
articles  that  are  now  in  use  throughout  the  world, 
and  are  manufactured  exclusively  by  him  at 
his  plant  in  South  Chicago.  Among  his  later 
inventions  may  be  mentioned  the  Air  and  Hy- 
draulic Compressor,  in  which  not  over  five  per 
cent,  of  the  power  in  operating  other  similar  ma- 
chines is  used;  and  he  has  applied  for  a  patent  on 
this.  The  Hennebohle  Rotary  Engine  is  another 
late  invention,  and  promises  to  be  the  only  really 
successful  engine  of  its  kind  ever  placed  on  the 
market.  He  is  the  inventor  and  manufacturer 
of  steam  and  hydraulic  specialties,  which  include 
man}-  steam  and  gas  regulators. 

His  patents  on  the  Automatic  Stop  Safety  Valve 
and  the  Boiler  Steam  Check  Valve,  as  well  as  the 
F.  Hennebohle  Noiseless  Automatic  New  Relief 
Valve,  cover  the  United  States,  England,  Ger- 
man}', Belgium,  Austria  and  France,  and  he  is 
destined  to  be  made  wealthy  by  the  universal  use 


404 


EDWARD  NOMMENSEN. 


of  these  valuable  appliances.  Many  lives  which 
have  been  lost  in  steam  boiler  explosions  might 
have  been  saved,  had  the  invention  of  Mr.  Henne- 
bohle  been  in  use  on  those  boilers. 

At  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  he  re 
ceived  medals  and  diplomas,  and  he  supplied 
many  buildings  at  the  Great  Fair  with  machinery. 
He  purchased  from  the  German  inventor,  Custo- 
dis,  the  chimney  exhibited  by  the  latter  at  the 
Fair,  and  has  it  now  in  use  on  his  factory  at 
South  Chicago.  It  is  made  of  hollow  bricks,  in 
octagonal  form,  each  brick  being  in  dimension 
identical  with  the  dimension  of  the  chimney. 

Mr.  Hennebohle  employs  about  thirty-five  men, 
and  gives  to  every  part  of  the  work  his  personal 
attention  and  supervision,  understanding  all  that 
takes  place  within  his  factory.  The  building  is 
at  the  corner  of  Erie  and  South  Chicago  Avenues, 
and  is  a  two-story  and  basement  building,  sixty 
by  one  hundred  feet  in  dimension.  Mr.  Henne- 
bohle is  honorable  in  all  his  dealings,  and  is  in- 
terested in  any  project  for  the  improvement  of  the 
city. 

November*  16,  1877,    Mr.  Hennebohle  married 


Miss  Anna,  daughter  of  Johann  and  Margaret 
Schildges.  They  have  the  following  children: 
Martha,  who  was  born  December  24, 1878,  and  died 
when  one  year  and  nine  months  old;  Henry,  who 
was  born  March  28,  1880,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
one  year  and  ten  months;  Frank,  who  was  born 
April  4,  1882,  and  died  when  five  months  old; 
Theresa,  who  was  born  July  12,  1883;  Elizabeth, 
who  was  born  March  10,  1885;  and  Anna,  who 
was  born  September  6,  1886;  Mary,  who  was 
born  July  13,  1888;  and  Katharina,  who  was  born 
November  4,  1890.  Besides  these  children  he  is 
rearing  five  children  of  his  brother,  who  are  or- 
phans. Their  names  are:  William,  who  was 
born  January  13,  1879;  Frank,  born  February 
19,  1885;  Emil,  born  December  9,  1887;  Mar- 
garita, born  July  10,  1891;  and  John,  born  Sep- 
tember 15,  1892.  Mr.  Hennebohle  is  a  member 
of  Branch  No.  317,  Catholic  Knights  of  America, 
and  also  of  the  German  Catholic  Central  Society 
of  America,  under  the  Catholic  Church.  In  poli- 
tics he  is  a  Democrat.  He  is  prominent  among 
the  citizens  of  South  Chicago,  among  whom  he 
has  many  friends  and  admirers. 


EDWARD    NOMMENSEN. 


|~  DWARD  NOMMENSEN  was  born  August 
fy  6,  1832,  in  the  village  of  Klickspiel,  Thun- 
L_  den,  Germany,  and  died  March  27,  1893,  at 
his  family  residence  in  Chicago.  His  parents 
were  John  and  Margareta  (Marcelon)  Nommen- 
sen,  and  in  their  home  he  remained  untrT  he 
reached  the  estate  of  manhood.  He  was  united 
in  marriage  in  the  old  country  to  Mary  An- 
derson, a  daughter  of  John  and  Christina  (Broder- 
son)  Anderson.  She  was  born  November  20, 
1835,  in  Teck,  Germany,  and  before  the  family 
came  to  America  was  the  mother  of  several  chil- 
dren. They  reached  South  Chicago  in  May,  1870, 


bringing  with  them  their  children,  Christina, 
Laura,  Mary,  John  and  Edward.  The  husband 
and  father  was  a  horse  dealer  in  Germany,  but  on 
coming  to  this  country  did  whatever  came  to  his 
hand  until  he  was  wonted  to  the  ways  and  ac- 
quainted with  the  language  of  the  country.  In 
1892  he  bought  property  at  No.  603  Ninety- 
seventh  Street,  and  built  a  house  there.  He  was 
very  active  in  helping  to  rebuild  the  city  after 
the  great  fire. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nommensen  were  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  whose  history  is  here  briefly  given: 
Christina  was  born  July  25,  1859,  married 


JOSEPH  PECKER. 


405 


Andrew  Hansen,  an  engineer  in  the  employment 
of  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  and  lives  on  Hous- 
ton Avenue.  Laura,  born  April  25,  1861,  married 
William  Martz,  an  engineer  for  the  Illinois  Steel 
Company,  and  lives  at  No.  8723  Exchange  Ave- 
nue. Mary,  born  November  29,  1863,  married 
Marcus  Hansen,  and  is  a  widow,  with  a  home  on 
Exchange  Avenue,  just  north  of  her  sister  Laura. 
John,  born  October  28,  1866,  an  engineer,  in  the 
employ  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Company ,  wedded  Mary 
Tiege,  and  lives  at  No.  8906  Superior  Avenue.  Ed- 
ward, born  August  25,  1869,  married  LenaSchim- 
kie,  and  has  his  home  at  No.  8729  Houston 
Avenue.  All  these  children  are  of  German  na- 
tivity. Anthony,  born  September  23,  1872,  is  an 
engineer  and  a  skilled  workman  in  the  Illinois 
Steel  Company's  works.  He  served  under  Will- 
iam Gillice,  master  mechanic  in  the  bessemer  de- 
partment, eight  years.  He  attended  the  South 
Chicago  schools,  and  is  a  man  of  much  character 
and  genuine  worth.  Andrew,  born  December  19, 
1874,  a  native  of  South  Chicago,  is  a  house  paint- 
er, lives  at  home  and  works  by  the  day.  August 
was  born  June  20,  1877,  at  the  family  homestead, 
and  is  employed  by  the  Illinois  Steel  Company  as 
fireman,  a  position  that  he  has  held  three  years. 
John,  father  of  Edward  Nommensen,  died  in 


1849  in  Klickspiel.  By  occupation  he  was  a  la- 
borer. He  was  the  father  of  four  children  beside 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  Nicholas,  Johannah, 
Katharina  and  Peter.  These  children  remained 
in  the  old  countiy,  where  their  families  are  still 
living.  The  father  studied  for  the  ministry,  but 
joined  the  German  army,  and  served  throughout 
the  Franco- Prussian  war,  his  military  experiences 
covering  a  period  of  eight  years. 

John  Anderson,  father  of  Mrs.  Mary  Nommen- 
sen, was  born  in  1804,  and  died  when  Mrs.  Nom- 
mensen was  a  mere  child.  He  was  the  father  of 
three  children.  Meta  Marie,  the  eldest,  married 
George  Peterson  in  the  old  country,  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1882,  and  is  now  living  on  Houston  Ave- 
nue. Mary  is  Mrs.  Nommensen.  Christina 
married  Lawrence  Petersen  in  Germany,  where 
they  now  reside,  and  is  the  mother  of  four  chil- 
dren. The  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Nommensen, 
Andrew  Anderson,  was  a  tailor  and  had  four  chil- 
dren. Christina  (Mrs.  Hans  Hollenson),  Andrew, 
John  and  Christian.  Broder  Broderson,  father  of 
Mrs.  John  Anderson,  had  four  children,  Inge, 
Christina,  Dorothea  and  Christian.  Mr.  Nom- 
mensen was  an  honest,  hard-working  man,  and 
his  modest,  unassuming  virtues  are  tenderly  re- 
membered. 


JOSEPH   PECHER. 


(JOSEPH  PECHER  was  born  May  21,  1823, 
in  Doelitscheu,  Bohemia,  and  is  a  son  of 
Mathias  and  Margaret  (Croy)  Pecher.  The 
father  was  a  tailor,  and  the  grandfather  a  black- 
smith. The  family  was  an  old  and  respected  one, 
and  has  representatives  in  various  walks  of  life 
in  the  home  country  to-day. 

Mr.  Pecher  grew  to  manhood  in  the  old  coun- 
try home,  where  he  was  married  and  reared  quite 
a  family  before  the  spirit  moved  him  to  emigrate 


to  America.  He  crossed  the  ocean,  and  landed  in 
New  York  October  18,  1866,  having  with  him 
his  wife,  and  his  children,  John,  Joseph,  Ernes- 
tina,  Frank  and  Paul.  One  son,  Charles,  had 
come  over  six  months  .before.  The  family  came 
direct  to  Chicago,  and  settled  on  Blue  Island 
Avenue,  They  are  still  together,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Ernestina,  Frank  and  Joseph.  John 
was  born  November  15,  1850,  in  Vienna,  and 
was  a  shoemaker  in  Germany.  In  Chicago  he 


406 


R.  E.  LITTLE. 


was  a  butcher  until  1881,  and  has  been  engaged 
in  the  commission  business  since  that  time. 
Joseph  was  born  in  Vienna,  November  29,  1852, 
and  is  a  cabinet-maker.  He  wedded  Mary  New- 
man, and  has  four  children  in  his  South  Morgan 
Street  home:  Joseph,  Leo,  and  the  twins,  John 
and  Addie.  Ernestina,  born  May  25,  1858,  mar- 
ried Jacob  M.  Strauch,  for  account  of  whom  see 
sketch  in  this  volume.  Frank  is  also  the  subject 
of  a  biography  in  this  work.  Paul  was  born  April 
20,  1865,  and  is  a  hardwood  finisher  and  painter, 
now  in  business.  He  was  married  February 
7,  1888,  to  Annie  Heinz,  a  Chicago  girl.  Her 


parents  were  Christian  and  Catharine  (Hartman) 
Heinz,  and  she  was  born  October  31,  1866.  She 
is  the  mother  of  one  child,  Maria,  born  February 
18,  1889.  Charles  was  born  June  20,  1869,  at 
No.  213  Blue  Island  Avenue,  and  died  when  six 
months  old.  Mrs.  Joseph  Pecher  was  born  De- 
cember 4,  1825,  in  Machren,  Bohemia,  where  her 
parents  were  living  on  a  farm.  Their  names 
were  Frank  Steppan  and  Annie  Marie  Groeber. 
They  became  the  parents  of  six  children,  of  whom 
Mrs.  Pecher  is  the  youngest.  The  others  were 
Theresa,  Annie  Maria,  Anton,  Barbara  and 
Elizabeth. 


ROBERT   E.    LITTLE. 


QOBERT  ELLISON  LITTLE.  Among  the 
^  names  of  sturdy  Scotchmen  who  came  to. 
f3 \  America  in  early  youth,  and  among  the  best 
citizens  and  protectors  of  our  national  reputation 
and  honor,  will  be  found  that  of  Robert  E.  Little. 
He  was  born  November  4,  1840,  in  Stirling,  Scot- 
land, and  is  the  son  of  Robert  and  Jane  (Liddell) 
Little,  natives  of  that  country.  His  father  was  a 
farmer  and  came  to  Goderich,  Canada,  in  1856. 
Here  he  purchased  a  farm,  on  which  he  lived 
until  his  death.  He  had  nine  children,  of  whom 
the  eldest  is  Robert  Ellison  Little,  the  subject  of 
this  notice. 

Robert  E.  Little  was  an  ambitious  youth,  and 
when  he  was  only  fourteen  years  old  he  followed 
his  desire  for  sea  life  and  sailed  on  salt  water  four 
years.  In  1858  he  came  to  America,  and  took 
command  of  the  schooner  "Experiment,"  and 
sailed  the  lakes  five  years.  Then  he  went  to 
Memphis,  Tennessee,  where  he  spent  eighteen 
months  as  a  bookkeeper.  After  this  he  was  nine 
months  in  Canada,  with  his  parents,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1870  he  located  at  Hyde  Park,  Chicago. 
He  lived  there  a  year,  and  then  came  to  South  Chi- 
cago, where  he  bought  and  fitted  out  the  schooner 


"Jim,"  and  for  two  years  kept  it  on  the  lakes. 
This  was  practically  the  close  of  his  sailor's  career. 

When  Mr.  Little  was  in  South  Chicago,  he 
made  his  home  with  Mrs.  Mary  Hunt,  widow  ot 
William  Hunt.  They  were  among  the  earliest 
settlers  of  South  Chicago,  and  their  home  was 
located  where  the  elevators  now  stand.  The 
Hunt  House  was  in  early  times  a  landmark  for 
miles  around.  It  was  a  favorite  resort  of  hunters 
and  visitors  to  the  Calumet  region.  After  the 
close  of  his  sailing  Mr.  Little  bought  this  house, 
in  1871,  and  conducted  it  till  1888. 

August  28,  1883,  Mr.  Little  married  Miss 
Anna,  daughter  of  Gottfried  and  Marie  (Sipple) 
Deist,  who  came  to  Chicago  in  1849.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Little  are  the  parents  of  three  children, 
namely.  Emma  Bella,  Robert  Gottfried  and  John 
William.  Mr.  Little  has  taken  the  degree  of 
Master  Mason,  but  is  not  at  present  an  active 
member  of  any  lodge.  He  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  In  politics 
he  is  a  stanch  Republican.  He  is  a  man  who 
loves  his  home,  and  is  a  good  husband  and  father. 
He  is  a  generous,  true-hearted  friend,  and  has 
the  respect  of  all  who  know  him. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

BNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


DR.  ALFRED  HAKANSON 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J,  ROOT) 


ALFRED  HAKANSON,  M.  D. 


407 


ALFRED   HAKANSON,  M.  D. 


GlLFRED  HAKANSON,  M.  D.,  a  prominent 
L_l  physician  of  South  Chicago,  was  born  May 
/|  12,  1866,  at  Geneseo,  Illinois,  and  is  the 
son  of  John  and  Hannah  (Pearson)  Hakanson. 
The  latter's  father  was  Peter  Johnson,  who  mar- 
ried Christine  Mousen.  Hakan  Johnson,  the  pater- 
nal grandfather  of  Dr.  Hakanson,  was  born  in 
1785,  and  died  in  1825.  His  wife  was  named 
Elizabeth. 

John  Hakanson  was  born  March  2,  1817,  in 
Christianstad,  Sweden,  and  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica in  1860.  He  located  in  Henry  County,  Illi- 
nois, and  lived  there  six  years,  removing  to 
Henry  County,  Iowa,  at  the  end  of  that  time. 
In  1874  he  moved  to  Clay  County,  Nebraska, 
and  took  up  Government  land.  He  has  lived 
there  ever  since,  and  the  land  is  much  improved. 
He  was  married  in  Sweden  December  3 1 ,  1847, 
and  two  of  his  children  were  born  there,  namely: 
Anna  and  Elizabeth.  The  others,  Peter,  John 
and  Alfred,  were  born  in  the  United  States.  Mrs. 
Hannah  Hakanson  was  born  February  9,  1823, 
in  Sweden,  and  died  July  9,  1891. 

Alfred  Hakanson  was  reared  on  a  farm  and 
had  the  advantage  of  a  high-school  education  at 
Oakland,  Nebraska.  Later  he  went  to  Luther 
Academy,  Wahoo,  Nebraska,  from  which  he  was 
graduated.  After  leaving  the  academy  he  went 
to  Augustana  College,  at  Rock  Island,  Illinois, 
where  he  took  a  select  course  through  the 
sophomore  year,  taking  also  some  of  the  junior 


studies.  In  the  autumn  of  1886  he  took  .up  the 
study  of  medicine,  his  first  preceptor  being 
Dr.  John  B.  Ralph,  city  physician  at  Omaha, 
Nebraska;  the  next  preceptor  was  Prof.  D.  C. 
Bryant,  M.  D. ,  an  oculist  and  aurist  of  the  same 
city.  March  27,  1890,  he  graduated  from  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Omaha. 
He  then  practiced  at  Rockford,  Illinois,  for  a 
year,  and  thence  went  to  South  Chicago,  where 
he  has  practiced  ever  since 

May  12,  1892,  Dr.  Hakanson  married  Bertha 
Wilhelmina,  daughter  of  Martin  and  Mary 
Christine  (Olson)  Lindberg.  She  was  born  June 
4,  1870,  in  Chicago.  Dr.  Hakanson  is  medical 
examiner  of  the  Linnea  Society  No.  i,  the  In- 
dependent Order  of  Svithiod  No.  6,  and  Court 
Norden  No.  203,  Independent  Order  of  Foresters. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  South  Chicago  Medical 
Society  and  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 
He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  had  the  honor 
of  serving  as  county  physician  for  the  period  of 
two  years.  In  1895  Mr.  Hakanson  took  a  post- 
graduate course  at  the  New  York  Post-Graduate 
Medical  School  and  Hospital,  where  he  took  a 
course  in  clinical  medicine  and  gynecology. 
Though  a  comparatively  young  man,  he  has  a 
good  practice,  and  is  one  of  the  most  reliable 
physicians  of  South  Chicago.  He  is  progressive 
in  his  ideas,  is  interested  in  the  public  welfare, 
favors  public  improvements,  and  is  an  honor  to 
his  profession. 


408 


H.  S.  SPARROW. 


HANNAH   S.  SPARROW. 


HANNAH  STEELE  SPARROW,  M.  D.,  is 
one  of  the  leading  eclectic  physicians  of  the 
country,  and  a  woman  known  throughout 
the  city  for  her  charitable  work  and  connection 
with  benevolent  associations.  She  practices  her 
profession  and  makes  her  home  at  No.  9125  Erie 
Avenue,  Chicago.  Her  parents  and  their  nine 
children  emigrated  from  England  in  March,  1868, 
and  came  through  to  Chicago.  Her  father  was 
born  March  i,  1832,  in  Snainton,  England,  and 
died  November  30,  1868.  His  profession  was 
that  of  veterinary  surgeon.  The  mother  was 
born  May  12,  1831,  in  Hutton  Buscel,  England, 
and  now  makes  her  home  with  Mrs.  Sparrow. 
She  owns  property  at  No.  909  North  Robey 
Street,  Chicago,  and  has  owned  property  on 
Crossing  Street,  and  at  No.  87  Commercial  Street, 
in  which  neighborhood  she  was  one  of  the  old  set- 
tlers, having  kept  a  residence  there  for  twenty- 
nine  years.  The  children  of  this  family  are  as 
follows:  Hannah,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Eva, 
Mrs.  William  Salmon,  now  residing  in  Chicago; 
Agnes,  who  married  Daniel  Lucy,  and  also 
resides  in  Chicago;  Robert  Dunhill,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  eleven  years;  Charlotta,  who  married 
William  Griffith,  and  resides  at  Dundee,  Illinois; 
Mary,  wife  of  William  De  Critehlar  Langston,  a 
resident  of  Chicago;  Fred,  also  of  Chicago;  Caro- 
line, who  married  Terrence  O'Neil,  and  lives  in 
South  Chicago;  Ruth,  Mrs.  Edward  Mann,  a  res- 
ident of  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Sparrow's  paternal  grandfather  was 
Thomas  Steele,  who  was  a  veterinary  surgeon  in 
Snainton,  England.  His  wife  was  a  Miss  Maria 
Dawson,  and  their  children  were:  Mary,  Robert, 
William,  Dawson,  Martha,  George,  Jane  and 


John.  None  came  to  America,  except  the  father 
of  Dr.  Sparrow. 

Tradition  states  that  the  Steeles  were  of 
French  origin,  and  located  in  England  at  an  early 
day  and  made  a  permanent  home  there  until  the 
members  of  the  family  came  to  America.  The 
maternal  grandfather  of  Dr.  Sparrow  was  Leonard 
Dunhill,  who  died  in  January,  1878,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-four  years.  He  was  born  in  Hutton  Buscel, 
England,  and  married  Jane  Leaper,  of  Leeds, 
England,  who  died  in  1862,  at  the  age  of  fifty 
years.  Their  children  were:  Caroline,  who  died 
in  infancy;  Mary  Ann,  Elizabeth,  Robert  and 
Leonard  Wilson,  who  died  an  infant. 

The  great-grandfather  was  Leonard  Dunhill, 
who  married  Caroline  Charlotte  Holt.  Their 
children  were:  Robert,  Leonard,  William,  Mary, 
Charlotte  and  Elizabeth.  Mary  and  Elizabeth 
came  to  this  country  and  reared  large  families, 
the  latter  being  the  wife  of  Thomas  Sharp,  and 
the  former  of  David  Gill. 

Dr.  Hannah  Steele  Sparrow  was  born  January 
2,  1854,  in  Hutton  Buscel,  Yorkshire,  England, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Ann 
(Dunhill)  Steele.  She  pursued  her  studies  in 
England  until  she  came  to  America,  and  in  1881 
she  began  the  study  of  her  profession  with  Doctors 
Wilson  H.  Davies  and  Henry  C.  Tucker,  of  this 
city.  In  1887  she  took  her  degree  from  Bennett 
Eclectic  Medical  College  of  Chicago.  While  at- 
tending school  she  had  an  office  in  the  college 
building,  and  was  subsequently  located  at  No.  68 
Oak  Street,  No.  23  Townsend  Street,  at  No. 3027 
Fifth  Avenue,  and  No.  9125  Erie  Avenue,  and 
has  been  in  South  Chicago  since  1881.  She 
never  associated  with  a  partner  in  practice. 


ALFRED  DIBBEN. 


409 


May  23,  1870,  she  married  Richard  Sparrow 
(see  sketch  elsewhere) .  Their  children  are : 
Willie  Harold  Steele,  born  February  28,  1878; 
and  Richard  Paul  Steele,  November  26,  1896. 

Dr.  Sparrow  has  a  membership  in  the  South 
Chicago  Medical  Society,  the  Woman's  Medical 
Club  of  Chicago,  and  the  Eclectic  Medical  and 
Surgical  Society  of  Chicago. 

She  has  a  philanthropic  and  patriotic  nature 
and  takes  an  active  interest  in  charitable  affairs 
and  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  She  is 
identified  with  nearly  all  the  leading  benevolent 
associations  in  South  Chicago.  She  is  an  ardent 
Republican,  and  always  takes  as  active  a  part  in 
politics  as  the  limited  franchise  will  allow.  She 
was  one  of  the  six  women  who  were  instrumental 
in  establishing  a  Woman's  Hospital  on  the  World's 
Fair  grounds.  This  hospital  was  intended  to 
take  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded  or  injured  of 
all  classes  during  the  continuance  of  the  Fair,  and 
the  plan  was  originated  and  carried  to  successful 
completion  by  women  physicians.  To  Dr.  Sparrow 
was  assigned  the  arduous  task  of  inspiring  interest 
in  the  enterprise  throughout  the  various  States, 
among  the  lady  physicians,  and  so  well  did  she 


succeed  that  the  Woman's  Hospital  was  pro- 
nounced one  of  the  greatest  successes  of  the  Fair. 
All  the  labor  and  talent  expended  on  this  work 
were  purely  gratis,  and  given  for  the  love  of  her 
profession  and  the  good  of  mankind. 

Dr.  Sparrow  has  .in  her  possession  a  certificate 
issued  by  the  World's  Congress  Auxiliary  of  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition,  which  reads  as 
follows  :  "This  certifies  that  Hannah  S.  Sparrow, 
M.  D.,  has  been  appointed  by  the  World's  Con- 
gress Auxiliary,  a  member  of  the  Woman's  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  on  a  congress  of  eclectic  phy- 
sicians and  surgeons,  to  convene  in  the  city  of 
Chicago  during  the  week  commencing  Monday, 
May  29,  1893.  In  witness  Whereof  we  have  here- 
unto affixed  our  names  and  the  seal  of  the  Auxil- 
iary. 

BERTHA  HONORS  PALMER, 

President  of  Woman's  Congress  Auxiliary. 

ELLEN  M.  HENROTIN, 

Vice-President  of  Woman's  Branch. 
C.   C.   BONNEY, 

President  of  World's  Congress  Auxiliary. 

CLARENCE  E.  YOUNG, 

Asst.  Sec'y  of  World's  Congress  Auxiliary." 

Only  six  of  these  signed  certificates  were  issued. 


ALFRED  DIBBEN. 


Gl  LFRED  DIBBEN,  who  comes  of  a  family 
I  I  noted  for  health  and  strength,  was  born  in 
/  I  Worthing,  Sussex  County,  England,  and  is 
a  son  of  Reuben  and  Mary  Ann  (Boyling)  Dib- 
ben.  Reuben  Dibben  was  a  blacksmith,  who 
owned  his  shop.  He  died  in  1877,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three  years.  His  wife,  Mary  Ann  Dib- 
ben, was  born  in  1832,  and  is  still  living  in  the 
old  home  in  England.  They  were  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  namely:  George,  John,  James, 
Alfred,  Frederick,  Walter,  and  two  who  died 
when  they  were  young.  George  was  a  sailor, 


who  came  to  America  in  1862.  He  enlisted  and 
served  through  the  Civil  War.  He  now  lives  at 
No.  3439  South  Marshfielcl  Avenue,  and  works  at 
Bridgeport  in  a  rolling  mill,  as  a  ladle  liner.  John 
came  in  1867,  and  is  now  a  watchman,  and  lives 
at  No.  994  North  Lincoln  Street,  Chicago.  James 
came  in  1869.  He  was  a  clipper  in  the  foundry 
at  the  North  Chicago  rolling  mills.  He  returned 
to  England  in  1872,  and  in  1873  he  was  killed  by 
accident.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  came  to 
America  next.  Frederick  came  in  1885,  and 
worked  as  a  cupola-man  in  a  mill.  He  returned 


4io 


A.  A.  PETERSEN. 


on  a  visit  in  1896.  Walter  emigrated  to  the 
United  States  in  1889,  and  returned  in  1896.  He 
was  a  runner-man  in  a  mill,  but  was  compelled  to 
return  to  England  on  account  of  ill-health. 

Alfred  Dibben  came  to  the  United  States  in 
April,  1876,  and  entered  the  service  of  the  North 
Chicago  Rolling  Mill  Compaq'  at  its  North 
Works,  as  a  cupola-man.  In  1882  he  went  to 
South  Chicago,  and  has  lived  there  ever  since. 
He  built  a  home  at  No.  7949  Reynolds  Avenue,  in 
1890,  living  there  till  1895,  when  he  went  to  his 
present  home,  No.  9120  Superior  Avenue.  He 
also  owns  lots  in  the  city. 

August  21,  1 88 1,  Mr.  Dibben  married  Miss 
Caroline,  daughter  of  James  and  Mary  Turner. 


They  are  the  parents  of  the  following  children: 
Arthur  Reuben,  born  January  14,  1884;  Earl 
Chester,  January  25,  1890;  Carrie  Pearl,  June 
15,  1892;  and  Frederick  William,  December  10, 

1895- 

Mr.  Dibben  is  a  member  of  Good  Samaritan 
Lodge  No.  90,  Sons  of  Saint  George.  He  is  a 
Republican  in  politics,  and  has  served  as  election 
judge  in  the  Eleventh  Precinct  of  the  Thirty-third 
Ward.  He  is  a  devout  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  August  4,  1882,  while  Mr.  Dibben  was  at 
work  in  the  Illinois  Steel  Company's  South 
Chicago  Works,  an  explosion  occurred,  which 
covered  his  body  with  hot  metal  and  water,  and 
as  a  result  of  this  accident  he  lost  his  right  eye. 


ANDREW  A.  PETERSEN. 


GlNDREW  ANDERSEN  PETERSEN  was 
J  I  born  March  21,  1846,  in  Tandem,  Germany, 
l\  and  is  a  son  of  Olde  and  Otelia  (Wolfsen) 
Petersen.  His  father  was  a  shoemaker,  and  died 
in  1861,  at  theageof  fifty-seven.  His  widow  sur- 
vived him  many  years,  and  died  in  1891,  when 
over  eighty-three.  She  never  came  to  America, 
but  spent  all  her  days  in  the  land  where  she  mar- 
ried and  buried  her  husband.  Their  children 
were:  Johanna,  Christina,  Peter  Boysen,  Othelia, 
Andrew  Andersen  and  Johannis.  All  are  dead 
except  Johannis,  Peter  and  Andrew,  the  last 
being  the  only  one  to  leave  the  old  country.  An- 
drew Andersen  Wolfsen,  the  maternal  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  notice,  was  a  tailor, 
and  had  reached  the  great  age  of  eighty-nine 
years  and  five  months  at  the  time  of  his  death  in 
1855.  Two  of  his  daughters,  Annie  and  Cecelia, 
never  married. 

Andrew  Andersen  Petersen  passed  his  boyish 
days  in  the  German   homestead,  attended  school 


until  it  was  time  for  him  to  go  to  work  for  him- 
self, when  he  became  an  apprentice  at  the  trade 
of  locksmith.  He  served  several  years  at  this 
branch  of  industry,  and  knows  it  in  all  its  details. 
In  1 867  he  was  summoned  to  serve  in  the  Ger- 
man army,  and  was  in  the  Franco- Prussian  war 
from  its  beginning  to  the  end.  He  was  an  artil- 
leryman, and  passed  unhurt  through  fifteen  heavy 
battles,  though  on  more  than  one  occasion  horses 
were  killed  under  him.  He  was  discharged  from 
the  army  in  1871,  and  the  same  year  he  came  to 
the  new  world,  landing  in  Quebec.  He  had  a 
friend  in  Chicago,  a  Mr.  Schrader,  and  he  imme- 
diately came  to  this  city,  and  boarded  in  Mr. 
Schrader's  home  for  a  year  or  more,  while  he 
did  any  kind  of  iron  or  sign  work  that  he  could 
find  to  do. 

Mr.  Petersen  came  to  South  Chicago  July  15, 
1874,  and  bought  a  small  house,  and  in  1881 
built  his  present  home  at  No.  9932  Commercial 
Avenue.  In  South  Chicago  he  was  busy  at  gen- 


DAVID  KOENIG. 


411 


eral  labor  for  a  year,  and  then  went  into  the  ma- 
chine shops  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad, 
where  he  was  employed  about  the  engines  five 
years.  He  was  in  the  service  of  the  Illinois  Steel 
Company  as  a  stationary  engineer  from  1879  to 
1890.  The  ensuing  five  years  he  spent  in  various 
ways,  and  in  1 895  was  engaged  by  the  city  to  do 
repair  work  in  the  water-pipe  department,  and 
this  position  he  still  holds. 

Mr.  Petersen  has  been  twice  married ,  his  first 
wife  being  Caroline  Lorensen,  whom  he  wedded 
May  12,  1873.  She  was  born  May  31,  1854,  and 
died  April  12,  1889.  Her  father's  name  was 
Christopher  Lorensen,  and  she  was  the  mother  of 
a  goodly  family,  of  whom  few  representatives  are 
now  living.  Christopher  Olde  was  born  Febru- 
ary 26,  1874,  and  died  when  seven  years  old. 
Johannis,  November  19,  1876,  lived  four  years; 
Peter  Boysen,  April  n,  1877,  died  when  two 
years  old.  The  next  child,  a  girl,  never  lived, 


and  Christian  Olde,  June  28,  1880,  is  at  home. 
Othelia  F.,  June  21,  1882,  is  at  home.  A  sis- 
ter Caroline  died  young.  Andrew  Andersen, 
born  June  18,  1887,  and  Carolina  Fredrika,  Au- 
gust 9,  1885,  are  bright  young  girls  at  home. 

Mr.  Petersen' s  second  marriage  united  him  with 
Caroline  Lissen,  a  daughter  of  Christopher  and 
Annie  (Lusie)  Lessen.  She  was  born  in  Ger- 
many, January  17,  1860,  and  came  to  this  coun- 
try when  eighteen  years  old.  She  is  now  the 
mother  of  four  children:  Peter  Boysen,  born 
August  12,  1890,  died  December  28,  1890;  Peter 
Boysen,  November  27,  1891;  Anton  Louis,  April 
12,  1894;  and  Herman  Otto,  August  n,  1895. 
Mr.  Petersen  belongs  to  the  Krieger  Verein,  an 
association  of  veterans  of  the  great  war  with 
France,  and  delights  in  the  old  memories.  He  is 
a  Republican  in  political  principle,  and  is  highly 
esteemed  in  all  the  business  and  personal  rela- 
tions of  his  life. 


DAVID  KOENIG. 


0AVID  KOENIG,  of  the  firm  of  Koenig  & 
Gross,  dealers  in  paints,  oils,  glass  and 
wall-paper,  was  born  on  the  I3th  of  De- 
cember, 1868,  onWentworth  Avenue  near  Twen- 
ty-seventh Street,  Chicago,  and  is  the  son  of  Theo- 
dore and  Anna  (  Deist)  Koenig.  Theodore  Koe- 
nig was  born  March  17,  1844,  'n  Germany,  and 
emigrated  in  1858,  locating  in  Chicago.  Anna 
Deist  was  born  February  3,  1841,  in  Germany. 
They  were  the  parents  of  three  children,  namely: 
Mary,  who  married  Arthur  V.  Daegling,  and  now 
lives  at  No.  9006  Houston  Avenue,  Chicago;  Da- 
vid, whose  name  begins  this  sketch;  and  George, 
who  resides  in  California. 

David  Koenig  was  a  youth  of  great  energy, 
and  began  life  for  himself  at  the  age  of  thirteen 
years.  He  worked  at  first  for  his  father  at  the 


butcher's  trade,  and  was  subsequently  employed 
by  Mr.  W.  H.  Stone.  After  this  he  attended 
school  at  South  Chicago,  feeling  that  a  young 
man  who  has  education  has  many  advantages  over 
one  without.  When  he  left  school,  he  went  to 
work  for  M.  C.  Magnussen,  with  whom  he  learned 
his  present  trade.  He  stayed  with  Mr.  Magnus- 
sen  eight  years,  which  fact  attests  his  faithfulness 
and  skill.  But  his  ambition  was  not  satisfied 
with  working  for  others,  and  in  1890  he  attended 
public  night  school,  and  studied  bookkeeping 
with  a  view  to  starting  in  business  for  himself. 

In  1891  he  began  dealing  in  paints  on  his  own 
account,  and  in  1894  he  was  joined  by  a  partner, 
his  brother-in-law,  Henry  Gross,  and  they  have 
been  associated  in  business  ever  since.  They  have 
from  time  to  time  enlarged  their  business,  and  at 


4I2 


J.   H.  HASKIN. 


the  present  time  are  enjoying  a  very  profitable 
trade.  They  are  the  leading  dealers  in  paints, 
glass  and  similar  materials,  in  South  Chicago. 
Both  are  young  men  of  business  ability,  the  firm 
has  a  name  for  honest  dealing,  and  the  partners 
make  a  careful  study  of  their  line  of  business. 

April  18,  1891,  Mr.  Koenig  married  Miss 
Mary  Weimar,  daughter  of  Theodore  Weimar,  of 
German}-.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  children: 
Theodore,  who  was  born  May  14,  1892;  and  Al- 


fred, September  21,  1895.  Mr.  Koenig  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Sherman  Lodge  No.  279,  Knights  of 
Pythias,  which  he  served  two  terms  as  vice  chan- 
cellor, and  is  connected  with  the  German  Lutheran 
Church.  In  political  opinion  he  is  a  Republican, 
and  he  is  now  judge  of  election  for  the  Twenty- 
second  precinct  of  the  Thirty-third  Ward.  Mr. 
Koenig  is  a  man  of  great  sociability,  and  has 
many  firm  friends.  He  is  well  known,  and  is  one 
of  the  representative  business  men  of  the  city. 


JOHN  H.  HASKIN. 


(lOHN  HAMILTON  HASKIN  (deceased) 
I  was  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  well 
G)  known  in  the  business  and  social  circles  of 
Chicago.  He  was  born  in  London,  Ontario,  in 
the  year  1842,  and  was  a  son  of  John  H.  Haskin. 
He  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  mother  in  his 
earliest  childhood,  and  at  seven  years  of  age  he 
was  orphaned  by  the  death  of  his  father.  In  con- 
sequence thereof  his  early  life  was  devoid  of  that 
care  and  training  which  have  so  much  to  do  in  fit- 
ting the  child  for  the  duties  of  adult  life. 

When  only  a  boy  he  came  to  the  United  States, 
locating  in  Chicago  some  years  previous  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.  He  was  an  ambitious, 
energetic  youth,  and  easily  made  his  way,  and 
having  the  faculty  of  making  and  retaining  friends, 
his  progress  was  rapid.  The  war  coming  on,  he 
enlisted  at  Blackberry,  July  26,  1861,  in  what  was 
then  called  the  Kane  County  Cavalry,  but  which 
became  Company  H,  of  the  Fifteenth  Illinois  Cav- 
alry, Col.  Warren  Stewart  commanding.  He 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Wilson's  Creek,  Mis- 
souri, August  10,  1861,  and  Belmont,  Missouri, 
November  7,  1861.  'The  following  spring  his 
regiment  was  assigned  to  Steele's  division  of 
Curtis'  army,  and  participated  in  the  battle  of  Pea 
Ridge,  Arkansas,  in  which  fight  he  was  seriously 


wounded  in  the  breast  by  a  piece  of  shell.  He 
was  confined  in  the  hospital  at  Benton  Barracks, 
Missouri,  about  ten  months  on  account  of  this 
wound,  and  as  it  prevented  his  performing  active 
service  in  the  ranks,  he  was  honorably  discharged 
February  13,  1863.  He  was  then  detailed  as  re- 
truiting  officer  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  but  re- 
mained only  a  short  time.  Subsequently  he  en- 
tered the  quartermaster's  department  of  the  army, 
where  for  some  time  he  did  clerical  duty.  Late 
in  1864  he  went  into  the  ranks  of  Gen.  GeorgeH. 
Thomas'  army,  and  was  in  the  battle  of  Nashville, 
when  Hood,  the  rebel  general,  was  overthrown. 

In  this  battle  he  was  again  wounded.  A  mus- 
ket ball  passing  through  his  hand,  glanced  from 
the  stock  of  his  rifle  and  lodged  back  of  the  knee- 
cap. The  surgeons  were  unable  to  extract  it,  and 
he  carried  it  with  him  until  the  end  of  his  life. 
This  wound  left  him  helpless  on  the  field  of  bat- 
tle, where  he  remained  throughout  the  night.  The 
war  over,  he  studied  law  at  Nashville,  but  never 
practiced,  owing  to  ill-health. 

At  Elgin,  Illinois,  May  14,  1866,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Abbie  Ellithorpe.  Subsequently  he 
went  to  Belvidere,  Illinois,  wheie  he  engaged  in 
business,  remaining  there  a  year,  then  settled  in 
Chicago.  He  became  connected  with  the  Steele 


MARTINUS  PETERSEN. 


413 


&  Price  Baking  Powder  Company  in  the  capacity 
of  traveling  salesman,  and  later  went  with  Heuer 
&  Brockschmidt,  now  Aug  Heuer  &  Sons,  dealers 
in  furniture  and  upholsterers'  supplies,  as  travel- 
ing salesman.  In  1873  he  settled  in  Rogers  Park, 
then  a  straggling  village  of  four  houses,  on  the 
prairie. 

Mr.  Haskin  was  a  man  of  good  abilities.  He 
had  a  natural  talent  that  made  up  in  good  part 
for  the  lack  of  advantages  in  his  early  life.  He 
was  a  close  observer  of  people  and  events,  and  a 
great  reader.  His  memory  was  excellent,  retain- 
ing and  digesting  all  that  he  read.  He  had  won- 
derful aptness  of  speech,  making  use  of  all  that 
he  read.  Although  not  cultured  in  graces  of  rhet- 
oric, he  possessed  a  natural  oratory  that  was  both 
effective  and  pleasing.  As  a  platform  speaker  he 
was  in  demand  at  political  and  social  gatherings. 
As  a  Democrat  he  was  prominent  in  the  local 
councils  of  the  party,  and  upon  the  political  ros- 
trum he  carried  the  flag  of  Democracy  to  victory 
in  many  exciting  contests.  August  2,  1881,  he 
was  elected  to  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  for 
the  town  of  Evanston,  a  position  he  creditably 
filled  until  his  death.  He  was  widely  known  and 
respected  by  a  host  of  friends  and  acquaintances. 


Two  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Has- 
kin, Middleton  A.  and  Roy  H.,  both  promising 
young  men.  Mr.  Haskin  died  June  30,  1883. 
Mrs.  Haskin  is  a  daughter  of  Oliver  H.  and  Ade- 
line (French)  Ellithorpe,  who  settled  in  Kane 
County,  Illinois,  about  fifty-five  years  ago.  The 
Ellithorpes  are  a  very  old  English  family,  and  are 
closely  allied  to  the  Oglethorpe  family,  of  whom 
General  Oglethorpe,  the  founder  of  the  State  of 
Georgia,  is  the  most  famous  member.  The  first 
one  of  the  family  to  emigrate  to  this  country  was 
Ichabod  Ellithorpe,  who  came  in  the  year  1710, 
and  settled  in  Connecticut.  His  grandson,  John 
Ellithorpe,  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Haskin,  was  a 
soldier  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  took  part  in  the 
battle  of  Lake  Champlain.  Oliver  Ellithorpe,  her 
father,  was  born  in  Sheldon,  Vermont,  November 
21,  1814,  and  died  in  Elgin,  Illinois,  June  30, 
1889.  Mrs.  Ellithorpe  is  still  living.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Isaac  French,  an  English-Canadian, 
and  a  soldier  in  the  English  army.  Mrs.  Has- 
kin's  great-grandfather,  Timothy  Chapman,  was 
a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  enlisting  at 
Stratford,  Connecticut,  April  15,  1777,  as  a  ser- 
geant in  Col.  Heman  Swift's  Connecticut  regi- 
ment, and  served  throughout  the  war. 


MARTINUS  PETERSEN. 


|  ARTINUS  PETERSEN,  one  of  the  most 
progressive  Danes  of  our  great  metropolis, 
and  a  hardworking,  useful  citizen,  was 
born  in  Hillerslev,  near  Thisted,  in  Northern 
Denmark,  September  19,  1859.  He  is  the  son  of 
Peter  Christian  and  Karen  Marie  (Christiansen) 
Petirsen,  natives  of  Denmark.  Martinus  was 
the  first  one  of  his  family  to  emigrate  to  the 
United  States,  and  he  came  to  Chicago  in  Jan- 
uary, 1879.  His  first  work  was  shoveling  coal 
in  South  Chicago,  at  which  he  was  occupied  only 


a  short  time;  then  he  went  to  Dwight,  Illinois, 
•where  he  worked  on  a  farm  three  months,  but 
did  not  like  this  employment.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  three  months  spent  at  Dwight,  he  has 
lived  continuously  in  the  city  since  arriving  here. 
In  1 88 1  he  became  clerk  in  a  grocery  store  for 
Hans  Heinsen.  This  is  the  store  at  which  he  is 
himself  now  located,  Nos.  9176  and  9178  Harbor 
Avenue.  He  worked  for  Heinsen  until  1890,  by 
which  time  he  had  saved  sufficient  money  to  join 
him  as  a  partner,  and  the  firm  of  Petersen  & 


M.  C.   MAGNUSSEN. 


Company  "was  then  formed.  This  firm  continued 
to  do  business  until  1895,  when  Mr.  Heinsen 
bought  the  business  and  Mr.  Petersen  again 
worked  for  him.  April  14,  1896,  Mr.  Petersen 
bought  out  Mr.  Heinsen,  and  the  establishment 
has  since  been  conducted  under  the  name  of  M. 
Peterson  &  Company,  with  Mr.  Petersen  as  sole 
proprietor.  He  comes  of  an  industrious  family, 
and  has  three  brothers  in  Chicago,  namely: 
Charles,  who  is  a  merchant  tailor;  Nels,  a  shoe- 
maker; and  Arthur,  who  is  connected  with  the 
fire  department  of  South  Chicago,  in  which  city 
all  three  reside. 

September  20,  1884,  Mr.  Petersen  married  Miss 
Anna    Margerita,    daughter   of    Nels    Jacobsen. 


They  have  two  children,  Peter  Christian,  aged 
eleven  years,  and  Matilda,  aged  five  years.  Mr. 
Petersen  is  a  member  of  Court  Denmark  No.  219, 
Independent  Order  of  Foresters.  In  politics  he 
is  not  controlled  by  party  lines,  but  always  de- 
cides for  himself  the  relative  fitness  of  candidates, 
independent  of  party.  He  is  a  valuable  resident 
of  the  community,  and  sets  a  good  example  of 
thrift  and  energy.  He  has  practically  built  up 
the  grocery  trade  which  he  controls  from  the  be- 
ginning. Mr.  Petersen  has  been  doing  a  profit- 
able business  and  has  accumulated  a  considerable 
amount  of  money.  He  also  owns  a  handsome 
three-story  and  basement  flat  building  at  Nos.. 
9120  and  9122  Mackinaw  Avenue. 


MEINERT  C    MAGNUSSEN. 


CONRAD  MAGNUSSEN  was 
JYI  born  December  5,  1850,  in  Emmelsbuell, 
Kjl  Schleswig,  Prussia,  and  is  the  son  of  Carl 
and  Brigetta  (Bonnigsen)  Magnussen.  He  is  the 
only  one  of  his  family  who  came  to  America,  and 
reached  Chicago  on  the  28th  of  October,  1872. 
In  the  old  country  he  had  served  the  time  of  ap- 
prenticeship as  a  general  painter,  and  was  skilled 
at  his  trade.  He  first  worked  for  Dahinden  & 
Schroeder  on  Milwaukee  Avenue,  and  stayed  with 
them  three  months.  In  the  fall  of  1873  he  went 
to  South  Chicago  to  live.  He  did  general  work 
for  Mr.  Oemich  and  also  worked  for  William 
Kratzenburg.  In  1875  he  returned  to  Chicago 
and  lived  on  Milwaukee  Avenue,  near  Carpen- 
ter Street.  He  at  this  time  worked  at  graining 
and  ornamenting  chairs  for  Herhold  &  Company. 
He  continued  there  till  February,  1882,  when  he 
returned  to  South  Chicago  and  bought  a  lot  at 
No.  9143  Superior  Avenue.  The  same  spring  he 
built  a  shop  and  started  business  for  himself.  He 


does  general  painting  and  contracting,  and  is 
conducting  a  prosperous  business. 

In  1874  Mr.  Magnussen  married  Ingeburg 
Heinsen,  daughter  of  Nicholas  and  Anna  (Han- 
sen)  Heinsen.  Mrs.  Magnussen  was  born  Octo- 
ber ii,  1850,  and  became  the  mother  of  the  fol- 
lowing children:  Brigetta  Johanna,  born  Sep- 
tember 9,  1875;  Anna,  April  24,  1879;  Clara  Nic- 
olina,  February  n,  1887;  Meinert  Conrad,  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1889;  Arthur  Henry,  April  25,  1890; 
and  Nellie  Irene  Maria,  November  n,  1892.  Four 
children  died  in  infancy,  Nicholas  and  Carl  Mau- 
rice, and  two  not  named. 

Mr.  Magnussen  is  a  member  of  the  Old  Set- 
tlers' Society,  and  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church.  He  is  not  confined  by  party  lines  in 
politics,  but  favors  the  man  he  thinks  to  be  most 
worthy  and  best  fitted  for  office.  He  is  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  sturdy  class  of  people  who  fur- 
nish the  bone  and  sinew  of  a  nation  in  time  of 
peace  or  war. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


r  tin,  nr  TA  y  £-u*J«  .Cifcn 


A.  C.  DTJCAT. 


GEN.  ARTHUR  C    DUCAT. 


/2fEN.  ARTHUR  CHARLES  DUCAT  was 
I—  born  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  on  the  24th  of  Feb- 
Vj  ruary,  1830.  His  father,  Mungo  Moray 
Ducat,  was  a  gentleman  who  traced  his  lineage 
from  a  very  ancient  Highland  family,  renowned 
in  the  annals  of  Scotland.  He  was  a  native  of 
Cupar  Angus,  but  in  early  life  removed  to  New 
Lawn,  County  Dublin,  Ireland,  where  he  also 
possessed  large  estates.  His  wife,  Dorcas  Julia 
Atkinson,  was  born  in  County  Armagh,  Ireland, 
and  died  in  Downer's  Grove,  Illinois,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1889,  aged  eighty-six  years.  Her  father 
was  an  Englishman,  of  Cambridgeshire. 

Arthur  C.  Ducat  was  educated  at  private 
schools  in  his  native  city,  and  at  the  age  of 
nineteen  years  came  to  America  with  the  inten- 
tion of  becoming  a  civil  engineer.  He  pursued 
that  profession  for  some  years  on  important  rail- 
road lines  and  other  public  works.  This  occupa- 
tion was  abandoned  when  he  was  tendered  the 
position  of  Secretary  and  General  Surveyor  of  the 
Board  of  Underwriters  of  Chicago,  which  position 
he  accepted  and  occupied  until  the  opening  of  the 
Civil  War.  In  the  mean  time  he  began  to  mani- 
fest a  keen  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  city,  and 
organized,  drilled  and  disciplined  the  Citizens' 
Fire  Brigade,  a  semi-military  and  armed  body  of 
citizens.  Their  duties  were  to  attend  fires  and  save 
and  guard  property  and  life.  This  action  also 
had  a  deeper  meaning,  for  Ducat  had  resolved  to 
abolish  the  old  '  'volunteer' '  fire  department  and 


introduce  a  new  one  in  its  place  on  a  paid  and 
disciplined  basis,  employing  steam  fire-engines. 
He  was  obliged  to  protect  the  first  engines 
brought  to  Chicago  from  the  demonstrations  and 
attacks  of  mobs,  incited  by  the  bad  element  of  the 
volunteer  department,  which  he  did  by  the  aid  of 
his  fire  brigade.  He  wrote  the  ordinances  estab- 
lishing and  substituting  steam  engines  for  the  old 
hand  machines,  and  enlisted  the  vote  of  the  Com- 
mon Council  to  adopt  it. 

Upon  the  beginning  of  hostilities  between  the 
North  and  the  South,  he  was  one  of  the  first  to 
offer  substantial  aid  in  support  ol  the  Government. 
His  taste  had  led  him  to  the  study  of  military 
history  and  science,  and  he  knew  as  much  of  the 
art  of  war  as  a  lieutenant  fresh  from  West  Point. 
The  roar  of  the  first  guns  had  scarcely  ceased 
before  he  had  raised  and  offered — first  to  the  State 
of  Illinois  and  then  to  the  National  Government 
— a  corps  of  three  hundred  engineers,  sappers  and 
miners.  Many  of  these  men  were  professionals 
who  had  seen  service  and  understood  the  details 
of  field  and  permanent  fortifications,  and  works 
connected  therewith,  the  rapid  construction  of 
bridges,  roads,  etc.  The  Government  was  not 
aware,  however,  of  the  struggle  before  it  and  per- 
haps thought  that  engineers  would  not  be  neces- 
sary. So  Ducat  was  chagrined  and  disappointed 
by  the  rejection  of  what  he  foresaw  would  be  a 
much-needed  service.  Notwithstanding  this  re- 
fusal, he  immediately  enlisted  as  a  private,  and 


416 


A.  C.  DUCAT. 


in  April,  1861,  became  a  member  of  the  Twelfth 
Illinois  Infantry.  He  was  without  political,  gov- 
ernmental or  family  influence,  and  resolved  to  do 
his  duty  and  depend  upon  his  merits  for  promo- 
tion. Although  a  good  horseman,  he  selected 
the  infantry  arm  of  the  service,  as  he  believed  it 
would  do  most  of  the  fighting.  His  regiment 
was  among  the  first  that  seized  the  important 
strategic  point  of  Cairo  and  supported  General 
Lyon  in  taking  possession  of  the  arsenal  at  St. 
Louis.  It  was  not  long  before  Ducat's  military 
acquirements  and  capabilities  were  appreciated. 
Within  a  month  he  was  commissioned  Second 
Lieutenant,  and  afterwards  appointed  Adjutant  of 
the  regiment.  Upon  the  expiration  of  the  three 
months  for  which  he  had  enlisted,  he  was  again 
enrolled  for  three  years  in  the  same  regiment,  and 
appointed  Captain  of  Company  A.  The  Twelfth 
formed  a  part  of  the  brigade  that  first  occupied 
the  sacred  soil  of  Kentucky,  taking  possession  of 
Paducah  in  August,  1861.  Here  he  was  pro- 
moted to  be  Major  of  his  regiment,  and  in  the 
month  of  April  following,  at  Fort  Donelson, 
he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel.  In  August,  1862,  he  was  appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  grand  guards,  pickets  and 
outposts  for  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  When 
Major-General  Ord  was  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand, Ducat  was  ordered  to  his  staff,  and  when 
Major-General  Rosecrans  relieved  General  Ord, 
Ducat  was  attached  to  the  staff  of  the  former.  At 
Rosecrans'  great  battle  of  Corinth  and  the  subse- 
quent pursuit  of  the  enemy,  he  served  as  acting 
Chief  of  Staff  and  Inspector- General,  and  so  con- 
ducted himself  as  to  receive  the  warmest  con- 
gratulations of  his  superior  officers,  not  only  for 
bravery,  but  for  efficiency,  making  most  important 
suggestions  as  to  movements,  and  carrying  them 
out  with  great  success. 

Subsequently  he  was  directed  by  the  general  in 
command  to  conduct  a  flag  of  truce  to  the  enemy 
at  Holiy  Springs,  Mississippi,  a  distance  of  over 
seventy-five  miles,  through  a  country  infested 
with  a  superior  force  of  guerrillas  and  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  who  were  not  to  be  depended  upon  to 
recognize  a  flag  of  truce.  He  succeeded,  and  dis- 
played as  much  tact  and  discretion  in  the  im- 


portant negotiations  entrusted  to  him  as  in  the 
field.  He  was  afterward  detailed  to  arrange  with 
General  Burnside  the  Knoxville  campaign,  rep- 
resenting General  Rosecrans  on  that  occasion. 

When  Major-General  Rosecrans  took  command 
of  the  forces  known  as  the  Army  of  the  Ohio 
(which  subsequently  became  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland),  Colonel  Ducat  was  ordered  to  ac- 
company General  Rosecrans  and  named  as  acting 
Chief  of  Staff  and  acting  Inspector-General.  In 
this  important  and  responsible  position  he  ren- 
dered the  most  efficient  service  in  re-organizing, 
equipping,  disciplining  and  drilling  the  army, 
in  raising  the  siege  of  Nashville,  and  in  opening 
the  railway  from  that  city  to  Louisville.  He  was 
afterward  appointed  by  the  War  Department  In- 
spector-General of  the  Fourteenth  Army  Corps, 
and  after  the  battle  of  Stone  River  and  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Army  and  Department  of  the 
Cumberland,  he  was  appointed  Inspector-General 
of  that  army  and  department  (the  most  military 
of  the  staff  positions),  in  addition  to  which  he  had 
charge  of  the  grand  guards,  pickets  and  out- 
posts, and  the  organization  of  the  signal  corps 
of  the  army.  When  it  is  recollected  that  Ducat 
was  a  self-educated  soldier,  his  selection  from 
among  the  many  able  and  experienced  men  who 
had  made  war  their  profession  is  a  distinc- 
tion indicating  a  high  degree  of  merit.  He  or- 
ganized the  Bureau  of  the  Inspector-General  on  a 
system  substantially  new,  but  adapted  to  secure 
the  greatest  efficiency  and  discipline  of  a  great 
army  in  the  field.  At  first  his  strict  and  rigid 
exactions  rendered  him  unpopular,  but  as  soon 
as  results  began  to  manifest  themselves  in  the 
greater  efficiency  of  the  troops,  their  sanitary 
condition  and  military  spirit,  he  became,  among 
officers  and  men,  one  of  the  most  popular  officers 
of  that  army.  He  formulated  and  put  in  practice 
a  system  of  picketing  and  outposting  an  army 
which  highly  distinguished  him.  When  General 
Rosecrans  was  relieved  and  Maj.-Gen.  George  H. 
Thomas  took  command,  Ducat  was  ordered  to 
the  staff  of  the  latter,  in  which  capacity  he  served 
until  he  left  the  service  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
respected  and  beloved  by  all. 

Many  of  these  facts  are  obtained  from  an  arti- 


A.  C.  DUCAT. 


cle  written  by  General  Rosecrans,  who  also  said 
of  him:  "I  regard  him  as  an  extraordinary  man, 
*  *  *  an  excellent  tactician,  *  *  a  soldier 
by  nature;  so  much  so,  that  he  never  exacted 
the  credit  he  easily  merited,  nor  the  promotion 
given  to  less  able  and  more  plodding  men." 

The  following  is  from  the  pen  of  General 
Grant:  "His  services  have  been  very  valuable 
and  have  been  highly  appreciated."  General 
Thomas  wrote:  "One  of  the  most  able  and  use- 
ful of  the  army  staff  and  cannot  well  be  spared." 
General  Sheridan  characterized  him  as  "an 
officer  of  high  standing  and  distinguished  merit." 
Another  writer  "on  the  war  says:  "Ducat  was 
early  distinguished  for  his  thorough  knowledge 
of  military  details,  his  organizing  powers  and  his 
executive  ability;  but  especially  for  his  sleepless 
vigilance  and  activity,  that  mastered  all  details  of 
topography  and  the  movement  of  hostile  armies. ' ' 

The  late  President  Garfield,  Quartermaster 
General  Meigs,  Major  Generals  Ord,  Palmer,  and 
others,  addressed  the  war  department,  recom- 
mending the  higher  promotion  of  Ducat,  but  the 
lack  of  influence  at  headquarters,  together  with 
his  own  indifference  regarding  promotion,  seemed 
to  prevent  him  from  receiving  appointments  to 
higher  commands.  He  was  always  fully  con- 
tented in  any  capacity  in  the  army  to  which  he 
was  appointed. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  hostilities,  the  Home  In- 
surance Company,  of  New  York,  appointed  him 
to  superintend  its  business  in  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Kentucky,  and  shortly  afterward  he  became  its 
general  agent  in  Chicago.  His  career  as  an  act- 
ive underwriter  was  eminently  successful,  his 
popularity  and  acquaintance  throughout  the  West 
being  of  great  advantage  to  his  employers.  The 
firm  of  Ducat  &  Lyon,  of  which  he  was  the 
head,  carries  on  a  general  fire-insurance  business. 
The  business  under  his  control  has  always  been 
successful  and  profitable.  One  of  the  standard 
works  of  America  is  "Ducat's  Practice  of  Fire 
Underwriting,"  which  he  brought  out  in  1857. 

Before  the  great  fire  he  was  chairman  of  the 
committee  that  organized  the  celebrated  Fire 
Insurance  Patrol  of  Chicago.  He  remained 


chairman  of  the  Patrol  Committee  five  years  after 
the  fire,  and  infused  into  it  the  esprit  du  corps 
and  military  spirit  that  have  characterized  it 
and  brought  about  the  extension  of  the  fire 
limits  to  be  co-extensive  with  the  city  limits 
— an  important  work,  adroitly  managed  in  the 
face  of  great  opposition.  He  was  chairman  of 
the  committee  which  framed  the  new  building 
law  after  the  great  fire,  and,  in  conjunction  with 
Frederick  Baumann,  wrote  the  most  elaborate 
and  well-digested  building  law  in  this  or  any 
other  country.  The  Board  of  Local  Fire  Under- 
writers was  organized  on  the  basis  of  his  recom- 
mendation, in  the  capacity  of  committee  for  that 
purpose,  to  which  position  he  was  appointed  soon 
after  the  great  fire. 

In  1873  there  was  a  movement  in  Illinois  to  re- 
organize the  National  Guard  of  the  State.  The 
advice  of  General  Ducat  on  this  subject  was 
sought,  and  the  military  code  upon  which  the 
present  efficient  Guard  was  organized  is  the  prod- 
uct of  his  brain  and  pen,  for  which  he  was  made 
major  general  and  its  commander.  In  1886  he 
was  elected  commander  of  the  Illinois  Comman- 
dery  of  the  military  order  of  the  Loyal  Legion. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public, and  of  the  Masonic  order,  being  identified 
with  Apollo  Commandery,  Knights  Templar; 
and  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Club.  He  was 
always  a  staunch  Republican,  though  never  a 
candidate  for  civil  office.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  Lyon,  daughter  of  William  Lyon,  Esq.,  of 
Bedford,  Pennsylvania.  Her  death  occurred  in 
Chicago,  October  26,  1890,  at  the  age  of  forty - 
three  years.  In  1892  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Alice  Jane  Soutar,  daughter  of  P.  J.  Soutar,  an 
eminent  lawyer  of  Dunfermline,  Scotland.  Six 
of  General  Ducat's  children  survive.  Arthur  C. , 
Jr.,  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  is  a  lieutenant  in 
the  United  States  Army;  Kate,  the  second  child, 
is  the  wife  of  C.  P.  Stivers,  of  Chicago;  and 
Mary,  Reginald,  Elizabeth  and  Alice  complete 
the  family,  whose  members  are  communicants  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  General  Ducat 
was  reared.  The  latter  died  January  29,  1896,  at 
his  home  in  Downer's  Grove. 


418 


DANIEL  WARREN. 


DANIEL  WARREN. 


0ANIEL  WARREN,  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
Illinois,  deserves  more  than  passing  notice 
in  this  record.  He  was  the  representative 
of  one  of  the  oldest  American  families,  which 
will  always  live  in  history  because  of  the  brave 
general  who  lost  his  life  at  the  battle  of  Bun- 
ker Hill.  Daniel  Warren  was  a  successful  busi- 
ness man,  who  came  West  to  embrace  the  op- 
portunity to  secure  a  large  landed  estate  at  small 
original  outlay.  He  was  a  native  of  Massachu- 
setts, born  about  1 780,  near  Concord,  the  scene  of 
the  first  conflict  of  arms  in  behalf  of  colonial  in- 
dependence and  American  liberty. 

In  early  life,  Mr.  Warren  went  to  western  New 
York,  and  opened  the  first  store  in  Fredonia, 
Chautauqua  County,  that  State.  He  afterward 
lived  about  fourteen  years  in  Westfield,  same 
county.  While  a  resident  of  New  York,  he  be- 
came acquainted  with  the  Naper  brothers,  who 
settled  the  present  prosperous  town  of  Naperville, 
in  DuPage  County,  Illinois.  Naturally,  when 
he  decided  to  locate  in  the  West,  he  called  upon 
them,  at  their  Illinois  home,  and  at  once  found  a 
satisfactory  location  about  halfway  between  Na- 
perville and  the  present  town  of  Warrenville. 
This  was  in  the  spring  of  1833,  while  Chicago 
was  scarcely  thought  of  as  a  city,  and  certainly, 
its  present  marvelous  development  undreamed-of 
by  the  wildest  speculator  on  human  destiny.  In 
a  few  years,  Mr.  Warren  sold  out  his  claim  and 
moved  to  the  present  site  of  Warrenville,  where 
he  built  a  sawmill  and  laid  out  a  town.  He  also 
secured  nearly  a  section  of  land,  and  made  farm- 
ing his  principal  industry  until  advancing  years 
caused  his  retirement  from  active  life.  In  all  his 
undertakings,  he  was  assisted  by  his  only  son, 
Col.  J.  M.  Warren,  a  sketch  of  whom  will  be 
found  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  The  father 


passed  away  at  his  home  in  Warrenville  in  1866, 
aged  eighty-six  years. 

Nancy  Morton,  who  became  the  wife  of  Daniel 
Warren,  and  the  mother  of  a  son  and  seven 
daughters,  was  born  in  Orange,  Worcester  Coun- 
ty, Massachusetts,  on  the  ninth  day  of  February, 
1785.  When  nine  years  old,  she  went  with  her 
parents  to  Madison  County,  New  York,  and  was 
the  favorite  companion  of  her  brother,  Rev.  Sal- 
mon Morton,  a  well-known  pioneer  clergyman  of 
western  New  York.  That  she  was  a  woman  of 
refinement  and  graces  of  mind  is  shown  by  the 
character  of  her  daughters,  several  of  whom  be- 
came ornaments  of  Chicago  society.  The  pio- 
neers were  largely  dependent  upon  their  own  re- 
sources for  amusement  and  culture,  and  the  youth 
of  the  time  were  fortunate  whose  parents  brought 
educated  and  refining  influences  with  them.  Mrs. 
Warren  took  a  keen  delight  in  the  lives  of  her 
offspring,  and  lived  to  a  great  age,  retaining  her 
faculties  to  the  end,  which  came  February  4, 
1873,  and  she  was  buried  on  the  eighty-eighth 
anniversary  of  her  birth. 

Following  are  the  names  of  the  children  of 
Daniel  and  Nancy  (Morton)  Warren:  Philinda, 
widow  of  P.  H.  Fowler,  now  in  her  ninety-first 
year,  residing  at  Warrenville;  Louisa,  married 
Frederick  Bird,  and  died  at  Rockton,  Illinois; 
Julius  Morton  (see  biography  elsewhere  in  this 
volume);  Sarah,  wife  of  Abel  Carpenter,  died  in 
Chicago;  she  was  one  of  the  first  teachers  in  this 
city,  in  a  select  school;  Harriet,  Mrs.  C.  B.  Dod- 
son,  lived  at  Geneva,  Illinois,  where  she  died; 
Mary  and  Maria  were  twins,  the  former  now  re- 
siding in  Chicago,  being  the  widow  of  Jerome 
Beecher,  and  the  latter  died  in  the  same  city, 
while  wife  of  Silas  B.  Cobb;  Jane  married  N.  B. 
Curtiss,  a  prominent  business  man  of  Peoria. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


CHARLES  C.  P.  HOI.DEN. 


MRS.  C.  C.  P.   HOLDEN 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


C.  C.  P.  HOLDEN. 


419 


CHARLES  C.  P.  HOLDEN. 


EHARLES  C.  P.  HOLDEN  was  born  at  Gro- 
ton,  New  Hampshire,  August  9,  1827.  His 
father's  name  was  Phineas  H.,  and  his 
mother,  prior  to  her  marriage,  was  Miss  Betsey 
Parker.  His  genealogical  record  shows  his  earliest 
American  ancestor  to  have  been  one  Richard 
Holden,  who,  in  1634,  with  his  brother  Justinian, 
came  from  Ipswich,  England,  in  the  sailing-ves- 
sel "Francis,"  settling  in  the  locality  which  after- 
ward became  Watertown,  Massachusetts.  Mr. 
Holden' s  maternal  grandfather  was  Lieutenant 
Levi  Parker,  a  patriot  who  served  in  the  army  of 
the  Revolution,  taking  part  in  the  battle  of  Bun- 
ker Hill  and  not  returning  to  his  fireside  until 
after  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis.  He  chanced  to 
be  with  Washington  at  the  time  of  Arnold's  trea- 
son and  Andre's  capture,  and  served  as  one  ot 
the  guards  at  the  execution  of  the  gallant  British 
officer  who  was  punished  as  a  spy,  and  whose 
conspicuous  bravery  Lieutenant  Parker  sincerely 
admired. 

Mr.  Holden' s  father,  with  his  family  of  nine 
children,  came  West  in  1836,  reaching  Chicago 
June  30.  With  hired  ox-teams  he  at  once  set  out 
for  the  prairie,  where  he  pre-empted  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  Government  land,  selecting  as 
a  location  Skunk's  Grove,  on  the  "Sauk  Trail," 
in  the  edge  of  Will  County,  thirty  miles  south  of 
the  future  city.  He  was  the  first  settler  in  that 
region,  his  nearest  neighbor  being  two  miles  and 
a-half  distant,  and  his  children  being  compelled 
to  walk  three  miles  across  the  trackless  prairie  to 
receive  instruction  in  the  rude  log  hut  which 
served  as  a  school  house. 

Among  such  surroundings  Charles  rapidly  de- 

*  This  sketch  is  taken  from  the  "History  of  Chicago,"  by  per- 
mission of  the  publishers  Munsell  &  Co. 


veloped  great  physical  strength.  When  not  more 
than  ten  years  old  he  drove  a  breaking  team  of 
five  yoke  of  oxen,  his  father  holding  the  plow, 
and  was  able  to  do  all  that  usually  fell  to  the  lot 
of  farmers'  boys  in  those  early  days.  When  he 
was  fifteen,  his  father  placed  him  in  Sweet's  gro- 
cery store,  on  North  Water  Street,  near  Wolcott, 
now  North  State  Street,  where  for  six  months  he 
worked  hard  for  his  board.  At  the  end  of  that 
time,  however,  his  employer  presented  him  with 
a  pair  of  cassimere  pantaloons,  which  the  young 
clerk  highly  prized. 

In  the  spring  of  1847  his  patriotic  ardor,  no  less 
than  his  love  of  adventure,  prompted  him  to  en- 
list in  Company  F,  of  the  Fifth  Regiment  of  Illi- 
nois Volunteers,  and  after  serving  until  the  end 
of  the  Mexican  War  he  was  mustered  out  of  serv- 
ice at  Alton,  Illinois,  October  16,  1848.  He 
immediately  secured  employment  in  the  book 
otore  of  A.  H.  &  C.  Burley,  where  he  remained 
until  March,  1850.  On  the  igth  of  that  month 
he  joined  a  party  which  set  out  from  Old  Fort 
Kearney,  Missouri,  for  California.  The  route 
was  overland,  and  the  pilgrims  took  up  their 
weary  journey  with  two  teams.  They  reached 
Hangtown  July  1 2  and  at  once  began  mining  on 
the  Middle  Fork  of  the  American  River.  Young 
Holden  spent  two  seasons  on  this  stream,  pass- 
ing the  second  at  Coloma  Bar.  In  the  fall  ot 
1851  he  began  farming  and  stock-raising  at  Napa 
Valley,  which  pursuits  he  followed  until  Decem- 
ber i,  1853,  when  he  turned  his  face  eastward. 
He  took  passage  on  the  steamship  "Winfield 
Scott, ' '  bound  from  San  Francisco  for  Panama, 
but  the  vessel  was  wrecked  in  a  fog  on  the  reef 
of  Anna  Capa  Island,  at  midnight,  December  2. 
As  soon  as  the  grinding  of  the  ship's  bottom  on 


420 


C.  C.  P.  HOLDEN. 


the  rocks  aroused  the  three  hundred  or  more  pas- 
sengers to  a  comprehension  of  their  danger,  they 
buckled  on  life  preservers,  promptly  given  them 
by  the  officers,  and  anxiously  awaited  their  sup- 
posed fate.  They  recalled  the  doom  of  the  ill- 
fated  "Independence,"  which  had  gone  to  the 
bottom  a  few  months  before  with  four  hundred 
souls  on  board.  The  officers  of  the  "Winfield 
Scott"  did  their  duty  nobly,  the  furnace  fires 
were  promptly  extinguished  and  the  first  boat- 
loads of  impatient,  terror-stricken  voyagers  were 
landed  on  the  shelving  rocks,  which,  however, 
seemed  a  veritable  haven  of  refuge.  The  pass- 
age to  these  rocks  was  perilous,  but  every  one 
was  safely  transported.  The  stranded  passengers 
and  crew,  however,  underwent  torments  of  hun- 
ger and  thirst  upon  a  barren  ledge  until  rescued, 
seven  days  after  the  wreck,  by  the  steamship 
"California,"  which  carried  them  to  Panama. 
The  '  'Scott' '  was  abandoned  to  the  pitiless  buffet- 
ing of  the  elements  and  ultimately  went  to  pieces. 
Neither  cargo,  express  matter  (except  the  money  ) , 
mail  nor  baggage  was  rescued.  The  destitute 
passengers  made  the  best  of  their  way  across  the 
isthmus  and  were  taken  to  New  York  by  the 
Pacific  Mail  steamer  "Illinois,"  landing  January 
3,  1854.  Mr.  Holden  returned  to  Chicago,  reach- 
ing this  city  March  18,  1854,  precisely  four  years 
(lacking  one  day)  from  the  date  of  his  departure. 

The  next  important  event  in  his  life  was  his 
entry  into  the  service  of  the  land  department  of 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  which 
occurred  February  20,  1855. 

Seven  months  later — on  September  17,  1855 
— he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Reynolds, 
daughter  of  Isaac  N.  and  Rue  Ann  Reynolds,  of 
New  Lenox,  Will  County,  Illinois.  Mrs.  Hol- 
den was  the  granddaughter  of  Abraham  Holder- 
man,  of  Holderman's  Grove,  Illinois,  where  he 
settled  in  1830. 

Mr.  Holden  has  been  a  prominent  figure  in 
Illinois  politics  since  1858,  when  he  went  as  a 
delegate  from  Chicago  to  Springfield  to  the  Re- 
publican State  Convention.  The  train  that  car- 
ried the  delegation  was  decorated  with  a  banner 
bearing  the  legend,  "For  United  States  Senator, 
Abraham  Lincoln."  It  was  after  the  adjourn- 


ment of  this  convention  that  the  great  commoner 
uttered  those  memorable  words: 

"A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand. 
I  believe  this  Government  cannot  endure  per- 
manently, half  slave,  half  free.  I  do  not  expect 
the  Union  to  be  dissolved.  I  do  not  expect  the 
house  to  fall,  but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be 
divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing,  or  all  the 
other." 

Mr.  Hoiden  was  elected  a  member  of  the  city 
council  in  April  1861,  he  representing  the  old 
"fifth  ward,"  and  continued  a  member  of  the 
municipal  legislature  until  December,  1872.  Dur- 
ing his  protracted  term  of  sen-ice  he  had  an  eye 
single  to  the  city's  good.  He  worked  as  did  few  of 
his  confreres,  "public  office"  being,  in  his  esti- 
mation, a  "public  trust."  Measures  of  genuine 
improvement — not  for  his  own  ward,  but  looking 
to  the  benefit  of  all  Chicago — found  in  him  an 
ardent  champion.  The  improvement  of  streets 
was  one  of  his  cherished  hobbies,  of  which  he 
never  lost  sight.  In  this  connection  due  credit 
should  be  given  to  Mr.  Holden' s  labors.  The 
water  supply  received  his  thoughtful  considera- 
tion, and  it  was  largely  through  his  efforts  that  the 
present  system  of  abundant  distribution  through- 
out the  city  took  its  inception  and  received  its  im- 
pulsive force.  While  a  member  of  the  council  he 
was  constantly  agitating  this  question.  He  was 
the  advocate  of  pure  water,  and  plenty  of  it,  for 
every  man,  woman  and  child  within  the  corporate 
limits.  Indeed  had  it  not  been  for  him  and  others 
like  him,  Chicago  would  have  been,  to-day,  as 
poorly  supplied  with  water  as  some  of  her  sister 
western  cities.  It  was  through  his  persistent  la- 
bor that  the  city  authorized  the  building  of  the 
second  tunnel  under  the  lake,  with  its  extension, 
besides  the  construction  of  the  watenvay  ending 
at  Ashland  Avenue  and  Twenty-second  Street. 

As  to  Mr.  Holden's  influence  in  this  regard, 
see  proceedings  of  the  common  council  for  1869 
and  1870,  pp.  87,  91,  in,  and  page  690,  Pro- 
ceedings 1868-9. 

During  the  dark  hours  of  the  nation's  history, 
Mr.  Holden  was  conspicuously  loyal.  His  vote, 
his  voice  and  his  efforts  were  always  in  support 
of  the  Union.  His  vote  as  a  municipal  legislator 


C.  C.  P.  HOLDEN. 


421 


was  always  in  behalf  of  aiding  the  National  Gov- 
ernment with  men  and  money.  In  1862  he 
raised  a  company  for  the  Eighty- eighth  regiment 
of  Illinois  Volunteers,  his  brother,  Levi  P.,  being 
elected  its  captain.  In  1864,  when  a  draft  was 
ordered  in  case  the  quota  of  troops  allotted  to 
Chicago  was  not  furnished  through  voluntary  en- 
listment, he  determined  that  there  should  be  no 
draft  in  his  ward— the  Tenth.  He  organized  a 
"Ward  Draft  Association"  and  was  chosen  its 
president.  The  members  worked  with  a  will,  and 
the  sum  of  $51,912  was  raised  wherewith  to  pay 
bounties  to  volunteers,  thus  warding  off  what 
Mr.  Holden  was  inclined  to  regard  as  a  threat- 
ened disgrace.  Mr.  Holden  furnished  three  rep- 
resentatives for  his  family  for  the  army — Harris 
Dtirkee,  for  his  wife;  Frederick  A.  Hausmann, 
for  his  sister-in-law,  Rowena  P.  Reynolds;  and 
Alonzo  C.  Ide  for  himself. 

His  part  in  civic  affairs  has  always  been  a  prom- 
inent one.  He  was  marshal  of  the  city  council 
on  the  occasion  of  the  reception  of  the  remains  of 
President  Lincoln  on  their  way  to  their  final  rest- 
ing place  at  Springfield ,  and  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee named  to  secure  the  attendance  of  General 
Grant  at  the  great  fair  held  at  Dearborn  Park, 
July,  1865.  It  was  he  who  introduced  the  reso- 
lutions which  were  adopted  by  the  council  relative 
to  Lincoln's  funeral.* 

At  the  time  of  the  great  fire  of  1871,  he  was 
president  of  the  council,  and  rendered  valuable 
service  in  bringing  order  out  of  chaos  and  secur- 
ing succor  for  the  destitute.  A  detailed  account 
of  his  efficient  work  at  that  trying  period  may  be 
found  in  Andreas'  History  of  Chicago,  Vol.  II, 
pp.  761-772.!  At  the  next  municipal  election 
both  the  great  political  parties — Republican  and 
Democratic — placed  Mr.  Holden  in  nomination 
for  the  mayoralty,  each  also  nominating  a  full 
ticket  for  the  other  city  offices.  But  there  was  an 
element  in  the  community  which  was  of  opinion 
that  political  considerations  ought  not  to  be  re- 
garded at  such  a  time,  and  in  consequence  a  com- 
plete "citizens'  "  ticket,  known  as  the  "fire- 
proof," was  nominated,  containing  the  names  of 

*See  Council  Proceeding!  for  ISGB,   p.  8. 

tSee  also  Council  Proceedings  for  1871,  pp.  346,  347. 


Joseph  Medill  for  Mayor  and  David  A.  Gage  for 
Treasurer.  The  "fire-proof "  ticket  was  elected. 

In  1872,  Mr.  Holden  was  an  elector  on  the 
Greeley  ticket,  but,  with  his  associates,  went 
down  in  the  political  cyclone  which  swept  the 
country  in  November  of  that  year. 

Previous  to  this — in  March,  1869 — Governor 
Palmer  had  appointed  him  a  West  Chicago  Park 
Commissioner,  and  re-appointed  him  in  1871.  He 
accepted  the  trust,  and  with  his  brother  commis- 
sioners laid  out  the  magnificent  system  of  parks 
and  boulevards  which  has  so  largely  aided  in 
building  up  the  great  West  Side.  He  resigned 
from  the  board  in  1878. 

In  1873,  he  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss 
of  his  wife,  who  for  a  lifetime  had  been  his  coun- 
sellor, his  helpmeet,  and  the  honored  mistress  of 
his  happy  home.  She  passed  away  July  26,  after 
a  lingering  illness,  and  was  laid  to  rest  at  Rosehill. 
It  was  a  source  of  regret  to  both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Holden  that  the  latter 's  youngest  sister,  Rowena 
(who  had  been  a  member  of  the  family  since 
1858),  was  not  at  home  during  this  protracted 
sickness,  she  being  absent  on  an  extended  tour 
through  Europe  and  the  Orient.  An  adopted 
daughter,  Sarah  J. ,  remained  to  sustain  him  in 
his  bereavement. 

In  February,  1873,  Mr.  Holden  left  the  employ 
of  the  Illinois  Central  railway,  after  eighteen 
years'  consecutive  service,  during  which  period 
he  had  aided  in  selling  two  million  acres  of  the 
corporation's  lands.  He  then  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  construction  of  the  Chicago  &  Illi- 
nois River  Railroad,  running  from  Joliet  to  Coal 
City,  the  charter  and  organization  of  which  he 
virtually  controlled;  he  disposed  of  his  interest  in 
this  company,  whose  line  ultimately  became  a 
part  of  the  Chicago  &  Alton  system. 

In  1874,  he  was  elected  a  County  Commissioner, 
and  July  4,  1877,  as  president  of  the  board,  laid 
the  corner  stone  of  the  county  court  house.  His 
investments  in  real  estate  proved  fortunate,  and 
he  has  erected  several  blocks,  among  them  one 
at  the  corner  of  Monroe  and  Aberdeen  Streets 
and  another  at  Nos.  298  to  302  West  Madison 
Street. 

Mr.  Holden' s  adopted  daughter,  Sarah  J.,  was 


422 


W.  B.  PARSONS. 


married,  February  17,  1885,  to  Mr.  George  M. 
Sayre.  and  now  resides  at  Elmira,  New  York. 
They  have  two  children,  Charles  Holden  and 
Grade.  Some  three  years  later,  July  u,  1888, 
he  was  married  for  a  second  time,  his  bride  being 
Miss  Thelena  N.  McCoy,  daughter  of  Henry  M. 
and  Mary  (L,akin)  McCoy.  She  was  born  at 
Port  Perry,  Canada,  where  she  received  her 
schooling  and  musical  education.  Her  mother 
died  in  1879,  and  she  being  the  eldest  daughter, 
much  fell  to  her  lot  in  caring  for  the  family,  which 
consisted  of  her  father,  two  brothers  and  three 
sisters.  She  bravely  assumed  the  responsibility. 
The  children  were  educated,  and  while  caring  for 
her  household  she  was  pursuing  her  musical  and 
other  studies.  The  western  fever  having  seized 
her  father,  he  removed  with  his  family  to  South 
Dakota,  where,  in  the  winter  of  1888,  they  passed 
through  the  terrible  blizzard  that  scourged  the 
Dakotas,  and  where  he  is  now  living  a  quiet  life 
with  his  second  wife,  in  Mitchell,  of  that  State. 

Thelena,  who  had  in  previous  years  met  Mr. 
Holden,  was  married  to  him  July  n,  1888,  and 
accompanied  him  to  their  cozy  home  in  Chicago. 
Her  brother  Charles,  with  his  wife  and  three 
children,  lives  in  Rapid  City,  South  Dakota.  Her 
brother  George  and  wife  reside  in  Hart,  Michi- 
gan. Her  eldest  sister,  Addie,  married  Dr.  J.  H. 
Reed,  of  Lansing,  Michigan.  Her  sister  Nettie 


married  Dr.  T.  Allen,  of  Garnett,  Kansas;  and 
Emma,  her  baby  sister,  who  was  always  Mrs. 
Holden 's  favorite  and  especial  charge,  was  mar- 
ried to  Mr.  L,u  Newman,  of  Chicago,  in  1888. 
She  died  December  i,  1893.  Mrs.  Holden  is  of 
a  very  domestic  nature,  and  strives  to  make  their 
home  pleasant.  It  is  adorned  with  much  of  her 
own  work,  she  being  handy  both  with  the  brush 
and  needle,  as  is  clearly  shown  in  their  domestic 
home,  which  is  on  the  great  West  Side  in'thiscity. 

Mr.  Holden's  mother  passed  away  September 
23,  1869,  and  his  father  February  23,  1872. 
They  died  on  the  farm  they  had  located  in  1836. 
His  sister  Mary  E.  (Mrs.  J.  W.  Freer)  died 
November  28,  1845,  and  his  sister  Sarah  Ann 
C.  February  13,  1847. 

In  his  social  relations  he  is  a  member  of  sev- 
eral well-known  organizations,  among  them  the 
Illinois  State  Association  of  Veterans  of  the 
Mexican  War,  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, the  California  Pioneers'  Association  of  Chica- 
go, the  Old  Settlers'  Society  of  Cook  County  and 
the  German  Old  Settlers'  Association.  By  the  latter 
Organization  he  was  presented  with  a  gold  medal 
in  1888.  At  the  age  of  sixty-seven,  Mr.  Holden 
still  retains  his  mental  and  physical  faculties  un- 
impaired, hale  and  hearty  in  his  declining  years, 
one  of  the  distinguished  products  of  Chicago's 
cosmopolitan  influence. 


WILLIAM  B.  PARSONS. 


BOSTWICK  PARSONS,  a  for- 
mer  citizen  of  Chicago,  now  deceased,  is 
well  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  columns  of 
this  work,  on  account  of  his  family  connections, 
his  precocity  as  a  child,  his  ability  as  a  student, 
and  the  part  which  he  took  in  the  legal  profession 
and  in  business.  He  was  born  at  Burlington, 
Vermont,  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  1833,  and 
was  the  son  of  Judge  Sylvanus  Parsons,  a  promi- 
nent citizen  and  scion  of  one  of  the  old  families  of 
New  England. 


As  a  youth  he  was  quiet  and  studious,  much 
preferring  the  company  of  books  to  the  society  of 
other  children,  and  so  rapid  was  his  progress  in 
the  acquisition  of  an  education  that  he  not  only 
completed  the  primary  studies  incident  to  prepa- 
ration for  college,  but  mastered  Latin  and  Greek, 
which  he  taught  in  Spalding's  School  at  Barre, 
Vermont,  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years.  Entering 
Dartmouth  College  when  a  mere  lad,  he  made  a 
brilliant  record  as  a  student  in  that  institution, 
and  graduated  third  in  his  class,  the  most  of 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


WILLARD  SCOTT,  SR. 


423 


whose  members  were  several  years  older  than  he. 
His  subsequent  career  showed  that  the  teachings 
of  this  old  and  honored  institution — the  alma 
mater  of  Daniel  Webster  and  a  host  of  other  emi- 
nent statesmen,  lawyers,  orators  and  men  of  other 
professions — were  not  lost  upon  him. 

At  the  completion  of  his  college  course,  stirred 
by  the  same  spirit  which  has  caused  the  migration 
from  New  England  of  thousands  of  her  worthy 
sons,  who  have  contributed  in  a  great  measure  to 
people  the  West,  build  up  our  interests  and  shape 
the  destiny  of  the  Nation,  and  full  of  love  for  the 
free  institutions  for  which  his  ancestors  had  per- 
iled their  lives  in  the  great  struggle  for  freedom, 
he  decided  to  cast  his  lot  with  the  liberty-loving 
people  of  Kansas,  who  were  then  in  the  throes  of 
that  mighty  moral  struggle  which  preceded  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion.  Settling  in  Coffee  Coun- 
ty, the  young  lawyer  engaged  in  the  practice 
of  his  profession  and  soon  rose  to  a  prominent 
place  at  the  bar,  and  was  honored  by  being 
elected  County  Attorney.  The  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War  interfered  with  the  practice  of  the  law 
and  stirred  his  patriotism.  He  volunteered  at  an 
early  date,  as  a  private  in  a  Kansas  regiment, 
and  served  out  the  term  of  his  enlistment,  after 


which  he  re-enlisted  and  was  appointed  to  a  place 
in  the  Paymaster's  department,  where  he  served 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  Returning  to  Kansas, 
he  was  again  elected  attorney  of  his  county. 

After  spending  several  years  in  the  profession 
and  acquiring  prominence  as  a  lawyer,  declining 
health  compelled  him  to  abandon  the  practice, 
and  he  sought  a  higher  altitude  and  new  em- 
ployment in  the  mountain  districts  of  Colorado, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  mining  enterprises 
until  the  year  1882.  At  the  latter  date  he  came 
to  Chicago  and  retired  from  active  life.  He  died 
here  January  3 1 ,  1885. 

On  the  i2th  of  November,  1861,  William  B. 
Parsons  and  Julia  W.  Kinzie  were  united  in  wed- 
lock at  Burlington,  Kansas,  the  home  of  Robert 
A.  Kinzie,  the  pioneer  of  Chicago,  whose  biogra- 
phy appears  in  this  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parsons 
were  the  parents  of  three  children,  namely:  Rob- 
ert Wilkins,  now  a  resident  of  Chicago;  William 
Guy,  cashier  of  the  United  States  Rubber  Com- 
pany, of  New  York;  and  Frank  Kinzie  Parsons, 
who  is  a  stock-raiser  in  Montana.  Mrs.  Parsons 
survives  her  husband,  and  occupies  a  responsible 
position  in  the  Chicago  postoffice,  which  she  has 
held  for  twenty  years. 


WILLARD  SCOTT,  SR. 


SCOTT,  SR.,  deceased,  who  for 
many  years  was  connected  with  the  leading 
business  interests  of  Naperville,  and  for 
half  a  century  made  his  home  in  this  section  of 
the  great  commonwealth  of  Illinois,  was  a  native 
of  New  York,  born  in  Unadilla,  Otsego  County, 
April  20,  1808.  His  parents  were  Stephen  J.  and 
Hadassah  (Trask)  Scott.  The  father  followed 
the  sea  in  his  early  years  and  became  the  owner 
and  master  of  a  schooner,  which  bore  his  name 
and  was  engaged  in  the  coast  trade  along  the  At- 


lantic shore.  In  Connecticut  he  wedded  Miss 
Trask,  who  was  a  relative  of  Gen.  Israel  Putnam, 
one  of  the  heroes  of  Revolutionary  fame.  On 
leaving  Hartford,  Conn.,  they  went  to  Unadilla, 
and  the  year  1816  witnessed  their  removal  to 
Maryland,  where  they  spent  the  next  decade. 

During  this  time  our  subject  was  acquiring  an. 
education  in  the  common  schools,  and  also  took  a 
short  course  in  mathematics.  It  was  his  desire 
to  become  a  sailor,  but  his  mother  urged  him  not 
to  do  this,  for  the  life  was  too  fraught  with  dan  • 


424 


C.  J.  MAGILL. 


gers.  In  1825  the  family  made  a  visit  to  New 
York,  and  then  started  for  St.  Joseph,  Mich.,  go- 
ing through  Canada  to  Detroit,  and  thence  by 
water.  The  goods  were  shipped  by  sailing-vessel 
to  Detroit,  and  thence  Willard  took  them  to  their 
destination.  He  went  to  Detroit  with  a  man 
from  Ohio,  and  the  journey  thither  was  a  perilous 
one  through  the  unbroken  forest,  there  being  no 
road  except  the  Indian  trails.  They  reached  De- 
troit ten  days  before  the  arrival  of  their  goods, 
during  which  time  they  lived  on  corn  and  pota- 
toes. The  family  were  not  pleased  with  their 
home  in  Michigan,  and,  crossing  the  Lake,  located 
in  Evanston. 

On  the  i6th  of  July,  1829,  Willard  Scott  wed- 
ded Caroline  Hawley,  in  Holderman's  Grove.  In 
1818,  her  father,  Pierce  Hawley,  went  from  Ver- 
mont to  Vincennes,  Ind.,  and  afterwards  came  to 
Illinois,  locating  in  Holderman's  Grove  in  1825. 
In  the  fall  of  1830,  he  and  his  family,  accompa- 
nied by  Mr.  Scott  and  his  family,  located  three 
miles  south  of  Naperville,  in  what  is  now  DuPage 
County,  but  was  then  a  part  of  Cook  County. 
Cook  County  at  that  time  also  comprised  Lake, 
McHenry  and  Will  Counties.  There  were  thirty- 
two  votes  polled  in  Chicago  that  year,  Mr.  Scott's 
father  depositing  the  first  one.  During  the  War 
of  1832,  our  subject  proved  a  valued  citizen  in 
the  settlement,  on  account  of  his  knowledge  of 
the  Indians  and  their  methods  of  warfare. 

In  1838  Mr.  Scott  became  a  resident  of  Naper- 


ville, built  the  Naperville  Hotel,  and  conducted  it 
for  eighteen  years,  after  which  he  carried  on  mer- 
chandising for  twenty  years,  most  of  the  time  be- 
ing associated  with  his  son  Thaddeus.  The  firm 
of  Willard  Scott  &  Co.  controlled  the  leading  bus- 
iness in  this  place,  and  operations  are  still  carried 
on  under  that  name,  Willard  Scott,  Jr.,  succeed- 
ing his  father  and  brother  Thaddeus  in  the  busi- 
ness. Retiring  from  merchandising  after  the 
Civil  War,  Mr.  Scott  was  President  of  the  Du- 
Page County  Bank,  subsequently  of  the  Bank  of 
Naperville,  and  was  a  private  banker  until  his 
death,  September  13,  1892.  He  possessed  busi- 
ness ability  of  a  high  order,  was  sagacious  and  far- 
sighted,  and  his  enterprise  was  tempered  by  a 
commendable  conservatism.  He  won  success,  and 
his  prosperity  was  the  reward  of  his  own  labors. 
In  political  belief  our  subject  was  a  Democrat, 
and  his  first  vote  was  cast  for  Andrew  Jackson 
in  1828.  He  was  a  resident  of  Naperville  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  and  was  ever  found  in 
the  front  rank  of  those  enterprises  calculated  to 
advance  the  best  interests  of  the  community. 
Throughout  DuPage  and  Cook  Counties  he  was 
widely  known,  and  was  held  in  the  highest  re- 
gard by  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor.  The 
name  of  Willard  Scott  is  inseparably  connected 
with  the  history  of  this  community,  and  the  rec- 
ord of  the  county  would  be  incomplete  without  his 
sketch. 


CHARLES  J.  MAGILL. 


(3HARLES  JAMES  MAGILL,    whose  name     William  Magill,  was  a  native  of  Middletown,  Con- 


1 l  has  for  years  been  a  synonym  for  unbiased 
\J  integrity  and  honesty  of  purpose  among  the 
early  residents  of  Chicago,  was  born  at  St.  John's, 
Newfoundland,  in  November,  1818.  His  father, 


necticut,  born  June  30,  1792.  The  Magill  family- 
is  of  Irish  extraction,  and  was  founded  in  Con- 
necticut by  two  brothers,  named  Robert  and  Will- 
iam Magill,  who  came  from  Belfast  and  were 


C.  J.  MAGIUv. 


425 


among  the  first  settlers  of  the  Connecticut  Colony. 
The  old  family  homestead,  which  has  sheltered 
many  successive  generations,  is  still  standing  at 
Middletown. 

While  a  young  man,  William  Magill  moved  to 
Newfoundland.  For  many  years  he  was  in  the 
service  of  the  British  Government,  first  as  the 
Collector  of  the  port  of  St.  John's,  and  later  as 
Governor  of  the  provincial  prison  at  that  place. 
Retiring  from  public  life,  he  removed  to  Char- 
lottetown,  in  Prince  Edward  Island,  where  his 
death  occurred  on  the  fourteenth  of  August,  1878. 
He  was  a  man  of  exemplary  character  and  note- 
worthy ability,  as  is  evidenced  by  his  long  contin- 
uance in  public  life.  His  wife,  Ann  Morris,  who 
was  a  nativeof  Dublin,  Ireland,  died  atSt.  John's, 
Newfoundland,  about  the  year  1850.  Of  their  three 
children,  Charles  J.  is  the  eldest.  John  was  for 
many  j'ears  a  prominent  citizen  and  public  official 
of  Chicago;  and  Sarah,  Mrs.  Henry  L.  Messieur- 
er,  now  deceased,  was  well  known  to  the  early 
residents  of  Chicago. 

William  Magill  was  one  of  a  family  of  six 
children,  all  of  whom,  with  their  posterity,  have 
been  conspicuous  for  longevity,  intelligence  and 
refinement.  His  sister,  Mrs.  Ann  Campbell,  who 
was  at  that  time  a  widow,  came  to  Chicago  soon 
after  1850.  For  some  years  she  taught  a  private 
school  on  the  North  Side,  and  many  of  her  pupils 
are  prominent  in  the  business  and  social  life  of 
Chicago  to-day.  She  was  a  lady  of  rare  intelli- 
gence, tact  and  benevolence,  and  was  regarded  by 
her  pupils  as  a  model  of  wisdom  and  strength  of 
character.  Mrs.  Juliette  Kinzie,  who  was  well 
known  throughout  America  as  the  author  of 
"Wau-bun,"  was  a  niece  of  William  Magill. 

At  the  age  of  eleven  years  Charles  Magill  left 
home  and  went  to  sea,  and  followed  a  marine  life 
until  the  autumn  of  1852.  A  portion  of  that  pe- 
riod was  spent  in  navigating  the  Great  Lakes.  In 
the  year  last  named  he  located  permanently  in 
Chicago,  though  he  had  frequently  visited  this 
port  previous  to  that  date.  He  engaged  in  the 
forwarding  and  commission  business,  becoming 
the  owner  of  vessel  property,  and  simultaneously 
acting  as  agent  of  vessel-owners  at  other  points  on 
the  lakes.  Among  other  corporations  which  he 


represented  was  the  Ohio,  Superior  &  Huron 
Railroad  Company,  which  was  operating  a  line  of 
boats  on  the  middle  lakes.  He  dealt  in  salt  and 
other  merchandise,  and  was  one  of  the  first  mem- 
bers of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  joining  that 
body  in  1853,  and  still  retaining  his  membership, 
though  he  retired  from  active  business  operations 
in  1893. 

While  on  a  voyage  to  the  Bermuda  Islands,  Mr. 
Magill,  who  was  then  a  young  man,  formed  the 
acquaintance  of  Miss  Esther  S.  Chalker.  This 
gifted  lad\'  became  his  wife,  the  marriage  taking 
place  at  Guilford,  Connecticut.  The  couple  first 
located  at  Buffalo,  but  in  July,  1854,  removed  to 
Chicago,  where  Mrs.  Magill  died  in  October, 
1886.  She  was  born  at  Hamilton,  Bermuda,  Feb- 
ruary 7,  1819.  Her  mother,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Stowe,  was  descended  from  one  of  the  oldest 
families  in  that  colony,  her  ancestors  receiving  a 
grant  of  land  from  the  British  crown  upon  locat- 
ing there.  The  old  Stowe  residence,  now  the 
property  of  the  Government,  is  still  standing  at 
Hamilton. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Magill  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children.  Jacob  C.,  the  eldest,  is  a  well-known 
business  man  of  Chicage.  Anna  C.,  Mrs.  Hugh 
Alexander,  is  a  resident  of  Brooklyn,  New  York. 
William  C.  is  also  well  known  in  Chicago.  Ed- 
ward S.  is  a  commercial  traveler  residing  in  Wich- 
ita, Kansas.  Mary  E.  is  the  wife  of  E.  C.  Ward, 
of  Chicago,  in  which  city  Arthur  W.  also  resides. 
Sarah  L.,  now  deceased,  was  the  wife  of  C.  S. 
Spencer,  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana;  and  Charles  A. 
is  engaged  in  mercantile  business  at  Kingman, 
Kansas. 

Though  he  has  a  host  of  friends,  Captain  Ma- 
gill has  formed  but  few  social  connections.  For 
many  years  he  has  held  membership  with  the 
Church  of  the  Epiphany,  of  which  he  is  a  Senior 
Warden.  He  has  always  enjoyed  the  confidence 
of  his  associates  to  a  remarkable  degree.  As  an 
illustration  of  this  fact  may  be  cited  the  case  of 
one  of  his  early  friends  in  Chicago,  who,  upon  his 
demise  a  few  years  since,  made  Mr.  Magill  the 
sole  administrator  of  his  large  estate,  providing  in 
his  will  that  if  any  of  the  heirs  should  question 
any  act  of  the  executor  they  should  be  disinher- 


426 


J.  A.  SWEET. 


ited.     After  a  long,  eventful  and  useful  life,  Cap- 
tain Magill  is  spending  his  declining  years  in  well- 


merited  peace  and  tranquility,  which  it  is  the  wish 
of  his  many  friends  may  be  long  continued. 


JOHN  A.  SWEET. 


(TOHN  ALLEN  SWEET,  a  member  of  one  of 
I  the  leading  mercantile  firms  of  Chicago,  was 
O  born  March  20,  1846,  at  Farmington,  Frank- 
lin County,  Maine,  and  comes  from  the  genuine 
Puritanic  New  England  stix:k.  His  ancestors 
were  of  those  long-lived,  hardy,  industrious,  fru- 
gal, as  well  as  moral  people,  who,  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  hardships  and  privations  consequent 
upon  the  early  settlement  of  the  country,  did  not 
forget  to  devote  themselves  to  laying  the  founda- 
tion for,  and  the  shaping  and  rounding  out  of  a 
moral  character  as  an  example  for  their  posterity. 
His  great-grandfather,  whose  name  was  Eben- 
ezer  Sweet,  was  born  at  Attleboro,  Massachu- 
setts, January  18,  1741.  In  1782,  he  went  to  that 
portion  of  Maine  which  was  then  uninhabited  ex- 
cept by  Indians,  save  perhaps,  half  a  dozen  white 
families.  He  cleared  off  a  little  patch  of  timber 
land,  as  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  after- 
wards known  as  Farmington,  one  of  Nature's 
most  beautiful  spots  to  be  found  anywhere.  Here 
he  resided  during  his  long  life,  and  died  Novem- 
ber 4,  1838,  at  the  age  of  ninety-seven  years  and 
ten  months.  He  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  and  in 
the  year  1785  built  the  first  tannery  in  that 
township.  He  was  a  man  of  the  strictest  integ- 
rity, and  lived  an  exemplary,  moral  life,  industri- 
ous in  his  habits,  and  accumulated  a  pecuniary 
independence.  He  married  Desire  Daggett,  who 
was  also  a  native  of  Attleboro,  Massachusetts, 
born  September  17,  1745,  and  died  at  Farming- 
ton,  Maine,  October  4,  1839,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 


four  years.  They  had  five  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. The  third  son,  Ellis  Sweet,  who  was  born 
November  20,  1770,  died  May  7,  1848,  at  the  age 
of  seventy -eight  years.  He  married  Mary  Fuller, 
who  was  born  in  1775,  and  died  January  2,  1854, 
at  the  age  of  seventy- nine  years.  He  became  the 
owner  of  his  father's  farm,  in  the  year  1822. 
During  the  War  of  1812,  he  entered  the  United 
States  service,  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
Colonel,  commanding  a  regiment  during  that 
struggle.  He  and  his  wife  became  the  parents  of 
five  children,  two  sons  and  three  daughters.  The 
eldest  son,  Loring  Sweet,  was  born  August  7, 
1796,  and  died  July  6,  1881,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
five  years  and  eleven  months.  He  was  married, 
June  7,  1828,  to  Elizabeth  Berry  Allen,  who  was 
born  in  1809,  at  Canton,  Oxford  County,  Maine, 
and  died  in  Farmington,  March  28,  1875,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-six  years.  Her  father  was  a  Revolu- 
tionary soldier,  and  lived  to  the  age  of  one  hun- 
dred and  three  years.  Five  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loring  Sweet, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  fifth  son  and 
seventh  child. 

John  Allen  Sweet  laid  the  foundation  of  his  ed- 
ucation in  the  public  schools  and  academy  of  his 
native  town,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years 
graduated  from  the  State  University.  It  was  his 
intention  in  early  life  to  qualify  himself  for  the 
practice  of  law.  Coming  West  in  1868,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two  years,  he  studied  law  for  about 
two  years,  and  for  several  years  following  applied 


E.  W.  CASE. 


427 


himself  at  intervals  to  legal  study,  giving  his  at- 
tention chiefly  to  its  bearing  upon  trade  and 
commerce. 

Ill  1872,  Mr.  Sweet  became  connected  with  the 
wholesale  dry  goods  firm  of  Carson,  Pirie,  Scott 
&  Company,  of  Chicago,  assuming  charge  of  their 
collection  and  legal  departments,  and  after  six 
years'  service,  or  in  1878,  he  was  promoted  to  the 
exclusive  charge  of  the  credit,  legal  and  collection 
departments  of  this  firm,  and  has  occupied  that 
position  up  to  the  present  time,  having  retained 
his  present  connection  for  nearly  a  fourth  of  a 
century,  and  in  his  particular  line  of  business  he 
has  earned  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  suc- 
cessful man  in  the  trade,  being  admittedly  with- 
out a  peer  as  a  credit  manager. 

In  appreciation  of  his  ability,  integrity  and 
long  and  faithful  service,  the  firm  rewarded  him 
with  a  general  partnership,  to  which  he  was  ad- 
mitted on  the  first  of  January,  1892.  Mr.  Sweet 
is  thoroughly  known  among  bankers  and  business 
men  of  Chicago,  the  seat  of  the  keenest  commercial 
competition,  where  only  the  fittest  can  survive, 
and  enjoys  a  most  enviable  reputation  as  a  manly, 
straightforward  and  safe  business  manager.  In 
speaking  of  him,  the  Inter  Ocean  recently  said: 
'  'In  appearance,  Mr.  Sweet  is  tall  and  symmet- 


rically proportioned.  He  is  genial,  affable  and 
courteous,  and  has  a  faculty  of  making  and  re- 
taining friends.  He  is  a  natural  physiognomist, 
and  has  rarely  been  known  to  make  a  mistake  in 
reading  men's  characters.  It  is  to  these  qualities 
that  his  success  in  a  most  important  department 
must  be  largely  attributed.  He  is  an  indefatigable 
worker,  and  is  as  well  known  as  a  man  of  grand 
business  capacities  among  the  commercial  circles 
of  New  York,  as  he  is  here  in  Chicago,  where 
he  has  lived  and  labored. ' ' 

Mr.  Sweet  is  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Athletic 
Club  and  prominent  in  Masonic  circles,  being  a 
member  of  Chicago  Commandery  and  Oriental 
Consistory,  having  taken  the  thirty-second  degree. 
On  the  1 8th  of  June,  1878,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Mary  Stevenson,  daughter  of  John  W.  and 
Caroline  C.  Stevenson,  of  Sandusky,  Ohio,  where 
Mrs.  Sweet  was  born,  October  2,  1855.  They 
have  had  two  children:  Fred  Kent  Sweet,  born 
September  26,  1879,  and  died  December  i  of  the 
same  year;  and  John  Allen  Sweet,  Junior,  who 
was  born  April  27,  1881  The  family  is  in  com- 
munion with  St.  Andrew's  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  and  holds  a  desirable  position  in  social 
circles. 


ELISHA  W.  CASE. 


ITLISHA  W.  CASE.  The  New  England 
1^  Yankee  never  forgets  the  home  of  his  child- 
I  hood.  Wherever  he  may  wander,  and  in 
whatever  situation  he  may  be  placed,  visions  of 
his  native  hills  and  dells  are  retained  in  his  mind, 
and  these  scenes  always  recall  many  little  acces- 
sories which  contributed  their  share  towards  the 


comfort  and  delight  of  the  youthful  mind  or  body. 
The  typical  New  England  homestead  is  no  less 
famous  for  its  Christian  principles,  and  the  sturdy 
characters  which  it  has  trained  and  sent  forth  to 
leave  their  impress  upon  every  important  institu- 
tion of  the  great  West,  than  for  its  culinary  tri- 
umphs and  the  superior  quality  of  the  pastry 


428 


E.  W.  CASE. 


found  upon  its  hospitable  boards.  And  who 
knows  to  what  extent  the  memory  of  the  latter 
has  served  to  keep  alive  the  recollection  of  precepts 
and  teachings  which  have  helped  to  mould  the 
characters  of  many  of  the  best  men  and  women  of 
the  present  day? 

Elisha  \V.  Case,  whose  name  is  identified  in 
the  minds  of  hungry  people  with  one  of  the  most 
popular  articles  of  daily  consumption,  was  born 
in  Norwich,  Connecticut,  in  January,  1833.  He 
is  the  youngest  son  and  ninth  in  a  family  of  ten 
children  born  to  John  Case  and  Diana  Congdon. 
The  Case  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  Connect- 
icut. Their  first  American  ancestor  came,  while 
a  young  man,  from  England,  and  was  married  in 
Connecticut,  about  1657,  t°  Sarah,  daughter  of 
William  Spencer.  Several  successive  generations 
of  their  posterity  have  lived  in  the  same  locality, 
and  the  name  is  still  one  of  the  most  common  ones 
to  be  found  in  that  state. 

John,  father  of  Elisha  W.  Case,  was  a  son  of 
Samuel  and  Susannah  Case.  During  his  youth 
he  became  a  sailor,  and  while  on  board  a  whal- 
ing vessel  was  taken  prisoner  by  a  British  man-of- 
war,  whose  officers  claimed  him  as  a  subject  of 
the  Crown,  and  he  was  pressed  into  the  naval 
service.  He  made  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  es- 
cape, for  which  he  was  severely  flogged.  He 
finally  succeeded  in  eluding  his  captors,  and  re- 
turned to  the  United  States  in  time  to  enlist  in 
the  War  of  1812,  and  rendered  valuable  service 
at  the  battle  of  New  London.  After  the  war  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  machinist  and  was  em- 
ployed for  many  years  in  the  railroad  shops  at 
Norwich.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  years 
spent  in  Washtenaw  County,  Michigan,  this 
place  continued  to  be  his  home  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  April,  1847,  at  tne  age  of  six- 
ty-two years.  His  wife's  death  took  place  about 
eight  years  earlier. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  his  father  having 
died,  Elisha  W.  Case  left  home  and  went  to  New 
York  City,  where  he  learned  his  trade  in  the  or- 
iginal Connecticut  pie  bakery.  In  1854  he  came 
to  Chicago  and,  taking  advantage  of  the  wide- 
spread reputation  which  everywhere  existed  for 
New  England  cookery,  he  began  the  manufacture 


of  "Connecticut  pies"  on  Milwaukee  Avenue, 
near  Halsted  Street.  This  was  the  first  exclu- 
sive pie  bakery  in  the  city.  The  people  employed 
were  all  natives  of  the  Nutmeg  State,  well  versed 
in  the  culinary  art,  and  the  superior  quality  of 
their  wares,  which  far  surpassed  anything  previ- 
ously offered  in  this  market,  created  a  demand 
for  them  which  has  been  continuously  increasing 
to  the  present  time. 

About  1859  the  "Mechanical  Bakery"  began 
doing  business  on  Clinton  Street.  Mr.  Case  be- 
came the  foreman  of  the  pie  department  of  the 
concern,  which  filled  large  contracts  for  supplies 
for  the  Union  army.  In  1869  he  severed  his 
connection  with  this  establishment  and  became  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Case  &  Martin,  which  built 
a  large  bakery  at  the  corner  of  Wood  and  Wal- 
nut Streets,  where  the  business  of  exclusive  pie- 
baking  was  resumed  and  has  ever  since  been  con- 
ducted. Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Martin  in  1890, 
Mr  Case  became  the  sole  proprietor,  and  contin- 
ued to  conduct  the  enterprise  until  June  i,  1894, 
when  the  Case  &  Martin  Company  was  incorpor- 
ated. 

The  fame  of  their  Connecticut  pies  is  well 
known  to  everybody  in  Chicago  and  many  adja- 
cent cities  and  towns,  and  there  are  few  people 
who  cannot  testify  to  their  excellence  as  appeas- 
ers  of  appetite.  Their  goods,  which  are  for  the 
most  part  hand-made,  are  prepared  from  formulas 
used  by  the  best  Connecticut  cooks,  and  such  is 
the  demand  for  this  particular  article  of  dessert 
that  about  one  hundred  people  are  employed  in 
its  production,  and  they  turn  out  from  ten  thou- 
sand to  eighteen  thousand  nine-inch  pies  per 
day. 

Mr.  Case  is  the  inventor  of  the  pie  wagon 
which  is  now  used  by  nearly  all  bakers  and  which 
he  began  to  employ  in  1872.  He  has  contrived 
a  number  of  articles  and  appliances  which  are 
useful  in  his  business,  and,  though  he  has  spent 
considerable  time  and  money  in  experiments,  has 
never  patented  any  of  his  ideas,  some  of  which 
have  been  adopted  and  patented  by  others. 

June  i,  1851,  Mr.  Case  was  married  to  Eliza 
Jane  Baldwin,  daughter  of  William  and  Char- 
lotte Baldwin,  of  Braufort,  Connecticut.  Of 


C.  T.  NICHOLS. 


429 


their  five  children,  one  died  in  infancy,  and  Ever- 
ett passed  away  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years. 
The  names  of  the  survivors  are  John  M.,  Elmer  G. 
and  Edna  J.,  the  latter  the  wife  of  P.  M.  Vermass, 
all  of  Chicago.  The  family  is  connected  with  the 
Western  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  in  which  soci- 
ety Mr.  Case  has  been  a  Deacon  for  twenty -five 
years.  He  has  voted  for  every  presidential  can- 
didate nominated  by  the  Republican  party,  and 


though  he  refrains  from  political  agitation  he 
always  endeavors  to  fulfill  his  duty  as  a  citizen. 
In  private  and  social  circles  as  well  as  in  business 
affairs,  he  has  maintained  a  reputation  for  stabil- 
ity and  integrity,  which  causes  him  to  be  among 
the  best  known  and  most  highly  esteemed  citi- 
zens of  this  great  city,  the  growth  of  which  has 
been  almost  identical  with  that  of  his  business. 


CLIFFORD  L.  NICHOLS. 


CLIFFORD  L.  NICHOLS,  of  Blue  Island, 
I  (  the  efficient  and  well-known  Superintendent 
\J  of  the  Illinois  Division  of  the  Chicago,  Rock 
Island  &  Pacific  Railroad,  was  born  in  Wyanet, 
111.,  on  the  30th  of  November,  1856,  and  is  a  son 
of  David  T.  and  Hulda  G.  (Barry)  Nichols.  The 
father  came  to  this  State  in  1839,  taking  up  his 
residence  in  the  then  town  of  Chicago,  where  he 
carried  on  a  harness-shop  for  several  years.  In  1846 
he  removed  to  Kane  County,  111.,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  the  same  line  of  business  for  some 
time.  In  1850  he  crossed  the  plains  to  California, 
attracted  by  the  discovery  of  gold  on  the  Pacific 
Slope,  but  returned  to  Illinois  the  following  year, 
as  he  did  not  find  that  wealth  was  as  easily  ob- 
tained in  the  West  as  reports  had  indicated.  In 
1853  he  removed  to  Wyanet,  Bureau  County, 
where  he  opened  a  harness-shop,  and  in  1854  he 
became  agent  for  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Railroad  at  that  place,  continuing  with 
that  company  in  the  same  capacity,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  two  years,  up  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  loth  of  December,  1893, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-one  years.  He  was 
born  in  Broadalbin,  N.  Y.  His  wife,  who  is  a 
native  of  Madison,  N.  Y.,  still  resides  in  Wyanet. 
The  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  record 
attended  the  public  schools  until  fourteen  years  of 


age,  when  he  began  to  learn  the  art  of  telegrapfc.y 
in  his  father's  office.  In  1876,  having  mastered 
the  business,  he  left  Wyanet  and  secured  a  posi- 
tion as  operator,  train  dispatcher  and  ticket  agent 
elsewhere.  He  was  employed  at  various  points 
on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad 
until  1880,  when  he  entered  the  employ  of  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad  as  train 
dispatcher.  From  time  to  time  he  won  promo- 
tion as  the  result  of  his  faithful  and  meritorious 
service,  until  he  had  become  Superintendent  of 
the  Eastern  Division.  Later  he  was  made  Super- 
intendent of  the  Kansas  City  Division,  and  with 
the  exception  of  a  short  period  remained  with 
that  company  until  1890,  as  Superintendent  of 
the  Elgin,  Joliet  &  Eastern  Road.  He  then  be- 
came connected  with  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio,  and 
the  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  Railroads.  In 
1892  he  engaged  with  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island 
&  Pacific  Railroad  Company  as  chief  train  dis- 
patcher at  Horton,  Kan.,  and  in  August,  1893, 
he  came  to  Blue  Island  as  Superintendent  of  the 
Illinois  Division  of  that  road,  which  position  he 
now  fills. 

Mr.  Nichols  was  married  in  1878  to  Miss  Mabel 
E.  Frans,  daughter  of  Harry  B.  Frans,  of  Gales- 
burg,  111.,  and  a  native  of  California.  They  now 
have  four  children,  Earl,  Jessie,  Ethel  and  Allan. 


430 


AIX)NZO  HUNTINGTON. 


ALONZO  HUNTINGTON. 


aLONZO  HUNTINGTON,  who  was  born  at 
Shaftesbury,  Vermont,  September  i,  1805, 
and  died  in  Chicago,  November  17,  1881, 
was  a  Vermonter  of  good  old  stock.  Capt.  Amos 
Huntington,  of  the  Revolutionary  army,  was  his 
grandfather,  and,  like  Samuel  Huntington,  one 
of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
was  a  great-grandson  of  the  first  of  the  name  in 
America.  Samuel  was  also  President  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  Chief  Justice  of  Connecticut, 
Governor  of  Connecticut,  and  (1789)  recipient  of 
two  electoral  votes  at  the  first  Presidential  elec- 
tion. Alonzo  was  also  grand-nephew  of  Gov- 
ernor Galusha,  of  Vermont.  His  father  owned 
and  operated  a  marble  quarry,  in  which  business 
young  Alonzo  took  his  share  of  work  and  respon- 
sibility, even  while  laying  the  foundation  of  his 
education;  his  higher  teaching  being  deferred  to 
that  of  an  elder  brother,  whom  his  service  at  home 
helped  through  Union  College. 

In  spite  of  this  sacrifice,  he  managed  to  secure 
a  fair  degree  of  good  practical  culture,  and,  so 
grounded,  he  studied  law  in  Buffalo  under  the 
Hon.  I.  T.  Hatch,  and  was  there  admitted  to  the 
Bar.  He  came  to  Chicago  in  1835,  became  State's 
Attorney  in  1837,  and  administered  his  office  so 
well  as  to  be  re-elected  in  1839,  serving  until 
1841.  His  most  noteworthy  case  in  this  connec- 
tion was  the  prosecution  of  John  Stone  for 
the  murder  of  Lucretia  Thompson,  which  ex- 
cited great  interest,  and  elicited  from  the  Ameri- 
can remarks  which  the  presiding  judge  (Pearson) 
thought  demanded  prosecution  for  contempt  of 
court.  A  suit  was  accordingly  instituted  by  the 
State's  Attorney  under  the  orders  of  the  court. 
It  had  no  result,  except  the  usual  one  of  calling 
down  the  united  voice  of  the  press  on  the  head 


of  the  prosecutor,  who  had  simply  done  his  of- 
ficial duty  and  obeyed  orders. 

His  term  of  office  ended,  Mr.  Huntington  re- 
sumed practice,  wherein  (as  in  his  official  life)  his 
qualities  and  attainments  assured  success.  His 
manners  were  dignified,  yet  cordial;  his  standing 
as  a  man  and  citizen  flawless;  his  relations  in 
private  and  family  life  kind,  generous  and  de- 
voted. Many  know  that  by  his  energy,  ability, 
foresight  and  self-denial  he  gained  a  handsome 
fortune;  few  have  any  idea  of  the  burden  of  duty 
he  was  taking  so  voluntarily  on  his  strong  shoul- 
ders. During  much  of  his  later  life  he  was  the 
stay  and  support  of  his  father,  mother,  two  broth- 
ers and  a  widowed  sister,  besides  his  own  con- 
siderable family;  the  whole  load  sustained  with 
an  heroic  cheerfulness  that  either  felt  no  weari- 
ness, or  concealed  what  it  felt.  Three  genera- 
tions carried  wholly  by  one  inflexible  conscience 
and  faithful  heart! 

Mrs.  Huntington  was  also  of  distinguished 
descent,  being  granddaughter  of  Gideon  Olin, 
one  of  the  founders  of  Vermont  and  a  member  of 
Congress  (1803-7);  a  niece  of  the  late  Abraham 
Olin,  a  member  of  the  Thirty-fifth,  Thirty-sixth 
and  Thirty-seventh  United  States  Congresses,  and 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  Quaker- 
ess, Mary  Dyer,  who  suffered  religious  martyr- 
dom on  Boston  Common  in  1 660.  She  was  a  sis- 
tor  of  Dr.  Charles  V.  Dyer,  the  celebrated  wit 
and  humorist  of  the  early  days  of  Chicago,  whose 
engaging  qualities  she  shared  and  transmitted  to 
her  children,  of  whom  two  survive  their  parents: 
Frances,  Mrs.  Benjamin  M.  Wilson,  and  Henry 
Alonzo,  late  Brevet  Major  in  the  United  States 
army,  a  brave  soldier  in  the  Union  War,  and  stil! 
distinguished  in  literary  and  social  life. 


EDWIN  PARDRIDGE. 


EDWIN  PARDRIDGE. 


[""  DWIN  PARDRIDGE,  one  of  the  most  re- 
jv)  markable  characters  ever  connected  with 
the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  passed  away 
at  his  residence  on  Prairie  Avenue  on  the  morn- 
ing of  April  17,  1896,  in  the  sixty-first  year  of 
his  age.  The  Chicago  Tribune  said:  "The  his- 
tory of  Mr.  Pardridge's  sixty  years  has  few  paral- 
lels. He  was  a  man  of  the  clearest  perceptions, 
and  his  strong  convictions  and  the  nerve  with 
which  he  backed  them  made  him  a  marked  man. 
Since  1869  he  has  been  a  familiar  figure  in  local 
commercial  circles,  and  for  the  last  ten  years, 
during  which  time  he  had  devoted  himself  almost 
exclusively  to  speculation,  his  name  and  fame 
were  world-wide.  Probably  no  man  as  merchant 
and  operator  has  been  called  upon  in  the  West 
to  meet  such  odds  and  face  such  opposition;  and 
those  who  knew  him  are  agreed  as  to  his  busi- 
ness acumen,  courage,  common  sense  and  kind- 
liness of  heart. ' ' 

Mr.  Pardridge  exemplified  in  a  marked  degree 
the  sturdiness  of  character  handed  down  by  a 
long  line  of  New  England  ancestry.  The  pro- 
genitor of  this  family  came  from  England,  and 
first  settled  in  Massachusetts  early  in  the  history 
of  that  colony.  Thence  the  line  extending  to 
this  subject  was  transferred  to  Grafton,  near 
Troy,  New  York,  where  his  grandfather  was  a 
thrifty  farmer.  He  was  a  man  of  large  stature, 
and  reached  a  green  old  age.  He  was  twice 
married.  His  first  wife,  Miss  Smith,  of  an  old 
New  York  family,  was  the  mother  of  eleven  chil- 
dren, and  died  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  She 
was  a  woman  of  great  thrift  and  economy,  and  a 
devoted  mother.  Six  of  her  children  reached 


maturity,  namely:  Asa,  Ambrose,  Abiah,  Anson, 
Julia  and  Lydia.  All  were  born  at  Grafton, 
were  interested  in  farming,  and  were  highly  re- 
spected and  prospered  in  life. 

The  youngest  son,  Anson,  was  reared  on  the 
old  homestead,  where  he  remained  until  he  had 
attained  his  majority.  He  then  went  to  Durham- 
ville,  Oneida  County,  New  York,  where,  after 
four  years  of  patient  labor,  he  was  enabled  to  set- 
tle down  upon  a  farm.  He  married  Miss  Amanda 
Field,  a  native  of  Leyden,  Massachusetts,  a 
daughter  of  John  Field,  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
who  reached  the  age  of  eighty-two  years.  His 
father  and  two  brothers  immigrated  from  Wales 
before  the  French  and  Indian  War,  and  settled 
in  Massachusetts.  His  wife,  Silence  Lincoln, 
was  a  native  of  that  State,  and  was,  no  doubt,  a 
scion  of  the  same  family  as  the  late  martyred 
President,  whose  family  was  of  English  descent 
and  located  in  Massachusetts.  Ansou  Pardridge 
was  born  June  10,  1804,  passed  his  entire  life 
upon  a  farm,  and  died  April  28,  1877.  His  wife 
was  born  in  the  same  year  as  himself,  November 
23,  and  died  January  26,  1890.  She  was  a  de- 
voted member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  was  the 
mother  of  five  children,  Anson,  Marion,  Edwin, 
Charles  W.  and  Ellen.  The  eldest  daughter  is 
the  wife  of  Charles  J.  Stokes,  and  the  other  of 
Charles  Oscar  Gleason,  all  residing  in  Evanston. 
The  elder  son  remained  on  the  home  farm  until 
1877,  when  he  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he 
now  resides.  The  younger  son  has  been  inter- 
ested all  his  life  in  the  dry-goods  trade,"  and  is 
now  in  Chicago. 

Edwin  Pardridge  was   born   at    Durhamville, 


432 


EDWIN  PARDRIDGE. 


New  York,  October  24,  1835.  His  life  was  an 
independent  one,  and  his  success  was  achieved  en- 
tirely through  his  own  unaided  efforts.  His  educa- 
tion was  supplied  by  the  district  schools,  and  he 
very  early  began  his  mercantile  career,  in  which  he 
laid  the  foundation  of  his  fortune,  in  .a  village 
store  near  his  home.  After  working  five  years 
in  a  general  store  at  Lyons,  New  York,  he  en- 
gaged in  the  dry-goods  business  at  Buffalo,  in 
partnership  with  his  youngest  brother.  This  con- 
tinued until  1869,  when  he  came  to  Chicago.  He 
was  ambitious  and  desired  a  larger  field  of  opera- 
tions. His  first  store  was  located  at  Lake  and 
State  Streets,  and  in  its  conduct  he  showed  the 
same  discriminating  judgment  and  mastery  of  de- 
tail which  later  characterized  his  operations  on 
the  Board  of  Trade.  In  1870  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with  his  brother,  Charles  W.  Pardridge, 
to  continue  the  business. 

The  great  fire  of  1871  destroyed  this  store, 
which  was  then  on  Wabash  Avenue.  After  that 
disaster  they  built  the  Boston  Store,  and  pur- 
chased the  adjoining  one  at  Nos.  112-116  State 
Street,  which  was  known  as  Pardridge' s  Main 
Store.  He  finally  reverted  the  Boston  Store  to 
his  partner,  Charles  W.  Pardridge,  and  retained 
the  main  store.  He  also  had  a  dry-goods  store 
in  Detroit  at  the  time  of  his  demise.  He  had 
started  and  operated  numerous  other  stores,  but 
had  largely  abandoned  trade  to  gratify  his  pas- 
sion for  speculation.  He  made  careful  invest- 
ments of  his  profits,  and  soon  after  the  fire  he 
was  the  owner  of  one  hundred  rented  houses. 
His  faith  in  local  real  estate  continued,  and  when 
he  died  he  had  more  than  seven  hundred  tenants 
in  flats,  houses  and  store  property.  Beside  this, 
he  conveyed  much  property  to  members  of  his 
family  to  provide  against  the  possible  disasters  of 
speculation. 

Mr.  Pardridge  operated  upon  the  Board  of 
Trade  for  about  twenty  years,  and  for  the  first 
five  years,  as  is  the  case  with  most  beginners,  he 
was  a  buyer,  and  was  much  of  the  time  a  loser. 
He  was  attracted  to  speculation  by  the  success  of 
a  few  very  wealthy  men  who  had  acquired  their 
property  in  this  manner.  He  was  not  an  im- 
pulsive, but  a  systematic  and  persistent,  operator. 


He  formulated  a  plan  which  he  ever  afterwards  fol- 
lowed. He  became  a  seller,  and  though  he  often 
took  great  risks,  and  even  approached  seeming 
recklessness,  and  on  a  few  occasions  narrowly 
escaped  bankruptcy,  his  gains  far  exceeded  his 
losses  and  justified  the  soundness  of  his  plan. 
The  fortunes  Mr.  Pardridge  won  and  lost  through 
his  boldness  in  plunging  became  the  gossip  of 
the  world.  He  used  to  say  that  it  did  not  require 
much  education  to  make  a  speculator,  but  it 
needed  plenty  of  cool  common  sense.  Mr.  Pard- 
ridge's  clear  foresight  was  emphatically  shown 
in  August,  1892,  when  May  wheat  was  selling  at 
$1.06  per  bushel,  and  the  majority  of  traders 
were  predicting  that  it  would  reach  $1.50.  Mr. 
Pardridge  said  that  it  would  sell  for  eighty  cents 
per  bushel,  and  it  became  the  case  of  one  man 
against  the  world,  for  all  the  speculative  trade 
at  home  and  abroad  believed  in  higher  prices. 
Though  he  lost  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  million 
dollars  during  that  summer,  he  stuck  to  his  pre- 
diction, which  was  verified  before  the  following 
March,  and  the  speculative  world,  which  had 
laughed  at  him,  was  forced  to  pay  him  tribute  to 
the  extent  of  millions  of  dollars. 

He  was  never  exacting  in  times  of  stringency, 
and  it  is  well  known  that  he  could  have  closed 
out  many  houses  by  exacting  the  margins  due 
him.  He  never  attempted  to  corner  the  market, 
but  contented  himself  with  putting  in  prac- 
tice his  theory  of  short  selling.  His  fame  be- 
came world- wide,  and  between  1890  and  1894 
his  movements  meant  a  great  deal  more  than 
the  crop  reports  or  the  amount  of  exports. 
As  seen  on  the  floor  of  the  board,  Mr.  Pardridge 
was  a  modest,  unassuming  man,  and  while  he 
could  play  like  a  wizard  with  millions  of  dollars 
as  if  .they  were  so  many  pennies,  he  was  one  of 
the  most  plainly  dressed  men  on  the  board.  His 
most  pronounced  characteristic  was  dogged  de- 
termination, though  it  was  never  expressed  in 
his  face. 

Mr.  Pardridge  had  few  intimate  friends  on  the 
board,  but  this  was  principally  because  he  did 
not  care  about  casual  friends.  His  chief  friend 
and  supporter  was  A.  J.  Cutler,  whose  biography 
will  be  found  in  this  volume.  Scores  of  traders 


H.  D.  BAKER. 


433 


remember  with  gratitude  how  Mr.  Pardridge 
saved  them  from  bankruptcy  by  timely  loans. 
These  kind  acts  he  was  accustomed  to  do  without 
ostentation,  and  he  never  desired  to  hear  them 
mentioned.  He  practiced  silent  charity,  and 
never  permitted  his  left  hand  to  know  what  his 
right  hand  did.  The  poor  and  unfortunate  were 
special  objects  of  his  bounty,  and  many  cases  of 
his  liberality  hitherto  unknown  have  come  to 
light  since  his  death. 

The  tension  under  which  Mr.  Pardridge  lived 
as  an  operator  undermined  his  constitution,  and 
his  death  resulted  from  Bright's  Disease,  after 
three  months  of  almost  constant  suffering.  But 
his  vitality  was  something  remarkable.  A  few 
weeks  before  his  death  Mr.  Cutler  called  at  his 
home,  but  learned  that  he  was  unable  to  talk 
about  anything  pertaining  to  business.  The 
next  day  he  was  thunderstruck  on  receiving 
orders  from  Mr  Pardridge  to  sell  wheat,  and 
within  a  day  or  two  the  latter  was  seen  on  the 
floor  of  the  exchange. 


July  10,  1861,  Mr.  Pardridge  was  married, 
near  Durhamville,  New  York,  to  Miss  Sarah 
Swallow,  a  native  of  the  town  of  Verona,  Oneida 
County,  New  York,  and  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Mary  (Hicks)  Swallow,  both  natives  of  England. 
The  father  was  nineteen  years  old  when  he  came 
to  this  country,  and  was  known  as  an  energetic 
business  man  of  Durhamville.  His  wife  came  to 
the  United  States  when  eleven  years  of  age. 
They  were  active  members  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  were  highly  respected  by  the  people 
of  Durhamville,  at  which  place  they  ended  their 
days  in  peace  and  quiet  contentment. 

The  five  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pardridge 
have  all  reached  maturity.  The  eldest,  Sarah 
Blanche,  wife  of  R.  C.  Price,  resides  at  Wauke- 
gan;  Grace  Emily,  wife  of  C.  W.  Leeming,  Will- 
ard  Edwin  and  Frederick  Charles  Pardridge  re- 
side on  Indiana  Avenue;  and  Florence  Eva  re- 
sides at  home  with  her  mother. 


HENRY  D.  BAKER. 


HENRY  DAVIS  BAKER  is  a  native  of  Illi- 
nois, whose  patriotic  impulses  and  thorough- 
going business  methods  have  gained  for  him 
a  reputation  well  worthy  of  perpetuation  in  this 
record.     He  was  born  at  Lockport,  Will  County, 
April  7,  1845,  and  is  the  elder  of  two  sons  born 
to  James  S.  Baker  and  Adeline  H.  Eddy. 

James  S.  Baker  was  born  in  Otsego  County, 
New  York,  and  removed  to  Illinois  in  1837,  be- 
coming one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Lockport. 
He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  followed  that 
occupation  there  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1890,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years.  He 
was  prominent  in  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  but  interested 
himself  little  in  public  affairs.  His  only  official 


service  was  in  the  capacity  of  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
He  was  a  sou  of  John  Baker,  an  Englishman, 
born  near  the  city  of  Hull,  who  came  to  this 
country  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  cent- 
ury. He  settled  in  Otsego  County,  New  York, 
where  he  was  married,  and  died  there  at  the  age 
of  sixty  years.  His  wife  survived  to  the  age  of 
eighty-four. 

Mrs.  Adeline  H.  Baker  was  born  near  Nor- 
wich, Chenango  County,  New  York.  She  was 
a  daughter  of  Eli  Eddy,  a  farmer  of  that  locality, 
whose  ancestors  were  among  the  number  ban- 
ished from  the  Massachusetts  Colony  in  company 
with  Roger  Williams,  and  became  pioneers  of 
Rhode  Island.  Mrs.  Baker  died  of  cholera  in 
1854.  Her  second  son,  Ernest,  died  in  Eugle- 


434 


H.  D.  BAKER. 


wood,  Chicago,  in  1891,  at  the  age  of  forty-two 
years.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Mr. 
James  S.  Baker  was  married  to  Mrs.  Philinda  B. 
Moon,  a  native  of  Rochester,  New  York. 

Henry  D.  Baker  received  a  common-school 
education,  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years  en- 
listed in  Cogswell's  Independent  Battery,  Illinois 
Light  Artillery.  He  entered  the  service  on  the 
23d  of  February,  1864,  and  served  until  June  23, 
1865,  being  mustered  out  at  Vicksburg,  Missis- 
sippi. He  participated  in  the  battle  of  Nash- 
ville, under  General  Thomas, '  and  was  subse- 
quently employed  on  detached  service  at  that 
place  under  General  Rosseau.  Still  later,  he 
served  under  Captain  Barr,  Ordnance  Officer  at 
Fort  McPherson,  Natchez,  Mississippi.  Though 
the  bullets  sometimes  whizzed  in  close  proximity 
to  his  body,  he  came  unscathed  from  the  conflict, 
and  returned  to  the  pursuits  of  peace. 

The  next  few  years  after  the  war  he  •  spent  at 
different  places  in  the  South  and  West,  and  in 
1871,  just  previous  to  the  Great  Fire,  he  located 
in  Chicago.  He  was  employed  for  a  short  time 
by  a  commission  house  on  the  Board  of  Trade, 
and  for  fifteen  years  thereafter  was  connected 
with  the  Singer  &  Talcott  Stone  Company.  After 
severing  his  connection  with  that  house,  he  spent 
four  years  in  the  office  of  Fraser  &  Chalmers, 
the  well-known  foundrymen.  His  clerical  duties 
were  always  dispatched  in  a  thorough  and  com- 
petent manner,  and  he  gained  a  reputation  for 
being  an  expert  accountant. 

About  twelve  years  ago  Mr.  Baker  began  in- 
vestigating building  and  loan  associations,  and 
demonstrated  to  his  own  satisfaction  that  this 
form  of  investment,  when  properly  managed,  of- 
fered one  of  the  very  best  opportunities  for  people 
of  moderate  incomes.  He  became  identified  with 
the  Bankers'  and  Merchants'  Building  and  Loan 
Association,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  reliable 
concerns  of  that  character  organized  in  the  city. 
He  has  served  as  a  Director  of  that  institution 
since  1884.  In  1891  he  became  its  Secretary, 
filling  that  position  with  marked  ability  for  the 
next  three  years.  Owing  to  ill-health,  he  re- 
signed the  office  of  Secretary  at  the  end  of  that 
period,  and  devoted  the  next  year  to  rest  and  re- 


cuperation. In  1894  he  became  Secretary  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  Building  and  Loan 
Association.  This  institution,  which  has  been 
established  for  about  eleven  years,  is  in  a  sound 
and  healthy  condition,  having  matured  its  first 
five  series  of  stock,  and  is  now  recognized  as  one 
of  the  most  substantial  and  prosperous  corpora- 
tions of  the  kind. 

Mr.  Baker  is  a  conservative,  energetic  and  far- 
seeing  business  man,  and  eminently  adapted  to 
the  management  of  involved  and  extensive  finan- 
cial accounts.  He  is  known  as  one  of  the  well- 
informed  men  in  the  city  on  matters  pertaining  to 
building  and  loan  associations,  and  his  services 
and  counsel  are  frequently  sought  by  other  in- 
dividuals and  corporations  whose  affairs  have  be- 
come entangled  through  incompetent  or  unfaith- 
ful management.  In  addition  to  his  duties  as 
Secretary  of  the  association  with  which  he  is  now 
identified,  he  transacts  a  general  loan  and  fire  in- 
surance business. 

In  1877  Mr.  Baker  was  married  to  Miss  Agnes 
M.  Milne,  daughter  of  Robert  Milne,  of  Lock- 
port,  Illinois.  Mr.  Milne,  who  was  an  early  set- 
tler at  that  place,  became  one  of  the  leading  farm- 
ers and  stock-breeders  of  Illinois,  and  served  as 
a  member  of  the  first  Board  of  Canal  Commis- 
sioners appointed  by  the  Governor  of  the  State. 
He  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years,  passing 
away  in  November,  1891.  Mrs.  Baker,  who  is 
an  accomplished  and  amiable  lady,  is  the  mother 
of  a  son  and  two  daughters.  Horace  S.,  the  son, 
is  a  student  at  the  Evanston  Township  High 
School.  The  daughters  are  named,  respectively, 
Adeline  M.  and  Elsie  M.  The  family  is  con- 
nected with  the  Congregational  Church  of  Evan- 
ston, which  city  has  been  its  home  since  the 
spring  of  1890.  Mr.  Baker  is  a  member  of 
Unity  Council  of  the  National  Union  at  Evanston, 
and  of  John  A.  Logan  Post,  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic.  He  has  been  connected  with  the  Ma- 
sonic order  since  he  was  twenty-one  years  old, 
and  in  political  sentiment  is  an  independent  Re- 
publican. He  entertains  no  aspirations  for  polit- 
ical honors,  but  endeavors  in  a  quiet  way  to  fulfill 
all  the  duties  of  an  American  citizen. 


U.   H.   WHEELER. 


435 


URIAH    H.  WHEELER. 


HRIAH  HARMON  WHEELER.  The  clos- 
ing life  work  of  Uriah  H.  Wheeler  ended  a 
branch  of  one  of  the  distinguished  Bay  State 
families;  which  pathetic  fact  invites  attention  well 
back  towards  primal  Pilgrim  days,  an  era -of  rug- 
gedly severe  but  sterling  deeds.  Briefly  told,  the 
story  runs  as  follows:  Traditionally  from  Wales, 
in  1640  (only  twenty  years  subsequent  to  the  im- 
mortal landing  of  the  Pilgrims),  Thomas  Wheeler 
is  found  at  Concord,  Massachusetts,  historic  scene 
of  the  "Minute-men"  fight  in  earliest  Revolu- 
tionary times.  Here  he  founded  a  large  family, 
in  evidence  of  which  fact  it  is  only  necessary  to 
say  that  persons  bearing  this  name  have  from 
that  day  to  this  always  exceeded  the  numbers  of 
those  of  any  other  family  name  in  that  town. 

He  rose  to  the  rank  of  Captain,  and  as  such 
was  in  command  of  that  intrepid  score  of  com- 
rades who  made  the  march  in  1675  to  Brookfield, 
to  treat  with  King  Philip,  where,  falling  into  an 
ambush,  about  one-half  of  the  band  was  slaugh- 
tered. Captain  Wheeler  had  his  horse  shot  under 
him  while  in  the  saddle,  and,  being  himself  badly 
wounded,  was  from  under  the  very  tomahawks  of 
savage  foes  rescued  by  his  son,  Sergeant  Thomas 
Wheeler,  who,  although  suffering  from  wounds, 
placed  his  father  upon  another  horse  of  a  fallen 
soldier,  and  from  the  bloody  scene  both  found 
safety  in  flight. 

The  following  year,  Captain  Wheeler  died, 
never  having  recovered  from  the  effects  of  his 
wounds.  Thomas  Wheeler,  junior,  in  the  mean 
time  having  married  and  had  children,  later  re- 
moved to  the  rapidly  developing  town  of  Marl- 
boro, situated  only  a  few  miles  west. 


The  scene  now  changes  to  New  Marlboro,  in 
Berkshire  County,  western  Massachusetts,  whose 
original  grantors  were  principally  from  Marlboro, 
whence  the  name.  Benjamin  Wheeler,  a  de- 
scendant of  the  said  Thomas  Wheeler,  junior, 
was  the  first  settler  in  this  new  grant,  and  one  of 
the  organizers  of  New  Marlboro.  The  winter  of 
1739-40  was  spent  by  him  entirely  alone  in  his 
log  cabin,  provisions  being  brought  from  Shef- 
field, the  nearest  settlement,  ten  miles  distant. 
The  next  year  he  brought  his  family,  who,  the 
following  season,  were  reinforced  by  the  arrival 
of  several  other  families. 

The  old  Wheeler  homestead  is  situated  one 
mile  northwest  of  New  Marlboro  Center,  on  the 
road  to  Great  Barrington,  on  the  right  of  An- 
thony Brook  (so  called  from  the  last  Indian  oc- 
cupant of  the  valley),  and  remained  in  the  family 
for  one  hundred  and  forty  years,  through  five 
generations  of  direct  descendants,  four  of  the 
number  bearing  the  Christian  name  of  Benjamin. 
From  the  first  Benjamin  Wheeler,  above  named, 
the  descent  is  traced  to  the  subject  of  this  biog- 
raphy through  Zenas  Wheeler  and  his  wife, 
Azubah;  their  son  Zenas,  born  October  22,  1756, 
and  his  wife,  Elizabeth;  their  son,  Warren  Wheel- 
er, born  March  10,  1788,  who  was  the  father  of 
Uriah  H.  Wheeler,  as  related  below.  Trans- 
planted to  new  soil,  the  family  tree  throve  and 
spread  out  its  branches,  many  of  them  bearing 
distinguished  offspring,  conspicuously  Capt.  Ze- 
nas Wheeler  of  Revolutionary  War  times. 

In  the  western  part  of  New  Marlboro,  at  a 
place  locally  known  as  "Mill  River,"  is  a  fine 
water  power  upon  the  Konkapot  River,  where  in 


436 


U.  H.  WHEELER. 


later  years  paper  and  lumber  manufacturing  has 
been  extensively  carried  on.  Attracted  thither 
in  1836,  Warren  Wheeler  erected  the  first  mill 
for  the  manufacture  of  writing  paper.  So  rapidly 
did  the  new  industry  develop,  that  in  1855,  of 
three  paper  mills  then  running  there,  that  of 
Warren  Wheeler  &  Co.  was  the  largest,  more 
than  forty  hands  being  employed  and  a  yearly 
output  of  $50,000  worth  of  stock  being  made — a 
remarkable  showing  for  so  early  a  day ;  therefore 
no  wonder  the  firm  was  rated  very  high  in  the 
metropolis  of  New  York. 

This  firm  later  became  Wheeler  &  Sons,  after- 
wards Wheeler,  Sheldon  &  Babcock,  and  was 
finally  sold  out  to  a  syndicate  known  as  the 
Marlboro  Paper  Company,  and  later  to  the  Brook- 
side  Paper  Company,  while  to-day  these  large  in- 
dustries of  the  vicinity  are  controlled  by  the  well- 
known  Berkshire  Paper  Company.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  that  Warren  Wheeler  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  trade. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  Uriah  Harmon  Wheel- 
er, was  born  at  New  Marlboro  in  the  year  1825, 
being  a  son  of  the  said  Warren  Wheeler  and  wife, 
Alice  (Harmon)  Wheeler.  Of  delicate  mould, 
he  was  an  apt  pupil,  and  we  know  made  the 
most  of  opportunities  at  local  schools  and  later  at 
Meriden  (Connecticut)  Academy.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  he  became  a  partner  with  his  father 
in  the  paper  mill,  succeeding  to  a  place  made 
vacant  by  the  death  of  an  elder  brother,  Warren 
Wheeler,  junior,  who  had  formerly  been  the  first 
partner  of  Cyrus  W.  Field,  father  of  the  Atlantic 
Telegraph  Cable. 

Uncertain  health  led  to  disposing  of  this 
lucrative  business  in  1854,  at  which  period  father 
and  son  came  West;  the  former  to  Berrien 
Springs,  Michigan,  the  latter  to  the  welcoming 
city  of  Chicago,  where  he  located  on  the  South 
Side,  destined  henceforth  to  be  his  home.  For 
ten  years  he  was  a  partner  and  Chicago  repre- 
sentative of  the  great  lumber  firm  of  E.  &  J.  Can- 
field  of  Chicago,  and  Manistee,  Michigan,  which 
then  owned  extensive  local  yards,  situated  on  the 
West  Side,  near  the  Lake  Street  Bridge.  When 
this  branch  of  the  business  was  sold  out, 
not  wishing  to  leave  Chicago,  Mr.  Wheeler 


severed  his  pleasant  relationship  with  this  firm. 
Subsequently  he  bought  from  the  well-known 
John  B.  Idson  his  interest  in  the  wholesale  belt- 
ting  and  rubber  business  at  No.  174  Lake  Street, 
thus  becoming  a  partner  of  Sylvanus  Hallock 
(formerly  of  New  York),  under  the  firm  style 
of  Hallock  &  Wheeler,  one  of  the  first,  largest 
and  most  reputable  houses  of  its  kind  in  their 
day. 

Here  failing  health  found  him  in  January,  1875, 
obliged  to  halt  midway  in  life's  pleasant  march. 
For  the  final  two  years,  he  endured  the  lot  of  a 
patiently  resigned  invalid;  and  so  when  the  Angel 
of  Death  visited  his  earthly  home,  April  21, 
1876,  he  found  not  an  anxious  but  a  prepared 
well-doer,  at  peace  with  both  God  and  men.  The 
remains  were  borne  by  loving  friends  from  the 
family  mansion  at  Twenty-second  Street  to  their 
last  home,  Rose  Hill.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Mitchell 
officiated  at  the  obsequies  of  one  who  had  for  a 
long  time  been  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church.  In  politics,  he  was  an 
unswerving  Republican;  never  aggressively  active 
in  political  life,  but  quietly  fulfilling  his  duties  of 
citizen  as  he  wisely  knew  them. 

Mr.  Wheeler  was  married,  in  1846,  to  Miss 
Lorinda  Canfield  Wheeler,  of  New  Marlboro, 
who  was  born  at  Hudson,  on  the  Hudson,  where 
her  parents  were  for  a  time  residing.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Abraham  Wheeler,  who  married  a 
Miss  Lorinda  Canfield,  of  eastern  New  York,  a 
descendant  of  an  old  Connecticut  family. 

Their  happy  union  was  blessed  with  four  chil- 
dren, whom  unkind  fate  removed  upon  the  very 
threshold  of  their  lives.  Mr.  Wheeler  possessed  a 
typical  old-school  Massachusetts  face,  intellectu- 
ally refined  and  bearing  an  expression  almost 
feminine  in  gentleness.  Deeply  set  dark  blue 
eyes  lent  a  spirituelle  radiance  to  finely  chiseled, 
classic  features,  as  vividly  portrayed  by  the 
skilled  brush  of  the  well-known  New  York  artist, 
Theodore  Pine.  Beloved  by  those  with  whom 
he  became  intimate,  he  was  held  in  respectful 
esteem  by  all  acquaintances  in  business  relations. 
Socially  he  was  an  ever-welcome,  genial  compan- 
ion, full  of  clever,  refined  thoughts,  delivered 
without  ostentation.  His  superior  success  was 


AARON  OLLENDORFF. 


437 


mainly  due  to  a  well-defined,  consistent  conser- 
vation of  energies,  for  while  naturally  conserva- 
tive, a  delicate  constitution  was  continually  teach- 
ing this  essential  lesson.  And  here  we  stay  our 


narrative,  with  an  observation  of  an  honored  fel- 
low-citizen: "He  was  faithful  in  all  things. 
None  of  our  business  men  has  better  merited 
the  epithet  gentleman." 


AARON  OLLENDORFF. 


QEV.  AARON  OLLENDORFF,  one  of  the 
kf  most  highly  respected  citizens  of  Chicago, 
P  \  died  at  his  home  in  that  city  October  30, 
1895,  and  his  remains  were  deposited  in  Wald- 
heim  Cemetery.  He  was  born  August  31,  1816, 
in  Rawicz,  in  the  Province  of  Posen,  Prussia, 
and  was  a  son  of  Marcus  Ollendorff,  a  wealthy 
contractor  of  that  city,  where  his  ancestors  had 
been  born  and  reared  for  many  generations. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  a  liberal 
education,  preparing  for  a  teacher,  and  com- 
menced his  career  at  the  age  of  seventeen  as  tutor 
in  a  private  family  in  Kozmen,  Germany.  At 
the  age  of  twenty  five  years  he  was  a  teacher 
and  minister  in  Holland,  where  he  achieved  con- 
siderable fame  through  an  address  made  at  the 
funeral  of  a  noted  rabbi.  This  address  was 
printed  and  sold  throughout  the  entire  kingdom, 
the  proceeds  being  devoted  to  the  building  of  a 
synagogue.  Proceeding  to  Pleshen,  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Posen,  he  opened  a  school,  and  also  be- 
came an  instructor  in  the  Jewish  religion.  He 
received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Posen. 

In  1855  he  accompanied  his  brother  and  broth- 
er-in-law to  Australia,  whither  the}'  were  led  by 
the  brilliant  promise  of  the  newly  opened  gold- 
fields.  They  were  ten  weeks  on  the  voyage  from 
England  to  Australia  on  a  sailing-vessel.  Arriv- 
ing in  Melbourne,  he  immediately  became  pastor 
of  a  Hebrew  congregation,  but  returned  in  1858 
to  Germany,  locating  in  Breslau,  where  he  opened 
a  college  for  boys  in  company  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  P.  Joseph,  Doctor  of  Philosophy. 

Mr.  OllendorfFinvested  his  means  in  real  estate, 
but  the  speculation  proved  unfortunate,  and  in 


1866  he  came  to  America  to  retrieve  his  fortunes. 
He  located  for  a  time  in  Baltimore,  where  he 
was  associated  for  a  time  with  Mr.  Joseph,  a 
brother-in-law,  in  the  wholesale  jewelry  business. 
From  there  he  was  called  to  Chicago  to  take 
charge  of  the  North  Chicago  Hebrew  congrega- 
tion, the  first  of  that  sect  on  the  North  Side. 
He  officiated  there  three  years,  the  house  of  wor- 
ship being  located  on  Superior  Street,  near  Wells 
Street,  and  his  residence  was  on  Illinois  Street, 
near  LaSalle  Avenue.  He  was  next  called  to 
Quincy,  Illinois,  where  he  officiated  three  years, 
thus  escaping  the  great  Chicago  fire.  In  1873 
he  returned  to  the  city  and  became  an  active 
member  of  his  former  congregation,  devoting 
himself  for  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  private 
pursuits. 

Beside  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  the  Ollen- 
dorff family  has  produced  another  noted  scholar 
— Professor  Ollendorff,  of  Paris,  France,  who  was 
the  author  of  grammars  in  all  modern  languages, 
many  of  which  are  still  in  use. 

Doctor  Ollendorff  was  married  in  Great  Glogau, 
Germany,  March  29,  1853,  to  Miss  Sophia  Joseph, 
of  Great  Glogau,  Silesia,  Germany.  She  was  a 
native  of  that  place  and  daughter  of  Jacob  and 
Henrietta  (Peisach)  Joseph.  The  children  of 
Doctor  and  Mrs.  Ollendorff  were  Fannie,  Martha, 
Max,  Paul  and  Arthur.  The  only  survivor, 
Fannie,  is  the  wife  of  Millard  Cass,  a  prominent 
real-estate  dealer  of  Chicago.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cass  are  the  parents  of  two  sons,  namety:  Mr. 
Philip  Cass,  a  promising  young  man  of  twenty- 
one,  who  is  an  expert  electrician  and  bicyclist; 
and  Sigmund  Cass,  now  eleven  years  old,  a  stu- 
dent of  the  Chicago  public  schools. 


438 


S.  P.  SKINNER. 


Doctor  Ollendorff 's  mother,  Helen  Ollendorff, 
was  a  famous  beauty,  born  and  reared  in  Dantzig, 
West  Prussia.  The  fame  of  her  beauty  extended 
to  Rawicz,  where  her  future  husband  lived.  He 
hastened  to  Dantzig  and  succeeded  in  bringing 
her  home  as  his  bride.  The  beauty  of  this  lady 
was  transmitted  to  her  posterity,  and  is  noticeable 
in  her  only  granddaughter  living  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  She  lived  to  the  great  age  of 
ninety-six  years,  and  preserved  her  remarkable 
beauty  and  vivacity  of  spirits  until  her  death. 


Reverend  Doctor  Ollendorff  was  one  of  the 
greatest  Tahnudic  and  Hebraic  scholars  of  the 
age,  and  was  considered  an  authority  on  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  ancient  Hebrew  history.  His 
funeral  was  one  of  the  most  imposing  ever  seen 
on  the  North  Side,  and  was  conducted  from  the 
new  temple  of  the  North  Side  Hebrew  congrega- 
tion, corner  of  LaSalle  Avenue  and  Goethe  Street, 
the  Reverend  Doctor  Norden,  pastor  of  the  con- 
gregation, and  Reverend  Doctor  Felsenthal  offici- 
ating. 


SAMUEL  P.  SKINNER. 


REV.  SAMUEL  PROUTY  SKINNER,  one 
of  the  fathers  of  Universalism  in  the  West, 
and  for  seven  years  the  publisher  of  its  lead- 
ing western  organ,  passed  away  in  Chicago, 
August  12,  1858,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  years. 
He  was  the  son  of  Baxter  Skinner,  a  farmer  in 
Manchester,  New  Hampshire,  where  he  was  born 
in  1810.  The  family  was  noted  for  its  intellect- 
ual force,  and  furnished  one  of  the  Presidents  of 
Lombard  University,  at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  Otis 
A.  Skinner. 

Samuel  P.  Skinner  was  educated  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  was  married, 
in  Conway,  Franklin  County,  Massachusetts,  to 
Miss  Armenia  Pulsifer,  a  native  of  that  town. 
She  survived  him  two  years,  dying  in  Chicago 
in  1860.  They  had  no  children,  but  adopted  a 
niece,  Sarah  A.,  who  is  now  the  wife  of  Charles 
E.  Lake,  residing  in  Chicago.  Dr.  Skinner,  as 
he  was  called  by  his  contemporaries,  was  justly 
so  styled,  for  Lombard  College  (as  it  was  then 
known)  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Doc- 
tor of  Divinity;  but  he  did  not  accept  it,  for  reasons 
best  known  to  himself.  He  was  a  man  of  rare 
beauty  of  character,  and  spread  sunshine  wherever 
he  went.  He  was  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him. 
He  first  preached  at  Cambridgeport,  Massachu- 
setts, whence  he  went  to  Baltimore,  Maryland, 
and  was  pastor  oi  the  Universalist  Society  there 


ten  years.  Returning  to  Boston,  he  preached  oc- 
casionally at  Newton  Upper  Falls,  near  that  city. 
His  health  was  never  robust,  and  he  decided  to 
try  the  western  climate. 

He  arrived  in  Chicago  in  October,  1845,  and 
six  months  afterward  accepted  a  call  to  the  First 
Universalist  Church,  now  known  as  St.  Paul's, 
and  at  present  presided  over  by  Rev.  A.  J.  Can- 
field,  D.  D.  •  He  purchased  land  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  Van  Buren  Street  and  Wabash 
Avenue,  upon  which  was  erected  in  i856achurch 
edifice  patterned  after  the  church  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Neal,  at  Boston.  This  was  destroyed  in  the 
great  conflagration  of  1871,  soon  after  which  the 
society  built  a  church  at  great  expense  on  the  east 
side  of  Michigan  Avenue,  between  Seventeenth 
and  Eighteenth  Streets,  on  what  was  known  as 
the  Widow  Clark  property,  for  years  a  land- 
mark of  Chicago.  Later  the  church  was  abandoned 
as  being  too  far  down  town,  and  the  present 
handsome  house  of  the  society  was  put  up  at 
Thirtieth  Street  and  Prairie  Avenue.  Rev.  Mr. 
Skinner  continued  as  pastor  until  1852,  when  he 
was  compelled  to  give  up  the  ministry  on  account 
of  feeble  health.  Though  not  possessed  of  a  good 
voice,  his  sermons  were  able,  and  he  held  the 
society  together  and  established  it  firmly. 

Upon  abandoning  the  pulpit,  he  did  not  get 
out  of  church  work,  and  bought  the  Belter  Cove- 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

HWVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


J.  Y.  SANGER. 


439 


nan/,  a  small  denominational  paper,  which  he  en- 
larged and  improved,  changing  the  name  to  the 
New  Covenant.  It  is  now  a  flourishing  religious 
journal,  known  as  the  Universalist.  He  was  an 
easy  writer  and  superior  editor,  and  continued 
the  management  of  the  paper  for  some  years, 
when  he  sold  it  to  Rev.  D.  P.  Livermore,  who  con- 
ducted it  a  long  time,  until  his  removal  to  Bos- 
ton, where  he  now  resides. 


In  his  last  years  Dr.  Skinner  gave  some  atten- 
tion to  real-estate  investments,  and  he  left  a  com- 
petence to  his  family.  Cut  off  at  a  comparatively 
early  age,  the  church  lost  in  him  one  of  its  most 
faithful  and  useful  workers,  and  his  memory  is 
still  lovingly  cherished  in  its  records.  He  was  of 
a  retiring  disposition,  and  those  who  intimately 
knew  him  best  appreciated  his  worth.  His  works 
live  after  him. 


JAMES  YOUNG  SANGER. 


(TAMES  YOUNG  SANGER  was  conspicuous 
I  for  many  years  among  the  prominent  eastern- 
C2/  born  citizens  of  Illinois.  His  birthplace  is 
in  Sutton,  Vt. ,  his  birth  having  occurred  on  the  7th 
of  March,  in  the  year  1814.  He  received  a  prac- 
tical common-school  education,  and  was  a  pre- 
cocious youth  in  business  matters.  At  the  age 
of  fourteen,  he  became  head  clerk  in  the  store  of 
Isaac  Harris,  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  then  the  largest 
mercantile  establishment  of  its  kind  in  the  city. 
He  was  methodical,  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
his  employers,  remarkable  for  his  readiness  and 
facility  in  business,  and  commanded  the  admiring 
commendation  of  his  associates. 

His  father,  David  Sanger,  after  removing  from 
Vermont,  associated  with  himself  one  of  his  sons, 
and  they  became  contractors  on  the  Erie  Canal 
and  other  public  works  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
They  built  some  of  the  locks  at  L,ockport,  N.  Y., 
and  had  other  contracts  on  the  canal,  James  Y. 
Sanger  being  associated  with  them .  The  four  sons 
of  David  Sanger  all  became  contractors  and  build- 
ers of  public  works.  After  completing  their  work 
in  New  York,  they  went  to  Pennsylvania  and 
engaged  in  the  same  kind  of  business.  Going 
from  there  to  Ohio,  they  assisted  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Ohio  canals;  still  going  westward, 
they  performed  similar  work  on  the  Wabash  & 


Erie  Canal.  Following  the  completion  of  this 
undertaking,  J.  Y.  Sanger  moved  to  St.  Joseph, 
Mich. ,  where  he  opened  a  general  store,  and  was 
interested  in  bridge-building  and  similar  enter- 
prises. 

In  1836  James  Y.  Sanger,  his  father  and  Gen. 
Hart  L.  Stewart  came  to  Chicago  and  bid  for 
contract  work  on  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal, 
which  was  let  by  the  State  of  Illinois.  Several 
of  these  contracts  were  secured  by  these  gentle- 
men, who  had  formed  a  co-partnership  for  that 
purpose,  and  their  first  work  was  in  the  vicinity 
of  Chicago.  As  the  work  progressed  southwest- 
ward,  the  canal  was  constructed  where  now  the 
famous  quarries  of  Lemont  and  neighboring  towns 
are  situated,  and  a  vast  amount  of  rockwork  was 
excavated.  They  also  built  the  aqueduct  and  bridge 
at  Ottawa,  the  locks  at  Peru,  and  constructed 
various  other  public  works.  In  the  spring  of 
1840  J.  Y.  Sanger  moved  to  Chicago. 

The  year  1842  proved  disastrous  to  them. 
There  was  due  them  a  large  amount  of  money 
for  work  which  they  had  performed  at  an  im- 
mense outlay.  The  State  defaulted  payment, 
and  they  were  compelled  to  accept  in  satisfaction 
of  their  claim  State  script,  whose  commercial 
value  was  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  its  face  repre- 
sentation. Mrs.  Sanger  received  as  a  present 


440 


T.  Y.  SANGER. 


from  her  husband  $2,000  of  this  script,  worth 
$500,  with  which  she  bought  a  lot,  on  which  the 
Stewart  House  now  stands.  One  half  of  this  she 
afterward  sold  to  her  sister,  the  wife  of  Gen. 
Stewart,  at  cost  price;  upon  the  other  half,  which 
constituted  the  corner  lot,  she  erected  a  two- 
story  frame  house,  with  frontage  of  twenty-five 
feet,  and  planted  the  remainder,  a  strip  of  fifteen 
feet,  with  trees  and  flowers  for  ornament.  This 
property  she  sold  a  few  years  afterward  for 
$12,000. 

In  the  year  1850,  James  Y.  Sanger,  Gen. 
Stewart,  L-  ±-'.  Sanger  and  others  organized  a 
company  to  build  public  works,  especially  rail- 
roads, on  a  more  extensive  scale  than  the  people 
of  the  West  had  ever  seen  them  carried  on  be- 
fore. This  organization  was  known  as  Sanger, 
Camp  &  Co.,  and  its  first  undertaking  was 
the  construction  and  equipment  of  the  Ohio  & 
Mississippi  Railroad,  which  was  projected  to  run 
from  East  St.  Louis  to  Vincennes,  Ind.  For  the 
completion  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  line 
the  compensation  was  to  be  $5,000,000.  Shortly 
afterward,  they  contracted  with  the  Belleville  & 
Alton  Railroad  Company  to  build  a  line  from 
Belleville,  by  way  of  St.  Louis,  to  Alton  for 
$1,000,000.  In  the  winter  of  1853-54, the  North 
Missouri  Railroad  Company  contracted  with  this 
firm  for  a  railroad  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Iowa 
State  line,  northwesterly  one  hundred  and  eighty 
miles.  The  estimates  for  this  work  were  about 
$7,000,000.  In  1855  another  contract  was  made 
by  Sanger,  Camp  &  Co.  to  complete  a  railroad 
from  St.  Louis,  by  way  of  Vandalia,  to  the  Wabash 
River,  near  Terre  Haute,  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  miles,  and  for  this  they  were  to 
receive  $8,000,000.  The  total  of  the  contracts 
undertaken  by  this  company,  within  the  dates 
mentioned,  amounted  to  more  than  $21,000,000. 
Nothing  more  clearly  illustrates  the  energy  and 
enterprise  of  the  members  of  this  company  than 
the  mention  of  these  figures.  Their  work  was 
pushed  with  vigor,  and  their  operations  were 
watched  with  interest  by  the  people  of  the  entire 
West. 

In  addition  to  the  works  which  the  company 
constructed,  and  which  have  been  already  men- 


tioned, a  line  of  railroad  fifteen  miles  in  length 
was  built  from  St.  Louis  to  Belleville,  which  be- 
came one  of  the  most  profitable  pieces  of  railroad 
property  in  the  United  States,  in  proportion  to  its 
length.  The  year  1857  scattered  broadcast  its 
calamities  with  an  impartial  hand,  and  financial 
troubles  involved  Sanger,  Camp  &  Co. ,  as  they  did 
thousands  of  others.  The  railroad  companies 
with  which  their  contracts  were  made  were  una- 
ble to  meet  their  financial  obligations,  and  this 
company  was  compelled  to  take  $8,000,000  for 
the  work  they  had  performed,  which,  if  completed 
according  to  the  contract,  would  have  brought 
them  $21,000,000.  In  1857  James  Y.  Sanger, 
disappointed  in  his  expectations  with  regard  to 
eastern  railroads,  turned  his  attention  toward  the 
West,  and  went  to  California,  where  he  put  in 
operation  a  railroad  from  Sacramento  to  Marys- 
ville,  the  first  one  ever  operated  in  California. 
He  remained  on  the  Pacific  Coast  for  two  years, 
and  then  returned  to  Chicago. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  became  a 
contractor  for  Government  supplies,  which  con- 
tinued to  be  his  principal  business  during  the 
continuance  of  the  war.  After  the  return  of 
peace,  he  again  engaged  in  railroad  work,  and^ 
associated  with  Gen.  James  H.  Lecllie  in  the  or- 
ganization of  a  syndicate  to  build  the  Union  Pa- 
cific Railroad.  The  syndicate  secured  several 
large  contracts.  Before  any  considerable  amount 
of  work  had  been  done,  Mr.  Sanger 's  health 
failed,  and  he  was  disappointed  in  his  expecta- 
tion of  putting  his  whole  time  upon  this  pro- 
ject. In  a  short  time  his  condition  compelled 
him  to  abandon  it  entirely.  His  interest  in  the 
company  was  taken  by  Gen.  John  M.  Corse,  who 
was  afterward  Postmaster  at  Boston.  Thus  it 
was  that  Mr.  Sanger  missed  an  opportunity  of 
sharing  the  large  profits  of  this  enterprise.  He 
returned  to  Chicago,  where  he  remained  until  his 
death,  on  July  3,  1867. 

It  was  after  his  settlement  at  St.  Joseph,  Mich., 
that  Mr.  Sanger  met  Miss  Mary  Catherine  Mc- 
Kibben,  daughter  of  Col.  James  McKibben, 
whose  family  had  moved  from  Pennsylvania  to 
Michigan  after  his  death.  Col.  McKibben's  wife 
was  the  daughter  of  William  Nelson,  an  Irish 


H.  W.  THOMAS. 


441 


gentleman,  who  emigrated  to  America  after  the 
Revolutionary  War  and  settled  in  Bedford,  Pa., 
where  his  family  grew  up  and  his  only  daughter 
married  Col.  McKibben.  The  acquaintance  of 
Mr.  Sanger  and  Miss  McKibben  resulted  in 
mutual  affection  and  led  to  their  marriage,  which 
occurred  at  Lockport,  111.,  April  5,  1841.  Miss 
McKibben  was  born  in  Westmoreland  County, 
Pa.,  and  was  one  of  four  children  born  to  Col. 
and  Mrs.  McKibben.  She  was  the  true  help- 
mate and  companion  of  the  noble  husband  whom 
she  survives,  and  for  the  honor  of  whose  memory 
she  has  performed  many  good  works.  She  is 
familiar  with  the  history  of  Chicago  from  the 
period  of  its  early  growth,  and  is  still  a  resident  of 
this  city.  She  has  been  the  mother  of  two  sons  and 
one  daughter,  all  of  whom  were  born  in  Chicago. 
One  son,  James  McKibben  Sanger,  died  Septem- 
ber 19,  1877,  leaving  two  sons,  James  P.  and 
John  Foster  Sanger.  The  other  son,  Fred  W. 


Sanger,  resides  in  his  native  city.  The  daugh- 
ter is  the  wife  of  George  M.  Pullman,  of  Chicago. 
For  more  than  thirty  years  Mr.  Sanger  was  one 
of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  Illinois,  and  one 
whose  efforts  contributed  as  much  as  those  of  any 
other  toward  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
State.  The  influence  of  the  enterprises  with 
which  he  was  identified  upon  the  commerce  of 
the  West  is  incalculable.  The  four  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  of  railroad  in  the  construction  of  which 
he  was  largely  instrumental,  were  built  at  an  out- 
lay of  $12,000,000.  It  is  not  necessary  to  speak 
of  the  many  lesser  enterprises  with  which  he  was 
identified.  He  was  widely  known,  not  only  in 
commercial,  but  also  in  social  circles,  and  was  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Masonic  order.  His 
success  in  life  was  due  to  his  fertility  of  resource, 
his  wonderful  ability  to  recover  from  pecuniary 
embarrassments,  and  his  indomitable  energy. 


REV.  HIRAM  WASHINGTON  THOMAS. 


REV.  HIRAM  WASHINGTON  THOMAS, 
D.  D.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  the  son 
of  Joseph  and  Margaret  (McDonald)Thomas, 
who  were  well-to-do  farmers  in  Hampshire  Coun- 
ty, W.  Va.  On  his  father's  side  he  is  of  Ger- 
man and  Welsh,  and  on  his  mother's  Scotch  and 
English,  extraction.  Hiram  is  the  fourth  in  a 
family  of  six  children,  having  three  brothers 
older  and  two  sisters  younger  than  himself,  and 
was  born  in  Hampshire  County,  among  the  moun- 
tains of  West  Virginia,  April  29,  1832.  When 
but  a  year  old  the  family  removed  to  Preston 
County,  near  the  Maryland  line,  where  he  grew 
to  manhood.  He  was  naturally  of  a  slender  con- 
stitution, with  a  massive  brain  overtopping  his 
body,  and  it  was  fortunate  that  his  childhood  and 
early  manhood  were  spent  on  a  farm  among  the 


rugged  mountains.  The  outdoor  active  life  of  a 
farmer  toned  up  his  physical  constitution  to  a 
reasonable  equality  with  his  mental  capacity, 
so  that  he  has  been  able  to  bear  an  amount  of  in- 
tellectual work  surpassed  by  few,  and  at  the  age 
of  sixty  years  his  vigor  is  unimpaired  and  his 
personal  appearance  still  youthful.  The  educa- 
tional facilities  of  his  native  place  were,  fortu- 
nately perhaps  for  him,  meagre  and  primitive, 
and  he  was  left  to  the  very  necessary  work  of 
preparing  a  constitution  for  future  use.  The 
thirst  for  knowledge  was,  however,  so  great  in 
him,  that  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  went  one  hun- 
dred miles  on  foot  to  Hardy  County,  Va.,  and 
worked  nights  and  mornings  for  a  winter's  school- 
ing at  a  little  village  academy.  Two  years  after, 
one  Doctor  McKesson,  of  his  neighborhood,  took 


442 


H.  W.  THOMAS. 


him  under  his  private  tutelage  for  two  years,  after 
which  he  attended  the  Cooperstown,  Pennsyl- 
vania Academy,  and  subsequently  the  Berlin 
Seminary,  in  the  same  State,  then  under  the  di- 
rection of  J.  F.  Eberhart,  now  a  member  of  the 
People's  Church,  Chicago,  and  a  fast  friend  of 
the  Doctor's. 

On  moving  to  Iowa  he  continued  his  studies 
privately  under  Dr.  Charles  Elliott,  formerly 
President  of  the  Iowa  Wesleyan  University.  His 
studies  have,  however,  never  been  discontinued. 
Like  many  men  of  mark,  he  has  never  graduated, 
but  expects  to  remain  a  student  to  the  end  of  his 
life.  The  greater  part  of  his  knowledge  of  books 
he  has  acquired  since  he  began  to  preach,  and 
has  facilitated  his  work  greatly,  and  fastened  his  ' 
acquirements  in  his  memory,  by  making  immedi- 
ate use  of  them  as  fast  as  acquired,  a  most  ad- 
mirable method. 

His  mother  was  a  devout  Methodist,  and  his 
father  a  Quaker.  The  moral  tone  of  the  family 
was  exceptionally  high,  and  its  religion  both 
practical  and  intensely  devotional.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  Hiram  became  converted,  and  began 
soon  after  to  preach.  Like  many  other  great 
preachers,  he  had  the  conviction  from  childhood 
that  he  must  one  day  preach,  and  although  he 
fought  against  it  long  and  energetically,  yet  when 
the  time  came  he  yielded  and  entered  into  the 
work. 

He  at  first  joined  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  of 
the  Evangelical  Association,  or  German  Method- 
ists, with  whom  he  remained  till  in  1856,  when 
he  joined  the  Iowa  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

March  19,  1865,  he  married  Miss  Emmeline  C. 
Merrick,  an  accomplished  young  lady  of  Demp- 
seytown,  Pa.  Her  people  were  Presbyterians, 
and  Methodist  preachers,  and  though  popular  with 
the  same  class  who  used  to  hear  Christ  '  'gladly, ' ' 
were,  nevertheless,  at  that  period  considered  rather 
among  the  proletariat.  The  union  has  been,  how- 
ever, a  happy  one,  and  through  all  the  extraordi- 
nary trials  of  the  life  of  an  itinerant  Methodist 
preacher  on  the  frontier,  they  have  found  in  each 
other  an  unfailing  source  of  strength  and  consola- 
tion. 


In  the  autumn  of  1854  his  pa  rents  sold  out  their 
Virginia  home,  and  the  family  removed  to  Wash- 
ington Count}- ,  Iowa,  and  bought  a  tract  of  land. 
Thither  Hiram,  with  his  young  wife,  followed 
them  the  following  spring.  The  summer  was 
spent  opening  a  new  farm,  house-building,  etc., 
the  young  preacher  working  faithfully  seven  days 
in  the  week,  six  on  the  farm  and  one  in  the  pul- 
pit. In  the  fall  that  scourge  of  a  new  country, 
congestive  chills  and  fever,  brought  him  and  his 
faithful  wife  to  the  verge  of  death,  but,  as  he  firmly 
believes,  his  life  was  spared  in  answer  to  prayer. 
Whether  his  faithful  spouse  was  included  in  the 
petition,  or  is  indebted  to  the  efficacy  of  a  stronger 
vital  organization  for  her  escape,  is  not  recorded, 
but  it  is  certain  that  she,  too,  was  spared  to  re- 
mark that  there  was  little  left  of  Hiram  but  '  'a 
handful  of  bones  and  a  tuft  of  red  hair. ' ' 

But  he  was  not  ordained  to  bury  himself  or  his 
talents  in  Iowa  soil,  and  speedily  relinquished 
the  farm  entirely  for  the  pulpit,  and  entered  fully 
upon  the  arduous  life  of  a  Methodist  itinerant. 
For  several  successive  years  he  managed  to  eke 
out  a  subsistence  for  himself  and  family  on  $300 
a  year.  The  leading  charges  of  Marshall,  Ft. 
Madison,  Washington,  Mt.  Pleasant  and  Burling- 
ton enjoyed  the  benefit  of  his  labors,  besides  which 
he  spent  two  years  as  Chaplain  of  the  State  Peni- 
tentiary. In  1869  he  was  transferred  to  the  Rock 
River  Conference,  and  stationed  at  Park  Avenue, 
Chicago.  After  three  years  he  was  appointed  to 
the  First  Church  (Methodist  Church  Block)  of 
the  same  city,  where  likewise  he  remained  three 
years.  He  was  then  sent  to  the  First  Church  of 
Aurora  for  two  years,  and  next  to  Centenary 
Church,  Chicago,  where  his  term  of  three  years 
expired  in  October,  1880.  His  early  preaching 
gave  promise  of  all  his  later  fame.  He  always 
drew  large  congregations  and  the  church  flour- 
ished under  his  care.  It  was  predicted  many 
years  ago  by  astute  friends  that  he  only  had 
to  be  transferred  to  a  large  city  to  acquire  a  na- 
tional reputation.  He  has  captured  every  place 
in  which  he  has  preached,  and  his  success  in 
Chicago  is  only  a  repetition  of  his  career  on  a 
smaller  scale  in  the  villages  and  towns  of  his 


H.  W.  THOMAS. 


earlier  ministry.  There  have  usually  been  many 
demands  for  him,  and  a  spirited  rivalry  between 
the  leading  churches  of  his  conference,  as  there  is 
now  between  cities  and  denominations. 

Dr.  Thomas  has  been  a  man  of  sorrows  as 
well  as  of  privations  and  arduous  labors.  Of 
seven  children  born  to  his  home  but  one  survives, 
Dr.  Homer  M.  Thomas,  now  a  prominent  physi- 
cian of  Chicago.  His  large  personal  experience 
in  the  school  of  grief  has  opened  a  door  for  him 
into  the  hearts  of  the  afflicted  and  desolate  few 
not  tempered  in  the  same  school  can  enjoy.  He 
was  born  and  reared  in  humble  life;  he  drew  his 
first  breath  among  the  freedom-inspiring  moun- 
tains; he  had  his  long  struggle  with  poverty,  and 
is  familiar  with  its  trials  and  temptations;  he  has 
mingled  with  the  lowly,  and  become  familiar 
with  their  wants  and  woes,  and  no  fame,  honor 
or  pelf  of  his  later  years  can  lift  him  above  the 
common  people  in  his  sympathies  or  his  labors. 
He  began  his  life  with  them,  he  has  spent  it  for 
them,  he  will  close  it  among  them.  This  is  the 
secret  of  his  heresy — it  is  the  secret  of  his  power. 
And  had  not  Methodism  progressed  out  of  its 
primitive  simplicity  and  liberality,  it  would  not 
have  scandalized  and  wronged  itself  by  driving 
'him  from  among  them.  However,  it  gave  him  a 
broader  field,  and  probably  increased  his  useful- 
ness by  breaking  down  for  him  the  wall  of  parti- 
tion which  the  church  unconsciously  had  erected 
between  her  ministers  and  the  people,  and  by 
casting  him  with  her  ban  upon  him  into  the 
bosom  of  the  people  whom  he  loved.  "Nothing 
pains  me  more, ' '  he  said  at  one  time,  '  'or  gives 
me  more  anxious  thought,  than  that  the  world's 
great  need,  and  religion's  great  gift — man's  want 
and  God's  fullness — cannot  be  brought  together. 
It  rests  upon  me  with  such  a  weight  that  I  have 
sometimes  almost  felt  that  God  calls  me  to  a  min- 
istry at  large  outside  of  the  church,  that  I  might 
get  near  to  the  hearts  and  homes  of  the  people. ' ' 
The  expression  of  such  sentiments  could  not 
but  make  him  very  popular  among  those  who 
most  need  human  sympathy  and  ministerial  coun- 
sel and  assistance,  and  naturally  the  narrow  bigots 
of  his  own  class  would  look  with  increasing  dis- 
favor upon  him.  He  would  be  regarded  by  the 


scribes  and  pharisees  with  jealousy,  anger  and 
suspicion,  in  proportion  as  it  became  manifest  that 
"the  common  people  heard  him  gladly."  It 
hence  became  early  apparent  that  a  separation 
must  sooner  or  later  come — the  drift  of  events 
could  not  be  checked.  With  the  deepening  of 
his  sympathies  for  humanity  came  the  inevitable 
broadening  of  his  religious,  or  rather  theological, 
views  of  truth  and  his  understanding  of  the  Script- 
ures. With  him  to  study,  to  learn  and  to  preach 
were  necessary  steps  in  a  process  continually  go- 
ing on.  He  never  waits  to  inquire  how  truth 
will  be  received,  or  what  will  be  its  consequences 
to  himself.  He  only  asks  if  it  be  truth;  his  duties 
to  proclaim  it  he  never  questions.  His  opposers 
did  not  stop  to  inquire  if  his  views  were  truth, 
nor  yet  whether  they  were  contrary  to  the  essen- 
tials of  Methodism,  but  placed  the  issues  of  their 
cause  against  him  upon  the  standards  of  the 
Church,  and  themselves  determined  the  stand- 
ards. There  could  be  but  one  issue  of  such  a 
trial.  It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  date  of  the 
earliest  expression  of  heresy  by  the  Doctor,  and  it 
is  of  little  moment.  It  is  probable  that  his  early 
popularity  arose  from  his  human  and  rational 
view  of  God,  the  Bible,  and  its  teachings,  which 
came  to  him  unconsciously,  and  was  expressed 
as  unconsciously  and  as  naturally  as  he  breathed. 
However,  rumors  of  his  unsoundness  were  heard 
as  far  back  as  1865,  while  yet  in  Burlington, 
Iowa,  and  on  that  account  an  effort  was  made  to 
prevent  his  transfer  to  Chicago.  It  was  not, 
however,  until  he  became  the  pastor  of  the  First 
Church  that  his  liberal  views  attracted  general 
notice.  His  nearness  to  the  people,  and  his  pop- 
ularity among  publicans  and  sinners  who  flocked 
to  hear  him,  and  many  of  whom  he  reformed, 
seemed  to  give  offense  to  the  brethren.  Besides 
this  he  did  a  good  deal  of  undenominational  work. 
He  originated  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Chi- 
cago, and  was  its  second  President.  The  society 
was  organized  soon  after  the  great  fire,  and  held 
its  meetings  for  a  time  in  the  Methodist  Church 
Block.  It  was  composed  of  such  men  as  Judge 
Booth,  Prof.  Rodney  Welch,  Dr.  Samuel  Wil- 
lard,  Gen.  Buford,  Dr.  Edmund  Andrews,  Rev. 
Dr.  Joseph  Haven,  Dr.  E.  F.  Abbott,  J.  W.  Ela, 


444 


H.  W.  THOMAS 


Prof.  Austin  Bierbower,  and  two  hundred  or  three 
hundred  more  orthodox,  liberal  sceptics,  spirit- 
ualists, atheists,  Catholics  and  all  the  shades  be- 
tween these.  Its  discussions  were  not  always 
orthodox,  as  might  be  expected,  and  Dr.  Thomas 
was  held  responsible  for  every  variation  there- 
from. 

He  affiliated  with  liberal-minded  people  outside 
of  his  own  church.  He  preached  a  powerful  ser- 
mon in  defense  of  Prof.  Swing,  and  followed  it  with 
one  on  hell,  something  after  the  example  of  Henry 
Ward  Beecher;  sometimes  preached  for  the  Uni- 
versalists  and  Unitarians;  organized  an  undenom- 
inational preachers'  meeting,  called  the  Round 
Table,  and  in  general  conducted  himself  in  a  way 
which  indicated  that  he  could  no  longer,  "after 
the  straighter  sect  of  our  religion,  live  a  pharisee. ' ' 
When,  therefore,  in  the  fall  of  1875,  his  term 
at  the  First  Church  in  Chicago  expired,  the  com- 
plaints had  grown  so  loud  in  certain  quarters  that 
he  was  sent  out  of  the  city  to  Aurora.  There 
was  much  dissatisfaction  about  this.  His  own 
church,  the  newspapers,  and  the  general  public 
believed  it  was  designed  to  lessen  his  field  of  in- 
fluence. Several  large  and  wealthy  churches  of 
other  denominations  offered  him  places.  Charges 
in  other  conferences  sought  his  services,  but  he 
went  quietly  to  his  new  appointment  and  soon 
built  up  a  large  congregation  in  Aurora.  Per- 
sistent efforts  were,  however,  made  to  get  him 
back  to  Chicago,  and  with  final  success,  for  he 
was  appointed  to  Centenary  Church  in  1877. 
Immediately  this  society  became  one  of  the  largest 
in  the  Northwest,  and  other  clergymen  claimed 
that  their  congregations  were  rushing  off  to  Cen- 
tenary Church  and  getting  "Thomasized."  Dur- 
ing all  this  time  he  was  lecturing  throughout  the 
Northwest,  giving  during  the  lecture  season  one 
or  two  lectures  a  week  in  Iowa,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Wisconsin,  and  occasionally  other  States.  This 
spread  both  his  fame  and  his  opinions,  and  mul- 
tiplied both  his  friends  and  his  enemies.  But  the 
crisis  of  his  religious  affairs  was  approaching. 

When  the  next  conference  met  at  Mt.  Carroll, 
in  October,  1878,  the  subject  of  Dr.  Thomas' 
recent  utterances  was  privately  discussed,  and  a 
plan  carefully  matured  in  secret  to  bring  the  mat- 


ter to  a  head.  With  characteristic  boldness,  and 
rejoicing  in  his  own  freedom,  Dr.  Thomas 
preached  before  the  conference  a  sermon  in  which 
he  took  occasion  to  give  free  expression  to  his 
peculiar  views  and  criticise  the  narrowness  of 
some  of  his  brethren. 

A  committee  on  conference  relations  was  ap- 
pointed. This  was  a  sort  of  Star  Chamber,  be- 
fore which  complaints  might  be  secretly  brought 
against  any  minister,  and  some  one,  unknown  to 
anybody  except  the  committee,  made  charges 
against  Dr.  Thomas,  and  an  adverse  case  was 
worked  up.  The  committee  reported  the  case  to 
the  conference,  and  there  was  much  discussion  of 
the  matter,  but  finally  the  presiding  bishop,  Dr. 
Foster,  cut  the  matter  short  by  asking  all  those 
.  to  rise  to  their  feet  who  felt  that  no  loyal  Method- 
ist could  preach  such  a  sermon,  an  unwarrant- 
able proceeding,  asking,  as  it  did,  judgment  be- 
fore trial.  A  large  majority,  nevertheless,  stood 
up  and  set  themselves  right  on  the  question  of 
heresy  before  the  world.  A  resolution  ofiered 
was  then  adopted,  asking  Dr.  Thomas  either  to 
abandon  his  objectionable  teaching,  or  withdraw 
from  the  church;  in  other  words,  to  become  a 
hypocrite  and  stay  in,  or  remain  an  honest  man 
and  get  out.  He  very  properly  refused  to  do 
either,  thinking  probably  that  the  church  was  in 
need  of  honest  and  independent  thinkers,  rather 
than  regulation  preachers. 

The  trial  began  at  the  opening  session,  Oc- 
tober 5,  1879,  and  continued  at  intervals  till  Oc- 
tober 10,  when,  as  was  anticipated,  he  was  again 
found  guilty  and  expelled,  both  from  the  minis- 
try and  the  membership  of  the  church. 

The  committee,  however,  did  not  sustain  the 
charge  upon  the  question  of  the  inspiration  of  the 
Bible,  but  acquitted  him  on  that  account.  Upon 
the  atonement  the  vote  stood  nine  to  six,  and  on 
endless  punishment  eleven  to  four. 

Shortly  before  the  meeting  of  the  conference  at 
Rockford  in  1880,  a  number  of  Chicago  gentle- 
men met  and  pledged  themselves  to  be  responsi- 
ble for  the  expenses  of  a  service  in  the  central 
part  of  the  city.  Accordingly,  Hooley's  Theatre 
was  engaged,  and  to  it  the  Doctor  went  after  the 
action  of  that  conference.  A  large  congregation 


H.  W.  THOMAS. 


445 


greeted  him  at  once,  and  he  continued  to  hold 
services  there  with  great  success  till  in  1885,  then 
in  the  Chicago  Opera  House  for  a  few  months, 
and  since  then  in  McVicker's  Theatre. 

Upon  this  expulsion  by  the  conference  at  Syca- 
more, although  it  endangered  his  right  of  appeal 
to  the  judicial  conference,  he  felt  it  his  duty 
to  continue  his  work,  and  did  so.  As  he  feared, 
so  it  turned  out.  The  judicial  conference  which 
met  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  December  6,  1881,  re- 
fused to  entertain  the  appeal,  and  the  decision  of 
the  conference  at  Sycamore  stands  as  final. 

To  his  new  relation  the  Doctor  and  the  public 
have  both  become  accustomed  and  are  well  satis- 
fied. He  still  preaches  to  large  audiences  every 
Sunday  at  McVicker's  Theatre,  his  influence  and 
popularity  are  unabated,  and  the  People's  Church 
of  Chicago  has  been  a  source  of  comfort  and  bless- 
ing to  thousands,  and  is  every  year  growing  in 
numbers  and  usefulness. 

The  following  statement  of  his  belief  is  from 
his  own  defense,  when  on  trial  before  the  con- 
ference: 

"And  now,  what  is  the  substance  of  what  I  be- 
lieve and  what  I  deny  ? 

"It  must  be  evident  that  I  hold  to  the  great  and 
fundamental  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  that  I 
am  in  hearty  accord  with  the  spirit  and  work  of 
Methodism. 

"I  hold  to  the  inspiration  and  authority  of  the 
Scriptures,  that  in  matters  of  doctrine  and  duty 
they  are  final — the  authority  of  God.  But  I  do 
not  accept  the  verbal  theory  of  inspiration,  nor 
claim  that  all  parts  of  all  the  sixty-six  books  of 
the  Bible  are  of  equal  authority,  inspiration,  or 
value,  nor  that  all  parts  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  critically  infallible.  And  in  these  things, 
am  I  not  in  accord  with  the  best  scholarship  of 
our  own  church  and  of  the  world  ?  Certainly  I 
am.  Does  the  Methodist  Church,  or  the  fifth  ar- 
ticle of  religion,  require  our  ministry  to  believe 
more  or  differently  ?  I  think  not. 

"I  hold  to  the  doctrine  of  a  vicarious  atonement, 
but  I  hold  it  in  that  form  that  is  called  moral  or 
paternal;  or,  in  other  words,  I  hold  to  the  govern- 
mental view  with  the  penal  idea  left  out — I  deny 
the  doctrine  of  a  literal  penal  substitution.  It  is, 


I  think,  both  unreasonable  and  unscriptural.  It 
is  an  offense  to  our  deepest  moral  institutions 
and  a  burden  to  Christian  faith.  I  am  aware  that 
in  saying  this  I  am  compelled  to  differ  to  some 
extent  from  what  seems  to  be  the  teachings  of 
Wesley  and  Watson,  but  I  claim  to  be  in  sub- 
stantial accord  with  Raymond  and  Miley,  and  to 
hold  in  substance  what  in  its  last  analysis  must 
be  declared  to  be  the  true  Arininian  Doctrine. 

"I  hold  to  the  strength  and  integrity  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  God,  that  all  sin  will  be  properly  pun- 
ished, but  I  do  not  believe  in  a  material  hell  fire, 
nor  in  the  terrible  ideas  of  future  torment  that 
have  come  down  to  us  from  the  past.  Such 
teachings,  to  my  mind,  negate  the  very  idea  of  a 
God.  I  must  agree  with  good  Dr.  Raymond, 
that  'it  is  competent  to  think  of  God  as  making 
hell  not  as  terrible,  but  as  tolerable  as  possible. 
If  God  punishes  sinners,  it  is  because  He  must. 
He  is  vindicatory,  but  not  vindictive.  He  is  a 
righteous  being,  and  a  righteous  sovereign,  but 
not  a  malicious  murderer. '  But  I  cannot  agree 
with  Dr.  Williamson,  who  says:  'Mr.  Wesley,  in 
his  sermon  on  Hell,  states  the  doctrine  of  the 
Methodist  churches  on  this  subject.  From  this 
teaching,  so  far  as  known,  there  are  no  influential 
dissenters. '  I  should  rather  say  with  Dr.  Whe- 
don,  'We  imagine  the  census  would  be  small  of 
American  Methodist  ministers  who  would  accept 
Mr.  Wesley's  physical  views  of  hell.' 

"I  hold  to  the  endlessness  of  the  law  by  which 
sin  must  be  punished,  and  hence  to  endless  pun- 
ishment for  the  endlessly  obdurate,  if  such  there 
be;  but,  assuming  as  I  do  the  freedom  of  souls 
after  death,  I  cannot  affirm  that  any  soul  will  or 
will  not  forever  remain  in  sin,  and  hence  I  can 
neither  affirm  nor  deny  endless  punishment  for 
any  soul.  But,  postulating  endless  punishment 
upon  endless  sinning,  I  am  logically  bound  to 
suppose  that  if  the  sinning  come  to  an  end,  the 
suffering  must  also  come  to  an  end,  unless,  in- 
deed, it  be  that  suffering  of  loss  that  in  the  nature 
of  things  seems  to  be  remediless.  And  I  have  a 
hope — a  hope  that  has  come  to  me  through  much 
suffering  and  prayer,  and  that  seems  to  be 
strengthened  by  the  nearest  visions  of  God — that, 
somehow,  all  the  divine  love  and  striving  to  win 


446 


H.  W.  THOMAS. 


and  save  souls  will  not  end  with  this  poor,  short 
life,  but  that  the  work  of  discipline  and  salvation 
may  go  on  in  the  immortal  world.  And  it  seems 
to  me  that  whilst  there  is  upon  some  texts  a  sur- 
face look  of  finality,  there  is  a  deeper  and  far- 
reaching  vision  of  other  texts,  and  the  Scriptures 
as  a  whole,  on  which  this  hope  may  rest. ' ' 

Dr.  Thomas  is  a  born  student.  Everything  he 
sees,  hears  and  feels,  or  in  any  way  comes  in  con- 
tact with,  he  investigates,  and  the  impress  is  left 
on  his  mind.  He  seeks  for  the  essence  and  cause 
of  things.  No  one  analyses  and  interprets  past 
history,  or  present  human  activities,  with  a  keener 
or  more  truthful  philosophy,  or  reads  nearer  the 
lines  of  truth  in  all  things  that  affect  humanity. 
He  is  an  honest  student,  intent  on  getting  the  true 
meaning  of  life  and  all  its  related  conditions  and 
existences,  without  reference  to  their  supporting 
any  pre-conceived  notions  or  dogmas  of  church  or 
society. 

As  a  public  speaker,  he  is  himself  and  nobody 
else.  When  ready  to  begin  his  sermon  he  steps 
slowly  to  the  front  of  the  platform,  without  note 
or  manuscript  about  him,  and  pausing  a  moment 
and  casting  his  eyes  over  his  expectant  congrega- 
tion, he  commences  in  a  low  and  measured  tone 
of  voice  that  scarcely  reaches  the  outer  sittings  of 
his  large  audience-room.  At  first  he  is  very  slow 
and  articulate  in  his  utterances,  and  pauses  at  the 
end  of  every  sentence.  He  is  addressing  the  un- 
derstanding. His  sentences  are  terse,  condensed, 
and  plain  in  their  meaning.  Every  one  is  very 
likely  complete  in  itself,  though  nearly  related  to 
the  preceding  ones,  and  adding  to  their  strength 
and  clearness.  There  is  no  effort  at  oratory,  and 
his  thoughts  are  couched  in  the  simplest  language. 
He  presents  deliberately  accepted  facts  of  life  and 
the  world,  and  multiplies  generalized  statements 
along  the  line  of  the  subject  under  discussion; 
statements  which  all  know  to  be  true,  but  which 
few  have  considered  in  their  relations  to  the  theo- 
ries or  views  he  is  presenting.  He  at  once  creates 
an  interest  and  prepares  the  way  for  his  discourse, 
and  lays  the  foundations  on  which  to  build  his 
arguments.  And  he  is  so  eminently  fair  and 
truthful  in  all  his  propositions,  that  from  the  start 
he  wins  both  the  sympathies  and  understanding 


of  his  hearers.  As  he  continues  to  add  proposi- 
tion to  proposition,  and  argument  to  argument, 
and  to  interweave  these,  his  voice  gradually  rises, 
becoming  clear,  strong  and  emphatic;  the  interest 
intensifies,  and  a  pleasing  spell  steals  over  his 
audience,  which  holds  them  with  greater  or  less 
tension  until  the  last  word  has  been  spoken. 

Every  sentence  now  comes  weighted  down  with 
meaning,  and  the  central  idea  and  unity  of  his 
discourse  soon  become  more  and  more  apparent. 
Each  statement  makes  clearer  and  stronger  his 
points.  Reflection  on  what  he  has  said  adds  force 
to  what  he  is  now  saying,  and  brings  out  in  fuller 
form  and  grandeur  the  high  ideals  of  his  lofty  and 
inspiring  conceptions.  And  he  always  has  an 
ideal,  a  lofty  ideal,  that  lifts  his  hearers  above  the 
cruder  every-day  thoughts  and  scenes  of  exist- 
ence. He  invites  them  to  quit  the  valleys  of  de- 
spair and  tread  with  him  the  highlands  of  a  nobler 
life. 

As  he  passes  along,  he  attacks  every  evil  and 
exalts  every  virtue.  The  long  face  of  the  phari- 
see  is  no  protection  to  him.  Self-righteousness, 
oppression, the  dead  formalities  of  the  old  churches, 
and  unreasonable  and  obsolete  church  creeds,  are 
each  in  their  turn  pierced  by  the  keen  blade  of 
his  logic,  and  in  this  his  wonderful  memory  serves 
him  well  and  brings  all  needed  facts  for  his  use; 
while  poetry,  rhetoric,  apothegm,  wit,  wisdom 
and  ridicule  each  comes  at  the  proper  time  un- 
bidden to  his  aid. 

While  intensely  devotional  and  reverential  in 
his  ministrations,  he  yet  occasionally  hurls  the 
lance  of  ridicule  at  some  dominant  or  excused  so- 
cial sin  with  such  force  and  in  such  a  way  that 
his  audience  breaks  into  applause. 

He  seldom  hesitates  for  words  or  uses  a  re- 
dundancy of  speech.  Every  word  comes  forth  as 
though  it  gushed  from  a  great  suppressed  foun- 
tain of  thought  and  emotion.  And  every  sermon 
is  a  complete  philosophy  in  itself.  It  is  the  result 
of  a  study  of  all  the  things  bearing  on  that  sub- 
ject. And  he  has  a  wonderful  way  of  grouping 
facts,  history,  experiences  and  philosophies  to 
make  clear  and  impressive  a  point.  He  is  a  man 
great  even  beyond  the  appreciation  of  the  multi- 
tude who  flock  to  hear  him  gladly. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


I 


J.  G.  SHORTALL. 


447 


JOHN  G.  SHORTALL. 


HOHN  G.  SHORTALL  has  been  prominently 
I  connected  with  the  history  of  Chicago  for 
Q)  almost  forty  years.  Especially  has  he  been  a 
leader  in  benevolent  work  and  an  influential 
patron  of  those  arts  which  tend  to  elevate  man- 
kind. Literature  has  found  in  him  a  friend,  and 
along  these  various  lines  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Short- 
all  have  greatly  promoted  the  best  interests  of 
this  western  metropolis. 

Mr.  Shortall  was  born  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  Sep- 
tember 20,  1838,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Char- 
lotte (Towson)  Shortall.  When  the  son  was  be- 
tween two  and  three  years  old,  his  parents  emi- 
grated with  their  family  to  America,  joining  an 
elder  branch  long  settled  in  New  York.  The 
only  brother  of  our  subject,  Pierce  S.  Shortall, 
served  continuously  throughout  the  entire  War 
of  the  Rebellion,  as  a  member  of  a  regiment  of 
New  York  volunteers,  until  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Averasboro,  North  Carolina,  in  April,  1865. 

After  the  death  of  his  parents  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  employed  by  the  late  Horace 
Greeley,  and  the  two  or  three  years,  1852,  1853 
and  1854,  passed  in  the  editorial  rooms  of  the 
New  York  Tribune  proved  to  be  a  period  of  ed- 
ucation that  he  feels  he  could  in  no  way  have 
dispensed  with,  for  he  was  there  brought  in  con- 
tact with  the  men  who  molded  public  opinion  in 
those  days,  and  the  master  minds  of  the  age  were 
often  there  present.  In  the  summer  of  1854, 
following  the  advice  of  Mr.  Greeley,  he  came 
to  the  West,  locating  first  in  Galena,  where  he 
was  engaged  for  a  short  time  with  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  Company  in  the  completion  of 
the  construction  and  survey  work  between  Scales 
Mound  and  Galena.  Going  thence  to  Chicago, 


in  the  late  autumn  of  1854,  he  was  engaged  for 
a  few  months  upon  the  Chicago  Tribune,  and 
then  withdrew  to  enter  the  office  of  J.  Mason 
Parker,  and  incidentally  the  study  of  real-estate 
law  and  titles,  which  profession  he  has  followed 
to  the  present  time.  At  the  time  Mr.  Shortall 
entered  the  office,  Mr.  Parker  was  engaged  in 
the  work  of  preparing  the  real-estate  abstract 
books  afterwards  known  as  the  Shortall  & 
Hoard  Abstracts,  and  which  are  now  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Title  Guarantee  and  Trust  Company, 
of  which  Mr.  Shortall  is  a  Director.  Upon  the 
completion  of  the  books  in  1856,  he  leased  them 
and  began  the  business  of  making  abstracts  and 
examining  titles  of  real  estate,  which  was  then 
assuming  great  importance.  He  was  among  the 
first  to  reduce  the  details  of  that  business  down 
to  the  perfect  and  simple  system  of  to-day,  so 
that  security  in  transferring  real  estate  could  be 
guaranteed.  In  October,  1871,  the  Great  Fire 
swept  over  the  city,  and  the  county  records  were 
entirely  destroyed.  The  volume  of  the  abstract 
business  had  largely  increased.  At  that  time 
there  were  three  abstract  firms  iu  Chicago,  each 
of  which  saved  a  large  part  of  its  valuable  records. 
It  was  soon  found  that  while  the  most  valuable 
portion  of  the  abstract  records  were  saved,  not  one 
set  was  entire!}'  complete;  and  as  it  seemed  very- 
probable  that  difficulties  and  involvements  would 
in  consequence  arise,  the  three  firms  decided 
that  the  public  interests  would  be  best  served  by 
a  consolidation  of  all  the  evidences  of  title  extant. 
This  was  done.  Moneyed  men  relied  upon  the 
accuracy  of  the  books  and  the  skill  and  integrity 
of  the  owners,  and,  thus  confident,  loaned  the 
hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  necessary  to  the 


J.  G.  SHORTALL. 


rebuilding  of  the  city.  Mr.  Shortall  continued 
with  his  associates  in  the  conduct  of  the  business 
until  1873,  when  the  property  was  leased  to 
Messrs.  Handy  &  Company,  and  Mr.  Shortall 
retired  from  active  participation  in  it,  though 
still  retaining  his  holdings  and  interest. 

On  the  5th  of  September,  1861,  Mr.  Shortall 
married  Miss  Mary  Dunham  Staples.  They  be- 
came the  parents  of  one  son,  John  L.  Mrs. 
Shortall  died  in  August,  1880.  There  are  two 
grandchildren,  Katherine  and  Helen. 

Although  he  retired  from  private  business, 
Mr.  Shortall  has  been  none  the  less  active,  for  he 
has  devoted  his  time  and  energies  untiringly  to 
matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  city,  be- 
lieving a  man's  duty  to  his  fellow-citizens  to  be 
continuous.  For  twenty-five  years  he  has  been 
devoted  to  the  welfare  of  his  townsmen,  doing  all 
in  his  power  to  aid  in  the  promotion  of  the  city's 
welfare,  and  imbued  with  an  exalted  pride  in  its 
progress.  He  is  a  constant  patron  of  the  fine  arts, 
and  was  one  of  the  Directors  of  the  old  Philhar- 
monic Society,  and  afterwards  was  President  of 
the  Beethoven  Society,  during  almost  its  entire 
existence.  He  is  also  one  of  the  honorary  mem- 
bers of  the  Amateur  Musical  Club  of  this  city. 
A  writer  of  intelligence  and  force,  he  has  made 
valuable  contributions  to  papers  and  periodicals. 
His  keen  appreciation  of  the  thoughts  of  master 
minds  through  all  ages  has  led  him  to  do  much 
for  literature.  As  a  member  of  many  organiza- 
tions, he  has  sought  through  them  to  influence 
public  opinion  in  high  and  honorable  channels. 
In  1880  he  was  appointed  by  the  School  Board 
one  of  the  appraisers  of  the  school  property,  and 
in  1886  was  appointed  Appraiser  of  School  Lands 
by  Mayor  Harrison.  In  the  appraisement  of 
1880,  the  application  of  the  rental  value  to  ma- 
terially aid  in  determining  the  value  of  realty  was, 
it  is  believed,  first  introduced  and  applied  as  a 
system.  It  has  since  become  almost  universal. 
In  1883  Mr.  Shortall  was  appointed  a  Director 
of  the  Chicago  Public  Library,  served  three  terms 
as  President,  and  conducted  negotiations  on  be- 
half of  the  board  which  resulted  in  securing 
Dearborn  Park  as  the  site  of  the  public  library 
building  and  in  the  successful  adjustment  of  all 


opposing  claims.  Under  his  administration  the 
plans  of  the  superb  new  library  building  were  se- 
lected under  large  competition,  and  the  necessary 
appropriation  of  moneys  made  by  the  city.  He  was 
originally  made  a  Director  by  Mayor  Harrison  and 
re-appointed  by  Mayors  Harrison,  Cregier  and 
Washburn,  successively,  and  still  serves  in  that 
position.  In  politics  he  is  independent.  He  has 
been  connected  with  various  reform  movements 
in  the  city  government,  and  the  Municipal  Re- 
form Club,  which  did  such  valuable  service,  and 
the  Citizens'  Association  attest  in  their  records 
his  service  and  labors. 

Of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  Mr.  Shortall  is  an 
old,  though  no  longer  an  active,  member.  In  re- 
ligious belief  he  is  an  Episcopalian  and  formerly 
was  a  member  of  Trinity  and  Grace  Episcopal 
Churches;  but  since  the  withdrawal  of  Professor 
Swing  from  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  his 
organization  of  the  "Central  Church,"  he  has 
been  a  regular  attendant  on  its  services. 

Along  few  lines  of  work,  however,  has  the 
name  of  Mr.  Shortall  become  so  widely  known 
as  through  his  connection  with  the  Illinois  Hu- 
mane Society.  In  1869,  one  of  its  original  01- 
gauizers,  he  became  one  of  its  Directors,  and  in 
May,  1877,  was  chosen  President  of  that  most 
commendable  organization,  to  which  position  he 
has  ever  since  been  annually  elected.  He  has 
earned  the  recognition  and  gratitude  of  the 
benevolent  people  of  the  city  and  State,  for  it  is 
largely  through  his  instrumentality,  his  business 
ability  and  legal  acumen,  as  well  as  his  industry 
and  devotion,  that  the  success  of  what  is  now  one 
of  the  strongest  forces  of  our  social  system  was 
assured.  Its  beneficial  results  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. It  was  through  his  efforts  that  the 
society  joined  the  protection  of  children  to  its 
work.  Mr.  Shortall  called  the  American  and 
Canadian  societies  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty 
together  in  1877,  and  the  American  Humane  As- 
sociation was  thereupon  organized  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  in  that  year.  In  1884  Mr.  Shortall  was 
elected  its  President,  and  again  in  1892  and  1893. 
He  is  also  an  honorary  member  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Animals.  During  the  World's  Columbian  Ex- 


J.  A.   MALTBY. 


449 


position,  Mr.  Shortall,  as  the  Chairman  of  the 
Men's  Committee  on  Moral  and  Social  Reform  of 
the  Auxiliary  Congresses,  assisted  in  the  noted 
work  of  that  committee,  and  organized  and  con- 
ducted the  Humane  Congress  in  October,  1893, 
which  was  so  successful.  He  also  arranged  the 
Humane  exhibit  of  the  American  Humane  As- 
sociation in  the  Liberal  Arts  Building,  for  which 
it  obtained  a  reward,  medal  and  diploma.  Of 
social  organizations  not  above  mentioned,  Mr. 
Shortall  is  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Club,  the 
Chicago  Literary  Club  and  the  Algonquin  Club 


of  Boston.  If  asked  what  is  the  controlling  ele- 
ment in  the  life  of  Mr.  Shortall,  his  many  friends 
would  undoubtedly  respond,"  A  sense  of  justice 
and  kindness."  A  warm  and  sympathetic  heart, 
which  reaches  out  in  charity  and  love  to  the 
worthy  helpless,  the  suffering  and  the  needy,  has 
made  his  name  synonymous  with  good  works, 
yet  it  is  but  just  to  him  to  say  that  he  does  not 
seek  the  admiration  of  the  public,  and,  were  it  pos- 
sible to  do  so,  his  works  would  be  concealed  from 
all  save  himself. 


JASPER  A.  MALTBY. 


gEN.  JASPER  ADALMORN  MALTBY, 
one  of  the  distinguished  officers  of  the  great 
Civil  War,  was  born  November  4,  1832,  in 
Ashtabula,  Ohio,  and  died  December  12,  1867,  in 
Vicksburg,  Mississippi.  The  Maltby  family  conies 
from  England.  The  great-grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  settled  in  Ohio,  being  one 
of  three  brothers  who  came  from  England,  the 
others  settling,  respectively,  in  New  York  and 
Baltimore.  The  Ohio  and  New  York  brothers 
left  man}1  descendants.  David  Maltby,  a  grand- 
son of  one  of  these,  was  the  father  of  Gen.  Jasper 
A.  Maltby. 

David  Maltby  was  an  able  attorney,  and  also 
a  clergyman  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
and  an  ardent  churchman.  He  was  a  man  of 
considerable  local  prominence  in  Ohio.  He  finally 
removed  with  a  younger  son  to  Texas,  and  died 
in  Corpus  Christi,  in  that  State,  at  the  age  of 
seventy -eight  years.  His  wife,  Lucy  Marsh,  was 
a  daughter  of  Dr.  Marsh,  a  prominent  physician 
of  Ohio.  She  died  at  Plymouth,  in  that  State, 
and  left  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  namely: 


Jasper  A.,  Elizabeth,  Henry  A.,  Matilda  and 
William.  The  last-named  died  in  Corpus  Christi, 
Texas,  where  he  had  been  a  noted  editor,  and 
was  at  one  time  publisher  for  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian. He  was  the  author  of  a  sketch  entitled 
"Poor  Carlotta,"  which  was  published  immedi- 
ately after  the  death  of  the  unfortunate  Maxi- 
milian, and  was  received  with  much  favor  and 
widely  copied.  He  was  a  Captain  of  Confederate 
artillery  in  the  Civil  War,  and  was  captured  dur- 
ing General  Banks'  expedition  up  the  Red  River. 
He  was  paroled,  and  a  year  later  returned  to 
Texas.  His  brother,  Henry  A.,  also  a  prominent 
newspaper  man,  now  resides  in  Brownsville,  that 
State.  Elizabeth  Maltby  married  Albert  Barber, 
and  is  the  mother  of  two  sons,  one  of  whom  is  a 
teacher  in  a  college  at  Oberlin,  Ohio.  Matilda 
Maltby  married  Allen  Barber,  a  brother  of  her 
sister's  husband,  and  is  now  deceased,  having 
left  five  children. 

David  Maltby  and  Sarepta  Marsh,  a  sister  of 
the  wife  of  the  former,  were  among  the  founders  of 
Oberlin  College,  in  which  the  latter  taught  many 


450 


J.  A.  MALTBY. 


years.  Mrs.  Lucy  (Marsh)  Maltby  was  also  a 
teacher,  as  was  her  husband.  She  was  a  woman 
of  rare  character,  and  was  highly  reverenced  by 
all  who  knew  her,  especially  by  her  husband's 
family. 

Jasper  A.  Maltby  enlisted  in  the  Mexican  War 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  and  served  gallantly, 
receiving  a  wound  at  the  battle  of  Chapultepec. 
He  came  to  Chicago  in  1850,  and  a  year  later 
went  to  Galena,  where  he  at  once  assumed  promi- 
nence through  his  energy,  ability  and  sterling 
character.  Soon  after  taking  up  his  residence 
there,  he  perfected  the  telescope  sight  for  the  rifle, 
which  made  his  name  famous.  He  was  an  ex- 
tensive dealer  there  in  sporting  goods. 

He  was  associated  with  Gen.  John  E.  Smith, 
now  a  resident  of  Chicago,  in  raising  the  famous 
' '  Washburne  Lead  Mine  Regiment' '  for  the 
Union  army,  which  became  the  Forty-fifth  Illi- 
nois, and  within  a  short  time  after  the  fall  of 
Fort  Sumter  it  was  in  the  field.  Mr.  Smith  was 
elected  Colonel  of  the  regiment;  and  Mr.  Maltby 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  on  the  organization  at  Camp 
Douglas,  in  Chicago.  The  first  action  was  at 
Fort  Henry.  At  Fort  Donelson,  Colonel  Maltby 
received  a  bad  wound,  and  was  carried  to  the 
hospital  in  the  same  ambulance  with  General 
Logan,  who  was  struck  about  the  same  time. 
Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Land- 
ing, Colonel  Maltby  was  able  to  rejoin  his  regi- 
ment, which,  as  a  part  of  Logan's  division, 
participated  in  the  marches,  engagements  and 
siege  which  led  to  the  fall  of  Vicksburg. 

Col.  John  E.  Smith  having  been  promoted  for 
gallant  conduct  in  battle,  he  was  succeeded  by 
Lieu  tenant- Colonel  Maltby,  who  led  the  charge 
at  Fort  Hill  on  the  bloody  25th  of  June,  1863, 
receiving  three  wounds  before  gaining  the  coveted 
position.  This  was  accomplished  with  great  loss, 
and  temporary  breastworks  were  immediately 
thrown  up  to  hold  the  ground.  While  Colonel 
Maltby  was  personally  adjusting  a  heavy  piece  of 
timber  for  the  protection  of  his  sharpshooters,  it 
was  struck  by  a  cannon  ball.  The  shot  passed 
close  to  his  person,  and  the  timber  was  shivered, 
hurling  splinters  in  every  direction.  Three  of 
these  penetrated  his  body,  making  six  wounds 


which  he  suffered  in  that  costly,  but  victorious, 
action.  For  his  fearless  and  effective  bravery, 
Generals  Sherman  and  Logan  sent  a  recommen- 
dation from  the  field  that  he  be  made  a  Brigadier- 
General,  and  President  Lincoln  forwarded  his 
commission  as  such  at  once. 

When  the  final  entry  was  made  into  Vicksburg, 
the  Forty-fifth  Illinois  led  the  way,  with  General 
Maltby's  horse  and  trappings  at  its  head.  The 
General  was  also  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  but 
rode  in  an  ambulance.  The  fight  at  Fort  Hill  was 
hand-to-hand,  and  the  colors  of  the  Forty-fifth 
were  literally  torn  to  tatters.  General  Maltby 
was  mustered  out  January  16,  1866,  and  was 
soon  thereafter  made  Military  Mayor  of  Vicks- 
burg. He  never  recovered  from  his  wounds, 
and  died  from  their  effects  December  12,  1867, 
while  still  administering  the  office  of  Mayor.  He 
was  also  operating  a  plantation,  and  kept  a  com- 
mission store  in  Vicksburg.  He  was  held  in  the 
highest  regard  by  the  people  of  the  conquered 
city,  and  was  the  idol  of  the  colored  people. 

General  Maltby  was  married  at  Galena,  March 
25,  1852,  to  Miss  Malvina  A.  James,  who  sur- 
vives him,  and  now  resides  in  Chicago.  Besides 
his  widow,  he  left  a  son,  Henry  Maltby,  a  journal- 
ist. Mrs.  Maltby  is  a  daughter  of  David  James, 
a  Sergeant  under  General  Scott,  who  fought  at 
Lundy's  Lane  in  the  War  of  1812.  Her  mother, 
Catherine  Jamieson,  was  the  daughter  of  an  Irish- 
man who  was  a  famous  distiller.  He  owned  the 
ground  in  Canada  where  Tecumseh  was  killed. 
David  James  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and 
his  wife  of  Canada. 

Many  of  the  most  noted  military  men  of  the  war 
testified  to  General  Maltby's  great  courage  and 
moral  worth,  and  the  following  extract  from  the 
Vicksburg  Republican  shows  the  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held  by  his  erstwhile  enemies: 

"With  an  unfeigned  regret,  we  announce  the 
death  of  Gen.  J.  A.  Maltby,  the  recently  ap- 
pointed Mayor  of  this  city.  No  northern  man 
who  has  cast  his  fortunes  with  our  people  has 
commanded  more  respect  from  our  citizens  than 
General  Maltby.  As  an  officer  of  the  United 
States  army,  he  was  humane  to  our  people;  as  a 
citizen  of  Mississippi,  he  was  kind  in  his  social 


A.  B.  CAPRON. 


451 


life  and  impartial  in  his  official  action.  We  sin- 
cerely sympathize  with  his  bereaved  family,  and 
we  believe  they  have  the  sympathy  of  the  entire 
community. 

"He  met  us  upon  the  field  of  battle  in  aid  of  a 


cause  which  he  felt  sacred,  but,  like  a  true  soldier, 
he  recognized  the  valor  and  honor  of  his  enemy, 
and,  when  Peace  spread  her  white  wings  over  the 
land,  all  animosity  was  sheathed  with  his  sword. 
Peace  to  the  gallant  soldier. ' ' 


ALBERT  B.  CAPRON. 


EOL.  ALBERT  BANFIELD  CAPRON,  a 
member  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  and 
a  brave  soldier  of  the  Civil  War,  was  born 
at  Laurel,  Prince  George's  County,  Maryland, 
June  12,  1844.  His  father  was  Gen.  Horace 
Capron,  who  went  to  Maryland  when  a  young 
man  and  erected  the  Laurel  Cotton  Mills,  whose 
product,  the  famous  Laurel  Cotton,  was  shipped  to 
all  parts  of  the  world.  His  mother  was  Louise 
Snowden  daughter  of  General  Snowden,  whose 
grandfather  received  a  patent  from  the  king  for 
twenty  thousand  acres.  His  estate  joined  that 
of  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton.  Louise  Snow- 
den was  born  July  3,  1811,  and  married  Horace 
Capron  June  5,  1834.  She  was  a  devout  church- 
woman,  and  built  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Laurel, 
which  she  gave  to  the  people.  Her  life  was  full  of 
kind  deeds.  She  died  March  27,  1849,  mourned  by 
the  entire  community.  She  left  five  children .  Ad- 
aline,  Horace,  junior,  Albert  Banfield,  Elizabeth 
Snowden,  and  Osmond  Tiffany  (the  eldest  child, 
Nicholas  Snowden,  died  in  infancy).  The  planta- 
tion on  which  their  childhood  was  passed  was 
known  as  the  "Model  Farm  of  Maryland,"  it 
being  a  pet  scheme  of  General  Capron  to  see  to 
what  a  state  of  perfection  that  soil  could  be  brought. 
The  genealogy  of  the  family  points  to  Ban- 
field  Capron  as  the  progenitor  of  those  bearing 
the  name  in  America.  He  was  born  in  England, 
but  was  of  French- Huguenot  descent,  and  derived 
his  Christian  name  from  Lord  Banfield  of  Eng- 
land. He  came  to  America  near  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  and  settled  in  Attleboro, 
Massachusetts,  where  he  became  the  possessor  of 
large  estates.  He  was  a  man  of  marked  ability, 


both  mental  and  physical,  having  great  muscular 
development  and  wonderful  powers  of  endurance. 
He  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety-two  years,  dying  in 
1752.  He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife 
was  a  Miss  Callender,  of  Rehoboth,  Massa- 
chusetts, daughter  of  a  former  neighbor  in  Eng- 
land. The  second  wife  was  Sarah  Daggett.  He 
was  the  father  of  twelve  children.  Jonathan,  sixth 
child  of  Banfield  Capron,  married  Rebecca  Morse, 
and  was  the  ancestor  of  the  subject  of  this  biog- 
raphy. His  son,  Jonathan,  junior,  married  Alice 
Alden,  a  great-granddaughter  of  John  Alden,  of 
the  Plymouth  Colony.  Elisha,  another  son  of 
Jonathan  Capron,  married  Abigail  Makepeace, 
and  they  had  nine  children.  The  eldest  son,  Dr. 
Seth  Capron,  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  September  23, 
1762,  and  married  Eunice,  daughter  of  Dr. 
Bezaleel  Mann,  of  Attleboro,  Massachusetts,  a  man 
of  prominence  as  a  physician  and  educator.  Dr. 
Seth  Capron  served  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 
He  enlisted  March  31,  1781,  and  was  first  at- 
tached to  General  La  Fayette's  corps  of  light  in- 
fantry. In  1782  he  was  transferred,  and  served 
until  the  close  of  the  war  as  aide-de-camp  on  Gen- 
eral Washington' s  staff.  He  was  a  personal  friend 
of  General  Washington,  and  commanded  the 
barge  which  conveyed  him  to  Elizabethtown 
Point,  after  he  had  taken  leave  of  his  army  at 
New  York  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Immediately 
on  returning  home  Dr.  Seth  Capron  began  the 
study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Bezaleel  Mann,  an 
eminent  physician  of  that  period.  In  1806  he 
settled  in  Whitesboro,  Oneida  County,  New 
York,  where  he  practiced  his  profession, 


452 


A.  B.   CAPRON. 


Doctor  Capron  was  a  man  of  great  enterprise  and 
industry,  and  was  possessed  of  large  resources 
and  fertility  of  commercial  ideas.  His  name  is 
identified  with  the  history  of  the  manufactures 
of  the  State  of  New  York.  He  was  the  originator 
of  the  enterprise  which,  in  1807,  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  the  "Oneida  Factory,"  the  first 
cotton-mill  erected  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
followed  shortly  by  the  "Capron  Factory,"  of 
New  Hartford.  In  1809  he  organized  a  com- 
pany and  established  the  "Oriskany  Woolen 
Factory,"  the  first  woolen  factory  ever  erected  in 
the  United  States.  Another  enterprise  of  which  he 
was  the  originator  was  the  importation  from  Spain 
of  the  first  Merino  sheep  ever  introduced  into 
Oneida  County. 

In  1825  he  removed  to  Orange  County,  and 
with  his  son,  Capt.  Seth  Capron,  established 
the  beautiful  manufacturing  town  of  Walden,  on 
the  Walkill,  where  he  died  September  8,  1835. 
Dr.  Seth  Capron  had  six  children.  Gen.  Hor- 
ace Capron,  father  of  Albert  B.  Capron,  was  the 
fourth  son.  He  was  born  August  31,  1804, 
in  Attleboro,  Massachusetts,  and  died  at  the  Na- 
tional Capital  on  Washington's  birthday,  1885. 
His  death  was  caused  by  exposure  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  Washington  Monument  the  day  before, 
on  which  occasion  he  and  the  orator  of  the  day, 
Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  were  among  the  few 
survivors  of  those  who  officiated  at  the  laying  of 
the  corner-stone,  forty  years  before,  when  he 
commanded  the  cavalry  which  took  part  in  the 
ceremony. 

General  Capron  was  connected  with  the  army 
many  years  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War. 
For  seven  years  he  was  stationed  in  Texas,  hav- 
ing charge  of  the  Indians  under  the  War  Depart- 
ment. After  the  removal  of  these  Government 
wards  to  the  Indian  Territory  he  came  to  his  farm 
in  Alden,  Me  Henry  County,  Illinois,  to  which,  a 
few  years  previously,  he  had  moved  his  family 
and  valuable  stock  from  Maryland.  He  married 
Miss  Margaret  Baker,  of  New  York  City,  and 
now  settled  down  to  the  agricultural  pursuits 
of  which  he  was  so  fond.  His  beautiful  farm  of 
a  thousand  acres  was  conducted  on  principles  so 
superior  to  anything  then  dreamed  of  in  this  part 


of  the  country,  that  it  soon  became  famous,  and 
visitors  wondered  and  admired.  The  latest  inven- 
tions and  improvements  in  machinery  and  farm 
implements  were  always  at  hand,  and  his  noble 
herds  were  his  pride.  His  home  was  beautiful 
in  all  its  appointments  and  pervaded  by  an 
atmosphere  of  culture  and  refinement.  His  large 
library  was  ever  at  the  disposal  of  his  neighbors 
and  friends. 

General  Capron  was  in  every  sense  a  pro- 
gressive man,  and  was  always  foremost  in 
advancing  better  methods.  He  was,  at  this  time, 
much  interested  in  the  State  Fairs,  feeling  that 
they  should  have  the  influence  of  the  best  agri- 
culturists of  the  land.  In  1858  he  was  appointed 
by  the  United  States  Government  as  General 
Superintendent  of  the  United  States  Fair,  which 
was  held  in  Chicago  in  September  of  that  year. 
The  fair  was  at  that  time  considered  a  great 
event,  and  to  this  day  is  spoken  of  as  a  notable 
success.  He  had  on  exhibition  his  famous  herd 
of  forty-two  Devons  and  a  large  number  of  his 
blooded  horses,  many  of  which  won  first  premiums. 
About  this  time  he  decided  to  make  a  change  of 
,home,  and  moved  to  another  farm  near  Peoria, 
Illinois. 

Soon  the  war  broke  out,  and  his  two  eldest  sons 
quickly  enlisted .  Governor  Yates  requested  Gen- 
eral Capron  to  drill  and  prepare  cavalry  troops  for 
the  field,  as  that  branch  of  the  service  was  much 
needed.  He  therefore  raised  and  drilled  three 
cavalry  regiments,  and  in  1862  went  out  him- 
self in  charge  of  the  last  one,  the  Fourteenth 
Illinois  Cavalry.  He  was  soon  promoted  to  the 
command  of  a  brigade. 

After  the  war  General  Capron  was  appointed 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture  by  President  Grant. 
At  this  time  the  department  was  located  in  dark, 
dingy  quarters  in  the  Interior  Department.  Gen- 
eral Capron  felt  that  it  was  a  disgrace  to  the 
great  interests  it  represented,  and  spared  no  efforts 
until  he  had  secured  appropriations  fora  building. 
He  was  given  full  charge  of  plans,  and  in  due 
time  the  stately  Agricultural  Building,  with  its 
beautiful  grounds,  gave  to  the  department  a  home 
befitting  its  dignity.  In  General  Capron 's  cor- 
respondence is  found  a  letter  from  Secretary  and 


A.  B.   CAPRON. 


453 


Adjutant-General  Dent,  in  which  he  says: 
"When  Sheridan  met  his  beaten,  demoralized 
army  near  Winchester,  Virginia,  and  turned  it 
right  about  and  on  to  victory,  he  did  what  you 
have  done  with  the  Agricultural  Department  of 
the  United  States." 

In  April,  1871,  while  still  at  the  head  of  this 
department,  he  was  waited  upon  by  certain  high 
officials  of  the  Japanese  Government,  who  pre- 
sented to  him  their  plans  and  wishes  in  regard  to 
the  development  of  the  agricultural  and  mineral 
resources  of  the  island  of  Yesso,  a  very  important 
possession  of  Japan,  and  invited  him  to  accept  a 
position  as  Commissioner  and  Adviser  under  their 
Government.  This  he  decided  to  do,  and  his 
resignation  being  accepted  by  the  President,  he 
sailed  in  September,  1871,  for  Japan,  where  he 
entered  upon  this  great  work  with  his  usual 
energy  and  earnestness.  The  island  of  Yesso, 
about  two-thirds  the  size  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
was  turned  over  to  him  as  the  site  of  his  ex- 
perimental farms,  mills  and  railroads.  He  de- 
veloped the  gold  and  coal  mines,  and  did  such  re- 
markable work  and  showed  such  grand  results, 
as  to  win  the  lasting  gratitude  of  the  Emperor 
and  his  people.  When  General  Capron  took 
leave  of  the  Emperor  at  his  castle  in  Tokio, 
Japan,  in  1875,  the  Emperor  made  use  of  the  fol- 
lowing language  in  his  parting  address:  "In- 
deed your  services  were  valuable  and  deserve  my 
highest  appreciation,  and  it  is  hardly  a  matter  of 
doubt  that  the  future  progress  of  the  island,  the 
fruit  of  your  labor,  will  much  advance  the  hap- 
piness of  my  whole  empire." 

A  year  after  his  return  to  this  country  the 
Hon.  John  A.  Bingham,  American  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  to  Japan,  in  a  letter  to  General 
Capron  says:  "Kuroda,  Kido  and  others  of  the 
Ministers  of  State  have  spoken  most  kindly  of  you 
and  said  your  name  would  live  in  the  grateful 
remembrance  of  their  people.  Rely  upon  it,  you 
may  well  commit  your  name  to  the  present  and 
future  generations  of  Japan.  Long  after  you 
shall  have  joined  those  who  have  gone  before 
you,  when  Yesso  shall  be  covered  with  cattle  and 
sheep  and  fields  of  golden  wheat  and  corn,  and 
its  mountains  clothed  to  their  summits  with  the 


purple  vine,  will  it  be  said  of  you,   'This  was  the 
work  of  General  Capron.'  ' 

On  January  16,  1884,  General  Capron  was  in- 
formed by  the  Charged'  Affairs  that  His  Majesty, 
the  Emperor  of  Japan,  had  been  pleased  to  confer 
upon  him  the  decoration  of  the  Second  Order  of 
the  Rising  Sun.  This  was  the  first  time  the 
order  had  ever  been  conferred  upon  a  foreigner. 
The  lacquer  box  in  which  the  decoration  is  en- 
closed is  said  to  be  eight  hundred  years  old.  By 
right  of  inheritance  his  son,  Col.  A.  B.  Capron,  is 
now  in  possession  of  the  decoration. 

The  latter,  as  purchasing  agent  of  his  father, 
shipped  to  Japan  machinery,  horses,  cattle,  sheep 
and  seed-grains.  He  sent  over  a  great  variety  of 
fruit  trees,  and  the  Japanese  were  trained  in  the 
art  of  pruning  and  grafting.  The  shipments  in- 
cluded the  best  strains  of  Morgan,  Hambletonian, 
and  Kentucky  thorough-bred  horses  and  all  the 
choicest  varieties  of  domestic  animals.  Every- 
thing flourished  even  beyond  the  most  sanguine 
expectations. 

General  Capron  remained  four  and  one-half 
years  in  Japan,  and  then  took  up  his  residence 
in  Washington,  where  he  enjoyed  nearly  ten  years 
of  peaceful  retirement  from  the  activities  which 
had  engaged  him  beyond  the  allotted  years  of 
man. 

His  son,  Col.  Albert  B.  Capron,  has  a  military 
record  both  unique  and  brilliant.  The  firing  of 
the  first  gun  roused  the  patriotic  blood  of  this 
boy  in  his  quiet  home  on  the  Illinois  farm,  and 
quickly  he  responded  to  the  first  call  of  his  coun- 
try. He  was  soon  after  stationed  at  Benton  Bar- 
racks, Missouri.  His  first  taste  of  battle  was  when 
General  Lyon  ordered  five  hundred  to  cross  over 
and  seize  the  guns  just  unloaded  on  the  opposite 
side  and  intended  for  the  rebels  at  Camp  Jackson, 
numbering  three  thousand  infantry.  It  was  a 
sharp  contest,  but  the  guns  were  secured  and 
General  Lyon's  prompt  and  masterly  action  saved 
St.  Louis  to  the  Government. 

Under  Siegel's  command  he  participated  in  the 
severe  battle  of  Wilson  Creek,  August  8,  9  and 
10,  1861,  when  they  were  under  almost  contin- 
uous fire  during  the  three  days. 


454 


A.  B.   CAPRON. 


The  death  of  the  brave  General  Lyou  at  the 
head  of  his  command  made  a  deep  impression  on 
this  young  soldier.  At  this  time  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Thirty-third  Infantry,  where  for 
eighteen  months  he  was  Color- Bearer. 

When,  in  1862,  his  father  went  into  the  field,  it 
was  his  wish  to  be  transferred  to  his  father's  com- 
mand. His  older  brother,  Horace,  was  also 
transferred  from  the  Eighth  Illinois  Cavalry. 
Soon,  too,  his  youngest  brother,  Osmond,  a  mere 
lad,  joined  them,  and  now  father  and  sons  were 
together  united  in  the  one  grand  effort  to  protect 
their  country's  honor. 

His  brother,  Capt.  Horace  Capron,  was  killed 
in  an  engagement  with  the  Cherokee  Indians  at 
Cedar  Cove,  in  North  Carolina,  February  2,  1864. 
He  was  a  gallant  soldier,  and  his  untimely  tak- 
ing-off  was  a  loss  to  the  service  and  to  his  many 
friends.  He  was  buried  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  and 
a  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory  by  his  de- 
voted company.  While  a  Sergeant,  he  received 
a  bronze  medal  for  capturing  a  rebel  flag,  with 
this  inscription: 

THE  CONGRESS 
To  FIRST  SERGEANT   HORACE   CAPRON,    JR., 

COMPANY  G,  EIGHTH  ILLINOIS  CAVALRY, 

FOR   GALLANT  CONDUCT    AT    CHICKAHOMINY 

AND  ASHLAND,  JUNE,  1862. 

Albert  B.  Capron  rode  beside  his  brother  in 
the  last  charge,  and  took  command  of  the 
company  at  his  death.  One  of  the  most  thrill- 
ing of  his  army  experiences  was  his  night 
ride  of  one  hundred  miles  through  the 
enemy's  line,  bearing  dispatches  from  General 
Burnside  in  Knoxville  to  General  Wilcox  at 
Cumberland  Gap.  It  was  a  hazardous  under- 
taking. Twenty  brave  men  had  already  failed 
in  the  attempt.  When  he  returned  General 
Burnside,  overcome  with  emotion,  said,  "You 
have  won  your  spurs,"  and  presented  him  with  a 
pair  of  his  own  spurs.  Colonel  Capron  still  guards 
them  sacredly.  He  was  also  one  of  the  cavalry 
brigade,  led  by  his  father,  which  helped  to 
capture  Gen.  John  Morgan  and  his  entire  com- 
mand, after  a  ride  of  nineteen  hundred  miles  in 
thirty-one  days.  He  participated  in  twenty-three 
general  battles,  beside  a  great  many  skirmishes 


and  sharp  cavalry  actions.  Two  horses  were 
shot  under  him  while  in  action.  He  and  his 
command  were  under  fire  for  one  hundred  days 
on  the  march  to  and  siege  of  Atlanta,  Georgia,  at 
which  place  he  was  taken  prisoner. 

His  last  service  of  the  war  was  under  General 
Sheridan  on  the  Texas  frontier,  where  he  was 
in  expectation  of  proceeding  to  Mexico  to  help 
in  relieving  the  people  of  that  country  of  the 
pretended  sovereignty  of  Maximilian.  Happily, 
the  Mexicans  were  able  to  drive  out  the  invader, 
and  the  Monroe  Doctrine  continued  to  rule  in 
the  Americas.  Colonel  Capron  was  three  times 
made  a  prisoner,  and  received  three  severe 
wounds  in  the  service  of  his  country. 

He  was  brevetted  Major  at  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War.  A  few  years  since  he  was  appointed 
aide-de-camp  on  the  staff  of  General  Lawler,  Com- 
mander-in- Chief  of  the  Grand  Army,  with  the 
rank  of  Colonel. 

Before  his  employment  as  purchasing  agent 
for  the  Japanese  Government,  he  was  engaged  in 
mercantile  business  at  Kenosha,  Wisconsin.  He 
came  to  Chicago  in  1872,  and  has  since  resided 
in  this  city,  on  the  North  Shore.  For  more  than 
twenty  years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Trade,  and  carries  on  a  general  grain  commis- 
sion business.  In  business  he  pursues  the  same 
energetic  and  straightforward  course  which  won 
him  distinction  in  military  circles,  and  he  is  held 
in  the  highest  regard  by  his  social  and  commercial 
associates. 

Colonel  Capron  was  married  at  Kenosha,  Wis- 
consin, October  20,  1869,  to  Miss  Amelia  Doo- 
little,  daughter  of  Alfred  W.  and  Ann  Urania 
(Hannahs)  Doolittle,  natives  of  Oneida  County, 
New  York. 

Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  three  chil- 
dren: Horace  Mann,  born  in  Kenosha,  Wiscon- 
sin, August27,  1872;  Florence,  born  in  Evanston, 
Illinois,  November  18,  1873;  Albert  Snowden, 
born  in  Winnetka,  Illinois,  February  8,  1877. 
Their  home  is  now  in  Winnetka,  Illinois. 

The  head  of  the  family  has  always  been  a 
loyal  and  earnest  supporter  of  Republican  prin- 
ciples, and  he  is  now  a  member  of  the  Illinois 
Commandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


HENRY  WEBER. 


455 


HENRY  WEBER. 


WENRY  WEBER,  one  of  the  most  successful 
manufacturers  of  Chicago,  a  thoroughly 
self-made  man,  is  among  the  large  number 
of  industrious  and  prosperous  citizens  given  to 
Chicago  by  German  ancestors.  His  birth  took 
place  in  that  unfortunate  disputed  territory  which 
has  alternately  belonged  to  France  and  Germany 
— being  now  in  possession  of  the  latter  country. 
September  15,  1822,  when  Mr.  Weber  was  born 
in  the  village  of  Hochweiler,  Canton  Soultz, 
Elsass,  the  locality  was  in  possession  of  the 
French,  and  he  was,  therefore,  by  birth  a  French- 
man, though  his  ancestors  were  among  the  most 
sturdy  Germans.  They  had  long  resided  in  Al- 
sace, and  several  members  of  the  family  were 
soldiers  under  the  first  Napoleon.  Michael  Weber, 
father  of  Henry,  was  a  farmer  of  Hochweiler, 
where  he  reached  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 
His  second  wife,  mother  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  Helena  Langenbrunn  (Studi)  Weber,  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years.  Both  she  and 
her  husband  had  reared  good-sized  families  by 
former  marriages. 

Henry  Weber  received  a  scanty  education  un- 
der the  French  system.  He  was  made  of  the  am- 
bitious stuff  which  peoples  and  develops  nations, 
and  he  early  resolved  to  join  his  fortunes  with 
those  of  the  free  land  across  the  seas,  of  which  he 
had  heard  through  a  friend  who  had  visited  the 
United  States.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  joined  a 
party  of  five  young  men,  including  the  one  before 
referred  to,  who  had  been  in  America,  and  together 
they  came  to  New  York.  They  sailed  from 
Havre,  France,  on  an  English  sailing-vessel 
commanded  by  Captain  Thompson,  and  after  a 
voyage  of  thirty-three  days  they  arrived  in  the 
harbor  of  New  York,  a  very  speedy  voyage  for 


that  day.     On  the  way  they  maintained  them- 
selves, and  took  turn  about  in  cooking. 

In  New  York  they  separated,  and  Mr.  Weber 
went  to  Lyons,  New  York,  where  he  served  a 
three-years  apprenticeship  at  wagon-making,  be- 
coming a  skillful  workman,  and  able  to  compete 
with  any  man  in  his  line  of  work.  Having  com- 
pleted his  term  of  indenture,  Mr.  Weber  went  to 
Detroit,  Michigan,  and  found  employment.  But 
he  did  not  long  remain  there.  He  determined  to 
locate  in  the  growing  and  enterprising  town  of 
Chicago,  then  beginning  to  attract  notice  through 
its  favorable  location  and  the  enterprising  char- 
acter of  its  citizens.  On  the  z6th  of  June,  1844, 
Mr.  Weber  arrived  in  Chicago,  where  he  has 
ever  since  made  his  home,  and  in  the  develop- 
ment of  whose  commercial,  social  and  moral  in- 
terests he  has  borne  no  unimportant  part. 

Like  another  distinguished  German  citizen, 
who  is  now  deceased  (Andrew  Ortmayer,  whose 
biography  appears  in  this  volume) ,  he  at  once 
found  employment  with  the  pioneer  wagonmaker 
of  Chicago,  Mr.  Joseph  O.  Humphrey.  Here  he 
continued  one  and  one-half  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  period,  being  then  twenty-three  years  of 
age,  he  engaged  in  business  for  himself,  having 
as  a  partner  Mr.  Jacob  Gauch.  With  a  capital 
of  $250,  they  built  a  small  shop  on  Randolph 
Street,  near  La  Salle,  and  began  working  up  a 
business,  boarding  themselves  in  the  building 
in  the  mean  time.  Later,  they  boarded  at  the 
New  York  Hotel,  an  hostelry  well  known  to  the 
old  residents  of  the  city.  In  1849  Mr.  Gauch 
was  seized  with  the  gold  fever  and  went  to  Cali- 
fornia. His  partner,  who  was  satisfied  with  the 
slow  but  certain  gains  of  business  in  Chicago, 
purchased  Mr.  Gauch's  interest,  and  continued 


456 


HENRY  WEBER. 


to  manage  the  growing  industry  alone  until  1883, 
when  a  company  was  incorporated  to  continue 
it,  with  his  sons  as  partners.  This  is  known  as 
the  Weber  Wagon  Company,  and  turns  out  an- 
nually twelve  thousand  wagons  and  four  thou- 
sand bob  sleds,  and  employs  a  large  number  of 
men.  Mr.  Weber  was  for  many  years  a  member 
of  the  old  "Number  Two"  volunteer  fire  com- 
pany, which  did  good  service  in  the  early  days, 
when  steam  was  unknown  in  Chicago  as  a  power 
to  be  used  in  subduing  fires. 

In  1852  Mr.  Weber  was  enabled  to  purchase 
land  for  the  location  of  his  works.  At  the  north- 
west corner  of  Lake  and  Union  Streets  he  se- 
cured ground,  ninety  by  one  hundred  and  forty  feet 
in  area,  on  which  he  built  three  frame  buildings. 
These  were  all  two  stories  in  height,  one  being 
occupied  as  a  dwelling  and  the  others  for  a  fac- 
tory'. He  was  among  the  first  manufacturers  on 
West  Lake  Street,  and  was  uniformly  success- 
ful, laying  the  foundation  for  a  large  business, 
which  furnished  a  livelihood  to  many  families. 
In  the  spring  of  1871  he  erected  a  fine  four-story 
brick  building  on  this  site,  which  escaped  the 
fury  of  the  great  fire  in  the  autumn  of  the  same 
year,  and  was  at  once  occupied  by  profitable 
tenants. 

In  1886  the  factory  was  removed  to  Eighty- 
first  and  Wallace  Streets,  where  superior  railway 
facilities  were  secured,  and  here  it  is  now  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Weber's  sons,  who  have  taken 
from  his  hands  and  mind  much  of  the  labor  re- 
quired in  its  management.  The  founder  very 
appropriately  occupies  the  position  of  President 
of  the  company,  with  W.  H.  Weber  as  Secre- 
tary and  Treasurer,  and  George  A.  Weber  as 
Superintendent.  The  product  is  shipped  to  nearly 
every  State  of  the  Union,  and  enjoys  a  reputa- 
tion for  reliability  such  as  has  always  been  at- 
tached to  the  name  of  its  worthy  maker  from  the 
beginning. 

On  the  loth  of  August,  1887,  a  fire  destroyed 
nearly  all  the  plant  except  the  lumber-yard,  but 
no  time  was  lost  in  repining,  and,  with  the  in- 
surance which  careful  foresight  had  previously 
provided  as  an  assistance,  its  owners  were  en- 
enabled  to  start  with  an  entirely  new  outfit  of 


machinery,  and  the  business  was  soon  a  greater 
success  than  ever  before.  The  plant  is  now  one 
of  the  largest  and  most  complete  of  its  kind  in 
the  United  States. 

With  the  arrival  of  the  year  1849,  Mr.  Weber 
felt  that  he  was  warranted  in  assuming  the  re- 
sponsibility of  a  householder,  and  on  the  4th  of 
November  in  that  year  he  married  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Schoeneck,  a  German  girl,  who  arrived  in 
Chicago  with  her  parents  the  same  year  as  him- 
self. She  is  a  daughter  of  Adam  and  Elizabeth 
Schoeneck, all  natives  ot  Mainz,  Germany,  who  set- 
tled on  a  farm  on  the  North  Branch  of  the  Chicago 
River,  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  city.  Mrs. 
Weber  was  in  every  way  fitted  to  be  the  wife  of 
the  sturdy  young  mechanic,  and  proved  a  worthy 
helpmeet  to  her  enterprising  husband.  The  little 
home  on  Fifth  Avenue  was  kept  scrupulously 
neat  and  tidy,  and  Mr.  Weber's  success  is  in  part 
due  to  her  good  management  and  many  good 
traits  of  character.  Six  children  came  to  bless 
their  home,  namely:  Elizabeth,  now  the  wife  of 
T.  Wasserstrass;  Louise,  Mrs.  Albert  Kaempfer; 
William  H.  and  George  A.,  before  mentioned; 
Mary  M.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine 
years;  and  Emma,  wife  of  Henry  Rietz,  all  of 
Chicago. 

The  family  is  connected  with  the  German  Lu- 
theran Church,  and  in  political  action  its  head  is 
thoroughly  independent,  affiliating  with  the  best 
elements  in  both  parties  in  national  and  local  af- 
fairs. He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity, being  one  of  the  oldest  living  members  of 
Germania  Lodge  No.  182,  and  is  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  Harmonia  Lodge  No.  221,  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 

Mr.  Weber  has  richly  earned  his  success  in 
life,  and  enjoj's  his  well-earned  competence  in 
the  comforts  of  home  life  and  the  society  of  his 
many  friends.  His  example  may  afford  a  good 
lesson  to  the  young  man  of  to-day,  who  needs  to 
be  impressed  with  the  value  in  business  of  indus- 
try and  unswerving  integrity. 

In  this  connection,  a  brief  mention  of  the  pres- 
ent managers  of  the  Weber  Wagon  Company  is 
appropriate  and  desirable.  To  them  is  due,  in  a 
great  measure,  the  marvelous  growth  and  pros- 


W.  W.  FARWELL. 


457 


peril)-  of  the  business.  It  requires  more  than 
ordinary  talent  to  conduct  successfully  a  business 
involving  a  capital  of  nearly  half  a  million  dollars, 
and  yearly  increasing  in  volume.  All  the  de- 
tails are  carefully  watched  by  the  superintendent 
in  the  construction  department,  and  by  the  busi- 
ness manager  in  the  office.  The  continued  sub- 
stantial development  of  the  concern  in  the  face  of 
the  financial  stringency  of  1894  and  1895  is  es- 
pecially worthy  of  note,  and  the  year  1895  is  re- 
corded as  the  most  prosperous  in  its  history. 

The  factory  gives  employment  to  a  large 
number  of  men,  many  of  whom  have  grown 
gray  in  the  service  of  Mr.  Weber  and  his 
sons,  some  of  them  having  been  in  the  con- 
tinuous employ  of  Mr.  Weber  more  than  forty 
years.  The  high  esteem  in  which  the  founder 
and  present  managers  are  held  by  their  employes 
is  a  strong  testimonial  to  their  executive  ability 
and  upright  character,  and  their  course  is  worthy 
the  emulation  of  every  employer  of  labor.  A 
personal  interest  is  shown  in  every  man  on  the 
pay  roll  and  in  those  dependent  upon  him,  and 
no  man  is  ever  discharged  except  for  indolence  or 
inefficiency.  Consequently  a  strike,  with  its  train 
of  misfortune  for  all  concerned,  was  never  known 
in  the  establishment.  The  members  of  the  com- 
pany do  not  enter  into  any  outside  speculations, 
but  confine  themselves  to  their  legitimate  field  of 
operations,  which  fact  is  entitled  to  credit  for 
much  of  their  prosperity. 

George  A.  Weber,  the  superintendent  of  the 
works  of  the  Weber  Wagon  Company,  was  born 


in  Chicago,  and  completed  his  education  in  the 
West  Side  High  School  of  that  city.  He  is  gifted 
with  a  taste  and  talent  for  mechanics,  and  at 
the  early  age  of  sixteen  years  he  entered  the  fac- 
tory of  his  father  to  master  its  mechanical  details. 
Here  he  made  quite  as  rapid  progress  as  he  had 
previously  shown  in  his  studies,  and  he  steadily 
rose  to  the  position  of  superintendent,  which  he 
has  filled  since. 

William  Henry  Weber,  business  manager  of 
the  Weber  Wagon  Company,  was  born  April  21, 
1855,  in  the  city  which  now  numbers  him  among 
its  most  substantial  and  respected  citizens.  He 
was  educated  in  the  Chicago  West  Side  High 
School,  and  took  a  thorough  course  of  business 
training  in  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business  College. 
After  one  year's  connection  with  the  wholesale 
dry-goods  firm  of  Stettauer  &  Weiman,  in  1879, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years,  he  entered  the 
service  of  his  father,  with  whose  business  he  has 
ever  since  been  identified.  With  his  natural  apt- 
itude, and  as  a  result  of  his  careful  training,  he 
readily  fitted  in  with  the  office  management  oi 
the  concern,  and  soon  came  to  be  its  responsible 
head.  He  attends  strictly  to  business,  his  only 
recreation  being  an  occasional  hunting  trip  of  a 
few  days'  duration,  and  to  him  is  due  much  of 
the  credit  for  the  high  commercial  standing  of 
the  house.  Being  of  a  genial  nature,  he  comes 
naturally  to  possess  the  respect  and  cordial  good- 
will of  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  social  or  busi- 
ness relations. 


WILLIAM  W.  FARWELL 


fD6|lLLIAM  WASHINGTON  FARWELL, 
\  A  I  who  graced  the  Bench  of  Cook  County  for 
V  V  nine  years,  and  was  an  honored  member  of 
the  Chicago  Bar  forty  years,  was  descended  from 
good  old  English  stock.  His  ancestors  were 
among  the  early  pioneers  in  the  settlement  and 


civilization  of  the  New  World.  Henry  Farwell 
came  from  Somersetshire,  England,  and  located 
in  Connecticut  with  the  founders  of  that  colony, 
and  bore  his  part  in  sweeping  away  the  wilder- 
ness which  then  occupied  all  New  England  and 
in  developing  a  Christian  community.  He  had  a 


458 


W.  W.  FARWELL. 


son  and  grandson  named  Isaac.  Thomas,  son  of 
the  last-named,  was  born  in  Mansfield,  Connecti- 
cut, and  practiced  agriculture  in  that  State.  His 
son,  John  Farwell,  also  born  in  Mansfield,  was 
the  father  of  Judge  William  W.  Farwell. 

John  Farwell  was  possessed  of  the  same  spirit 
which  led  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  to  seek  a  home 
under  new  conditions,  in  an  untried  world,  and, 
moved  by  this  pioneer  instinct,  he  went  to  Mor- 
risville,  New  York,  in  his  young  manhood  and 
opened  up  a  farm  in  that  then  new  region.  He 
was  a  highly  respected  citizen,  and  served  as 
Postmaster  at  Morrisville  for  many  years.  His 
wife,  Elmira  Williams,  was,  like  himself,  a  na- 
tive of  Mansfield,  Connecticut,  and  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Amariah  Williams,  supposed  to  have  been 
of  English  lineage.  The  marriage  of  this  couple 
took  place  in  their  native  town,  and  they  began 
housekeeping  at  the  new  home  of  Mr.  Farwell 
in  Morrisville.  Their  children,  five  in  number, 
were  named  as  follows:  John  William,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  William  Washington,  Thomas  Lyle 
and  Elmira  Jane. 

William  W.  Farwell,  third  child  of  his  parents, 
was  born  in  Morrisville,  New  York,  January  5, 
1817.  His  early  life  did  not  differ  much  from 
that  of  other  farmers'  sons  in  that  day  and  region. 
He  made  the  most,  however,  of  his  educational 
opportunities,  passing  through  the  primary  schools 
and  academy  of  his  native  town,  and  entered 
Hamilton  College,  at  Clinton,  New  York,  in 
1833.  Before  attaining  his  majority,  in  1837,  he 
was  graduated  from  that  old  and  solid  institution 
of  learning  with  credit  to  himself  and  his  Alma 
Mater. 

He  at  once  began  the  study  of  law  in  the 
office  of  Hon.  Otis  P.  Granger,  of  Morrisville, 
whose  daughter  he  subsequently  married.  He 
finished  his  legal  studies  at  Buffalo,  New  York, 
and  was  admitted  to  practice  by  the  Superior 
Court  at  Rochester,  in  that  State,  in  1841.  After 
practicing  law  with  success  for  seven  years  in  his 
native  village,  he  felt  the  promptings  of  the  an- 
cestral enterprise,  and  determined  to  cast  in  his 
lot  with  those  fearless  and  energetic  spirits  who 
were  just  then  developing  the  nucleus  of  the 
wonderful  city  on  Lake  Michigan,  whose  future 


greatness  was  beyond  the  predictions  of  their 
wildest  fancies.  Arriving  in  Chicago  in  1848, 
he  set  out  the  next  year  for  California,  and  re- 
mained in  that  modern  El  Dorado  one  year,  re- 
turning to  the  East  by  way  of  Panama  and  New 
York  City. 

At  Morrisville,  New  York,  on  the  I2th  of 
February,  1851,  Mr.  Farwell  led  to  the  marriage 
altar  Miss  Mary  Eliza  Granger,  who  was 
born  in  Morrisville,  November  8,  1829.  Hon. 
OtiS  P.  Granger,  father  of  Mrs.  Farwell,  was  a 
native  of  Suffield,  Connecticut,  his  birth  occur- 
ring February  21,  1796,  and  bore  in  his  veins 
the  blood  of  the  early  English  settlers  of  that 
State.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Williams  College, 
Class  of  1816,  and  became  a  noted  lawyer  in  cen- 
tral New  York.  He  studied  for  his  profession  in 
the  office  of  Talcott  &  Maynard,  and  later  with 
John  Bradish,  of  Utica,  New  York,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar  July  21,  1821.  He  practiced  his 
profession  in  Morrisville,  New  York,  until  1827, 
when  he  was  appointed  Surrogate  of  Madison 
County,  New  York,  and  filled  that  position  thir- 
teen years.  He  passed  away  at  Morrisville  at 
the  venerable  age  of  eighty-seven  years.  His 
first  ancestor  in  this  country  was  Launcelot 
Granger,  who  was  born  in  the  West  of  England 
and  was  brought  to  America  when  fourteen  years 
old.  Mr.  Granger's  wife,  Elvira  Gates,  was  a 
native  of  Morrisville,  daughter  of  Abiather  and 
Lois  (Holt)  Gates,  who  were  natives  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Mrs.  Gates  was  a  descendant  of  Nich- 
olas Holt,  who  came  from  England  to  Connecti- 
cut in  the  early  days  of  that  colony. 

Mrs.  Farwell  is  the  eldest  of  the  four  children 
of  her  parents.  Only  one  beside  herself,  Mrs. 
Agnes  Elvira  Groves,  is  now  living.  She  was 
educated  at  a  female  seminary  at  Utica,  New 
York,  and  was  fitted  by  birth  and  breeding  to  be 
the  companion  of  her  husband  during  his  long 
and  useful  career  in  Chicago.  She  is  a  well-pre- 
served lady,  of  much  natural  refinement,  and  her 
charitable  and  kindly  character  has  made  her  dear 
to  all  who  have  been  privileged  to  come  within  her 
influence.  Two  sons  born  to  Judge  and  Mrs. 
Farwell,  Granger  and  John  Williams  Farwell,  are 
well-known  brokers  of  Chicago.  The  elder,  born 


C.  G.  AVARS. 


459 


in  Chicago,  May  25,  1857,  married  Sarah  C. 
Goodrich,  daughter  of  James  G.  Goodrich,  of 
Chicago,  and  has  five  children:  Leslie,  Ruth 
Goodrich,  Olive,  Sarah  Granger  and  Helen.  The 
younger  son  was  born  in  Chicago,  March  30, 
1862,  and  is  the  stay  and  companion  of  his 
mother. 

It  was  in  1854  that  Mr.  Farwell  settled  perma- 
nently in  Chicago.  He  had  been  admitted  to 
the  Bar  of  Illinois  in  1848,  and  he  now  devoted 
himself  assiduously  to  the  labors  of  his  profes- 
sion, rapidly  winning  for  himself  a  reputation  for 
soundness  and  ability.  In  the  spring  of  1855  the 
firm  of  Goodrich,  Farwell  &  Scovell  was  formed, 
the  senior  member  being  Grant  Goodrich,  who 
was  subsequently  an  honored  occupant  of  the 
Bench  in  Chicago.  A  year  later  Mr.  Scovell 
withdrew,  and  Mr.  Sidney  Smith  joined  the  firm, 
which  became  Goodrich,  Farwell  &  Smith. 

Mr.  Farwell  was  elected  to  the  Circuit  Bench 
in  1870,  and  was  twice  re-elected,  serving  in  a 


most  impartial  and  efficient  manner  nine  years. 
Upon  his  retirement  from  the  Bench,  he  was  en- 
gaged, in  1880,  as  Lecturer  in  the  Union  College 
of  Law,  which  position  he  continuously  filled  un- 
til failing  health  compelled  his  resignation  in 
1893.  His  practical  experience,  his  ripe  scholar- 
ship and  sound  judgment  made  him  especially 
useful  in  preparing  young  men  for  the  practice  of 
law,  and  his  resignation  was  received  with  regret 
by  faculty  and  students.  He  died  April  30, 
1894. 

Judge  Farwell  was  a  faithful  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  in  which  he  appropri- 
ately and  consistently  filled  the  office  of  Deacon 
for  some  time.  In  every  relation  of  life  he  was 
true,  and  the  history  of  his  life  stands  as  an  in- 
spiration and  encouragement  to  young  men  every- 
where. Especially  are  his  upright  life  and  official 
course  commended  to  the  emulation  of  all  who 
wish  to  win  friends  and  enjoy  the  good  opinion 
and  blessing  of  their  fellows. 


CHARLES  G.  AVARS. 


EHARLES  GERRY  AVARS,  a  capable  busi- 
ness man  of  Chicago,  and  at  one  time  one  of 
the  most  widely-known  public  officials  of 
Cook  County,  was  born  at  Newton,  New  Jersey, 
December  28,  1831.  His  parents  were  Rev. 
James  Ayars  and  Harriet  Amelia  Reed,  both  na- 
tives of  Bridgeton,  New  Jersey.  The  family  is  of 
Scotch,  Welsh  and  German  ancestry,  and  fur- 
nished some  of  the  Colonial  emigrants  to  the 
present  United  States.  Noah  Ayars,  grandfather 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  attained  the  age  of 
ninety-three  years,  dying  at  Bridgeton,  New 
Jersey,  about  1858. 

Rev.  James  Ayars  was  educated  at  Bridgeton, 
and  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  in  1827.  He  continued  actively  in 


the  work  of  that  church  for  fifty  years,  holding 
pastorates  in  the  principal  towns  of  New  Jersey. 
In  1856  he  became  Secretary  of  the  American 
Sunday-school  Union.  He  lived  at  Covington, 
Kentucky,  three  years,  and  at  Evanston,  Illinois, 
two  years.  Returning  to  New  Jersey,  he  re- 
entered  the  regular  ministry,  and  died  at  Summit, 
New  Jersey,  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five 
years.  He  was  a  man  of  great  public  spirit,  and 
did  much  work  in  the  temperance  cause  and 
in  the  management  of  municipal  affairs  in  the 
towns  where  he  was  located. 

Mrs.  Harriet  A.  Ayars  died  at  Trenton,  New 
Jersey,  in  1870,  at  the  age  of  sixty- four  years. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  John  Reed,  who  was 
born  in  New  Jersey,  where  he  practiced  medi- 


460 


C.  G.  AVARS 


cine  most  of  his  life.  He  was  also  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods  at  Deerfield, 
New  Jersey.  His  father  was  a  native  of 
Ireland. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  James  Ayars  had  five  sons. 
Enoch  Reed,  the  eldest,  was  a  dentist  in  New 
Jersey,  and  went  to  California  in  1849.  While 
there,  he  joined  Walker's  expedition  to  Nica- 
ragua, was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Rivos, 
and  died  in  hospital.  Charles  G.  Ayars  is  the 
second.  James  was  for  many  years  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Cook  Count}',  and  is  now  deceased. 
William  Henry  Ayars  was  a  student  of  the  North- 
western University  of  Evanston  when  the  Civil 
War  began,  and  enlisted  and  served  eighteen 
months  in  the  Union  army.  He  became  a  Lieu- 
tenant in  a  colored  regiment,  and  was  killed  at 
the  battle  of  Petersburgh,  Virginia.  Howard  B., 
the  youngest,  died  at  the  age  of  five  years. 

Charles  G.  Ayars,  whose  name  heads  this 
article,  gained  his  primary  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  various  points  where  his  father  was 
stationed  in  the  ministry,  and  finished  at  Rutgers 
College,  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey.  At  the 
age  of  seventeen  years  he  entered  mercantile  life, 
being  employed  as  a  clerk  in  stores  at  various 
places.  He  spent  one  year  with  a  wholesale 
paper  house  in  New  York  City,  and  in  1857 
went  to  Covington,  Kentucky,  where  he  entered 
the  general  western  agency  of  the  Phcenix  Fire 
Insurance  Company,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

In  1859  he  became  a  resident  of  Cook  County, 
and  engaged  in  farming  at  Evanston.  Two  years 
later  he  removed  to  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now 
known  as  Forest  Hill,  at  the  crossing  of  the  Wa- 
bash  and  Pan  Handle  Railroads,  where  he  oper- 
ated a  large  farm,  producing  annually  large 
quantities  of  hay  for  the  Chicago  market.  While 
residing  here,  he  served  six  years  as  Clerk  of 
Lake  Township. 

In  1867  he  was  appointed  a  Deputy  Sheriff  of 
Cook  County,  and  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he 
filled  this  position  under  successive  Sheriffs  for 
eight  years.  His  duties  brought  him  in  contact 
with  people  of  all  avocations,  and  he  gained  an 
acquaintance  exceeded  by  few  men.  Probably,  not 
a  half-dozen  persons  know  personally  more  people 


in  Cook  County  than  were  included  in  his  list  of 
friends.  About  this  time  there  was  much  litiga- 
tion over  land  titles.  Many  squatters  had  to  be 
dispossessed,  and  Mr.  Avars'  duties  as  Deputy 
Sheriff  sometimes  brought  him  exciting  experi- 
ences. His  impartiality,  coupled  with  firmness, 
and  his  uniform  kindness  to  the  unfortunate  in- 
spired the  public  with  confidence  in  him,  and 
gained  for  him  a  host  of  true  friends.  In  1874  he 
was  elected  County  Commissioner  for  the  Evans- 
ton  District,  and  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  he 
was  re-elected,  serving  six  years  continuously, 
during  which  period  the  present  court  house 
was  built. 

In  1883  Mr.  Ayars  formed  a  connection  with 
the  Phosnix  Fire  Insurance  Company,  of  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut,  as  State  Agent  for  Illinois, 
having  general  charge  of  all  its  business  outside 
of  Chicago,  which  relation  still  continues.  In 
this  connection  he  travels  all  over  the  State,  giv- 
ing careful  and  diligent  attention  to  his  duties, 
and,  as  a  result,  the  volume  of  business  trans- 
acted by  the  company  in  his  jurisdiction  has  very 
largely  increased. 

Mr.  Ayars  was  married,  April  25,  1859,  to 
Miss  Margaret,  daughter  of  William  Fredenberg, 
of  New  York  City,  where  her  Knickerbocker  an- 
cestors located  in  the  early  Colonial  period.  Many 
of  the  name  now  reside  there,  and  Mrs.  Ayars  is 
the  first  who  left  that  city.  For  twenty-five  years 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ayars  have  been  connected  with 
the  First  Methodist  Church  of  Evanston.  The 
former  is  a  member  of  Evans  Lodge,  Evanston 
Chapter  and  Commandery  of  the  Masonic  order, 
and  of  the  Evanston  Club  and  Evanston  Boat 
Club,  being  among  the  organizers  of  the  last- 
named  organization. 

Mr.  Ayars  was  among  the  supporters  of  John 
C.  Fremont  for  the  United  States  Presidency  in 
1856,  and  since  that  time  has  consistently  ad- 
hered to  the  Republican  party  from  principle. 
His  varied  business  experience  has  given  him 
a  wide  knowledge  of  many  subjects  and  made 
him  a  capable  judge  of  human  nature,  enabling 
him  to  give  to  his  business  and  social  duties  the 
benefit  of  a  mind  ripened  by  years  of  practical 
training. 


.  S.  LACEY. 


461 


EDWARD  S.  LACEY. 


r~DWARD  SAMUEL  LACEY,  President  of 
rp  the  Bankers'  National  Bank  of  Chicago, 
L_  enjoys  a  national  reputation  as  an  able 
financier,  and  has  won  his  way  to  his  present 
honored  position  in  the  business,  social  and  pol- 
itical world  through  his  pre-eminent  perseverance, 
foresight  and  integrity.  He  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Chili,  Monroe  County,  New  York,  November 
26,  1835,  and  is  a  son  of  Edward  DeWitt  and 
Martha  C.  (Pixley)  Lacey. 

Edward  D.  Lacey  was  born  at  Beunington, 
Vermont,  and  died  at  Charlotte,  Michigan, 
November  6,  1862,  aged  nearly  fifty-three  years. 
He  possessed  in  a  notable  degree  those  qualities 
of  integrity,  intelligence  and  tenacity  of  purpose 
for  which  the  people  of  the  Green  Mountain 
State  are  notable.  He  removed,  with  his  par- 
ents to  Monroe  County,  New  York,  when  but 
ten  years  of  age,  and  was  educated  at  Henrietta, 
in  that  State.  He  engaged  in  mercantile  business 
at  Chili,  New  York,  and  in  1842  removed  to 
Michigan,  locating  the  next  year  at  Kalamo, 
Eaton  County,  then  a  comparative  wilderness. 
He  was  a  man  of  prominence  in  that  locality, 
filling  many  positions  of  public  trust  and  respon- 
sibility, and  was  a  leading  spirit  in  the  develop- 
ment and  improvement  of  that  section  of  the  State. 
He  was  a  son  of  Maj.  Samuel  Lacey  and 
grandson  of  Ebenezer  Lacey,  natives  of  Wood- 
bury,  Connecticut.  The  latter  served  in  the 
Connecticut  Line  through  the  Virginia  and  Penn- 
sylvania campaigns  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
under  Generals  Washington  and  La  Fayette,  be- 
coming an  Orderly-Sergeant  in  the  latter's  com- 
mand. He  was  a  son  of  Thaddeus  Lacey,  who 
moved  to  Connecticut  from  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts. The  first  ancestor  in  America  came  from 


the  vicinity  of  Belfast,  Ireland,  and  located  at 
Boston  in  1704. 

Samuel  Lacey  was  born  at  Woodbury,  Con- 
necticut, and  went  with  his  parents — Ebenezer 
and  Mary  (Hurd)  Lacey — to  Vermont  in  1784. 
He  established  the  second  cloth-dressing  works 
in  the  State  at  Bennington,  and  in  1818  removed 
to  Monroe  County,  New  York,  where  he  was  a 
prosperous  and  influential  citizen.  During  the 
War  of  1812  he  was  Major  of  the  First  Regiment 
of  Vermont  Militia,  which  was  called  into  service 
on  the  northern  frontier.  He  assisted  in  the  first 
organization  of  the  Whig  party  at  Syracuse, 
New  York,  in  1835,  and  was  for  many  years  one 
of  its  ablest  supporters.  He  died  at  Marshall, 
Michigan,  May  9,  1863,  in  the  eighty-fifth  year 
of  his  age.  He  married  Ruth,  eldest  daughter 
of  Anthony  Sigourney,  of  Oxford,  Massachusetts, 
a  Revolutionary  veteran,  who  took  part  in  the 
disastrous  campaign  of  1776,  on  Long  Island  and 
about  New  York  City,  being  twice  wounded  in 
battle  during  that  service.  He  was  the  fourth  in 
line  of  descent  from  Andrew  Sigourney,  a  prom- 
inent Huguenot,  who,  with  his  wife,  escaped 
from  Rochelle,  France,  after  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes  in  1685,  and  became  one  of 
the  founders  of  Oxford,  Massachusetts.  Mrs. 
L.  H.  Sigourney,  the  famous  writer  and  poet, 
married  a  descendant  of  the  same  family. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  about  seven 
years  old  when  the  family  settled  in  Eaton 
County,  Michigan,  where  he  continued  to  reside 
until  1889.  He  was  educated  at  the  public 
schools  and  Olivet  College.  At  the  age  of  eight- 
een years  he  began  his  business  career  as  clerk 
in  a  general  store  at  Kalamazoo,  Michigan. 

In  1857  ne  returned  to  his  home  at  Charlotte, 


462 


E.  S.  LACEY. 


Michigan,  and  in  1862,  in  partnership  with 
Hon.  Joseph  Musgrave,  established  a  private 
bank,  which  became,  in  1871,  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Charlotte.  He  was  the  active  manager 
of  this  institution  from  its  organization,  officiat- 
ing as  Director  and  Cashier,  and  upon  the  death 
of  Mr.  Musgrave  became  its  President.  He  was 
distinguished  for  ability  and  thoroughness  in  his 
methods,  and  became  identified  with  many  im- 
portant business  interests.  He  was  a  Director, 
and  for  many  years  Treasurer,  of  the  Grand  River 
Valley  Railroad  Company,  which  he  helped  to 
organize. 

Early  in  his  career  his  fellow-citizens  began  to 
recognize  his  fitness  for  the  discharge  of  public 
duties,  and  his  opinion  on  financial  questions  has 
always  been  accorded  great  consideration.  His 
first  official  position  was  that  of  Register  of 
Deeds  of  Eaton  County,  which  he  held  four  years, 
beginning  in  1860.  In  1874  the  Governor  of 
Michigan  appointed  him  a  Trustee  of  the  State 
Asylum  for  the  Insane,  and  he  continued  to  fill 
this  position  for  six  years.  In  1876  he  was  a 
delegate  to  the  National  Republican  Convention 
at  Cincinnati,  and  from  1882  to  1884  was  Chair- 
man of  the  Republican  State  Central  Committee 
of  Michigan.  He  also  served  as  the  first  Mayor 
of  the  city  of  Charlotte,  and  assisted  in  inaugu- 
rating its  excellent  system  of  public  improve- 
ments. In  1880  he  was  elected  to  Congress  from 
the  Third  Michigan  District,  and  served  two 
terms.  He  was  nominated  by  acclamation  and 
elected  by  a  vote  far  ahead  of  his  ticket  in  each 
instance.  He  declined  to  accept  the  candidacy 
for  a  third  term,  but  in  1886  became  a  candidate 
for  the  United  States  Senate,  in  which  he  was 
unsuccessful,  though  he  showed  great  strength 
and  popularity. 

In  Congress  he  served  on  the  Committees  on 
Postoffices  and  Post  Roads  and  Coinage,  Weights 
and  Measures.  But  he  was  distinguished  chiefly 
through  the  ability  displayed  in  the  consideration 
of  financial  questions.  In  the  Forty-eighth 
Congress  he  attracted  wide  attention  by  a  mas- 
terly speech  on  the  silver  question.  His  address 
on  the  use  of  silver  as  money,  delivered  before 
the  American  Bankers'  Association  in  Chicago  in 


1885,  was  received  with  marked  attention  and 
increased  his  popularity  among  financiers.  His 
prominence  in  monetary  circles  caused  him  to 
be  recommended  by  friends  in  Michigan,  New 
York,  Boston  and  Chicago  for  the  position  of 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  to  which  he  was 
appointed  in  1889. 

This  office,  so  far  as  regards  national  finance,  is 
second  only  to  that  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
His  administration,  extending  from  1889  to  1892, 
covered  one  of  the  most  critical  periods  in  the 
history  of  the  national  banking  system.  He 
pursued  a  vigorous  and  yet  conservative  policy, 
keeping  in  view  the  protection  of  depositors  and 
creditors,  and  his  conduct  of  the  office  was 
endorsed  by  the  ablest  financiers.  His  integrity 
and  ability  have  always  been  recognized,  and  his 
national  reputation  caused  his  services  to  be 
sought  by  many  of  the  leading  financial  institu- 
tions of  the  country.  Believing  in  the  resources 
and  future  of  Chicago,  he  resigned  in  June,  1892, 
to  accept  the  presidency  of  the  Bankers'  Na- 
tional Bank  of  that  city. 

On  New  Year's- Day,  1861,  Mr.  Lacey  married 
Miss  Annette  C.  Musgrave,  daughter  of  his  busi- 
ness partner,  Hon.  Joseph  Musgrave,  of  Char- 
lotte, Michigan.  Two  daughters  and  a  son, 
named,  respectively,  Jessie  P.,  Edith  M.  and 
Edward  Musgrave,  complete  the  family.  Since 
coming  to  Cook  County,  the  family  has  resided 
at  Evanston,  where  it  is  identified  with  the  First 
Congregational  Church.  Mr.  Lacey  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  American 
Revolution,  the  Union  League  Club,  Bankers' 
Club  (of  which  he  has  been  President),  Bankers' 
Athletic  Association,  Evanston  Club  and  Evans- 
ton  Country  Club.  He  has  always  been  an 
enthusiastic  Republican,  and  wields  a  strong 
influence  in  the  party  councils. 

Personally,  Mr.  Lacey  is  a  man  of  fine  phys- 
ique, ready  discernment,  and  pleasing  manners. 
All  who  have  occasion  to  approach  him  in  regard 
to  social  or  business  matters  are  certain  of 
receiving  courteous  attention,  notwithstanding 
the  attention  necessarily  bestowed  upon  the 
financial  and  business  matters  of  great  magni- 
tude entrusted  to  his  management. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


JOHN  TURNER 


MRS.  JOHN  TURNER 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

BNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


JOHN  TURNER. 


463 


JOHN  TURNER. 


(JOHN  TURNER.  While  the  race  is  not  al- 
I  ways  to  the  swift,  or  the  battle  to  the  strong, 
Q)  the  invariable  law  of  destiny  accords  to  tire- 
less energy,  industry  and  ability  a  successful 
career.  The  truth  of  this  assertion  was  abun- 
dantly verified  in  the  life  of  John  Turner.  Every 
step  in  his  progress  was  an  honorable  tribute  to 
industry,  humanity  and  true  manhood.  Mr. 
Turner  was  born  July  10,  1815,  in  Gilberdike, 
Yorkshire,  England,  and  was  a  son  of  William 
and  Mary  Turner,  who  were  natives  of  that 
county.  William  Turner  and  his  wife  had  a 
family  of  two -daughters  and  seven  sons.  Their 
names  were:  Sarah,  Elizabeth,  Thomas,  William, 
Robert,  Leighton,  John,  George  and  Charles. 
With  the  exception  of  the  eldest,  all  became  resi- 
dents of  the  United  States,  and  all  are  now  de- 
ceased except  Charles,  who  resides  in  Detroit, 
Michigan.  William  and  Robert  Turner  emi- 
grated in  1830,  and  two  years  later  Leighton  fol- 
lowed. In  1834  the  parents  came,  bringing  with 
them  one  daughter,  and  the  other  sons.  They 
settled  at  Detroit,  Michigan,  where  the  parents 
died  several  years  ago. 

In  1836  John  Turner  came  to  Chicago,  accom- 
panied by  his  brother  Leighton,  arriving  October 
25,  the  same  day  which  witnessed  the  advent  of 
John  Wentworth.  In  early  life  he  enjoyed  very 
few  advantages,  and  received  only  a  limited  edu- 
cation. He  had  attained  his  majority  when  he 
came  to  Chicago,  and  he  determined  to  seek  the 
broad  field  of  western  enterprise  in  beginning  life 
on  his  own  account.  Estimated  in  dollars  and 
cents,  his  resources  at  this  time  were  very  mea- 
ger, but  in  mental  endowment,  pluck  and  self- 


reliant  manhood,  he  had  abundant  capital.  He 
soon  found  employment  with  the  proprietor  of  the 
old  Lake  House,  being  put  in  charge  of  the 
horses  and  stables.  At  the  end  of  a  year  the 
proprietor  failed  and  was  unable  to  pay  Mr.  Tur- 
ner his  salary,  so  that  the  only  remuneration  he 
received  for  his  first  year's  services  was  the 
gratuitous  contributions  made  by  the  guests  in 
consideration  of  the  excellent  care  he  had  taken 
of  their  horses,  the  whole  of  which  he  carefully 
saved. 

Undaunted  by  his  first  year's  hard  experience, 
he  continued  to  labor,  engaging  in  any  honest 
work  he  was  able  to  procure.  Mr.  W.  B.  Ogden, 
recognizing  the  industry  and  integrity  of  the 
young  emigrant,  urged  him  to  engage  in  the 
livery  business  on  his  own  responsibility,  and 
offered  him  the  necessary  assistance,  and  Silas  B. 
Cobb  insisted  upon  furnishing  him  with  harness 
on  credit.  In  1838  John  and  Leighton  Turner 
opened  a  livery  stable  on  Wolcott  (now  State) 
Street,  between  Kinzie  and  North  Water  Streets. 
They  began  on  a  small  scale,  increasing  their 
business  to  meet  the  growing  demands  of  their 
trade.  They  were  very  prosperous,  and  in  a  few 
years  began  to  invest  their  surplus  capital  in  Gov- 
ernment land  in  Cook  County,  and  the  Turner 
Brothers  soon  began  to  take  rank  among  the  sub- 
stantial and  wealthy  business  men  of  the  city. 

After  a  successful  partnership  of  about  fifteen 
years,  the  brothers  separated,  making  an  equitable 
division  of  their  realty  and  personal  property, 
Leighton  turning  his  attention  to  farming,  and 
John  continuing  the  livery  business.  From  this 
time  on  the  career  of  the  latter  was  a  prosperous 


464 


JAMES  SMITH. 


one,  and  he  erected  a  number  of  valuable  build- 
ings. The  fire  of  1871  swept  away  nearly  his 
entire  fortune,  which  he  had  been  over  thirty 
years  in  accumulating,  and  which  amounted,  at 
least,  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
leaving  him  comparatively  poor.  He  did  not 
attempt  to  rebuild  and  re-commence  his  business 
in  the  city,  but  moved  his  family  to  a  farm  he 
owned  in  Section  19,  Lake  View  Township  (now 
in  the  city),  and  with  the  assistance  of  his  eldest 
son,  set  about  to  retrieve  his  lost  fortune  by  farm- 
ing and  gardening.  By  pushing  this  industry 
vigorously,  he  accumulated  a  handsome  compe- 
tence, and  passed  the  last  years  of  his  life  in  com- 
parative ease  and  retirement. 

January  18,  1843,  Mr.  Turner  married  Miss 
Sarah  Patterson,  sister  of  John  G. ,  and  daughter  of 
Andrew  Patterson,  the  latter  a  pioneer  of  Chicago. 
She  was  born  March  22,  1825,  near  Newburg, 
New  York.  They  had  eight  children,  namely: 
Mary  P. ;  Sarah  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Carman 
Moody,  who  has  one  son,  named  Mervin  Turner 
Moody;  John  W. ;  Charles  Wesley ;  Ella  Bird,  now 
Mrs.  John  Trelease,  who  has  three  children,  Justin 
Patterson,  John  Dudley  and  Ella  Trelease;  Thom- 
as Andrew,  who  married  Fannie  B.  Wilkins;  Hen- 
rietta Pamelia,  wife  of  John  Arthur  Fishleigh, 


who  has  three  sons,  Walter  Turner,  John  Arthur 
and  Clarence  Fishleigh;  and  William  Edward,  all 
of  Chicago.  The  mother  of  this  family  died  May 
14,  1882,  and  Mr.  Turner  passed  away  February 
17,  1892,  their  remains  being  laid  side  by  side  in 
Rosehill  Cemetery. 

For  over  fifty  years  Mr.  Turner  was  an  honored 
and  respected  citizen  of  Chicago  and  Cook  County. 
When  he  came  to  the  city  it  contained  a  popula- 
tion of  about  four  thousand,  so  that  he  witnessed 
almost  the  entire  growth  of  the  second  city  in  the 
Union,  and  bore  no  inconsiderable  part  himself  in 
promoting  its  best  interests. 

From  boyhood  Mr.  Turner  was  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Church,  and  his  delight  was  al- 
ways in  doing  good,  his  religion  being  a  part  of 
his  daily  walk  in  life.  He  was  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
Chicago,  a  liberal  contributor  to  its  building 
fund,  and  for  many  years  its  treasurer.  He  was 
a  friend  to  the  poor,  and  was  always  ready  to  ex- 
tend a  helping  hand  to  the  needy.  He  achieved 
success,  not  by  over-reaching  his  fellow-men,  or 
by  any  questionable  means,  but  through  honest 
industry,  and  he  bequeathed  to  his  family  not 
only  an  abundance  of  this  world's  goods,  but  also 
the  priceless  heritage  of  a  good  name. 


JAMES  SMITH. 


3  AMES  SMITH,  a  retired  farmer  of  Mayfair, 
has   been   identified    with  that  place  thirty- 
three  years.     He  was  born  July  29,  1841,  in 
Yorkshire,  England,  and  is  a  son  of  Francis  and 
Ann  (Robinson)  Smith,  natives  of  Yorkshire.   In 
1845  the  family  moved  to  Canada,    and  settled  in 
Ontario   Count)',   Ontario,   where  Francis  Smith 
bought  a    productive   farm,  which  he  cultivated 
until  his  death,  in   1876.     Mrs.  Smith   still  lives 


there,    aged  ninety-two  years.      They    had   five 
daughters  and  one  son. 

James  Smith  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  Ontario  County,  Ontario,  and  was  reared  to 
the  occupation  of  agriculture,  which  has  been  his 
life  work.  In  1864  he  came  to  Chicago  and  lo- 
cated in  Jefferson  Township,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed at  farm  labor  for  a  short  time.  In  1869 
he  bought  twelve  acres  of  land  in  Montrose, 


R.  Y.  SPIKINGS. 


465 


which  he  sold  four  years  later,  at  an  advance  of 
twelve  thousand  dollars  on  the  cost.  He  after- 
wards bought  twenty  acres,  on  which  he  made  a 
profit  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  during  this 
time  he  was  engaged  in  cultivating  land  he  had 
rented.  By  judicious  investment  he  has  become 
wealthy,  all  his  investments  in  land  proving  a 
success.  He  is  now  the  owner  of  two  hundred 
and  twelve  lots  in  Mayfair  and  in  Jefferson  Town- 
ship. 

In  1873  Mr.  Smith  began  selling  milk  in  a 
small  way,  which  business  has  grown  to  large 
proportions  and  is  conducted  by  his  sons.  Mr. 
Smith  now  devotes  his  time  to  superintending  his 
private  interests,  dealing  in  real  estate  and  loan- 
ing mone}'.  He  attributes  much  of  his  success 
in  life  to  the  influence  of  Mr.  L.  C.  P.  Freer,  who 
was  his  friend  and  adviser  in  most  of  his  im- 
portant transactions. 


April  3,  1866,  Mr.  Smith  married  Miss  Sarah 
Mitchell,  who  was  born  in  Ontario,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Amos  and  Sarah  (Stuart)  Mitchell, 
who  were  of  Scotch  descent.  Her  parents  died 
when  she  was  an  infant,  and  she  was  adopted  into 
the  family  of  Chester  Dickenson.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Smith  have  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  namely: 
Frank  Eugene,  Archie  C. ,  Howard  G. ,  Albert  J., 
Florence  L,.  and  Nellie  G.  The  family  is  con- 
nected with  the  Baptist  Church  of  Irving  Park. 

Mr.  Smith  has  always  been  identified  with  the 
Democratic  party,  but  has  never  sought  any  of- 
fice, preferring  rather  to  spend  his  time  in  the 
conduct  of  his  business.  He  has  achieved  suc- 
cess through  his  careful  attention  to  every  detail 
of  his  business,  and  has  always  been  a  very  busy 
man.  He  well  deserves  his  wealth  and  the  respect 
and  admiration  given  him  by  the  members  of 
the  community  in  which  he  has  his  residence. 


RICHARD  Y.  SPIKINGS. 


RICHARD  YOUNG  SPIKINGS  is  one  of 
the  oldest  living  representatives  of  the  pi- 
oneers of  the  town  of  Jefferson,  and  has  been 
intimately  connected  with  its  growth.  He  was 
born  November  14,  1821,  near  Wisbech,  Cam- 
bridgeshire, England,  where  his  ancestors  had 
lived  for  many  generations.  He  is  the  fifth  son 
of  John  and  Mary-  (James)  Spikings.  The  for- 
mer was  a  farmer  and  land-owner  in  Wisbech, 
where  he  died  in  1847.  His  wife  passed  away 
two  years  later.  They  were  the  parents  of  four- 
teen children,  eight  of  whom  died  in  childhood. 
Six  sons  grew  to  manhood,  of  whom  the  following 
is  the  record:  John  died  in  England;  Thomas 
came  to  the  United  States,  served  in  the  American 
Army  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  afterward  went 
to  South  Africa;  William  came  to  America,  but 


returned  to  England,  where  he  died;  James  was 
a  farmer  in  Valparaiso,  Indiana,  where  he  died; 
Richard  Y.  is  the  subject  of  this  notice;  Henry 
went  to  Africa  as  a  veterinary  surgeon,  and  sub- 
sequently died  there. 

Richard  Young  Spikings  spent  his  boyhood 
on  his  father's  farm.  He  came  to  America  in 
1842,  making  the  voyage  in  a  sailing-vessel,  and 
spending  six  weeks  on  the  trip  from  London  to 
New  York.  He  spent  one  winter  in  Lyons, 
Wayne  County,  New  York,  and  in  1843  came  to 
Chicago.  He  remained  in  the  city  about  ten 
years,  working  for  Archibald  Clybourn  as  a 
butcher  most  of  the  time,  and  one  year  keeping 
the  Old  Bull's  Head  Tavern,  near  the  bridge,  at 
Clybourn's  Place.  During  the  first  few  years 
he  made  frequent  trips  to  London.  In  1852  he 


466 


J.  A.   KAY. 


bought  a  farm  of  sixty  acres  in  Jefferson,  where 
for  several  years  he  raised  vegetables  for  the  city 
market,  but  when  railroads  began  to  open  greater 
facilities  for  transportation,  the  business  became 
less  profitable,  and  in  1859  was  discontinued. 
In  that  year  he  rented  his  farm  and  went  to 
Thornton  Township,  where  he  managed  a  large 
farm  for  Clarence  Dyer.  He  subsequently  be- 
came a  partner  in  a  brewery,  for  which  he  acted 
as  salesman.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil 
War  he  accompanied  an  old  friend,  Maj.  Lewis 
Hubbard,  during  one  year  of.  the  campaign  in 
Missouri,  having  charge  of  the  officers'  baggage 
most  of  that  time.  Being  called  home  by  sick- 
ness in  his  family  in  March,  1862,  he  returned  to 
his  farm,  and  carried  on  general  farming  for  many 
years.  Upon  the  approach  of  old  age,  he  divided 
the  land  among  his  children,  most  of  it  still  being 
owned  by  members  of  the  family. 

July  2,  1847,  he  married  Cornelia  Augusta 
Harding,  who  was  born  in  New  York  City,  and 
is  a  daughter  of  Henry  W.  and  Rachel  Harding. 
The  ceremony  took  place  in  an  old  log  cabin, 
then  the  home  of  Mr.  Harding,  which  was  built 
by  the  Indians,  and  had  been  the  home  of  their 
chief.  Five  children  have  blessed  the  union  of 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spikings,  as  follows:  William,  of 
whom  extended  notice  is  given  elsewhere  within 
this  volume;  Richard,  who  is  deceased;  Cornelia, 
wife  of  John  Hebert;  Louis,  a  contractor  at 
Bowmanville,  Illinois;  Joseph,  a  contractor  in 
Jefferson,  who  died  in  1896;  Zana,  widow  of 
James  Ferguson,  residing  with  her  parents;  and 
George,  also  a  contractor.  All  those  living,  ex- 
cept Louis,  reside  upon  the  home  property. 

Mr.  Spikings  is  a  member  of  Providence  Lodge, 
Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  at  Jefferson. 
He  is  a  Democrat  in  national  political  affairs,  but 
in  the  campaign  of  1896  he  supported  William 
McKinley  for  president,  believing  that  the  issues 
were  not  those  which  usually  separate  the  two 
great  parties.  He  has  ever  been  in  harmony  with 
American  institutions,  and  though  never  aspiring 
to  public  office,  has  conscientiously  fulfilled  his 
duty  as  a  citizen.  He  has  been  a  stanch  friend 
of  the  public  schools,  and  for  many  years  was 
director  in  his  district.  Like  the  majority  of 
pioneers,  he  has  had  to  contend  with  many  trials 
and  hardships,  and  has  lived  to  see  the  land  to 
which  he  has  devoted  the  best  years  of  his  life 
become  a  means  of  wealth  and  independence  to 
his  children. 


JOSEPH  A.  KAY. 


(JOSEPH  ARCHDALE  KAY  was  born  June 
I  i,  1844,  on  the  old  homestead  of  his  parents 
Q)  in  Jefferson  Township,  Cook  County,  Illi- 
nois. He  spent  his  boyhood  on  the  farm  of  his 
father,  Abel  Kay,  attending  school  in  the  winter, 
and  assisting  in  the  labor  of  the  farm  as  soon  as 
he  was  able.  In  1859  he  drove  a  milk  wagon, 
and  took  care  of  an  engine  in  a  grist  mill.  In 
September,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  the  First  Mis- 
souri Cavalry,  Company  D,  which  was  con- 
solidated with  the  Tenth  Missouri  Cavalry  in  the 


winter  of  1862.  He  served  three  years  and  one 
month,  and  then  enlisted  in  Hancock's  Veteran 
Corps,  in  Company  K.  The  first  service  of  his 
company  was  in  Missouri,  against  Price,  at  Pea 
Ridge,  and  soon  after  they  were  in  Arkansas, 
and  then  they  went  down  the  Mississippi  to  a 
point  below  Vicksburg.  In  northern  Mississippi 
he  saw  many  skirmishes  and  battles.  From 
Corinth  they  made  a  forced  march  to  Florence, 
passing  through  Shiloh.  During  the  war  he 
was  home  for  a  few  months  on  furlough.  He 


J.  W.  TURNER. 


467 


spent  one  year  in  the  Veteran  Corps,  and  was 
discharged  April  n,  1866.  During  the  last  of 
Mr.  Kay's  service  he  did  provost  duty  in  Wash- 
ington. 

After  the  war  Mr.  Kay  returned  to  Jefferson 
and  engaged  in  farming.  He  remained  with  his 
mother  two  years,  and  then  moved  to  the  place 
he  now  occupies,  and  has  since  been  engaged  in 
gardening.  His  sons  cultivate  the  farm,  which 
contains  eighteen  and  one- half  acres. 

June  23,  1866,  he  was  married  to  Maggie, 
daughter  of  Alexander  and  Elizabeth  (Best) 
Primrose,  the  former  a  native  of  Scotland  and 
the  latter  of  England.  They  died  in  Jefferson. 
Mrs.  Kay  was  born  in  Elgin,  and  died  October 
3,  1881.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kay  had  nine  children, 
namely:  Marshall,  who  lives  with  his  father; 
Joseph,  deceased;  Stephen,  deceased;  Carrie,  now 


Mrs.  Lincoln  Smith,  who  resides  in  Chicago; 
David,  deceased;  De  Mar,  who  resides  at  home; 
Annie,  who  lives  in  Chicago;  Bert,  deceased;  and 
Maggie,  who  resides  in  Chicago  with  a  sister. 
Mr.  Kay  was  married  November  17,  1886,  to 
Mrs.  Katie  Stull,  of  Monmouth,  Illinois,  and 
they,  have  two  children,  namely:  Jefferson  and 
Edith. 

Mr.  Kay  is  a  member  of  Providence  Lodge, 
No.  711,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  of 
Jefferson  Park,  having  been  connected  with  the 
order  thirty-two  years.  He  is  also  connected 
with  George  H.  Thomas  Post,  No.  5,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  He  takes  an  active  in- 
terest in  politics  and  is  a  supporter  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  He  is  interested  in  local  affairs, 
and  favors  all  movements  for  public  improve- 
ment. 


JOHN  W.  TURNER. 


(JOHN  WESLEY  TURNER,  an  honored  citi- 
I  zen  of  Chicago,  was  born  March  22,  1847, 
Q)  in  the  great  city  of  the  West,  and  is  the  old- 
est son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Patterson)  Turner, 
extended  mention  of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in 
this  volume.  He  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Chicago,  and  grew  to  manhood  in  this 
city,  being  occupied,  when  old  enough,  with  as- 
sisting his  father  in  the  care  of  his  livery  stable, 
and  with  other  business  interests.  When  he 
reached  his  majority,  most  of  the  management  of 
his  father's  affairs  devolved  upon  him.  The 
disastrous  fire  of  1871  swept  away  much  of  the 
fortune  of  the  family,  and  they  removed  to  the 
farm  in  Lake  View,  when  John  W.  Turner  faced 
the  inevitable,  and  resolving  to  do  his  best  for 
the  welfare  of  their  interests,  determined  to  try 
market-gardening,  and  to  make  a  success  of  it. 
He  assumed  almost  the  entire  management  of  the 


farm,  and  personally  contracted  for  the  sale  of 
the  products,  most  of  which  were  disposed  of  by 
wholesale.  Having  lived  all  his  life  in  a  great 
city,  this  life  and  work  were  new  to  him,  and 
it  was  only  by  his  giving  great  energy  and  study 
to  his  labor  that  he  was  able  to  succeid  so  well. 

For  eighteen  years  Mr.  Turner  supplied  the 
Goodrich  line  of  lake  steamers  with  all  their 
vegetables,  besides  making  large  shipments  an- 
nually of  carload  lots  to  different  ports  of  the 
country.  The  cultivation  of  about  sixty  acres  of 
land  for  the  growth  of  vegetables  necessitated  the 
employment  of  considerable  capital  and  labor. 
Mr.  Turner  gave  his  personal  care  and  attention 
to  every  detail  in  the  management  of  his  large 
business,  and  so  successfully  was  it  conducted 
that  about  1890,  father  and  son  were  both  able  to 
retire  from  active  business  cares. 

Since  his  retirement  Mr.    Turner  has  enjoyed 


468 


PROF.  O.  0.  BAINES,  M.  D. 


the  fruits  of  his  industry,  and  he  busies  himself 
in  superintending  the  management  of  his  farms 
in  Niles  Township,  and  other  landed  interests. 
He  has  fully  improved  all  opportunities  for  the 
promotion  of  his  financial  interests,  and  thor- 
oughly enjoys  the  results  of  his  well-directed 
efforts. 

Mr.  Turner  has  always  taken  an  active  in- 
terest in  the  affairs  of  the  country  and  in  men  of 
note,  and  he  keeps  himself  well  informed  on  the 
general  topics  of  the  day.  In  politics  he  is  an 


ardent  supporter  of  Republican  principles,  and  is 
a  recognized  leader  in  the  councils  of  his  party, 
having  for  several  years  been  chairman  of  the 
Central  Republican  Club  of  the  Twenty-sixth 
Ward.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Marquette  Club 
and  of  the  National  League,  and  is  popular 
among  his  friends  and  acquaintances.  Mr.  Tur- 
ner is  a  very  companionable  gentleman,  of  pleas- 
ing presence,  an  entertaining  conversationalist, 
and  possesses  to  a  remarkable  degree  the  qualities 
of  good-fellowship. 


PROF.  OSCAR  O.  BAINES,  M.  D. 


RROF.  OSCAR  ORLANDO  BAINES,  M.  D., 

LX  who  was  one  of  the  most  successful  of  the 
[3  younger  physicians  of  Chicago,  was  born 
March  5,  1863,  in  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio.  His 
father,  William  B.  Baines,  emigrated  from  England 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  and  settled  near  Janes- 
ville,  Wisconsin,  where  he  became  a  prominent 
farmer,  owning  what  was  then  widely  known 
as  the  Willard  farm,  where  Frances  E.  Willard, 
the  famous  temperance  worker,  was  reared.  His 
wife,  whose  parents  were  wealthy  manufacturers 
in  Germany,  came  to  this  country  from  a  little 
village  on  the  Rhine,  when  she  was  twenty-two 
years  old.  Their  children  were:  Mary,  now  the 
wife  of  William  Blandon,  assistant  cashier  of  the 
Merchants'  &  Mechanics'  Bank  in  Janesville, 
Wisconsin;  William,  a  farmer,  who  is  now  de- 
ceased; Charles,  a  thriving  commission  merchant 
in  Omaha,  Nebraska;  Frank,  the  foremost  leaf 
tobacco  merchant  of  Wisconsin;  and  Oscar  O., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Oscar  began  his  education  in  Janesville,  Wis- 
consin, acquitting  himself  with  honor  in  the  pri- 
mary and  high  schools  of  that  city.  He  was  pos- 
sessed of  a  strong  love  for  literary  work,  and  was 
well  adapted  for  the  study  of  medicine,  which  he 


began  in  the  office  of  Dr.  S.  S.  Judd,  of  Janesville. 
After  spending  two  years  there,  he  entered  Bennett 
Medical  College,  Chicago,  and  graduated  in  1885, 
carrying  the  highest  honors  of  his  class.  He 
then  located  in  the  northern  part  of  Chicago,  and 
in  the  fall  of  1886  was  elected  demonstrator  of 
anatomy  at  his  alma  mater.  He  held  this 
position  until  1889,  when  he  was  elected  to  the 
chair  of  general  descriptive  anatomy,  and  in  1890 
he  received  the  additional  honor  of  the  chair  of 
surgical  anatomy  and  the  office  of  secretary  of 
Bennett  College. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  National  Eclectic 
Medical  Association,  of  the  State  Medical  As- 
sociation, and  was  vice-president  of  the  Chicago 
Eclectic  Medical  and  Surgical  Society.  In  1895 
he  received  an  unusual  honor  for  one  of  his 
years,  being  appointed  by  Governor  Altgeld  as  a 
member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health.  He  was 
also  secretary  and  attendant  doctor  of  the  Baptist 
hospital,  at  which  place  he  was  loved  by  all  the 
patients.  Dr.  Baines  ranked  high  among  the 
members  of  his  profession,  both  in  his  specialty 
of  diseases  of  women  and  in  general  medical  and 
surgical  work,  the  extent  of  his  practice  dem- 
onstrating his  standing  in  the  community.  In 


EDUARD  KLEINDIENST. 


469 


politics,  though  non-partisan,  his  sympathies  were 
with  the  Democratic  party,  and  he  belonged  to 
the  honorable  class  of  men  who  always  vote.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church,  and 
was  a  most  worthy  and  respected  citizen. 

He  was  very  ambitious  in  his  profession,  and 
his  fellow- laborers  lost  a  valuable  associate  when 
he  died,  May  19,  1896.  He  was  also  active  in 
social  and  religious  life,  having  been  superin- 
tendent of  the  Lincoln  Park  Congregational  Sun- 
day-school one  year,  and  also  a  deacon  and 
trustee  in  the  church.  He  was  always  ready  to 
come  to  the  aid  of  those  who  needed  a  leader, 
and  always  gave  his  services  cheerfully.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order,  the  Royal 
League  and  the  Royal  Arcanum.  It  is  a  pleasure 


to  know  such  a  man  as  was  Dr.  Baines,  and  to 
have  been  his  friend  is  a  great  privilege.  His 
memory  will  be  cherished  in  Chicago  for  many 
years,  and  his  life  will  be  an  example  to  young 
men  in  this  and  other  generations. 

Christmas  Eve,  1887,  Dr.  Baines  married  Miss 
Ida.  Christie,  daughter  of  Angus  and  Elizabeth 
(Walker)  Christie,  of  Chicago,  who  were  de- 
scendants of  very  old  Canadian  and  English  fam- 
ilies. Mrs.  Baines  was  in  every  way  fitted  to  be 
the  wife  of  a  man  like  her  husband.  She  is  ac- 
complished in  music  and  in  other  ways,  which 
helped  make  the  home  life  pleasant,  and  to  make 
the  home  one  that  it  was  a  pleasure  to  enter.  To 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Baines  were  born  two  children, 
Oscar  Roland  and  Alice  Elizabeth. 


EDUARD  KLEINDIENST. 


FT  DUARD  KLEINDIENST  was  born  Decem- 
rS  ber  14,  1853,  in  Schlesien,  Melisch,  Ger- 
|_  many,  and  is  a  son  of  Gottlieb  and  Anna 
Rosa  (Pittoli)  Kleindienst.  His  maternal  grand- 
father was  lost  in  the  battle  of  Leipsic,  when  his 
mother,  Anna  Pittoli,  was  only  three  years  old. 

Gottlieb  Kleindienst  was  born  in  the  same 
province  as  his  son,  Eduard,  and  was  by  trade  a 
mason  and  a  contractor.  He  settled  in  the 
Province  of  Posen,  near  the  city  of  Posen,  and 
there  followed  his  trade  until  he  died,  in  1868. 
His  wife  is  still  living,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
seven  years.  They  had  nine  children, five  of  whom 
died  in  childhood,  of  diphtheria.  William  died  in 
1889,  in  the  Province  of  Poseu.  The  living  are: 
Charles,  who  follows  the  mason's  trade,  and  lives 
in  Chicago;  Dorothea,  wife  of  Adolph  Peschel,  a 
resident  of  Schokken,  in  Posen;  and  Eduard, 
whose  name  heads  this  sketch. 

Eduard  Kleindienst  removed  to  Posen  with  his 
parents  when  he  was  two  >rears  old.  He  received 


a  common-school  education,  and  then  began  to 
study  for  the  profession  of  architect  in  a  private 
school,  but  he  did  not  follow  this  work.  He 
learned  the  trade  of  mason,  and  had  some  prac- 
tical experience  in  the  work  before  he  came  to 
America,  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  He  came  from 
Bremen  to  New  York,  and  thence  to  Philadelphia, 
where  he  remained  three  months  and  found  em- 
ployment as  an  interpreter  of  the  Polish  and  Ger- 
man dialects. 

After  coming  to  Chicago  he  worked  at  his 
trade  one  year,  and  in  1874  entered  the  employ 
of  Goodwin  &  Elder,  commission  merchants,  and 
spent  three  years  with  them.  After  this  he  spent 
one  year  as  superintendent  in  the  oleomargarine 
factory  of  James  Turner.  He  then  returned  to 
Goodwin  &  Elder  and  was  in  their  employ  two 
and  one-half  years.  He  was  later  emplo3red  as 
salesman  for  ex-County  Commissioner  Knopf,  one 
of  the  largest  commission  dealers  on  the  street,  and 
continued  two  years,  after  which  he  was  with 


470 


C.  W.  TURNER. 


J.  H.  Phillips  &  Company,  commission  merchants, 
over  four  years.  Mr.  Kleindienst  then  entered 
into  partnership  with  F.  Heinze,  under  the  firm 
name  of  F.  Heinze  &  Company.  This  connec- 
tion continued  one  year,  when  it  was  dissolved 
by  mutual  consent.  Mr.  Kleindienst  estab- 
lished a  partnership  with  C.  W.  Cleveland  and 
H.  T.  Marsh,  under  the  name  of  Kleindienst, 
Cleveland  &  Company.  This  continued  only 
about  six  months,  when  his  partners  withdrew  and 
Mr.  Kleindienst  continued  alone  about  six  months. 
He  then  entered  the  employ  of  Barren  &  Bir- 
mingham and  continued  with  them  four  years, 
and  after  that  was  with  N.  E.  Hollis  for  two 
years.  He  was  then  with  O.  P.  Emerson  nearly 
two  years. 


October  27,  1880,  he  married  Maria  Johanna 
Seiring,  a  native  of  Leipsic,  Saxony,  Germany. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  Gottlieb  and  Johanna  (Kohler) 
Seiring.  The  former  died  in  1866,  in  Leipsic, 
and  the  latter  still  lives  in  that  city,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years.  Mrs.  Kleindienst  came  to 
Chicago  in  1872.  She  had  one  child,  who  died 
in  infancy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kleindienst  were  both 
reared  in  the  Lutheran  faith,  and  he  favors  the 
Democratic  party  with  his  political  support.  In 
1885  he  removed  to  Norwood  Park,  where  he 
built  the  handsome  and  comfortable  residence  in 
which  he  now  resides.  He  came  to  this  country 
when  a  very  young  man,  and  has  carved  his  own 
fortune  by  his  perseverance  and  energy,  and  is 
worthy  the  admiration  and  respect  he  receives. 


CHARLES  W.  TURNER. 


EHARLES  WESLEY  TURNER,  a  retired 
clergyman,  living  in  Chicago,  is  the  second 
son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Patterson)  Turner, 
whose  biographies  appear  elsewhere  in  this  vol- 
ume. He  was  born  July  8,  1849,  in  Chicago. 
His  primary  education  he  received  in  the  public 
schools,  and  he  later  attended  tne  Chicago  High 
School,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1869.  He 
spent  one  year  at  the  Chicago  University,  and 
then  took  a  classical  course  at  the  Northwestern 
University,  at  Evanston,  where  he  graduated 
with  the  class  of  1875.  He  was  always  much  in- 
terested in  the  church  and  its  work,  and  in  this 
he  was  encouraged  by  his  father,  who  was  also 
an  influence  and  power  in  such  w.rk.  For  one 
year  after  graduation,  he  was  assistant  secretary 
and  librarian  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation of  Chicago. 

In    1877   Mr.  Turner  removed  to    Milwaukee, 


where  he  filled  the  office  of  general  secretary  of 
the  association  for  a  period  of  six  3Tears,  after 
which  he  spent  five  years  in  South  Dakota,  rest- 
ing, recuperating  his  health,  and  preaching  oc- 
casionally for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
with  which  he  has  all  his  life  been  identified. 
In  1889  he  was  ordained  to  preach,  and  was  as- 
signed to  regular  work  in  the  ministry.  His 
first  charge  was  at  Stockbridge,  Wisconsin,  where 
he  spent  two  years,  and  subsequently  spent  one 
year  at  Elo,  three  years  at  Waukau  and  two  years 
at  Amherst.  In  1896  failing  health  forced  his 
retirement  from  active  labor  in  the  ministry. 

March  19,  1879,  Mr.  Turner  married  Miss 
Florence  N.  Wakeman,  of  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin, 
and  they  became  the  parents  of  seven  children, 
whose  names  are  as  follows:  John  W.,  Frederick 
N.,  Anna  Belle,  Glenn  P.,  Forrest  H.,  Florence 
N.  and  Charles  W. 


GEORGE  BUTTERS. 


GEORGE  BUTTERS. 


OEORGE  BUTTERS,  one  of  the  most 

b  spirited  citizens  of  Oak  Park,  was  born  Sep- 
tember 14,  1849,  in  South  Boston,  a  division 
of  the  Massachusetts  metropolis,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  Arnauld  Cormerais  Butters  and  Caroline 
Elizabeth  (Sampson)  Butters. 

His  first  American  paternal  ancestor  was  Will- 
iam Butters,  who  settled  in  that  part  of  Woburn, 
Massachusetts,  now  called  Wilmington,  in  the 
year  1665.  He  served  in  King  Philip's  War  as 
a  member  of  Capt.  Joseph  Sill's  company.  He 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation  and  also  operated  a 
sawmill  at  Wilmington.  He  probably  came  from 
Dedham,  England,  and  his  posterity  in  the 
seventh  generation,  which  is  now  scattered  all 
over  the  United  States,  is  represented  by  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch.  His  great-grandson,  Samuel 
Butters,  and  a  son  of  the  latter,  who  bore  the  same 
name,  enlisted  from  Wilmington,  in  the  Con- 
tinental army,  and  were  among  the  "Minute  Men" 
who  were  called  out  at  Lexington.  Samuel  But- 
ters, junior,  continued  in  the  service  until  1781, 
and  was  a  corporal  in  Capt.  William  Bird's  com- 
pany, of  Colonel  Webb's  regiment.  His  son, 
William  Butters,  was  a  counselor-at-law,  at  Pitts- 
field,  New  Hampshire,  and  later  at  Boston. 

John  A.  C.  Butters,  who  was  a  son  of  the  last- 
named,  was  born  at  Pittsfield,  New.  Hampshire, 
and  for  some  time  kept  a  book  store  at  Lynn, 
Massachusetts.  He  went  from  there  to  Boston, 
as  bookkeeper  for  Phillips  &  Sampson,  the  lead- 
ing book  publishers  in  the  United  States  at  that 
time.  He  died  at  West  Roxbury,  Massachusetts, 


Febuary  19,  1856,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-four 
years.  His  brother,  William  A.  Butters,  be- 
came a  well-known  citizen  of  Chicago,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  the  auction  and  commission  busi- 
ness for  many  years.  Another  brother,  Isaac  N. 
Butters,  was  a  prominent  business  man  in  Min- 
neapolis, Minnesota.  The  mother  of  these  children 
was  Eloisa  Monreau  Cormerais,  a  daughter  of 
John  Arnauld  and  Jane  Vaughan  (Rindge)  Cor- 
merais, the  former  a  native  of  France. 

George  Vaughan,  great-grandfather  of  Jane  V. 
Rindge,  was  a  lieutenant  governor  of  New 
Hampshire  in  the  early  days  of  that  province. 
He  was  a  grandson  of  Hon.  Richard  Cutt,  and 
married  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Robert  Elliot,  one  of 
the  first  counselors  of  the  province  of  New 
Hampshire.  The  maternal  great-grandfather  of 
Jane  V.  Rindge  was  Col.  Timothy  Gerrish,  a 
grandson  of  Maj.  Richard  Waldr.on,  who  was 
killed  by  Indians  at  Dover,  Massachusetts. 

Mrs.  Caroline  E.  (Sampson)  Butters  was  born 
April  5,  1824,  at  Plympton,  Massachusetts,  and 
died  of  apoplexy  at  Oak  Park,  Illinois,  March  17, 
1893.  She  had  lived  in  Chicago  since  1870,  and 
was  a  member  of  Dr.  N.  W.  Thomas'  Church. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  Capt.  John  Sampson  (who 
commanded  the  Old  Artillery  Company  at  Ply- 
mouth, Massachusetts)  and  Priscilla  (Bramhall) 
Sampson.  Captain  Sampson  represented  the 
sixth  generation  of  descendants  from  John  Alden, 
and  also  Capt.  Miles  Standish,  of  Plymouth 
Colony.  Zabdiel  Sampson,  grandfather  of  Capt. 
John  Sampson,  was  killed  September  9,  1776,  at 


472 


GEORGE  BUTTERS. 


the  battle  of  Harlem,  New  York.  He  enlisted 
from  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  and  had  pre- 
viously served  in  the  French  and  Indian  War. 
During  the  last-named  struggle,  he  was  captured 
by  the  Indians,  who  (as  related  in  Giles  Memorial, 
by  John  A.  Vinton,  page  400)  "tied  him  to  a 
tree  and  amused  themselves  by  throwing  hatchets, 
to  see  how  near  they  could  throw  and  miss."  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  J.  A.  C.  Butters  had  two  children.  The 
eldest,  Mary  Priscilla,  was  born  September  16, 
1847,  at  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  and  died  unmar- 
ried, January  12,  1872,  at  Quincy,  in  the  same 
State. 

George  Butters  attended  a  private  school  at 
West  Roxbury  and  also  at  Brookline,  Massachu- 
setts. At  the  age  of  nine  years  he  went  to  live 
with  an  uncle  at  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  where 
he  attended  the  primary  and  high  schools.  When 
fifteen  years  old,  he  entered  the  employ  of  Samuel 
Greves,  a  furniture  manufacturer  in  Boston,  and 
learned  the  trade  of  upholsterer. 

He  took  up  his  residence  at  Chicago  in  July, 
1868,  and  was  employed  by  D.  Long  &  Com- 
pany, upholsterers  and  furniture  dealers,  in  whose 
business  his  uncle,  William  A.  Butters,  had  an 
interest.  He  became  a  salesman  in  this  estab- 
lishment, and  a  few  years  later  was  employed  as 
bookkeeper.  When  the  business  was  closed  out 
in  1870,  he  entered  the  service  of  William  A. 
Butters  &  Company,  having  charge  of  their  shoe 
department.  The  following  spring,  owing  to  ill- 
health,  he  went  to  Colorado,  where  he  remained 
until  after  the  Great  Chicago  Fire  in  October  of 
that  year.  The  next  spring  he  moved  to  Oak 
Park,  and  purchased  a  tract  of  land,  which  he 
subdivided  and  sold.  He  has  ever  since  given 
his  attention  to  real-estate  investments,  and  was 
in  a  portion  of  these  transactions  associated  with 
the  firm  of  E.  A.  Cummings  &  Company.  He 
is  one  of  the  original  stockholders  of  the  Proviso 
Land  Association  and  also  in  the  Union  Land 
Pool.  He  was  one  of  the  corporators  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  first  board  of  directors  of  the  Cicero  & 
Proviso  Electric  Railroad  Company,  and  was  as- 
sistant consulting  engineer  during  the  construc- 
tion of  its  lines  and  performed  all  the  duties  of 
that  office.  Upon  their  completion,  he  was  elected 


the  first  general  manager  of  the  company,  and 
was  later  elected  president,  to  succeed  D.  J.  Ken- 
nedy. He  held  this  position  until  February, 
1896,  and  is  still  one  of  the  directors. 

He  has  always  manifested  a  great  interest  in 
the  progress  and  development  of  Oak  Park,  es- 
pecially of  the  portion  known  as  Ridgeland.  He 
has  not  only  sought  to  promote  its  material 
growth,  but  has  wisely  taken  a  leading  part  in 
the  work  of  developing  the  intellectual  culture 
and  social  instincts  of  the  people.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  members  of  the  Ridgeland  Literary  Club, 
an  organization  which  became  very  popular, 
grew  rapidly  and  was  eventually  merged  into  the 
Ridgeland  Hall  Association,  a  corporation  which 
included  most  of  the  citizens  among  its  stock- 
holders, and  erected  the  handsome  brick  block 
on  Lake  Street  known  as  Ridgeland  Hall.  Mr. 
Butters  was  president  of  this  corporation  until  it 
disbanded. 

November  17,  1872,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Maria  Shaw  Bramhall,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
a  daughter  of  William  Bramhall,  president  of  the 
Shawmut  National  Bank  of  that  city,  and  his 
wife  Elizabeth  (Shaw)  Bramhall.  The  only  child 
of  this  marriage,  George  Russell  Butters,  born 
October  6,  1878,  died  July  21  of  the  following 
year.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Butters  are  connected  with 
Unity  Church  of  Oak  Park. 

Mr.  Butters  was  made  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
fraternity  in  Lincoln  Park  Lodge,  No.  611,  of 
Chicago.  He  subsequently  joined  Harlem  Lodge 
of  Oak  Park,  in  which  he  has  held  all  the  prin- 
cipal offices,  being  elected  worshipful  master  in 

1879,  in  which  lodge  he  is  now  a  life  member. 
He  was  created  a  sublime  prince  of  the  thirty- 
second  degree,  October  5,  1875,  in  Oriental  Con- 
sistory of  Chicago,  of  which  he  is  also  a  life  mem- 
ber.    He  was  made  a  Knight  Templar  April  28, 

1880,  in    Apollo    Commandery,    Chicago,    from 
which  he  was  demitted  to  join  Siloam  Command- 
ery of  Oak  Park.     He  was  made  a  Noble  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine,  in   Medinah  Temple  of  Chicago, 
November    20,    1891.     He   is  one   of  the   early 
members  of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars  of  Illi- 
nois, and  also  of  the  Illinois  Society,  Sons  of  the 
American  Revolution . 


HENRY  SCHADE. 


473 


Mr.  Butters  has  always  been  a  Republican  in 
political  principle.  In  1877  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Oak  Park  Board  of  School  Di- 
rectors, and  served  six  years,  being  at  first 
secretary,  and  later  president  of  the  board.  It 
was  during  this  time  that  the  first  school  build- 
ing at  Ridgeland  was  erected.  In  1878  he  was 
elected  assessor  of  the  town  of  Cicero,  and  was 
five  times  successively  re  elected.  This  office 
made  him  an  ex-officio  member  of  the  Town 
Board  of  Trustees,  and  at  the  expiration  of  his 
services  as  assessor,  in  the  spring  of  1884,  he 
was  elected  treasurer  of  the  town.  In  the  year 
1889  he  was  elected  a  town  trustee  for  the 
term  of  four  years.  During  this  period  of  eleven 
years  of  his  connection  with  the  Town  Board 


he  served  on  the  most  important  committees  of 
that  body. 

He  helped  to  organize  the  first  fire  company 
in  the  town  of  Cicero,  known  as  the  Ridgeland 
Fire  Association,  was  elected  its  first  president, 
and  has  held  that  position  most  of  the  time  since. 
This  organization  created  an  endowment  fund 
by  subscription,  with  which  it  built  the  first  en- 
gine house  in  the  town,  installed  the  first  system 
of  electric  fire  alarms,  and  has  introduced  most  of 
the  improved  features  of  the  service  in  that  town. 

In  recent  years  Mr.  Butters  has  spent  con- 
siderable time  in  the  preparation  of  a  large  volume 
entitled  "A  History  of  the  Butters  Family,  from 
1666  to  1896,"  which  he  published  in  the  latter 
year,  at  his  own  expense. 


HENRY  SCHADE. 


HENRY  SCHADE,  who  is  now  conducting  a 
florist's  establishment  in  Norwood  Park, 
was  born  December  26,  1839,  in  Prussia, 
and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and  Margaret  Schade,  na- 
tives of  that  country.  In  1846  they  came  with 
their  family  of  three  children  to  Chicago.  Henry 
Schade,  senior,  was  a  painter  and  decorator,  and 
worked  at  his  trade  many  years  in  Berlin. 
His  first  employment  in  Chicago  was  on  Mr. 
Ogden's  house,  and  he  was  engaged  at  his  trade 
when  he  could  find  such  employment,  until  his 
death,  from  cholera,  in  1856.  His  widow  is  still 
living,  and  is  eighty-three  years  old.  They  had 
six  children,  three  of  whom  were  born  in  Chi- 
cago. They  are:  Nicholas,  of  No.  239  North 
Avenue,  Chicago;  Henry,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Julius  Nieman,  of  No. 
235  North  Avenue;  Peter,  of  South  Dakota;  Hat- 
tie,  deceased;  and  Margaret,  Mrs.  Bruno  Hacker, 
residing  on  North  Avenue. 

Henry   Schade  of  this  notice  was  educated  in 


the  parochial  schools  of  Saint  Joseph  and  Saint 
Michael's  Churches.  At  the  age  of  fourteen 
years  he  began  to  learn  the  trade  of  upholstering, 
and  after  completing  this  was  employed  at  his 
trade  by  the  Tobey  Furniture  Company.  He 
remained  with  this  company  thirty-three  years, 
thus  demonstrating  his  ability  and  faithfulness. 
In  1883  he  bought  six  acres  of  land  in  Norwood 
Park,  and  moved  his  family  to  it.  He  sold  this 
land  later,  and  bought  about  an  acre  and  a- 
quarter  where  he  now  lives,  at  the  corner  of 
Evergreen  and  Locust  Streets.  In  1895  he  es- 
tablished his  present  greenhouses,  where  he  cul- 
tivates roses,  carnations,  geraniums  and  potted 
flowers  for  the  city  market. 

August  4,  1861,  Mr.  Schade  married  Miss 
Margaret  Stelzer.  She  was  born  in  Baden,  Ger- 
many, May  7,  1843,  and  is  a  daughter  of  George 
Michael  and  Margaret  Barbara  Stelzer,  who  came 
to  Chicago  in  1856.  Soon  after  their  arrival  the 
father  died,  and  the  mother  lived  only  until  1860. 


474 


I.  N.  HUESTIS. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schade  have  four  children,  namely: 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Christ  Otto;  Christina,  wife  of 
Charles  Stacle;  Peter  and  Henry,  the  latter  being 
still  at  home.  Mr.  Schade  was  reared  in  the 
Catholic  faith,  but  he  is  not  now  a  member  of 
any  church.  Mrs.  Schade  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

At  the  time  of  the  Great  Fire  of  1871,  Mr. 
Schade  lived  at  No.  237  North  Avenue  and  was 
burned  out,  losing  about  five  thousand  dollars. 
In  the  cyclone  which  passed  through  Norwood 
Park  May  24,  1896,  he  lost  about  four  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  property,  but  fortunately  his 
family  escaped  without  injury.  Mr.  Schade  was 


a  member  of  the  Volunteer  Fire  Department  ot 
Chicago  six  years  and  a- half,  from  about  1852, 
and  nearly  lost  his  eyesight  in  the  fire  of  1858. 

He  has  always  taken  an  active  interest  in  pub- 
lic affairs,  and  is  a  Republican  in  politics.  He 
is  public-spirited,  and  keeps  informed  on  the 
topics  of  the  day,  thus  proving  his  interest  in  the 
progress  of  the  country  of  his  adoption.  He  is 
connected  with  the  Ancient  Order  of  Druids,  and 
also  with  the  German  Working  Society,  of  which 
societies  he  is  a  valuable  member.  His  flourish- 
ing business  gives  evidence  of  his  diligence  and 
thrift,  and  he  has  the  high  regard  of  a  large  circle 
of  friends. 


ISAAC  N.  HUESTIS. 


«VSAAC  NEWTON  HUESTIS,  who  has  been 
connected  with  the  business  interests  of  Chi- 
X,  cago  and  Cook  County  for  nearly  half  a 
century,  was  born  May  19,  1824,  at  Dover, 
Dutchess  County,  New  York.  He  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Emmeline  (Losee)  Huestis,  both  mem- 
bers of  old  New  York  families.  John  Huestis 
was  a  son  of  Reuben  Huestis,  and  was  born  at 
Dover,  where  he  died  about  1827.  His  wife  sur- 
vived him  to  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-eight 
years,  passing  away  in  1892.  They  were  the 
parents  of  four  children,  namely:  Harriet,  Mrs. 
Daniel  Chase,  who  resided  in  Providence,  Rhode 
Island,  and  is  now  deceased;  Isaac  N.,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch;  Elias,  deceased,  who  formerly 
lived  in  New  York;  and  Edwin,  deceased,  whose 
home  was  in  New  Jersey. 

Isaac  N.  Huestis  was  deprived  of  a  father's 
care  at  the  age  of  three  years,  and  lived  with  his 
paternal  grandfather  until  he  was  ten  years  old, 
and  from  this  time  on  he  was  obliged  to  earn  his 
own  living.  He  obtained  work  with  farmers, 
and  attended  school  during  the  winter  months. 


In  1840  he  went  to  New  York  City  and  entered  a 
dry-goods  store  as  clerk,  continuing  this  occupa- 
tion until  1852,  when  he  came  to  Chicago  and 
found  employment  in  the  same  line  of  business, 
continuing  about  four  years.  He  then  obtained 
a  situation  as  conductor  on  the  first  line  of  horse- 
cars  used  in  Chicago.  His  route  was  from  Lake 
to  Twelfth  Street,  on  State  Street,  and  he  was  the 
second  conductor  employed  by  the  company. 

Subsequently  he  engaged  in  the  lime  trade, 
which  business  he  followed  successfully  until 
1873,  and  then,  having  acquired  a  competence, 
he  decided  to  retire  from  active  business.  Ac- 
cordingly he  removed  to  Jefferson  Park,  and 
there  built  the  pleasant  and  comfortable  home 
which  he  now  occupies.  After  a  few  years,  how- 
ever, as  might  be  expected  from  one  of  his  ener- 
getic nature,  he  felt  the  need  of  occupation ,  and 
accordingly  engaged  in  the  insurance  business, 
in  which  he  is  quite  actively  interested.  He 
served  as  justice  of  the  peace  between  the  years 
1877  and  1894,  during  which  time  his  business 
increased  rapidly. 


A.  W.  LANDON. 


475 


October  28,  1854,  Mr.  Huestis  married  Altieri 
Butler,  a  native  of  Chicago,  and  daughter  of  Na- 
thaniel F.  and  Rachel  (Little)  Butler.  Her  father 
went  from  New  Hampshire  to  New  York,  settling 
at  Watertown,  and  moving  from  there,  in  1837, 
to  Chicago,  where  he  engaged  in  the  hardware 
business.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Huestis  had  nine  chil- 
dren, of  whom  the  following  are  living:  Lilian  B., 
widow  of  Charles  S.  Brown,  who  resides  at  May- 
fair;  Celia  T.,  wife  of  Fred  E.  Eldred,  city  sealer 
of  Chicago;  Altieri  A.,  Mrs.  Arthur  W.  Dickin- 
son, residing  south  of  Jefferson  Park;  Eva  M., 
Mrs.  David  Gilliard,  of  Mayfair;  and  Isaac  J., 
who  resides  with  his  parents. 

Mr.   Huestis  has  been  a  supporter  of  the  Re- 


publican party  since  its  organization,  before 
which  time  he  was  a  Whig.  Fraternally  he  is 
connected  with  Providence  Lodge,  No.  711,  An- 
cient Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  at  Jefferson 
Park,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Society  of 
the  Sons  of  New  York.  For  the  past  ten  years 
he  has  been  a  school  trustee,  and  for  some  time 
was  notary  public.  He  has  gained  his  success 
by  his  own  efforts,  and  is  truly  a  self-made  man. 
He  still  writes  much  of  the  insurance  in  his  lo- 
cality. He  is  the  owner  of  considerable  property 
on  the  West  Side  in  Chicago,  and  in  Jefferson. 
He  is  a  prominent  and  representative  citizen  of 
the  town  of  his  residence,  and  enjoys  the  respect 
of  a  large  circle  of  acquaintances. 


ALBERT  W.  LANDON. 


GILBERT  W.  LANDON.  Everyone  identi- 
LJ  fied  with  the  broad  work  of  humane  societies, 
/  |  or  cognizant  of  the  good  they  have  done, 
will  regret  that  Albert  W.  Landon,  editor  and 
publisher  of  The  Humane  Journal,  has  passed 
away.  He  died  at  his  home  in  Chicago,  February 
20,  1897. 

For  many  terms  Mr.  Landon  filled  with  abil- 
ity the  office  of  secretary  of  the  Illinois  Hu- 
mane Society  and  the  American  Humane  Asso- 
ciation. When  he  resigned  it  was  to  broaden 
the  scope  of  his  usefulness,  through  the  medium 
of  The  Humane  Journal,  and  his  success  in  this 
direction  has  been  great.  It  is  to  be  deplored 
that  after  a  vigorous  campaign  of  upwards  of  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  in  defense  of  the  dependent 
of  the  human  race  and  the  helpless  of  the  dumb 
animal  creation,  he  overtaxed  his  physical 
strength.  The  work  which  he  so  ably  conducted 
must  be  assumed  by  others,  whose  accomplish- 
ments in  the  future,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  not  fall 
short  of  his. 


Born  in  the  vicinity  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  May 
4,  1840,  Mr.  Landon  was  in  his  fifty-seventh  year. 
At  a  youthful  age  he  left  home  to .  find  a  resi- 
dence in  Indianapolis,  where  he  remained  ten 
years.  He  acquired  the  printer's  trade,  becom- 
ing an  adept  in  job  work.  His  great  taste  for  the 
art  preservative  of  all  arts  prompted  him  to  se- 
cure a  more  promising  field  for  his  efforts.  This 
he  sought  in  the  Garden  City.  He  arrived  here 
in  1865  with  means  enough  to  establish  a  busi- 
ness which  for  a  long  time  prospered  at  Nos.  121 
and  123  Clark  Street,  under  the  style  of  Landon 
&  Kroff,  printers. 

Ill  health  eventually  caused  Mr.  Landon  to  in- 
hale the  invigorating  ozone  of  Minnesota.  The 
Northern  Star,  a  flourishing  daily  and  weekly  pub- 
lication at  Minneapolis,  became  his  property. 
Though  not  conducive  to  his  health,  the  Chicago 
spirit  possessed  him  and  the  year  1869  found  him 
once  more  in  the  bustle  and  strife  of  the  prosper- 
ing young  metropolis.  On  his  return  to  Chicago, 
Mr.  Landon  invested  in  real  estate,  which  was 


A.   W.  LANDON. 


rising  in  value  under  the  influence  of  a  boom, 
and  he  acquired  money  easily. 

At  the  time  of  the  Great  Chicago  Fire  he  was 
associated  with  the  late  E.  M.  Haines  in  the 
publication  of  The  Legal  Adviser.  Mr.  Haines, 
whose  death  occurred  a  few  years  since,  left  an 
honored  name,  prominently  identified  with  the 
State's  history.  As  an  indication  of  the  enter- 
prise evinced  by  Mr.  Landon  it  may  be  stated 
that  within  ten  days  after  the  fire  of  1871  he  had 
formed  a  partnership  with  a  former  Cincinnati 
friend,  and  under  the  name  of  Landon,  Boyd  & 
Company,  had  five  steam  presses  in  operation  in 
an  old  planing  mill  at  the  junction  of  Twelfth  and 
Lumber  Streets. 

The  same  enthusiasm  which  resulted  in  prompt 
decisions  in  time  of  disaster  seems  to  have  actuated 
Mr.  Landon  as  a  man  of  affairs  throughout  his 
subsequent  career.  He  was  married  April  22, 
1893,  to  Mrs.  Martha  J.  Manning,  daughter  of 
William  McDwine  and  Ruth  A.  (Dean)  Mc- 
Dwine.  She  survives  him,  and  now  ably  edits 
The  Hii.ma.ne  Journal,  having  taken  up  the  work 
previous  to  her  husband's  illness,  thus  carrying 
on  a  part  of  his  life  work.  Mr.  Landon  always 
voted  the  Republican  ticket.  He  was  identified 
with  Englewood  Lodge,  No.  690,  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons,  and  was  made  a  life  mem- 
ber April  6,  1893. 

Before  the  initial  meeting  of  the  Illinois  Hu- 
mane Society,  Albert  W.  Landon's  heart  was 
tenderly  in  the  work.  He  loved  all  nature  and 
delighted  in  its  cultivation.  His  mind  could 
brook  no  abuse  of  the  smallest  plant  or  blossom, 
while  the  protection  of  the  dumb  animal  and  the 
defenseless  of  the  human  kind  was  his  constant 
care. 

The  Stock  Yards  of  Chicago  at  one  time  pre- 
sented an  opportunity  for  faithful,  disinterested 
work  in  the  humane  cause.  It  had  to  be  done 
without  price,  without  the  applause  of  man.  The 
populace  had  not  been  wrought  to  the  point  of 
opposing  the  flagrant  abuses  existing  there;  in 
fact,  it  was  not  generally  known  that  reforms  in 
this  quarter  were  called  for. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  habit  of  shippers 
whose  cattle  arrived  too  late  on  Saturday  for 


market  to  confine  their  property  in  pens  through- 
out Sunday  without  water.  The  aim  was  ad- 
ditional profit.  It  was  believed  that  by  exciting 
an  abnormal  thirst  until  Monday  morning  and 
then  giving  unlimited  quantities  of  fluid  to  the 
parched  beasts,  just  before  the  opening  of  busi- 
ness, the  animals  would  be  induced  to  consume 
enough  to  greatly  enhance  their  weight. 

This  inhumane  system  had  been  carried  on  un- 
interruptedly for  years,  when  Mr.  Landon  under- 
took the  apparently  hopeless  task  of  ending  the 
heartless  practice.  His  crusade  in  the  interest  of 
those  who  could  not  speak  for  themselves  brought 
him  to  the  Stock  Yards  every  Sunday,  regardless 
of  inclement  weather,  and  the  neglected  dumb 
prisoners  were  given  relief.  The  righting  of  a 
wrong  and  the  consciousness  of  a  good  deed  done 
were  his  reward,  and  to  his  niind  he  was  well 
compensated. 

Through  Mr.  Landon's  devotion  to  his  friend, 
the  horse — ever  his  pet — the  city  parks  to-day  af- 
ford spacious,  attractive  drinking  fountains. 
Though  purely  a  labor  of  love,  it  was  not  always 
an  easy  task  to  interest  public  officials  in  reforms 
upon  the  results  of  which  we  are  now  accustomed 
to  look  as  being  a  matter  of  course. 

Stories  might  be  evolved  from  the  experiences 
of  Mr.  Landon,  which  cover  a  period  of  three  dec- 
ades, in  his  efforts  to  suppress  chicken  fighting, 
coupled  with  his  thrilling  adventures  among  the 
rough  elements  of  society  which  fostered  the  cruel 
sport. 

Mr.  Landon  took  with  him  the  benediction  of 
countless  friends,  who  have  learned  to  esteem  him 
for  his  unselfish  devotion  to  the  helpless  ones  in- 
cluded in  his  motto:  "We  speak  for  those  who 
cannot  speak  for  themselves."  Just  before  his 
death,  Ferdinand  W.  Peck  said  of  Mr.  Landon: 
"Mr.  Landon  has  done  more  for  the  Humane  So- 
ciety work  in  Illinois  than  all  others,"  which 
expression  is  echoed  by  many  letters  sent  to  him 
before  he  died. 

The  following  resolutions  in  connection  with 
the  death  of  Mr.  Landon  were  adopted  by  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Illinois  Humane  So- 
ciety at  a  meeting  held  on  April  17,  1897: 

WHEREAS,   It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  tore- 


A.  C.  T.    PREGLER. 


477 


move  from  our  midst  Albert  W.  Landon,  one  of 
the  most  useful  and  honored  members  of  our  So- 
ciety, who  by  thirty  years  of  faithful  toil  as 
founder  and  publisher  of  The  Humane  Journal 
and  other  good  works,  has  rendered  most  valuable 
service  to  this  Society  and  to  the  humane  cause 
in  general,  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  while  we  deeply  deplore  his 
death,  and  fully  realize  that  we  have  lost  one  of 
our  most  valuable  members,  yet  we  know  that 
the  influence  of  his  life  and  work  will  go  on,  and 
that  his  memory  will  be  cherished  because  of  his 
kindly  life  and  deeds. 


Resolved,  That  we  extend  to  the  bereaved  fam- 
ily of  our  departed  brother  our  sincerest  sympathy 
in  their  affliction. 

Resolved,    That   these    resolutions    be   spread 
upon  the  records  of  this  Society,  and  that  the 
secretary  be  requested  to  send  a  copy  to  the  fam- 
ily of  our  deceased  brother. 
A  true  copy  of  the  records. 

JOHN  G.  SHORTALL, 

President. 
Attest:  BELDEN  F.  CULVER, 

Secretary. 


ANTON  C    T.  PREGLER. 


Gl  NTON  CLEMENT  THOMAS  PREGLER, 
LJ  a  prominent  citizen  of  Jefferson  Township, 
/  I  was  born  September  21,  1849,  in  Kuntenberg, 
Bohemia,  and  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Mary 
(Strachovsky)  Pregler,  both  of  whom  were  na- 
tives of  that  country.  Thomas  Pregler  was  a 
son  of  George  Pregler,  and  was  at  one  time  a  rev- 
enue officer  of  Austria,  and  afterwards  was  en- 
gaged in  the  mercantile  business.  He  came  to 
America  in  1865,  his  wife  being  already  here,  as 
she  and  her  son  Louis  emigrated  in  1864.  After 
he  had  lived  in  America  about  ten  years,  he  and 
his  son,  Anton  C.,  engaged  in  the  grocery  busi- 
ness, which  they  continued  for  eighteen  years. 
Thomas  Pregler  died  February  7,  1889,  and  his 
wife  survived  him  seven  j-ears.  They  were  the 
parents  of  three  children,  namely:  Rosa,  who 
married  Joseph  Novak,  and  died  March  23,  1892; 
Anton  C.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Louis, 
who  died  in  1896. 

Anton  Pregler  attended  the  public  schools  of 
his  native  country,  and  later  a  business  college  in 
Prague.  He  came  to  America  when  he  was  in 
his  sixteenth  year,  and  upon  settling  in  Chicago, 
he  attended  the  Foster  School  two  years.  When 
he  was  about  eighteen  years  old,  he  began  to 


learn  the  trade  of  silver  gilding  on  picture  frames 
and  mouldings,  which  industry  he  followed  six 
years.  Then  he  entered  the  grocery  trade  with 
his  father,  as  above  stated,  at  No.  440  South 
Jefferson  Street.  After  several  years  thus  spent, 
he  bought  property  and  erected  a  building  to  rent 
for  a  summer  resort,  but  he  decided  to  occupy  it 
himself  when  it  was  completed.  The  building 
is  still  standing,  and  is  situated  on  the  North 
Branch  of  the  Chicago  River,  in  Jefferson 
Township. 

He  owns  thirteen  acres  of  land,  on  which  are 
situated  ar  park  and  three  picnic  grounds,  which 
are  made  attractive  by  an  artificial  pond,  stocked 
with  fish,  and  many  cages  containing  a  large 
variety  of  animals,  such  as  wolves,  foxes,  deer 
and  birds.  He  has  provided  swings  and  a  merry- 
go-round  for  the  amusement  of  children,  and 
everything  needed  to  accommodate  the  people  who 
patronize  the  grounds,  and  to  make  a  successful 
picnic.  They  are  used  mostly  by  lodges  and 
societies. 

Mr.  Pregler  was  united  in  marriage,  September 
28,  1880,  with  Miss  Julia  Raback,  daughter  of 
Joseph  and  Magdalena  (Steinbach)  Raback,  and 
a  native  of  the  same  part  of  Bohemia  as  himself. 


478 


THOMAS  WHELDON. 


Joseph  Raback  was  born  in  Bohemia,  and  his 
wife  was  of  German  origin.  They  emigrated  to 
America,  settling  first  in  Milwaukee,  and  later  in 
Chicago,  where  Mr.  Raback  died  in  1885,  and 
his  wife  ten  years  later.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pregler 
were  both  reared  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  still  attend  its  worship.  In  politics  Mr.  Pregler 
supports  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party. 

Mr.  Pregler  has  always  been  much  interested 
in  relics  and  has  made  a  handsome  collection  of 
curiosities,  among  which  are  many  mementoes  of 
the  days  when  this  region  was  occupied  by  the 


American  Indians.  He  sent  fifteen  hundred  ar- 
ticles of  interest  to  the  school  which  he  formerly 
attended  in  his  native  land,  where  they  occupy  a 
place  of  honor,  and  are  much  admired  and  studied. 
He  is  a  lover  of  music,  and  was  the  founder  of 
the  Bohemian  Singing  Society  in  Chicago.  He 
is  now  a  member  of  what  is  termed  the  Lyre 
Singing  Society,  and  was  formerly  connected 
with  the  T.  J.  Sokol  Bohemian  Turner  Society. 
He  is  a  man  who  enjoys  social  life,  and  who 
holds  the  friendship  and  good-will  of  his  country- 
men and  friends. 


THOMAS  WHELDON. 


'HOMAS  WHELDON  was  bom  May  2, 

1834,  in  section  19  of  Niles  Township,  and 
was  a  son  of  James  and  Sarah  (Bins) 
Wheldon,  both  natives  of  England.  James  Whel- 
don  and  his  wife  emigrated  to  America  in  1832, 
and  settled  in  Niles  Township  soon  after  their 
arrival,  buying  a  quarter-section  of  land  from  the 
Government  when  it  was  put  upon  the  market. 
At  that  time  the  Indians  were  numerous  in  this 
part  of  the  country.  He  cleared  a  tract  of  land 
for  a  farm,  and  built  himself  a  comfortable  home, 
engaging  in  farming  until  his  death,  August 
25,  1868.  His  good  wife  died  January  6,  1862. 
They  had  three  children,  namely:  Elizabeth, 
Sarah  and  Thomas.  Elizabeth  became  the  wife 
of  Joseph  Bickerdike,  of  Jefferson,  and  is  now 
deceased.  Sarah  is  the  widow  of  John  Winter, 
who  died  some  years  ago,  and  resides  in  Perry, 
Iowa. 

Thomas,  the  youngest  child  of  his  parents,  was 
reared  to  farm  labor,  and  received  only  a  very 
limited  education,  as  the  schools  near  the  home 
of  his  boyhood  were  few  and  poor.  He  inherited 
the  old  homestead,  and  was  engaged  in  its  culti- 
vation all  his  life,  being  quite  successful.  He 


was  also  proficient  as  a  veterinary  surgeon,  and 
had  a  large  practice,  treating  the  horses  and  cat- 
tle of  his  neighbors. 

In  politics  Mr.  Wheldon  was  a  Republican,  but 
he  refused  to  accept  any  public  office,  though  re- 
peatedly urged  to  do  so.  He  took  a  great  inter- 
est in  educational  matters,  and  although  his  own 
opportunities  had  been  few,  he  had  improved 
them,  and  was  a  competent  member  of  the  school 
board.  He  also  took  an  active  part  in  church 
work, adhering  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  being  quite  liberal  in  its  support. 

April  29,  1863,  Mr.  Wheldon  married  Miss 
Mary  Ann  Kay,  daughter  of  Abel  and  Elizabeth 
(Paylor)  Kay,  natives  of  Yorkshire,  England, 
and  early  settlers  in  Cook  County.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wheldon  had  five  sons,  but  the  eldest, 
James  A.,  died  when  three  years  old.  Those  liv- 
ing are:  Charles  A.,  who  is  in  the  employ  of 
Siegel,  Cooper  &  Company,  Chicago;  Thomas  J., 
a  machinist,  and  a  resident  of  Edison  Park; 
George  W.  and  Joseph  Abel,  who  reside  with 
their  mother.  Mr.  Wheldon  died  April  17,  1896, 
and  his  widow  still  occupies  the  old  homestead 
in  Niles. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


COL.  E.  D.  SWAIN 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


E.  D.  SWAIN. 


479 


EDGAR  DENMAN  SWAIN,  D.  D.  S. 


f~  DGAR  DENMAN  SWAIN,  D.  D.  S.,  is  en- 
KS  gaged  in  the  practice  of  dentistry  at  the 
I  corner  of  Randolph  and  State  Streets,  Chi- 
cago, and  is  prominent  in  both  professional  and 
military  circles.  He  was  born  in  Westford,  Vt., 
in  August,  1836,  and  is  a  son  of  Dr.  Marcus  and 
Charlotte  (Woodbury)  Swain.  On  the  paternal 
side  he  is  of  Scotch  lineage,  and  on  the  maternal 
side  is  of  English  descent.  The  father  became  a 
resident  of  Oshkosh,  Wis.,  in  1857,  and  during 
the  war  he  was  appointed  Surgeon  of  the  Wis- 
consin Penitentiary  at  Waupun.  About  1878,  he 
removed  to  Englewood,  111.,  and  thence  to  Glen- 
coe,  where  his  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-nine. His  wife  died  in  Waupun,  Wis.  In 
their  family  were  four  sons  and  two  daughters: 
Edgar  D.  of  this  sketch;  Dr.  Oliver  D.,  a  resi- 
dent of  Chicago;  Marcus  W.,  who  was  killed  in 
a  railroad  accident  in  1862;  George  A.,  who  died 
of  typhoid  fever  in  the  army  in  the  summer  of 
1863;  and  Alice  M.  and  Charlotte,  both  living. 

The  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  sketch 
remained  under  the  parental  roof  until  seventeen 
years  of  age,  and  then  left  home,  going  to  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  where  he  worked  in  a  machine- 
shop.  He  afterward  removed  to  Saratoga  Springs, 
N.  Y.,  where,  in  1855,  he  began  the  study  of  den- 
tistry. Two  years  later  he  became  a  resident  of 
Wisconsin  and  began  practice  in  Oshkosh.  Sub- 
sequently he  was  engaged  in  the  prosecution  of 
his  profession  in  Aurora,  111.,  and  inBatavia,  111. 
Mr.  Swain  watched  with  interest  the  progress 
of  events  which  preceded  the  Civil  War,  and  after 
the  South  had  attacked  Ft.  Sumter,  he  resolved 
to  strike  a  blow  in  defense  of  the  Union.  He 
raised  a  company,  and  on  the  22d  of  July,  1861, 


became  Captain  of  Company  I,  Forty-second  Illi- 
nois Infantry.  He  was  afterward  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel,  in  October,  1863,  and 
in  1865  was  placed  in  command"  of  the  Second 
Brigade,  Second  Division,  Fourth  Army  Corps. 
He  served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  and  took 
part  in  many  important  engagements,  including 
the  Fremont  campaign  in  Missouri.  His  was  the 
first  regiment  to  enter  Columbus,  Ky. ,  and  with 
his  company  he  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Island 
No.  10,  being  largely  instrumental  in  its  capture. 
Under  the  command  of  Gen.  Polk,  he  then  went 
to  Hamburg,  Tenn.,  and  aided  in  the  capture  of 
Corinth.  The  following  summer  he  was  employed 
in  guarding  railroads,  and  in  the  fall  was  ordered 
to  report  to  Gen.  Buell,  of  Nashville,  remaining 
with  the  command  of  Gen.  Negley  in  possession  of 
that  city  during  Bragg  and  Buell' s  Kentucky 
campaign.  After  the  cessation  of  hostilities  his 
regiment  was  ordered  to  Texas  for  duty.  Dr. 
Swain  was  finally  mustered  out  in  Springfield,  111. , 
on  the  1 2th  of  January,  1866.  He  was  wounded 
in  the  left  knee  at  New  Hope  Church,  Ga. ,  and  for 
three  months  his  injury  would  not  permit  him  to 
engage  in  active  service,  but  he  saw  nearly  all  of 
the  important  campaigns  of  the  war  west  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  and  was  in  twenty-seven 
engagements. 

Dr.  Swain's  connection  with  military  affairs 
has  since  continued,  and  in  army  circles  he  is  a 
leader.  In  1877,  he  became  Major  of  the  First 
Regiment  Illinois  National  Guards,  and  took  part 
in  suppressing  the  railroad  riots  of  that  year.  In 
August  he  was  made  Lieutenant- Colonel,  and  in 
December,  1877,  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
Colonel,  in  which  capacity  he  served  for  four  years, 


480 


WILLIAM    HAHNE. 


when  he  resigned.  He  has  long  been  a  promi- 
nent member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public, served  for  three  years  as  Commander  of 
George  H.  Thomas  Post,  and  for  two  years  was 
Commander  of  the  Department  of  Illinois.  He 
has  also  served  as  Senior  Vice- Commander  in 
Chief  of  the  National  Encampment,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  military  order  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of 
the  United  States. 

After  the  war,  Dr.  Swain  began  the  practice  of 
dentistry  in  Chicago,  and  for  a  time  was  associated 
with  Dr.  Cushing,  and  afterward  with  Dr.  Noble. 
Since  1870  he  has  been  alone  in  practice,  and 
now  finds  little  time  for  other  pursuits.  He  is  an 
accomplished  microscopist  and  has  given  much 
time  to  the  investigation  of  histology.  He  was 


President  of  the  Chicago  Dental  Society  in  1874 
and  of  the  Illinois  State  Dental  Society  in  1875. 
He  was  also  Secretary  of  the  latter  for  two  terms, 
and  was  Secretary  of  the  Chicago  Octontological 
Society.  At  present  he  is  Dean  of  the  dental 
department  in  the  Northwestern  University.  The 
degree  of  D.  D.  S.  was  conferred  upon  him  by  the 
Ohio  Dental  College  in  March,  1883. 

Dr.  Swain  was  married  in  1869  to  Miss  Clara 
Smith,  who  was  born  in  Kane  County,  111. ,  and 
is  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Smith,  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  Chicago.  The  Doctor  is  a  close  observer 
and  careful  student,  thorough  and  industrious  in 
all  undertakings,  and  has  steadily  risen  in  his 
profession  until  he  is  numbered  among  the  lead- 
ing dentists  of  the  city. 


WILLIAM   HAHNE. 


P<J)ILLIAM  HAHNE,  a  well-known  citizen 
\A/  anc^  Dealer  *n  agricultural  implements  in 
Y  V  Mattison,  Cook  County,  was  born  in  Han- 
over, Germany,  February  2,  1834,  and  is  one  of 
six  children,  namely:  Emma,  Henry,  Mary, 
Frederick  Diedrich,  William  and  Louis.  Their 
parents,  Diedrich  and  Marie  (Biermann)  Hah ne, 
were  also  natives  of  Germany.  The  father  died 
when  our  subject  was  about  seven  years  of  age, 
leaving  quite  an  estate  to  the  eldest  son,  Henry, 
who  was  to  care  for  and  educate  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family.  With  his  younger  brothers 
and  sisters,  therefore,  he  left  his  native  land  and 
set  sail  for  the  New  World,  landing  in  Chicago 
on  the  2d  of  October,  1850. 

WTilliam  Hahne  acquired  his  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Germany.  At  the  age  of  six- 
teen he  was  apprenticed  for  three  years  to  Will- 
iam Way  man,  a  wagon  and  carriage  maker  of 
Chicago.  After  learning  his  trade,  he  worked 
for  John  Borinan  and  Mr.  Whitbeck,  both  of 


Chicago.  In  1858  he  embarked  in  business  for 
himself  in  Elk  Grove,  Cook  County,  where  he 
carried  on  operations  as  a  wagon  and  carriage- 
maker  until  1862.  In  that  year  he  came  to  Mat- 
tison and  continued  in  the  same  business,  to  which 
in  a  short  time  he  added  a  complete  line  of  agri- 
cultural implements  and  farm  machinery.  About 
the  year  1882,  on  account  of  failing  health,  he 
abandoned  wagon  and  carriage  making,  but  still 
carries  on  the  other  lines,  and  is  now  enjoying  a 
prosperous  trade,  which  is  the  sure  reward  of  un- 
tiring energy  and  straightforward  business  prin- 
ciples. 

Mr.  Hahne  was  married  in  the  summer  of  1858 
to  Sophia  L.  Shumacher,  daughter  of  John  Shu- 
macher,  a  native  of  Germany.  She  was  born  in 
the  same  country  in  1836.  Their  children  are: 
John  Frederick  Henry,  who  was  born  in  Elk 
Grove,  Cook  County,  111. ,  June  n,  1859,  and  died 
January  23,  1865;  Dora  Maria  Berthe,  who  was 
born  in  Elk  Grove,  Cook  County,  111.,  Septem- 


NORMAN  REXFORD. 


481 


ber  21,  1860,  and  is  now  the  wife  of  William  H. 
Depke,  a  grocer  of  Danville,  111. ;  Henrietta  D. 
Marie  Emma,  born  in  Elk  Grove  April  18,  1862, 
the  wife  of  Fred  Utermark,  proprietor  of  the  Mat- 
tison  House,  of  Mattison,  Cook  County,  111.; 
Marie  Caroline,  who  was  born  in  Mattison,  and 
is  the  wife  of  Henry  Tueachman,  a  cigar  manu- 
facturer of  Chicago  Heights;  Willemine  Dorethea 
Mathilda,  who  was  born  in  Mattison,  March  n, 
1866,  and  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Kort,  a  baker  of 
Dalton,  111.;  Diedrich  William  F.,  who  was  born 
in  Mattison,  November  12,  1867,  and  is  a  grocer 
of  Danville,  111. ;  Henry  Carl  George,  who  was 
born  January  18,  1870,  and  died  October  12, 
1880;  H.  Gus  Louis,  who  was  born  January  23, 
1873,  and  died  December  18,  1874;  Caroline 
Marie  Sophia,  born  in  Mattison,  February  3, 
1874;  Anna  Sophia  Dorthe,  born  October  23, 
1876;  and  Amanda  Marie  W.  C.,  born  in  Matti- 
son, January  12,  1883.  The  last  three  are  at 
home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hahne  are  members  of  the  Ger- 
man Lutheran  Church,  and  have  educated  their 
children  in  that  faith,  and  have  also  given  them  a 
thorough  English  education.  Mr.  Hahne  has 
ever  been  a  liberal  contributor  to  the  support  of 
the  church.  His  education  was  acquired  in  the 
schools  of  the  Fatherland  when  quite  young,  but 


although  he  never  attended  the  public  schools 
after  coming  to  America,  by  observation  and  close 
application,  he  has  acquired  a  good  knowledge  of 
English.  He  is  an  ardent  supporter  of  our  pub- 
lic-school system,  and  his  influence  has  been 
thrown  into  every  educational  movement.  To 
him  more  than  to  any  other  citizen  of  Mattison  is 
the  public  indebted  for  ten  months  school  in  each 
year,  not  only  in  the  public,  but  also  in  the  paro- 
chial schools.  As  Director  or  Township  Treas- 
urer, he  has  served  almost  continuously  since  his 
arrival  in  Rich  Township. 

On  the  22d  of  October,  1856,  Mr.  Hahne  re- 
ceived his  naturalization  papers,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing November  he  cast  his  first  vote.  He  has 
always  been  a  stanch  Republican,  holding  firmly 
to  the  principles  upon  which  the  organization  of 
this  party  was  based.  He  has  held  the  office  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the  long  period  of  twenty- 
five  years,  that  of  Notary  Public  for  twelve  years, 
and  President  of  the  Village  Board  of  Trustees 
for  four  years.  To  the  performance  of  his  duties 
he  has  brought  an  intelligent  mind  and  the  right 
idea  of  the  practicability  of  a  movement.  He 
is  true  to  every  trust,  and  his  public  and  private 
life  are  alike  above  reproach.  Happy  in  a  promis- 
ing family,  he  has  become  the  possessor  of  a  rep- 
utation for  unsullied  integrity  of  character. 


NORMAN  REXFORD. 


REXFORD,  deceased,  the  first 
|  /  permanent  settler  of  Blue  Island,  and  for 
I  Is  many  years  one  of  its  most  prominent  citi- 
zens, will  be  long  remembered  among  the  pioneers 
of  northern  Illinois  for  his  hospitality  and  kindly 
manner.  Mr.  Rexford  was  born  in  Charlotte, 
Vt.,  June  4,  1802,  and  died  at  Blue  Island,  March 
28,1883.  He  was  a  son  of  Benajah  and  Zeruia 
(Squire)  Rexford,  who  had  six  children:  Ste- 


phen, Norman,  Isabel  (Mrs.  Fayette  Dickson), 
HeberS.,  Elsie  Ann  (Mrs.  Cooley)  and  Ruth, 
who  died  in  childhood.  Benajah  Rexford  was 
born  in  Wallingford,  Conn.,  June  23,  1780,  and 
died  at  WTestfield,  N.  Y.,  March  25,  1862.  His 
second  wife,  Roxana  Ayer,  of  Stanstead,  Conn., 
bore  him  six  children:  Wilder  A.,  Betsy  L. 
(Mrs.  Daniel  Morse),  Olive  H.  (Mrs.  Isaac 
Relf),  Louisa  A.  (Mrs.  Thaddeus  Ayer),  So- 


482 


NORMAN  REXFORD. 


phronia   H.    (Mrs.    L,.    Harmon)    and    Thomas 
Ayer. 

Benajah  Rexford  represented  the  fifth  genera- 
tion of  his  family  in  America,  being  descended 
from  Arthur  Rexford,  an  English  ship-master, 
who  was  married  at  New  Haven,  Conn.,  Septem- 
ber 3,  1702,  to  Elizabeth  Stevens.  Their  eldest 
son  was  also  named  Arthur,  and  his  first  wife, 
Jemima,  bore  him  eight  children,  one  of  whom, 
named  Benjamin,  served  in  the  Continental  army. 
He  married  Esther  Hall,  and  they  had  eleven 
children,  the  eldest,  Benjamin,  being  also  a  Rev- 
olutionary soldier.  The  latter  married  Catherine 
Rice,  and  Benajah  was  the  eldest  of  their  six 
children. 

Norman  Rexford  removed  while  a  young  man 
to  Ripley,  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
was  married,  January  10,  1828,  to  Julia  Wattles, 
daughter  of  Chandler  and  Diana  (Murray)  Wat- 
tles. Soon  after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Rexford  re- 
moved to  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  thence,  in  1835,  he 
drove  by  team  to  Chicago,  arriving  on  the  5th 
day  of  June.  He  first  located  at  Bachelor's 
Grove,  Cook  County,  where  his  brother  Stephen 
had  preceded  him  in  1833.  A  few  months  later, 
Norman  Rexford  located  at  Long  Wood,  near  the 
north  end  of  ' '  the  island, ' '  where  he  kept  tavern 
in  a  log  cabin  of  four  rooms.  In  November,  1836, 
he  removed  to  the  present  village  of  Blue  Island. 
A  small  log  cabin  had  been  erected  the  previous 
year  by  a  man  named  Courtney.  This  was  a  rude 
structure,  only  12x15  feet,  without  floor,  and  was 
the  only  building  within  the  present  limits  of  the 
village.  Mr.  Rexford  proceeded  to  build  a  hewed 
frame  building  for  a  hotel.  This  was  sided  with 
boards  drawn  by  team  from  Pine  Creek,  Ind., 
over  one  hundred  miles  distant,  the  lumber  cost- 
ing $40  per  thousand.  The  building  stood  on  the 
east  side  of  Western  Avenue,  at  the  top  of  the  bluff, 
on  or  near  the  site  of  the  present  post-office.  As 
the  country  was  rapidly  filling  up  with  emigrants, 
this  hotel  was  well  patronized.  It  was  after- 
wards enlarged,  and  continued  to  be  a  landmark 
until  1858,  when  it  was  destroyed  by  fire.  It  was 
known  as  the  Blue  Island  House.  Many  a  social 
gathering  was  held  therein,  and  many  of  the  pio- 
neers of  Chicago  and  other  points  twenty  or  thirty 


miles  distant  often  drove  thither  to  trip  "the  light 
fantastic"  upon  its  floor.  The  fun  was  frequently 
continued  until  morning,  many  of  the  guests  re- 
maining to  breakfast  before  departing  for  their 
homes.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  the  prairie 
roads  were  often  almost  impassable.  It  was  cus- 
tomary with  Mr.  Rexford  to  hang  beacon  lights 
in  the  upper  windows  of  the  house  on  dark  nights, 
as  a  guide  to  all  belated  travelers  who  might  be 
struggling  through  the  mire  or  the  severe  storms 
of  winter. 

In  1838,  a  postoffice  was  established  at  Blue 
Island,  and  Mr.  Rexford  served  as  Postmaster  for 
a  number  of  years,  during  which  time  his  son 
Fayette  carried  the  mail  on  horseback  from  Chi- 
cago to  Buncombe,  111.,  a  distance  of  ninety  miles, 
making  weekly  trips.  Letter  postage  was  twen- 
ty-five cents,  and  nearly  every  house  along  the 
sparsely-settled  route  was  a  postoffice.  In  1852, 
Mr.  Rexford  sold  out  the  hotel  and  removed  to  a 
farm  adjoining  the  village,  where  the  balance  of 
his  days  were  spent.  Most  of  the  farm  is  now  in- 
cluded in  the  village,  and  it  has  appreciated  in 
value  to  an  extent  little  dreamed  of  by  him  at  the 
time  of  his  purchase.  Mrs.  Julia  Rexford  still 
resides  at  Blue  Island,  at  the  venerable  age  of 
eighty-four  years.  The  following  is  a  record  of 
their  children:  Fayette  D.  is  proprietor  of  the 
Centralia  House  at  Centralia,  111. ;  Laura  A. ,  who 
became  the  wife  of  A.  B.  Kyle,  ofEnglewood,  is 
now  deceased;  Clarissa  C.  is  now  Mrs.  H.  H. 
Massey,  of  Blue  Island;  Norman  B.  is  a  well- 
known  citizen  of  that  place;  Mary  D.  died  in 
childhood;  Julia  married  James  B.  Massey,  and  is 
now  deceased;  Susan  Mary  is  deceased;  Elizabeth 
P.  died  in  childhood;  and  Heber  Squire  became  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Blue  Island,  where  his  death 
occurred  in  1882. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rexford  were  active  members  of 
the  Universalist  Church,  and  were  interested  in 
many  benevolent  and  charitable  works.  Seldom 
was  a  man  turned  away  from  their  door  for  want  of 
food  or  money,  although  their  generosity  was 
sometimes  imposed  upon.  Mr.  Rexford  never 
engaged  in  litigation,  or  wished  to  see  others  do 
so.  It  is  said  that  at  one  time,  after  trying  in 
vain  to  adjust  a  quarrel  between  two  of  his  neigh- 


WILLIAM  HAMILTON. 


bors,  he  paid  the  amount  in  dispute  out  of  his  own 
pocket,  rather  than  see  them  engage  in  a  lawsuit. 
In  early  life  he  was  an  active  Democrat,  but  af- 
terwards became  a  Republican.  A  stanch  adher- 


483 


ent  of  every  progressive  movement,  it  may  be 
truly  said  that  Blue  Island  owes  much  of  its  pres- 
ent prosperity  to  the  example  of  public  spirit, 
forethought  and  enterprise  set  by  Mr.  Rexford. 


WILLIAM  HAMILTON. 


f*J  <SiILLIAM  HAMILTON,  who  resides  in  Bre- 
\  A  I  men  Township,  where  he  is  living  retired, 
V  Y  ^'"joying  a  rest  which  he  has  truly  earned 
and  richly  deserves,  was  born  in  Ballymolin, 
County  Down,  Ireland,  in  April,  1808,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  and  Mary  Ann  Hamilton,  both  of 
whom  sj:,ent  their  entire  lives  on  the  Emerald 
Isle,  reaching  a  very  advanced  age,  the  father 
living  to  be  one  hundred  and  four  years  old,  and 
his  wife  to  be  eighty-six.  The  year  1822  witnessed 
the  arrival  of  William  Hamilton  in  this  country. 
He  lived  for  nine  years  in  New  York  City,  where 
he  learned  the  plasterer's  trade,  and  also  engaged 
in  making  date  roofs.  In  1838  he  came  West 
and  took  up  his  residence  in  Bremen  Township, 
Cook  Count\  ,  then  an  undeveloped  and  unsettled 
region.  Tht.  Indians  occupied  lands  adjoining, 
and  for  several  years  he  had  only  two  white  neigh- 
bors for  miles  around.  The  family  lived  in  a  log 
cabin,  and  wtnt  through  all  the  experiences  of 
frontier  life.  In  1850  Mr.  Hamilton  built  the 
present  family  homestead,  in  which  he  has  since 
lived.  He  has  been  a  successful  farmer  and  man 
of  business,  and  increased  his  landed  possessions 
from  eighty  to  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres. 
As  an  investment,  he  early  bought  city  lots  in 
Blue  Island,  which  he  subsequently  sold  at  a  fine 
profit,  and  later  made  very  successful  investments 
in  Hyde  Park  property,  which  is  now  owned  by  his 
children.  In  1879  he  retired  from  active  life,  and 
at  that  time  apportioned  his  property  among  his 
children.  He  is  now  spending  his  declining  years 
on  the  old  homestead  with  his  son  John,  and,  al- 


though he  has  reached  the  advanced  age  of  eigh- 
ty-six, he  still  enjoys  excellent  health.  He  is 
one  of  the  honored  pioneers  of  the  county,  and  by 
all  who  know  him  is  held  in  high  regard.  Since 
fourteen  years  of  age  he  has  been  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  his  life  has  been  in 
harmony  with  his  profession. 

In  1837  William  Hamilton  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Mary  Ann  Kelley,  of  New  York 
City.  Her  death  occurred  in  December,  1887,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  They  were  the 
parents  of  five  children,  four  of  whom  are  yet  liv- 
ing: William,  a  resident  of  Hyde  Park;  Mary 
Jane,  wife  of  W.  A.  Briggs,  of  Hyde  Park; 
Margaret,  wife  of  John  P.  Roberson,  of  Hyde 
Park;  and  John,  who  owns  the  old  homestead  in 
Bremen  Township.  The  fourth  child,  James  G. , 
lost  a  limb  in  front  of  Richmond,  Va.,  in  October, 
1864,  while  serving  in  Company  G,  Thirty-ninth 
Illinois  Regiment.  He  died  May  7,  1885,  aged 
forty -one  years. 

Jofcn  Hamilton  was  born  on  the  home  farm, 
July  27,  1842.  During  his  boyhood  he  attended 
the  public  schools  and  Hillsdale  (Mich.)  College. 
In  1864,  having  completed  his  education,  he 
returned  home,  and  since  that  time  has  de- 
voted his  energies  to  his  extensive  farming  inter- 
ests. Since  1879  he  has  had  charge  of  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  of  good  land,  comprising  one 
of  the  most  valuable  farms  in  this  section  of  Illi- 
nois, and  for  the  past  sixteen  years  he  has  made 
a  specialty  of  the  dairy  business.  He  keeps  on 
hand  about  fifty  cows,  and  has  met  with  excellent 


484 


JOHN    McELDOWNEY. 


success  in  that  enterprise.  He  also  raises  some 
fine  horses,  and  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  lead- 
ing farmers  and  stock-dealers  of  this  locality. 

On  the  i6th  of  November,  1882,  Mr.  Hamilton 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Alma  G.  Lucas, 
daughter  of  George  and  Baibara  (Drummond) 
Lucas,  whose  family  numbers  five  children,  the 
others  being  Margaret,  wife  of  W.  Hulet,  of  Bre- 
men Township;  Robert  and  Arthur,  well-known 
farmers;  and  Clara  L->  wife  °f  Dexter  Minard, 
who  is  represented  elsewhere  in  this  work.  The 
father,  George  Lucas,  was  a  native  of  the  Buck- 
eye State,  but  during  his  boyhood  left  his  Ohio 
home,  and  has  since  resided  in  Illinois.  By  oc- 


cupation, he  is  a  farmer.  His  wife  is  a  native  of 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. ,  and  a  daughter  of  James  and 
Margaret  (McMartin)  Drummond. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hamilton  have  been  born  three 
children,  Margaret  Florence,  Emily  Clara  and 
John  Emerson,  and  all  are  still  under  the  parental 
roof.  In  his  political  views,  Mr.  Hamilton  is  a 
stalwart  advocate  of  Republican  principles,  and 
has  served  as  School  Trustee  of  Bremen  Town- 
ship, but  has  never  sought  political  preferment, 
desiring  rather  to  give  his  entire  time  and  atten- 
tion to  his  business  interests,  in  which  he  has 
met  with  good  success. 


JOHN  McELDOWNEY. 


(TOHN  McELDOWNEY,  one  of  the  honored 
I  pioneers  of  Cook  County,  has  for  almost 
(*)  sixty  years  resided  on  the  site  of  Chicago 
Heights,  although  it  was  long  years  after  his  ar- 
rival that  the  town  sprang  into  existence.  The 
history  of  Cook  County  as  a  frontier  settlement  is 
well  known  to  him,  and  the  experiences  of  the 
pioneer  form  a  part  of  his  record.  He  was  born 
in  Ireland,  on  the  nth  of  October,  1811.  His 
father,  John  McEldowney,  and  his  grandfather, 
who  also  bore  the  name  of  John,  likewise  were 
natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle.  The  mother,  who  in 
her  maidenhood  was  Martha  Caldwell,  was  born 
in  Ireland,  and  was  a  daughter  of  James  and  Jane 
(Moorhead)  Caldwell.  Mr.  McEldowney,  the 
father,  was  a  farmer,  and  followed  that  occupation 
throughout  his  entire  life.  In  1832,  he  crossed 
the  Atlantic  to  Canada,  and  in  1836  came  to  Cook 
County,  111.,  where  he  spent  his  remaining  days, 
his  death  occurring  on  the  2oth  of  January,  1875. 
With  the  Presbyterian  Church  he  held  member- 
ship. His  wife  was  called  to  her  final  rest  March 
5,  1861.  They  were  married  in  1810,  and  became 


the  parents  of  nine  children,  namely:  John  of  this 
sketch;  Jane,  who  was  born  January  21,  1814, 
became  the  wife  of  Robert  Wallace,  and  died 
in  1874;  James,  who  was  born  May  4,  1816,  has 
followed  farming  throughout  his  life,  and  now  re- 
sides in  Chicago  Heights;  Ann,  who  married  John 
Hughes,  and  died  May  4,  1888;  Thomas,  born  De- 
cember i,  1821,  retired,  living  in  Chicago  Heights; 
Rosana,  born  May  28,  1822,  and  who  died  May  17, 
1845,  being  the  first  one  interred  in  Bloom  Ceme- 
tery; Catherine  J.,  born  June  15,  1824,  thewifeof 
Stewart  B.  Eakem;  Martha,  who  was  born  Jan- 
uary 21,  1827,  became  the  wife  of  John  W.  Mor- 
rison, a  minister  of  Bloom  for  twenty-five  years, 
and  died  on  the  2d  of  May,  1894;  and  Elizabeth, 
born  July  10,  1829,  deceased,  wife  of  j'ohn  Miller. 
The  eldest  member  of  the  family,  in  whom  the 
readers  of  this  volume  are  especially  interested, 
well  deserves  representation  in  the  history  of  his 
adopted  county.  He  acquired  his  education  in 
the  public  schools,  and  remained  on  the  Emerald 
Isle  until  1832,  when,  with  his  father,  he  boarded 
a  sailing-vessel  and  became  a  resident  of  Canada. 


JOHN    McELDOWNEY. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


EVERITTE   ST.  JOHN. 


485 


There  he  began  working  on  a  farm,  receiving  $7 
per  month  for  his  services.  He  was  thus  era- 
ployed  until  1835,  when  he  resolved  to  seek  his 
home  in  Illinois,  and  in  the  spring  of  that  year 
started  for  Chicago.  He  made  the  first  part  of 
the  journey  on  foot  as  far  as  Burlington,  Vt.,  and 
by  way  of  the  Canal  and  Lakes  to  Detroit,  from 
whence  he  came  on  foot  to  his  destination,  a  dis- 
tance of  three  hundred  miles. 

For  two  months  Mr.  McEldowney  worked  in 
the  New  York  Hotel  stable.  He  has  cut  hay 
where  the  court  house  of  Chicago  now  stands,  and 
has  witnessed  almost  the  entire  growth  and  devel- 
opment of  Cook  County.  On  the  i  st  of  July,  1835, 
he  took  up  his  residence  at  Thorn  Grove,  now 
Chicago  Heights,  and  made  a  claim  of  four  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  on  sections  28  and  29,  Bloom 
Township,  for  which  he  paid  the  usual  Govern- 
ment price  of  $1.25  per  acre.  His  first  home  was 
a  log  cabin,  built  on  the  site  of  the  present  town, 
and  there  he  lived  in  true  pioneer  style.  His 
farming  was  done  with  crude  machinery,  and  he 
worked  early  and  late  in  order  to  make  a  start. 
His  enterprise,  perseverance  and  industry  were  at 
length  crowned  with  success,  and  at  one  time  he 
was  the  owner  of  a  very  valuable  farm  of  five 
hundred  and  twenty  acres.  He  acquired  a  hand- 
some competence,  which  now  enables  him  to  rest 
from  business  cares. 

On  the  1 5th  of  July,  1836,  Mr.  EcEldowney 


married  Miss  Ann  Wallace,  daughter  of  William 
and  Elizabeth  Wallace,  and  a  native  of  Ireland, 
born  June  4,  1814.  They  have  eight  children. 
Dorothy,  who  was  born  March  28,  1838,  became 
the  wife  of  James  Hunter,  and  died  June  28, 
1870;  Mary  A.,  born  May  17,  1840,  isthewifeof 
Samuel  McDowall,  an  attorney  at  law,  engaged  in 
practice  in  Salt  Lake  City;  William  J.,  born  June 
30,  1843,  is  President  of  the  Chicago  Heights 
Bank;  Martha  E.,  born  May  19,  1846,  died  Feb- 
ruary 27,  1867;  James  H.  was  born  May  20,  1848; 
Margaret  J.,  born  May  13,  1850,  died  on  the  6th 
of  July  following;  Rebecca,  born  October  8,  185^ 
is  the  wife  of  William  J.  Campbell,  an  attorney 
at  law;  and  Andrew  W.,  born  February  6,  1854, 
completes  the  family. 

Since  the  organization  of  the  party,  Mr.  Mc- 
Eldowney has  been  a  stanch  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  has  been  honored  with  several  local  offi- 
ces. He  has  served  as  Supervisor,  and  for  the 
long  period  of  twenty  years  was  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  proving  a  capable  and  efficient  officer.  In 
1886,  he  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  his 
wife,  who  died  on  the  7th  of  September,  and  was 
laid  to  rest  in  Bloom  Cemetery.  She  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  which 
Mr.  McEldowney  also  belongs.  His  life  has  been 
well  and  worthily  passed,  and  throughout  the 
community  in  which  he  has  so  long  made  his 
home  he  has  the  high  regard  of  all. 


EVERITTE  ST.  JOHN. 


|~~  VERITTE  ST.  JOHN,  General  Manager  of 
ft)  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Rail- 
I  road,  was  born  at  Sharon,  Litchfield  County, 
Conn.,  February  4,  1844.  Both  parents  were 
natives  of  that  State  and  of  English  lineage. 
When  four  years  old,  his  father  died,  and  his 
mother,  though  left  with  a  large  family  of  chil- 


dren, managed  to  provide  for  their  physical  com- 
fort and  gave  each  a  public-school  education. 
Ambitious  to  begin  a  career  of  usefulness,  at  an 
early  .age  the  subject  of  this  biography  began  to 
earn  his  livelihood  by  becoming  a  clerk  for  his 
elder  brother,  who  filled  the  combined  offices  of 
Postmaster,  station  agent,  Town  Clerk  and  gen- 


486 


EVERITTE  ST.  JOHN. 


eral  store-keeper  of  the  village.  Here,  and  in  his 
mother's  home,  were  imbibed  in  a  large  degree 
those  principles  of  industry,  economy  and  perse- 
verance which  have  characterized  the  man,  and 
which  are  essential  to  the  successful  management 
of  an  extensive  railway  system,  or  other  large  en- 
terprises. 

Through  the  medium  of  the  local  gossip,  which 
had  its  natural  center  at  the  village  postoffice,  he 
heard  much  of  the  success  of  other  young  men 
who  had  left  the  Nutmeg  State  to  seek  their 
fortunes  in  the  great  West,  and  becoming  inocu- 
lated with  the  western  fever,  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen years  he  resigned  his  position  as  his  broth- 
er's assistant  and  went  to  Quincy,  111.  Here  he 
became  a  clerk  in  the  general  ticket  office  of  the 
Quincy  &  Toledo  Railroad,  at  a  salary  of  $30  per 
month.  When  that  road  was  consolidated  with 
the  Great  Western  Railroad,  of  Illinois,  he  was 
transferred  to  a  similar  position  at  Springfield, 
with  a  slight  increase  of  salary.  One  year  later, 
having  received  an  offer  of  a  better  position  from 
the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific,  he  came  to 
Chicago,  and  on  the  4th  of  July,  1863,  began  his 
career  with  that  corporation.  His  steady  appli- 
cation and  untiring  energy  soon  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  his  superiors,  and  secured  promotion 
to  a  more  responsible  and  lucrative  position.  Suc- 
cessively he  became  Chief  Ticket  Clerk  and  Gen- 
eral Ticket  Agent,  occupying  the  latter  position  for 
fourteen  years.  At  the  expiration  of  that  period, 
he  was  appointed  General  Ticket  and  Passenger 
Agent  of  the  road,  and  six  months  later  became 
Assistant  General  Manager,  while  still  holding 
the  former  position.  In  July,  1887,  he  was  made 
General  Manager  of  the  lines  east  of  the  Missouri 
River,  and  the  duties  of  that  office  were  supple- 
mented by  those  of  Assistant  General  Manager 
of  the  lines  west  of  the  Missouri  River.  On  the 
ist  of  April,  1889,  he  assumed  the  position  of 
General  Manager  of  the  entire  system,  bringing  to 
the  discharge  of  his  duties  the  ripened  experience 
of  a  quarter-century  of  active  railroad  labors. 

With  the  growth  and  development  of  the .  great 
West,  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Rail- 
road system  has  grown,  and  in  many  localities 
has  preceded  the  development  of  its  tributary  terri- 


tory. Mr.St.John  has  constantly  striven  to  improve 
and  perfect  every  department,  and  to  that  end 
has  devoted  much  of  the  time  given  by  others  to 
recreation,  having  often  given,  for  many  years, 
twelve  to  fifteen  hours  per  day  to  his  work.  His 
industry  has  been  something  phenomenal,  and  it 
is  a  source  of  wonder  to  his  acquaintances  that 
he  has  not  given  way  in  physical  vigor  under  the 
assaults  made  by  his  own  ambition  and  industry. 
He  is  remarkably  free  from  all  ostentation  and 
those  assumptions  of  exclusiveness  often  affected 
by  men  in  high  and  responsible  positions,  and  is 
among  the  most  approachable  and  genial  of  men. 
Having  conquered  by  labor  his  own  elevation,  he 
can  sympathize  with  all  who  labor,  and  his  latch- 
string  is  always  out  to  the  humblest  employe  who 
has  a  grievance,  or  a  request  to  make. 

As  Chairman  of  the  General  Managers'  Asso- 
ciation, Mr.  St.  John  bore  no  small  part  of  the  re- 
sponsibility in  overcoming  the  great  sympathetic 
strike  of  1894,  iR  which  the  American  Railway 
Union,  composed  largely  of  switchmen,  and  others 
identified  and  unidentified  with  railroad  opera- 
tions, sought  to  compel  the  railroads  of  the 
country  to  abandon  the  use  of  Pullman  cars,  be- 
cause of  an  alleged  grievance  of  members  of  the 
union  against  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company. 
The  principle  thus  sought  to  be  set  up  being 
wholly  un-American,  and  not  acknowledged  by 
thinking  people,  the  railroads  set  about  carrying 
on  their  own  business  according  to  existing  con- 
tracts with  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company, 
and  for  the  accommodation  of  the  traveling  pub- 
lic. The  false  principle  was  set  up,  and  an  at- 
tempt made  to  force  the  railroads  and  the  public 
to  accept  it,  that  the  strikers  had  a  right  to  pre- 
vent, even  by  force,  anyone  from  operating  the- 
roads  by  fulfilling  the  duties  and  service  they  had 
left.  The  General  Managers  met  every  emer- 
gency, and  by  co-operation  soon  secured  men  to 
operate  trains;  and  the  National  Government 
protecting  its  mails  and  inter-state  commerce,  de- 
lays were  averted,  and  as  speedily  as  possible  the 
resumption  of  traffic,  both  passenger  and  freight, 
thereby  secured.  All  this  was  not  accomplished 
until  much  valuable  property,  chiefly  the  cars  of 
the  railroads  and  their  freight,  belonging  to  ship- 


C.  H.   McCORMICK,  JR. 


487 


pers  all  over  the  country,  had  been  destroyed  by 
fires  set  by  strikers  and  their  sympathizers.  By 
their  firm  position  and  prompt  action  in  securing 
the  most  ready  and  valuable  protection,  the  Gen- 
eral Managers  won,  and  received  the  admiration 
and  thanks  of  law-abiding  people  everywhere, 
and  also  made  mofe  certain  and  intelligible  the 
principle  that  every  American  citizen  has  the 
right  to  undertake  any  honorable  employment 
he  wishes,  and  that  no  class  can  rightfully  cut  off 
the  privileges  of  the  rest  of  the  world  to  secure  its 
own  selfish  ends. 

As  Chairman  of  the  Railway  Finance  Commit- 
tee of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  he  en- 
abled that  association  to  add  nearly  $1,000,000  to 
its  treasury.  He  has  been  for  years  connected 
with  many  important  railway  associations,  as  fol- 


lows: Chairman  of  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Trans-Missouri  Freight  Association;  Chairman 
of  Western  Railroad  Weighing  Association  and 
Inspection  Bureau;  Chairman  of  the  Chicago 
Car  Service  Association,  and  a  member  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Western  Freight  As- 
sociation. 

Mr.  St.  John  was  happily  married  in  1869  to  Miss 
Emilina  B.  Lamson,  of  Andover,  Mass.  They 
occupy  a  pleasant  home  on  Rush  Street,  Chicago, 
where  is  stored  his  library  of  over  one  thousand 
choice  volumes.  He  is  a  communicant  of  the 
Episcopal  Church;  a  member  of  the  Union  League 
Club,  and  of  Waubansee  Lodge  No.  160,  A.  F.  & 
A.  M. ;  Past  Eminent  Commander  of  Montjoe 
Commandery,  No.  53,  K.  T.,  and  ex-President 
of  the  Sons  of  Connecticut. 


CYRUS  HALL  McCORMICK,  JR. 


EYRUS  HALL  McCORMICK,  Jr.,  is  the 
eldest  child  of  the  great  inventor  of  the 
reaper,  Cyrus  H.  McCormick.  His  mother 
is  Nettie  Fowler  McCormick.  He  was  born  on 
the  i6th  of  May,  1859,  in  Washington.  D.  C., 
where  his  parents  lived  for  several  months  while 
his  father  was  securing  patents  on  his  reaper.  At 
an  early  age,  young  McCormick  entered  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Chicago,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
was  graduated  from  the  High  School  at  the  head 
of  his  class.  He  at  once  entered  Princeton  Col- 
lege and  became  a  member  of  the  Class  of  '79. 
In  the  autumn  following,  he  entered  the  business 
of  the  McCormick  Harvesting  Machine  Company, 
and  served  in  several  departments  in  order  that 
he  might  obtain  a  knowledge  of  its  various 
branches.  On  the  death  of  his  father  in  1884,  he 
was  elected  to  succeed  him  as  President  of  the 
company,  and  has  continued  in  that  position  up 
to  the  present  time. 


On  the  5th  of  March,  1 889,  Mr.  McCormick  was 
married  at  Monterey,  Cal.,  to  Miss  Harriet  Brad- 
ley Hammond,  a  niece  of  Mrs.  E.  S.  Stickney,  of 
Chicago.  They  have  three  children,  two  sons 
and  a  daughter. 

For  several  years  Mr.  McCormick  has  been  a 
director  of  the  Merchants'  Loan  &  Trust  Company, 
of  Chicago.  Since  June,  1889,  he  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Princeton  Uni- 
versity. He  is  also  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  McCormick  Theological  Seminary'  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  was  for  several 
years  the  first  Vice-President  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  of  Chicago.  In  the  summer 
of  1889,  he  spent  some  time  in  Paris  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  company's  exhibits  at  the  International 
Exposition,  and  was  soon  after  decorated  by  the 
President  of  France  '  'Officer  of  the  Merite  Agri- 
cole.'"  In  speaking  of  this  honor,  the  Courier 
d'  Illinois  said:  "This  is  one  of  but  a  few  instances 


488 


ALBERT  WINGATE. 


where  that  decoration  has  been  bestowed  upon  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  it  being  rarely  con- 
ferred upon  a  foreigner." 

Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  who  has  inherited  many 
of  his  father's  qualities  of  head  and  heart,  is  a 
gentleman  whose  education  and  business  training 


have  fitted  him  to  fill  the  responsible  position  to 
which  he  has  been  called.  Under  his  manage- 
ment, the  great  manufacturing  industry  has  de- 
veloped successfully,  and  its  output  of  harvesting 
machines  is  the  largest  in  the  world. 


ALBERT  WINGATE. 


G\  LBERT  WINGATE,  one  of  the  highly  re- 
LJ  spected  and  prominent  citizens  of  Worth 
/  I  Township,  was  born  in  Hallowell,  Me.,  June 
15,  1817,  and  is  a  son  of  Paine  and  Mary  (Page) 
Wingate,  The  family  is  descended  from  John 
Wingate,  who  was  a  planter  at  Hilton's  Point, 
now  Dover,  N.  H.,  in  1657.  He  was  a  native  of 
England,  and  the  founder  of  the  family  in  Amer- 
ica. One  of  his  ancestors  was  the  Sheriff  who 
committed  the  famous  John  Bunyan,  author  of 
"Pilgrim's  Progress,"  tojail.  The  name  Wingate, 
according  to  a  popular  legend,  originated  with  a 
powerful  warrior,  who  during  the  siege  of  an  an- 
cient castle  tore  its  gate  from  its  fastenings  and 
bore  it  away  on  his  shoulders,  thereby  allowing 
his  comrades  to  obtain  an  entrance.  Members  of 
the  Wingate  family  were  numerous  in  many  parts 
of  England  and  Scotland  as  early  as  the  twelfth 
century,  although  the  name  was  spelled  in  several 
different  ways.  They  occupied  many  leading 
positions,  becoming  prominent  in  various  walks 
of  life.  Descendants  of  the  family  were  living  in 
Bedfordshire,  England,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Descendants  of  John  Win- 
gate  still  own  his  original  homestead  near  Dover, 
N.  H.  He  became  one  of  the  principal  house- 
holders of  that  place,  was  a  leading  and  influen- 
tial citizen,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  service 
during  King  Philip's  War.  His  second  wife, 
Sarali  Wingate,  was  a  daughter  of  Anthony  Tay- 
lor, a  native  of  England. 


One  of  their  sons,  Joshua  Wingate,  was  born 
in  Hampton,  N.  H.,  and  became  Colonel  of  a 
regiment  of  New  Hampshire  militia.  He  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  siege  of  Louisburg  in  1745. 
He  wedded  Mary  Lunt,  and  his  death  occurred 
in  1769,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years.  His 
wife  passed  away  three  years  later,  also  at  the 
age  of  ninety.  Their  son  Paine,  the  eldest  in  the 
family  of  eleven  children,  became  a  Congregational 
minister,  and  for  sixty  years  was  pastor  of  the 
Second  Congregational  Church  in  Amesbury, 
Mass.  He  wedded  Mary  Balch,  and  his  death  oc- 
curred in  1786,  aged  eighty-three  years.  His 
wife  also  reached  that  age,  passing  away  in  1789. 
Joseph,  the  youngest  son  of  Rev.  Paine  Wingate, 
was  born  in  Amesbury,  Mass.,  and  about  1800 
removed  to  Hallowell,  Me. ,  where  he  died  in  1826, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five.  His  wife,  Judith,  was 
a  daughter  of  Elder  James  Carr.  By  their  mar- 
riage they  became  the  parents  of  ten  children,  of 
whom  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
the  fifth  in  order  of  birth.  He  cleared  and  de- 
veloped a  farm  near  Hallowell,  where  he  spent  his 
entire  life,  being  called  to  the  home  beyond  Jan- 
uary 12,  1849,  in  his  sixty-third  year. 

The  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  record 
spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  in  Hallo- 
well,  and  in  1842  emigrated  to  Cook  County, 
driving  across  the  country  with  a  team.  The 
journey  was  accomplished  in  six  weeks,  and  he 
settled  on  a  farm  on  section  28,  Worth  Township, 


C.    H.   FELTON. 


489 


but  subsequently  removed  to  section  27,  where  he 
now  resides.  For  thirty-four  years  he  lived  on 
the  first  farm,  and  placed  it  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  making  many  excellent  improvements 
upon  it.  He  arrived  in  Cook  County  four  years 
before  the  first  school  districts  were  organized, 
and  for  several  years  he  held  the  three  offices  of 
Township  Treasurer,  Township  Trustee  and 
School  Director.  He  was  one  of  the  leading 
spirits  in  the  development  of  the  educational  in- 
terests of  this  locality,  and  has  ever  taken  a  prom- 
inent part  in  promoting  those  enterprises  calcu- 
lated to  advance  the  general  welfare. 

Mr.  Wingate  was  married,  June  29,  1842,  to 
Rhoda,  daughter  of  Lowell  and  Lois  Mitchell. 
She  was  a  native  of  Chesterville,  Me. ,  and  died 
May  30,  1864,  at  the  age  of  forty-five  years  and 
two  months.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wingate  had  a  fam- 
ily of  five  children:  Levi  Page,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  four  years;  Elizabeth,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  eighteen;  Mary  Caroline,  wife  of  J.  M.  Green, 


of  Blue  Island;  Levi  Albert,  who  is  engaged  with 
the  Piano  Manufacturing  Company  of  West  Pull- 
man; and  Mrs.  Martha  Alice  Trumble,  of  Worth 
Township. 

Mr.  Wingate  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for 
William  Henry  Harrison,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Chicago  Tippecanoe  Club.  On  the  organization 
of  the  Republican  party  hejoined  its  ranks  and  has 
since  been  one  of  its  stalwart  supporters.  He  has 
also  served  as  Assessor  and  Highway  Commis- 
sioner of  Worth  Township,  in  connection  with  the 
other  offices  before  mentioned.  He  has  never 
failed  to  keep  an  obligation  or  agreement,  and  al- 
though constantly  in  debt  for  thirty-three  years, 
he  was  never  dunned,  sued  nor  refused  a  loan,  a 
fact  which  indicates  the  confidence  and  trust  re^ 
posed  in  his  personal  integrity.  He  possesses  a 
remarkable  memory,  is  considered  an  authority 
on  matters  of  local  history,  and  his  evidence  is  of- 
ten required  in  court,  especially  on  questions  per- 
taining to  early  surveys  and  titles  to  real  estate. 


CHARLES   HENRY  FELTON. 


QHARLES  HENRY  FELTON,  one  of  the 

1 1  well-known  business  men  of  Chicago,  now 
\J  Secretary  and  Manager  of  the  White  Swan 
Laundry  Company  (incorporated),  was  born  in 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  February  18,  1840.  His  ancestors 
were  of  English  origin,  and  the  founders  of  the  fam- 
ily in  America,  who  came  here  in  1636,  settled  and 
resided  in  Salem,  Mass.  His  great-grandfather, 
Capt.  Benjamin  Felton,  took  a  prominent  part  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  He  was  a  brave  and 
valiant  officer,  as  well  as  a  highly  educated  man, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  appointed  Pro- 
fessor in  a  college,  which  position  he  held  until 
disqualified  by  old  age.  He  was  a  leader  in  Ma- 
sonic circles,  and  was  an  influential  citizen,  who 
was  honored  with  several  public  positions  of  trust. 


He  lived  to  be  eighty  years  of  age,  and  was  the 
father  of  ten  children. 

The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Skelton  Felton, 
of  Brookfield,  Mass. ,  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  regu- 
lar army,  receiving  his  commission  from  President 
Madison.  He  served  in  the  War  of  1812;  and  af- 
ter its  close  received  a  pension  for  gallant  services 
rendered.  He  was  also  a  Professor  in  a  college  of 
Massachusetts  for  a  time.  Later  he  removed  to 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  died  at  the  age  of  sixty -five 
years.  His  children  were  Ainory,  Benjamin, 
Henry,  Lucinda,  Sarah  and  Amanda.  Only  one 
is  now  living,  who  resides  in  New  York.  The 
mother  of  this  family  bore  the  maiden  name  of 
Hough  ton.  Her  death  occurred  in  the  Empire 
State  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy  years. 


490 


C.    H.    FELTON. 


Amory  Felton,  father  of  Charles  Henry  j  was  a 
native  of  Brookfield,  Mass.,  born  in  1813.  From 
his  father  he  received  an  excellent  education,  and 
at  the  age  of  nineteen  years  was  Principal  of  Dud- 
ley Academy,  Brookfield,  Mass.  Later,  he  re- 
moved to  Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  established  the  whole- 
sale grocery  house  of  Felton  &  Mathews.  He  af- 
terward went  into  the  iron  business,  purchasing 
the  Empire  Stove  Works.  He  was  very  success- 
ful in  this  enterprise,  and  left  to  his  family  a  for- 
tune. In  1863,  at  the  age  of  fifty-one  years,  he 
was  called  to  his  final  rest.  He  married  Nancy 
Boynton,  a  native  of  the  Bay  State,  and  a  descen- 
dant of  Hughes  De  Boynton,  a  Norman  baron, 
who  went  with  William  the  Conqueror  into  Eng- 
land. The  manor  and  lands  granted  to  DeBoynton 
by  William  the  Conqueror  in  1067,  in  the  old 
Kingdom  of  Wessex,  are  still  in  possession  of  the 
family.  Her  mother  reached  the  very  advanced  age 
of  one  hundred  and  one.  The  children  of  this  mar- 
riage are  William,  Charles,  Herbert  and  Emma 
Louise.  William  resides  in  Troy,  N.  Y.  Herbert 
is  Division  Superintendent  of  the  Philadelphia  & 
Reading  Railroad,  and  a  graduate  of  the  Polytech- 
nic Institute  of  Troy,  N.  Y. ;  and  Emma  Louise  is 
the  wife  of  F.  K.  Lyon,  of  Dunkirk,  N.Y.  Mrs.  Fel- 
ton is  still  living,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight.  She 
is  a  remarkable  old  lady,  in  perfect  health,  and  in 
perfect  possession  of  her  faculties;  her  eyesight, 
and  hearing  are  good,  and  no  silver  threads  are 
yet  seen  in  her  hair.  Tall  and  straight,  her  step 
is  firm  and  elastic,  and  she  seems  not  to  have 
passed  the  prime  of  life.  She  is  also  a  well-in- 
formed lady,  extensive  reading  having  made  her 
well  informed  on  the  questions  of  the  day. 

Mr.  Felton  whose  name  heads  this  record  ^yas 
educated  in  the  common  schools  of  Troy,  N.  Y., 
and  in  Bennington  Seminary,  of  Bennington,  Vt., 
from  which  he  was  graduated  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen. During  his  school  days,  he  manifested  a 
restless  spirit,  longing  to  be  a  locomotive  engineer, 
and  would  often  run  away  from  school,  get  aboard 
a  locomotive,  and  try  to  run  it.  On  completing 
his  education,  he  remained  at  home  for  a  while, 
and  then  went  to  Marion,  Ala. ,  where  he  remained 
for  one  year.  Later  we  find  him  in  Selma, 
Ala.,  where  he  obtained  employment  in  a  jewelry 


store.  About  a  year  later,  as  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion  was  approaching,  and  his  sympathies 
were  with  the  North,  his  residence  in  the  South  be- 
came, in  consequence,  very  unpleasant.  He  there- 
fore decided  to  come  to  Chicago,  and  on  his  ar- 
rival here,  he  entered  the  employ  of  A.  H.  Miller 
&  Co.,  the  leading  jewelry  firm  of  the  city  at  that 
time.  With  them  he  remained  until  February, 
1862,  when  he  enlisted  in  Battery  L  of  the  Second 
Illinois  Light  Artillery,  then  located  at  Camp 
Douglas.  .  " 

The  company  was  soon  ordered  to  the  front, 
and  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  it  received  its  equip- 
ment, and  from  there  was  ordered  to  Pittsburg 
Landing,  to  reinforce  Gen.  Grant,  but  arrived  too 
late  to  take  part  in  the  great  battle  which  occurred 
at  that  place.  They  were  actively  engaged  in  the 
campaign  which  soon  followed  under  Gens.  Grant 
and  Halleck,  when  they  advanced  on  Corinth,  and 
in  the  battles  of  the  Grant  campaign,  including 
the  battles  around  Memphis  and  at  Jackson, 
Tenn.,  Bolivar  and  Holly  Springs,  Miss.  After 
re-organizing  at  Memphis  for  the  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg,  Mr.  Felton' s  company  was  sent  to  Lake 
Providence,  La. ,  and  from  this  point  they  started 
on  their  march  through  the  interior  to  Grand 
Gulf,  where  they  crossed  the  Mississippi  River  be- 
low Vicksburg.  Then  followed  the  battles  of 
Raymond,  Champion  Hills,  Big  Black  River,  and 
the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  in  which  Mr.  Felton  took 
part.  During  the  campaign,  he  received  several 
promotions  for  gallant  services,  until  he  reached 
the  rank  of  Senior  First  Lieutenant,  and  Adjutant 
of  Artillery  of  the  District  of  Vicksburg,  which 
comprised  Vicksburg,  Natchez  and  Milliken's 
Bend;  then  followed  his  promotion  as  First  Assist- 
ant Provost-Marshal  of  the  city  of  Vicksburg. 
About  this  time,  Mr.  Felton  was  recommended  by 
Gen.  Logan,  of  Illinois,  and  Gen.  M.  D.  Legget, 
of  Ohio,  for  the  position  of  Adjutant  of  Artillery  on 
Gen.  Grant's  staff,  the  place  being  then  vacant; 
but  as  the  war  was  now  drawing  to  a  close,  he  de- 
cided to  resign,  but  did  not  do  so  till  all  the  rebel 
armies  had  surrendered,  when  he  returned  to 
Chicago. 

On  the  25th  of  September,  1865,  in  Albany,  N. 
Y. ,  Mr.  Felton  married  Miss  Lizzie  R.  Borthwick, 


C.  P.  HUEY. 


491 


who  had  been  his  playmate  in  early  childhood. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  Alexander  Hamilton  and 
Rachael  (Esm6)  Borthwick,  the  former  a  leading 
and  successful  merchant  of  Albany.  Her  grand- 
father was  a  grandson  of  Lord  Borthwick,  of 
Grands  Hall,  Scotland.  Her  ancestors  were 
Scotch-French,  and  her  maternal  grandfather  was 
an  officer  in  the  French  army  and  came  to  Amer- 
ica with  Gen.  La  Fayette.  Mrs.  Felton  was  born 
in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  there  resided  until  the  age 
of  fourteen.  The  three  succeeding  years  of  her 
life  were  passed  in  a  college  for  young  ladies  in 
Lyons,  Iowa,  and  after  graduating  she  returned  to 
her  native  city.  Mrs.  Felton  is  a  linguist  and  a  vo- 
calist of  some  note,  having  studied  under  the  best 
teachers  in  America  and  Europe. 

In  1865,  soon  after  Mr.  Felton  left  the  army, 
he  re-entered  the  service  of  A.  H.  Miller  &Co., 
with  whom  he  continued  until  1870,  when  he  en- 
gaged in  the  railroad  business.  He  was  appointed 
contracting  agent  of  the  Empire  Freight  Line, 
which  was  a  part  of  the  Pennsylvania  system,  and 
to  the  duties  of  that  position  devoted  his  energies 
for  ten  years,  when  he  became  general  agent  of 
the  Merchants'  Dispatch  Dairy  Line  (having 
charge  of  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River)  of  the  New  York  Central  System,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  for  two  years. 

In  1882  Mr.  Felton  purchased  one  of  the  largest 


steam  laundries  in  Chicago,  successfully  conduct- 
ing the  same  until  1884,  when,  accompanied  by 
Mrs.  Felton,  he  went  to  Europe  and  located  in 
London,  England.  He  there  embarked  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  laundry  machinery,  and  did  a  prosper- 
ous business  for  three  years,  when  he  became  a 
financial  agent,  and  dealt  in  all  kinds  of  Ameri- 
can enterprises  and  investment  securities.  With 
this  business  he  was  connected  for  five  years,  and 
was  again  very  successful.  During  this  period, 
in  company  with  his  wife,  he  visited  and  resided 
in  some  of  the  principal  cities  of  Europe.  In  1892, 
he  returned  to  Chicago,  and  soon  after  secured  an 
extensive  interest  in  the  White  Swan  Laundry, 
one  of  the  largest  in  the  city.  This  corporation,  of 
which  he  is  now  Secretary  and  Manager,  is  doing 
a  very  prosperous  business.  Mr.  Felton  is  a  very 
energetic  and  capable  man,  yet  modest  and  unas- 
suming, polite  and  courteous,  intelligent  and  well 
informed.  His  views  are  broad,  his  understand- 
ing having  been  well  developed  by  travel  and  ex- 
perience. He  is  domestic  in  his  tastes,  very  fond 
of  music,  and  an  admirer  of  the  opera  and  art. 
In  religious  belief,  he  is  independent,  and  in  his 
political  views  is  a  Republican.  He  keeps  abreast 
with  the  times  in  all  things,  and  is  well  posted 
on  the  leading  questions  of  the  day.  We  predict 
for  him  the  same  success  in  the  future,  that  has 
crowned  his  efforts  in  the  past. 


CHARLES  P.  HUEY. 


EHARLES  P.  HUEY,  who  is  successfully  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  law  in  Harvey,  re- 
ceiving a  liberal  patronage,  was  born  in  Cape 
Town,    Cape  Colony,  October  3,  1849.     His  fa- 
ther,  Robert  T.    Huey,  was  born  and  reared  in 
Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  made  his  home 
until  the  age  of  thirty -five,  when  he  entered  the 
British  service  and  became  a  soldier  in  the  Colonial 


army.  He  was  sent  with  his  command  to  South 
Africa,  and  reached  Cape  Town  about  1838.  In 
that  place  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Wil- 
helmiiia  Thomas.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was 
discharged  from  the  service  and  returned  to  Cape 
Town,  from  whence  he  afterwards  removed  to 
Port  Elizabeth,  on  the  extreme  southern  coast  of 
Cape  Colony,  where  with  his  family  he  resided 


492 


C.  P.  HUEY. 


for  many  years,  engaged  in  trading  and  in  various 
business  pursuits.  He  finally  engaged  in  mer- 
chandising, and  in  the  interests  of  that  business, 
and  partly  for  recreation,  departed  for  Liver- 
pool in  1860.  He  took  passage  on  a  sailing-ves- 
sel, which  was  never  heard  from  again,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  sunk  in  mid-ocean,  not  a  pas- 
senger escaping  to  tell  the  tale  of  the  disaster. 
He  left  a  wife  and  six  children.  Anna,  the  eldest, 
became  the  wife  of  Samuel  Slaughter,  who  is  now 
serving  as  a  County  Assessor  in  southern  Utah; 
Mary  is  married  and  resides  in  northern  Mon- 
tana; Charles  is  the  next  younger;  Leonard  is  in 
the  railway  service  and  resides  in  southern  Colo- 
rado; Nellie  is  the  wife  of  Ernest  H.  Price,  of 
Fresno,  Cal. ;  and  Walter  resides  in  the  same 
State. 

Charles  P.  Huey  began  his  education  in  the 
private  schools  of  Port  Elizabeth,  which  he  at- 
tended until  nine  years  of  age,  after  which  he 
spent  two  years  in  the  Gray  Institute,  a  large  and 
most  excellent  school.  At  the  age  of  ten  years 
he  began  the  study  of  Latin.  When  a  child  of 
eleven  summers  he  accompanied  the  family  to 
America,  locating  in  Salt  Lake  City,  where  he 
attended  St.  Mark's  Grammar  School,  an  Epis- 
copal institution  of  learning,  for  two  years.  At 
the  age  of  nineteen  he  entered  a  printing-office 
and  worked  as  a  compositor  until  1872,  becoming 
an  expert  printer.  He  learned  so  rapidly  that  in 
half  the  usual  time  he  had  completed  the  regular 
apprenticeship  and  was  made  a  journeyman.  He 
then,  until  the  fall  of  1873,  was  engaged  in  the 
newspaper  and  publishing  business,  and  during  a 
part  of  the  time  assisted  John  C.  Young,  a  nephew 
of  Brigham  Young,  in  the  publication  of  a  local 
paper,  which  was  opposed  to  the  system  of  polyg- 
amy, and  was  really  the  beginning  of  the  great 
opposition  developed  in  Utah  against  the  system. 
So  bitter  was  the  opposition  of  the  Mormon  lead- 
ers, that  the  printing  establishment  was  once 
broken  up  by  a  mob  and  Mr.  Young  assaulted. 

In  the  fall  of  1873,  Mr.  Huey  became  a  student 
in  the  law  department  of  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan at  Ann  Arbor,  pursuing  a  two-years  course, 
and  graduating  with  honor  in  the  Class  of '75. 
He  at  once  began  practice  in  Salt  Lake  City,  and 


soon  acquired  prominence  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  case  of  the  United  States  against  Rossiter,  a 
prominent  Mormon  in  the  employ  of  Brigham 
Young,  who  was  bound  over  under  the  Poland 
Law  to  keep  the  peace  for  having  threatened  with 
violence  John  C.  Young,  the  old  friend  and  asso- 
ciate of  Mr.  Huey,  and  who  was  then  local  editor  of 
the  Salt  Lake  Tribune,  the  leading  Gentile  paper 
of  the  city.  The  case,  under  the  advice  of  Mr. 
Huey,  was  prosecuted  before  Mr.  Pratt,  United 
States  Commissioner,  who  held  the  accused  under 
bonds.  The  prisoner's  counsel,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing lawyers  of  Salt  Lake  City,  and  attorney  for 
the  Mormon  Church,  appealed  to  the  United 
States  District  Court  for  discharge,  under  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  which,  after  an  able  argument  by 
Mr.  Huey  in  opposition  to  the  release,  and  argu- 
ments in  its  behalf  by  the  prisoner's  counsel,  was 
denied  by  the  Chief  Justice,  and  the  prisoner  re- 
manded to  the  custody  of  the  United  States  Mar- 
shal. Mr.  Huey's  maiden  speech  at  the  Bar  won 
the  first  signal  victory  for  the  anti-polygamist  un- 
der the  Poland  Law  and  gained  him  a  well-de- 
served prominence.  He  continued  in  practice  in 
Salt  Lake  City  until  1882. 

In  1878,  Mr.  Huey  wedded  MaryJ.  McFerren, 
of  Hoopeston,  111.,  and  in  1882,  on  account  of  his 
wife's  health,  removed  to  Hoopeston,  where  he 
practiced  law  for  some  time,  but  was  mostly  en- 
gaged in  the  banking  business  for  six  years,  in 
company  with  his  brother-in-law,  J.  S.  McFerren, 
who  is  President  and  chief  owner  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Hoopeston.  Mr.  Huey  served 
as  Assistant  Cashier  until  1889,  when  he  resumed 
law  practice,  and  also  for  a  year  published  the 
Hoopeston  Sentinel.  He  also  founded  and  pub- 
lished the  Danville  Sentinel,  and  in  March,  1892, 
came  to  Harvey,  where  for  a  few  months  he  edited 
the  Harvey  Citizen.  In  the  same  year,  however, 
he  retired  from  the  newspaper  field, and  has  since 
successfully  engaged  in  law  practice. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Huey  is  a  Republican,  but  at 
local  elections  subordinates  party  to  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  town,  laboring  with  other  promi- 
nent citizens  for  temperance,  good  government, 
and  the  material  interests  of  this  thriving  suburb. 
He  now  holds  the  office  of  City  Attorney.  He  is 


PLEASANT  AMICK. 


493 


a  r,:ember  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  an  active     James  J.,  who   is  now  nine  years  of  age.     Mr. 


member  of  Dirigo  Lodge  No.  399,  K.  P.,  which 
he  represented  in  the  State  Grand  Lodge  at  Spring- 
Seld.  He  has  taken  the  highest  degree  in  the 
Odd  Fellows'  fraternity,  and  has  passed  all  the 
chairs  in  the  local  lodge.  He  has  only  one  child, 


Huey  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  prominent 
and  progressive  citizens  of  Harvey,  and  in  the 
history  of  his  adopted  county  he  well  deserves 
mention. 


PLEASANT  AMICK. 


1"^  LEAS  ANT  AMICK,  a  pioneer  of  northern 
LX  Illinois,  now  engaged  in  the  real-estate  busi- 
t&  ness  in  Chicago,  has  for  some  years  been  con- 
nected with  the  business  and  official  interests  of 
this  city,  and  is  recognized  as  one  of  its  represen- 
tative men.  He  was  born  near  Diamond  Lake, 
Cass  County,  Mich.,  October  14,  1834,  and  is  a 
son  of  Jacob  and  Rachel  (Corron)  Amick,  natives 
of  Virginia.  They  removed  to  Cass  County, 
Mich. ,  previous  to  1830.  The  Amick  family  is  of 
German  origin,  and  the  ancestors  were  among  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  Pennsylvania.  Members  of 
the  family  afterward  removed  to  the  Old  Domin- 
ion, and  Jacob  Amick  was  born  near  the  Natural 
Bridge  in  Virginia.  The  Corron  family  is  Eng- 
lish, and  its  founders  in  America  settled  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  mother  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Amick  was  a 
daughter  of  James  Pinnell,  Jr.,  who  came  from 
Lambeth,  London.  One  of  his  uncles,  Rev. 
Robert  Pinnell,  served  as  rector  of  a  church  for 
more  than  half  a  century  in  one  of  the  parishes 
near  London. 

In  1835,  Jacob  Amick  removed  with  his  family 
to  Illinois  and  located  on  a  farm  in  Kane  County, 
becoming  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  that  locality. 
He  was  a  cooper  by  trade,  and  carried  on  that  bus- 
iness in  connection  with  farming.  He  was  the  in- 
ventor of  the  grapevine  cradle-swath.  In  1844, 
he  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  scythes  and  grain-cradles  until 


1849,  when  he  went  overland  to  California.  There 
his  death  occurred,  October  25,  1850,  at  the  age  of 
forty-eight  years,  resulting  from  an  attack  of 
cholera.  He  was  an  old-time  Abolitionist,  being 
identified  with  the  movement  from  the  beginning, 
and  left  Virginia  on  account  of  the  slavery  there 
tolerated.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  strong 
convictions  and  devotion  to  principle,  and  had  the 
confidence  of  all  who  knew  him.  He  held  mem- 
bership with  the  Tabernacle  Baptist  Church,  now 
the  Second  Baptist  Church  of  Chicago,  the  house 
of  worship  being  then  located  on  La  Salle,  between 
Washington  and  Randolph  Streets.  His  wife, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  same  church,  passed 
away  in  1878,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  Of  their 
children,  one  died  in  infancy;  Mary  Elizabeth  be- 
came the  wife  of  Alanson  Miller,  and  died  of  chol- 
era in  Chicago  in  1852;  Martha,  deceased,  was  the 
wife  of  Joseph  Shaw;  Pleasant  is  the  next  younger; 
Hiram,  who  is  now  living  in  California,  was  a 
member  of  the  Mercantile  Battery  of  Chicago,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  was  Secretary  of  the  Fire 
Department  of  Chicago;  Myron  J.,  who  for  many 
years  was  a  member  of  the  United  States  army, 
and  did  much  scouting  duty  during  the  Great 
Rebellion,  now  resides  in  New  York  City. 

The  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  record 
was  in  his  tenth  year  when  the  family  located  in 
Chicago.  The  house  built  by  his  father  in  1844 
on  Curtis  Street  is  still  standing.  Pleasant  Amick, 


494 


H.  T.  BYFORD. 


his  wife,  and  afterward  two  of  their  children,  at- 
tended the  Scammon  School  on  Madison  Street, 
the  first  free-school  building  in  the  West  Division, 
of  which  Prof.  A.  D.  Sturtevant  was  the  Principal, 
and  Pleasant  was  afterward  a  pupil  in  Gleason's 
Academy.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  became  a 
clerk  in  a  grocery- store  on  Clark  Street  owned  by 
T.  B.  Doggett,  with  whom  he  continued  until 
1855,  when  he  embarked  in  business  for  himself 
as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Leybourn  &  Amick, 
grocers.  In  1859,  they  sold  out,  and  during  the 
war  Mr.  Amick  served  as  enrolling  officer  under 
Col.  William  James,  of  Chicago.  In  1864,  he  was 
elected  Tax  Collector  for  the  West  Division,  on 
the  same  ticket  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  served 
two  years.  In  1866,  he  embarked  in  the  real- 
estate  business,  which  he  has  followed  almost  con- 
tinuously since,  being  considered  one  of  the  best 
judges  of  real-estate  values  in  the  city.  During 
the  three  succeeding  years  he  served  as  City  As- 
sessor, and  in  1880  and  1881  he  was  Assessor  of 
ihe  Town  of  West  Chicago.  For  fourteen  years 


he  was  in  the  tax  department  of  the  West  Division, 
serving  in  various  capacities. 

On  the  1 5th  of  November,  1854,  Mr.  Amick 
was  joined  in  wedlock  with  Julia  S.  Bishop,  a  na- 
tive of  Lewis,  Essex  County,  N.  Y.,  and  to  them 
have  been  born  three  children:  Frank  S.,  a  real- 
estate  dealer  of  Chicago;  J.  Stella;  and  Mamie, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  three  and  a-half  years. 

Mr.  Amick  was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church,  but  now  holds  membership  with 
no  religious  organization.  He  is  a  member  of 
Columbian  Lodge  No.  819,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of 
Lawndale,  and  in  politics  he  has  been  a  stalwart 
Republican  since  the  organization  of  the  party. 
He  is  a  gentleman  of  genial  and  pleasant  manner, 
has  an  extensive  acquaintance  among  the  earlier 
settlers  of  Chicago,  and  feels  a  keen  and  abiding 
interest  in  their  early  history.  His  long  residence 
here  makes  him  familiar  with  much  of  its  devel- 
opment, and  in  the  work  of  advancement  he  has 
ever  borne  his  part. 


HENRY  TURMAN  BYFORD,  M.  D. 


HENRY  TURMAN  BYFORD,  M.  D.,  Profes- 
sor of  Gynecology  in  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons  of  Chicago,  and  in  the 
Chicago  Post-Graduate  Medical  School,  and  of 
Clinical  Gynecology  in    the    Woman's  Medical 
College  of  Chicago,  and  ex-President  of  the  Chi- 
cago Gynecological  Society,  is  a  native  of  Evans- 
ville,  Ind.,  born  on  the  I2th  of  November,  1853. 
He  is  the  second  and  only  surviving  son  of  the 
late  Dr.  William  Heath  Byford,  of  Chicago,  and 
Mary  Ann  Byford,  his  wife,  the  latter  a  daughter 
of  Hezekiah  Holland,  a  physician  of  Mt.  Vernon, 
Ind.,  and  sister  of  a  physician,  Andrew  Holland. 
Dr.  William  H.   Byford,  the  pioneer  gynecol- 
ogist of  Chicago,  was  a  man  whose  intelligence 


and  culture,  extended  observation  and  experience, 
fitted  him  to  fully  appreciate  the  benefits  of  edu- 
cation, proper  environment  and  morality  upon  the 
young,  and  took  such  measures  as  afforded  his 
sons  ample  opportunity  to  enjoy  them  and  to  pre- 
pare to  enter  one  of  the  learned  professions. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  obtained  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Chicago  his  primary  education,  and 
at  the  age  of  twelve  had  completed  a  large  portion 
of  the  public-school  course.  He  then  accompa- 
nied his  elder  brother  to  Europe,  where  he  spent 
four  years  (1865-1868)  in  travel  and  study.  At 
Berlin,  he  learned  French  and  German,  and  also 
took  a  full  regular  classical  course  including  Lat- 
in and  Greek.  It  would  seem  that  under  the 


H.  T.  BYFORD. 


495 


circumstances  he  would  have  labored  under  in- 
surmountable difficulties  in  competition  with  the 
pupils  of  native  birth,  but  at  graduation  he  took 
prizes  in  divinity  and  also  in  German  composition. 

Upon  his  return  to  the  United  States,  Dr.  By- 
ford  matriculated  in  the  University  of  Chicago, 
where  he  contemplated  taking  higher  honors  in 
the  classics;  but  discovering  a  preference  for  the 
sciences,  he.  entered  the  scientific  department  of 
Williston  Seminary  in  East  Hampton,  Mass. ,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  the  year  1870.  En- 
tering the  Chicago  Medical  College,  he  took  a 
three-years  course,  which  he  completed  in  1873, 
graduating  as  valedictorian  of  his  class.  It  is  a 
matter  worthy  of  remark  that  the  college  records 
show  that  he  was  marked  one  hundred  per  cent, 
in  all  branches  of  medicine  taught,  except  diseases 
of  the  eye  and  ear,  which  at  that  time  did  not  re- 
ceive so  much  attention  as  at  the  present  date. 
During  his  second  year  lie  attended  the  lectures 
and  demonstrations  given  to  the  senior  class,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  year  passed  a  successful  exami- 
nation in  all  branches  and  fairly  won  the  position 
of  interne  in  Mercy  Hospital. 

The  serious  illness  of  his  brother  in  Louisiana 
requiring  Dr.  Byford's  presence  there,  interrupted 
his  hospital  course,  and  prevented  his  delivering 
the  valedictory  address  to  his  class  at  graduation. 
Although  absent  from  the  commencement  exer- 
cises, his  extraordinary  proficiency  and  excep- 
tional standing  were  distinctly  recognized  by  the 
faculty,  which  granted  him  his  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  without  examination,  a  very  unusual 
act,  but  one  which  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
fully  justified.  One  condition  was  attached  to  the 
granting  of  the  degree,  and  that  was  that  the 
young  graduate,  then  hardly  twenty  years  of  age, 
should  not  enter  the  active  practice  of  medicine  un- 
til he  had  attained  his  majority.  This  was  done 
out  of  regard  for  the  ethics  of  the  profession, 
which  does  not  encourage  the  practice  of  medicine 
by  minors,  however  proficient. 

The  interim  between  graduation  and  the  attain- 
ment of  his  majority  was  spent  by  Dr.  Byford  in  at- 
tendance upon  his  brother  in  Colorado,  where  he 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  him  recover.  Declin- 
ing his  father's  proffered  partnership,  the  young 


physician  thought  it  best  to  begin  professional  life 
independently,  and  associated  himself  with  his  col- 
lege friend,  Dr.  J.  A.  St.  John,  opening  an  office 
in  one  of  the  less  fashionable  districts  of  the  city. 
The  brilliant  promise  of  future  success  which  had 
appeared  in  the  student  was  fully  realized  in  the 
practitioner.  He  was  energetic,  competent,  pop- 
ular, and  successful  from  the  first.  In  1879, 
he  visited  Europe  a  second  time,  and  for  a  year 
and  a-half  devoted  his  time  about  equally  to  study 
in  the  hospitals  and  travel  for  pleasure. 

On  his  return  to  Chicago,  Dr.  Byford  associated 
himself  with  his  father,  and  directed  his  attention 
principally  to  obstetrics  and  the  diseases  of  women 
and  ehildren,  working  steadily  toward  his  life  ob- 
ject— the  diseases  of  women  and  abdominal  sur- 
gery. Although  busy  with  his  private  practice 
he  has  not  spent  his  whole  time  therein.  He  has 
been  Curator  in  the  museum  of  the  Chicago  Medi- 
cal College,  lecturer  on  diseases  of  children  in  the 
Chicago  Medical  College,  and  lecturer  on  obstet- 
rics in  Rush  Medical  College.  These  positions, 
however,  were  relinquished  on  account  of  their 
requiring  time  that  he  could  not  spare  from  his 
favorite  study  and  specialty.  In  December,  1888, 
he  received  the  appointment  to  the  chair  of 
Gynecology  in  the  Chicago  Post-Graduate  Medi- 
cal School,  of  which  he  is  one  of  the  founders;  and 
the  following  year  he  was  chosen  Professor  of 
Clinical  Gynecology  in  the  Woman's  Medical 
College,  and  upon  the  death  of  A.  Reeves  Jack- 
son, in  1892,  was  elected  Professor  of  Gynecology 
in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Chi- 
cago. He  has  also  been  Gynecologist  to  St. 
Luke's  Hospital  for  several  years  past  and  surgeon 
to  the  Woman's  Hospital.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  American  Medical  Association,  Illinois  State 
Medical  Association,  of  the  American  Gynecolog- 
ical Society,  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  the 
Chicago  Gynecological  Society  (of  which  he  was 
President  in  1887),  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of 
Medicine,  and  the  Chicago  Medico-Legal  Society. 

Dr.  Byford  is  known  throughout  the  United 
States  as  one  of  the  most  original  and  progressive 
men  in  his  specialties,  and  has  originated  a  num- 
ber of  operations  which  have  been  approved  and 
adopted  by  medical  practitioners  generally. 


496 


J.  A.  MACK. 


Among  these  are  inguinal  suspension  of  the  blad- 
der, shortening  of  the  sacro-uteiine  ligaments,  bi- 
lateral anterior  elytroirhaphy,  subcutaneous  peri- 
neal  tenotomy  and  the  vaginal  fixation  and  vaginal 
drainage  of  the  stump  in  abdominal  hysterectomy. 
Not  only  surgical  operations,  but  also  surgical 
instruments,  have  been  the  objects  of  Dr.  Byford's 
study,  and  of  these  latter  he  has  originated  many 
new  forms  of  greater  utility  tiian  their  predeces- 
sors that  are  in  daily  use  and  called  by  his  name. 
As  a  clinical  and  didactic  lecturer  he  has  been 
very  successful,  and  as  a  writer  on  medical  topics 
is  able  and  voluminous.  He  was  one  of  the  edi- 
tors of  "Byford's  Diseases  of  Women,"  a  treatise 
originally  by  his  father,  one  of  the  authors  of  the 


"American  Text  Book  of  Gynecology,"  and  also 
of  '  'A  Treatise  on  Diseases  of  Women,  by  Emi- 
nent American  Teachers. ' ' 

While  in  Paris,  Dr.  Byford  was  a  student  at  the 
school  of  Julian,  where  he  studied  drawing  of  the 
human  figure.  From  other  artists  of  Europe  he 
learned  landscape-painting  from  nature,  and  now 
seeks  recreation  in  the  study  of  art  and  the  treas- 
ures of  literature. 

On  the  Qth  of  November,  1882,  Dr.  Byford 
married  Mrs.  Lucy  L-  Richard,  a  daughter  of 
Frederick  learned,  who  was  a  near  relative  of  N. 
P.  Willis.  They  have  four  children,  Genevieve, 
Mary,  Heath  Turman  and  William  Holland. 


REV.  JOSIAH  AUGUSTUS  MACK. 


REV.  JOSIAH  AUGUSTUS  MACK,  Gen- 
eral Secretary  and  Manager  of  the  Chicago 
Bible  Society,  was  born  in  Gilead,  Tolland, 
County,  Conn.,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1828,  and  isa 
son  of  Ela  Augustus  and  Esther  (Cone)  Mack, 
who  were  also  natives  of  Gilead,  and  came  of  old 
New  England  families.  The  father  was  adopted 
in  his  infancy  by  a  man  bearing  the  name  of 
Mack,  which  became  his  surname,  although  his 
own  father  was  named  Gillette.  The  father  of 
Mrs.  Esther  Mack,  John  Cone,  was  killed,  dur- 
ing her  childhood,  by  the  accidental  explosion  of 
a  cannon  on  one  of  the  training  days  of  the  Con- 
necticut militia.  E.  A.  Mack  served  as  Captain 
of  a  company  of  militia,  and  made  farming  his  oc- 
cupation through  life.  He  died  at  the  age  of 
forty-six  years,  and  his  wife  passed  away  in  Chi- 
cago at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-seven.  They 
came  to  Illinois  in  1836,  and  the  journey  by  way 
of  the  Erie  Canal  and  the  Great  Lakes  covered  a 
period  of  six  weeks.  The  family  settled  on  a 
claim  near  the  Fox  River,  iu  Kane  County,  after- 


ward purchasing  the  land  of  the  United  States 
Government,  and  for  several  years  they  lived  the 
typical  frontier  life.  Later  they  removed  to  Ba- 
tavia,  111. 

Josiah  A.  Mack  acquired  his  early  education  in 
the  district  schools,  then  the  only  educational  in- 
stitutions. Afterward  he  attended  a  boarding- 
school  in  Batavia  for  several  terms.  At  the  age 
of  eighteen  he  began  clerking  in  a  general  store 
in  Batavia,  and  three  years  later  entered  into  part- 
nership with  his  uncle  in  the  same  business. 
After  two  years  he  yielded  to  the  desire  for 
Christian  work  and  became  agent  for  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society,  and  in  that  capacity  labored  in 
northern  Illinois  for  three  years.  This  occupa- 
tion gave  him  experience  and  training  for  public 
speaking  and  determined  him  to  enter  the  Chris- 
tian ministry.  A  college  course  being  out  of  the 
question,  he  took  up  the  study  of  theology  with 
Dr.  William  E.  Merriman,  who  afterward  became 
President  of  Ripon  College,  at  Ripon,  Wis. 

After  studying  for  one  year,   Mr.   Mack  was 


REUBEN  LUDLAM. 


497 


licensed  to  preach  by  the  Elgin  Association  of 
Congregational  Churches,  and  in  1839  he  ac- 
cepted his  first  pastorate  at  Udina,  111.,  where  he 
was  ordained  by  a  special  council,  Rev.  N.  C. 
Clark  preaching  the  sermon.  He  was  later  called 
to  Plainfield,  where  he  labored  with  growing  suc- 
cess for  four  years.  When  the  war  broke  out  he 
took  an  active  interest  in  organizing  troops  for  the 
service,  and  during  the  struggle  was  sent  to 
Helena,  Ark.,  as  a  representative  of  the  Christian 
Commission.  There  he  engaged  in  Christian 
work  among  the  soldiers  and  colored  people.  He 
spent  some  further  time  in  the  South  for  the  ben- 
efit of  his  health,  which  had  broken  down  under 
his  labors  at  Peoria,  in  the  First  Congregational 
Church  of  that  city.  He  held  pastorates  also  at 
Moline  and  other  points  in  Illinois,  and  in  1876 
was  called  to  his  native  town  in  Connecticut,  where 
he  served  as  pastor  of  the  church  for  over  six 
years. 

In  1883  Rev.  Mr  Mack  returned  to  Illinois  and 
became  General  Secretary  and  Agent  for  the  Chi- 
cago Bible  Society,  in  which  service  he  continues. 
Under  his  management  the  receipts  of  the  society 
have  increased  from  $2,  oooto$i4,ooo  per  annum. 
In  1889  the  society  was  reorganized  and  special 
provision  made  for  a  Bible-work  department,  in 
which  fifteen  to  twenty  young  women  have  been 


employed,  and  the  force  is  increased  as  fast  as 
means  justify.  This  work  is  undenominational, 
and  the  society  is  supported  by  benevolent  con- 
tributions. It  has  been  in  existence  for  over  fifty 
years,  and  is  managed  on  the  broad  basis  of  the 
fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

Mr.  Mack  was  united  in  marriage  in  1850  with 
Eliza  Sophia  Towne,  a  native  of  Troy.  N.  Y. 
and  a  daughter  of  Deacon  Silvanus  Towne,  of 
Batavia,  111.  To  them  were  born  six  children 
who  grew  to  maturity.  Emily  Eliza,  wife  of 
George  C.  Clark,  of  Peoria,  111.;  Charles  Augus- 
tus, pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Ran- 
toul,  111.;  Mary  L-,  wife  of  Charles  Alden  Smith, 
Principal  of  the  preparatory  school  at  Lake  Forest 
University;  William  Howard,  of  Philadelphia, 
Pa. ;  Fannie  Cone  and  Rose  C. 

Mr.  Mack  has  always  taken  an  intelligent  in- 
terest in  political  and  other  public  interests,  though 
he  is  not  a  partisan  politician.  Growing  up  among 
the  people,  and  earnestly  sympathizing  with  what- 
ever makes  for  good  government  and  mutual  con- 
fidence, he  has  cast  his  vote  and  given  his  influ- 
ence in  ways  promotive  of  these  ends.  His  good 
judgment  and  conscientious  labors  have  been  of 
inestimable  value  to  the  cause  with  which  he  is 
identified,  while  his  genial,  pleasant  manner  has 
won  him  many  warm  personal  friends. 


REUBEN  LUDLAM,  M.  D. 


REUBEN  UJDLAM,  M.  D.,  one  of  the  fore- 
most    physicians,    surgeons     and     medical 
writers  in  the  Northwest,  was  born  in  Camden, 
N.  ].,  on  the  yth  of  October,  1831.     His  parents, 
natives  of    New    Jersey,    were   descended  from 
early  Colonial  immigrants.     His  father,  Dr.  Jacob 
W.    Ludlam,    an   eminent   physician,    spent  his 
earlier  years  in  the  East,  but  removed  with  his 
family  to  Illinois  in  1856,  and  died  in  Evanston 


in  1858,  after  a  long  life  spent  in  alleviating  the 
sufferings  of  humanity.  His  widow,  Mrs.  Mary 
Ludlam,  now  eighty-six  years  of  age,  still  resides 
in  Evanston. 

Reuben  Ludlam's  inherited  tendencies  and  early 
training  led  him  to  follow  in  the  professional  foot- 
steps of  his  father.  In  his  childhood  he  was  ac- 
customed to  accompany  his  father  in  his  daily 
round  of  visits,  and  took  great  interest  in  the  cases 


498 


REUBEN  LUDLAM. 


lie  saw.  His  studious  habits  and  thoughtful  na- 
ture caused  his  rapid  advancement  at  school,  and 
at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  was  graduated  from  the 
old  academy  at  Bridget  on,  N.  J.,  with  the  highest 
honors  of  his  class.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  be- 
gan the  study  of  medicine  in  his  father's  office, 
and  when  qualified  matriculated  at  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  (where  his  father  had  received 
his  medical  education) ,  finished  the  curriculum, 
and  was  graduated  therein  in  1852.  He  had  spent 
six  years  in  preparation  for  the  practice  of  his 
chosen  profession. 

Soon  after  receiving  his  diploma,  Dr.  Ludlam 
came  to  Chicago.     He  was  a  young  man  fresh 
from  the  influences  of  the  regular  or  allopathic 
school  of  teachers,  but  he  did  not  allow  his  train- 
ing or  environment  to  overbalance  his  judgment, 
and  after  weighing  the  doctrines  of  Hahnemann, 
the  great  founder  of  homeopathy,  with  care  and 
conscientious   attention,    he   decided    they   were 
largely  true  and  should  be  adopted.   To  renounce 
the   teachings   of  those   he   had   learned   to  re- 
spect for  their  great  knowledge  of  the  healing  art 
was  a  matter  that  required  a  great  effort,  but, 
his  mind  once  made  up,  he  was  equal  to  the  effort, 
embraced  the  new  theory  of  medicine  and  became 
a  practitioner  of  the  new  school.     In  1859,  the 
Hahnemann  Medical  College  of  Chicago  was  or- 
ganized, and  he  was  chosen  to  fill   the   chair  of 
physiology,    pathology    and     clinical     medicine 
therein.  On  account  of  the  high  degree  of  skill  he 
showed  in  those  branches,  he  was  transferred,  four 
years  later,  to  the  chair  of  obstetrics  and  the  dis- 
eases of  women  and  children.     He  was   made 
Professor  of  the  Medical  and  Surgical  Diseases  of 
Women  a  few  years  later,  and  elected  Dean  of  the 
college   faculty.      In   each    of    these    capacities 
he  rendered  inestimable  service,  and  his  cheerful 
and  attentive  manner  endeared  him  to  all   who 
came  within  the  circle  of  his  acquaintance.     For 
twenty-five  years  he  was  Dean  of  the  faculty,  and 
resigned  that  place  to  become  President  of  the 
college  and  hospital  in  1891,  which  office  he  still 
holds. 

From  the  first  Dr.  Ludlam  gave  very  close  at- 
tention to  gynecology,  and  after  exhausting  the 
opportunities  of  this  country  he  made  four  medi- 


cal journeys  to  Europe,  where  he  spent  some  years 
in  hard  study  and  painstaking  labor  in  order  to 
make  himself  complete  master  of  the  subject.  As 
might  be  expected  from  the  man  and  from  the  ef- 
fort, his  success  was  abundant  and  almost  beyond 
belief.  In  the  department  of  uterine  surgery,  his 
services  in  difficult  operations  are  constantly  in 
demand  throughout  the  Northwest,  and  as  a  con- 
sulting authority  his  ability  is  recognized  wherever 
he  is  known. 

Dr.  Ludlam  was  chosen  President  of  the  Amer- 
ican Institute  of  Homeopathy,  the  oldest  National 
Medical  Society  in  America,  in  1869,  and  presided 
over  its  deliberations  at  Boston,  and  delivered 
the  annual  oration,  entitled  "The  Relation  of  Wo- 
man to  Homeopathy."  He  was  also  elected 
President  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Medicine,  of 
the  Illinois  Homeopathic  Medical  Society,  and  the 
Western  Institute  of  Homeopathy.  In  1870,  he 
was  offered,  but  declined,  the  position  of  Physician 
in  Chief  of  the  Woman's  Homeopathic  Infirmary 
of  New  York  City,  and  that  of  Professor  of  Obstet- 
rics and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children  in  the 
New  York  Homeopathic  Medical  College. 

The  confusion  and  almost  total  disorganization 
of  mercantile  and  social  functions  that  succeeded 
the  great  fire  of  1871,  made  it  necessary  to  or- 
ganize a  Relief  and  Aid  Society  for  attending 
the  sick  and  homeless,  who  otherwise  would 
have  been  left  to  suffer,  and  in  many  cases  to 
die,  for  want  of  medical  attention.  Dr.  Ludlam 
was  one  of  the  physicans  who  with  tireless  gener- 
osity devoted  their  best  efforts  toward  the  relief  of 
suffering  without  pay  or  hope  of  reward.  In 
1877  the  State  Board  of  Health  was  organized, 
and  Gov.  Cullom,  recognizing  Dr.  Ludlam 's  fit- 
ness for  the  place,  appointed  him  a  member  of  the 
Board.  He  was  twice  re-appointed  and  his  service 
extended  over  a  period  of  fifteen  consecutive  years. 
Although  Dr.  Ludlam  is  so  well  known  as  a 
physician  and  surgeon,  it  seems  probable  that  he 
is  best  known,  to  the  reading  and  professional 
world  at  least,  as  a  writer.  For  six  years,  begin- 
ning in  1860,  he  was  editorially  connected  with  the 
North  American  Journal  of  Homeopathy,  publish- 
ed in  New  York,  and  for  nine  years  with  the 
United  States  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  pub- 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

ONIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


STEPHEN  D.  JONES 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


S.  D.  JONES 


499 


lished  in  Chicago.  Since  1879,  he  has  been  edi- 
tor of  the  Cliniqttc,  a  monthly  abstract  of  the 
work  of  the  Clinical  Society  and  the  Hahnemann 
Hospital.  His  paper  entitled  "Clinical  Observa- 
tions Based  on  Five  Hundred  Abdominal  Sec- 
tions," was  one  the  most  important  contributions 
to  this  paper.  In  1871  his  great  work  entitled 
"Clinical  and  Didactic  Lectures  on  Diseases  of 
Women' '  was  published,  and  is  now  in  its  seven- 
teenth edition.  It  is  an  octavo  of  over  one  thous- 
and pages,  employed  as  a  text-book  in  all  home- 
opathic colleges,  and  is  an  acknowledged  author- 
ity among  homeopathic  physicians  both  in  Amer- 
ica and  Europe.  This  work  has  been  trans- 
lated into  French,  and  has  equally  as  high  a 
standing  among  the  physicians  of  continental 
Europe  as  among  the  English-speaking  med- 
ical practitioners.  In  1863,  Dr.  Ludlam 
brought  out  a  volume  entitled  "A  Course  of 
Clinical  Lectures  on  Diphtheria,"  which  was  the 
first  work  of  a  purely  medical  character  ever  pub- 
lished in  Chicago  and  the  Northwest.  In  1880, 


in  return  for  the  compliment  paid  him  by  the 
translation  of  one  of  his  volumes  into  French,  Dr. 
Ludlam  rendered  into  English  a  valuable  work 
by  Dr.  Jousset,  of  Paris,  entitled  "A  Volume  of 
Lectures  on  Clinical  Medicine." 

Dr.  Ludlam  has  been  twice  married.  His  first 
wife  was  Anna  M.  Porter,  of  Greenwich,  N.  J., 
who  died  three  years  after  her  marriage.  His 
second  wife  was  Harriet  G.  Parvin.  They  have 
one  son,  Dr.  Reuben  Ludlam,  Jr.,  a  young  man  ot 
ability,  whose  education  and  habits  have  enabled 
him  to  be  of  assistance  to  his  father  in  the  perform- 
ance of  his  multifarious  labors,  as  well  as  to  estab- 
lish for  himself  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  prac- 
titioner. Dr.  Ludlam  is  an  untiring  worker,  an 
enthusiastic  student  and  an  accomplished  linguist. 
He  is  social  and  a  very  entertaining  conversa- 
tionalist, whose  fund  of  humor  and  anecdote  en- 
riches his  instructive  familiar  discourse.  As  a 
writer  he  is  forceful,  graceful  and  lucid,  and  as  a 
physician  he  stands  in  the  front  rank. 


STEPHEN  DECATUR  JONES. 


(STEPHEN  DECATUR  JONES,  a  worthy 

?\  representative  of  one  of  the  pioneer  families 
Q)  of  Cook  County,  now  resides  in  Blue  Island, 
where  he  is  engaged  in  business  as  a  dealer  in  con- 
fectionery, stationery,  etc.  This  is  the  place  of 
his  nativity,  for  his  birth  here  occurred  on  the 
23d  of  October,  1846.  His  parents  were  Stephen 
and  Martha  (Crandall)  Jones.  His  father,  who 
was  a  native  of  Broome  County,  N.  Y.,  born  No- 
vembers, 1806,  died  in  Blue  Island,  June  14,  1851. 
His  ancestors  were  early  settlers  of  the  Empire 
State,  and  took  part  in  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Mrs.  Jones  was  born  in  Westford,  Chit- 
tenden  County,  Vt.,  on  the  ist  of  November, 
1808,  and  died  in  Blue  Island  on  the  5th  of  Au- 


gust, 1890.  Stephen  Jones  came  to  Blue  Island 
in  1 836,  being  one  of  three  who  in  that  year  lo- 
cated there.  He  opened  a  wagon-shop,  and  car- 
ried on  that  line  of  business  most  of  the  time  un- 
til his  death.  His  wife  came  to  Cook  County  in 
1836,  and  the  following  year  they  were  married. 
Three  children  of  the  six  who  were  born  of  their 
union  survived  the  period  of  infancy:  Eda  Ann, 
who  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  village 
which  is  now  her  home;  Stephen  D.  of  this  sketch; 
and  Alice  A.,  now  the  wife  of  C.  A.  Roberts,  of 
Pasadena,  Cal.  The  mother  was  one  of  the  orig- 
inal members  of  the  Universalist  Church  of  Blue 
Island,  and  in  many  other  ways  the  family  was  con- 
nected with  the  early  history  of  this  community. 


500 


J.  P.  YOUNG. 


The  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  record 
was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native  town,  and 
at  the  early  age  of  sixteen  years  started  out  in  life 
for  himself.  He  began  to  earn  his  livelihood  by 
working  at  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  fol- 
lowed in  this  locality  until  1868,  when  he  went 
to  Brushton,  Franklin  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
engaged  in  farming.  In  1872,  he  returned  to 
Blue  Island,  and  followed  his  trade  until  1880, 
when  he  embarked  in  his  present  line  of  business. 
He  earnestly  desires  to  please  his  customers,  and 
his  courteous  treatment  and  straightforward  deal- 
ing have  won  him  the  confidence  and  respect  of 
all. 

On  the  i2th  of  September,  1871,  Mr.  Jones  was 
joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Martha  Slate,  daugh- 
ter of  Charles  P.  and  Ann  (McElwain)  Slate,  of 
Bangor,  N.  Y.  The  lady,  who  was  born  in  Ft. 
Covington,  N.  Y. ,  April  24,  1849,  was  a  member  of 
the  Universalist  Church,  and  died  in  Blue  Island, 


December  17,  1893,  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years. 
In  the  family  were  five  children,  but  two  died  in 
infancy.  Those  still  living  are  Emma  Alice,  Asa 
Charles  and  Martha  Lillian. 

Mr.  Jones  .was  one  of  the  original  members  of 
the  Universalist  Church  of  Blue  Island,  and  has 
ever  identified  himself  with  those  interests  calcu- 
lated to  improve  the  community  and  promote  the 
general  welfare.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  the  Royal  Arcanum  and  the 
Knights  of  the  Maccabees.  In  politics,  he  was 
formerly  a  supporter  of  the  Republican  party,  but 
now  affiliates  with  the  Democracy.  For  two  terms 
he  served  as  Clerk  of  Worth  Township.  He  is  a 
man  of  upright  character,  of  a  pleasant  and  accom- 
modating spirit  and  manner,  and  has  the  high  re- 
gard of  all  who  know  him.  He  can  recall  many 
interesting  reminiscences  of  the  early  days  in  Blue 
Island,  and  may  well  be  numbered  among  her 
pioneer  settlers. 


JOSHUA  PALMER  YOUNG. 


(JOSHUA  PALMER  YOUNG,  an  honored 
I  pioneer  of  Chicago  and  Blue  Island,  was  born 
\2)  in  Brockport,  Monroe  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the 
i8th  of  March,  1818,  and  is  a  son  of  Eli  M.  and 
Temperance  (Palmer)  Young.  Their  family  num- 
bered four  children:  Eli,  a  resident  farmer  of 
Brockport,  N.  Y. ;  William,  who  died  in  Morgan- 
ville,  N.  Y.;  Joshua  P.  of  this  sketch;  and  Reu- 
ben, who  died  in  Williamston,  Mich.  The  father 
of  this  family  was  killed  by  a  falling  tree,  when 
Joshua  was  about  six  years  old,  and  his  wife  died 
several  years  later. 

Soon  after  the  father's  death  the  family  became 
scattered.  Joshua  was  adopted  by  a  Mr.  Staples, 
a  farmer  residing  near  Brockport,  who  treated 
him  kindly  and  gave  him  fair  educational  ad- 
vantages. When  he  had  attained  his  majority  he 


began  life  for  himself  as  clerk  in  a  store  in  his  na- 
tive town,  and  later  engaged  in  teaching  school. 
On  the  isth  of  January,  1845,  Mr.  Young  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Louisa  J.  Spencer, 
daughter  of  Oliver  and  Electa  Spencer,  of  Sweden, 
N.  Y.  The  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  and  the  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Young  were 
Revolutionary  soldiers,  and  were  quartered  at  New 
London,  Conn.,  at  the  time  that  place  was  sacked 
by  Gen.  Arnold;  but  having  been  sent  out  on  an 
expedition  some  distance  from  the  town,  they  es- 
caped capture.  The  young  couple  began  their 
domestic  life  upon  a  farm  near  Sweden,  N.  Y., 
where  they  resided  until  1848,  which  year  wit- 
nessed their  removal  westward.  Taking  up  their 
residence  in  Chicago,  Mr.  Young  here  embarked 
in  business.  He  built  the  first  house  on  the  West 


H.  H.   MASSEY. 


Side,  south  of  Polk  Street,  and  in  1856  he  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  land,  comprising  a  part  of 
the  present  site  of  Blue  Island,  which  tract  lay 
between  Western  and  Maple  Avenues,  and  in- 
cluded the  most  valuable  portions  of  the  present 
village,  extending  from  Vermont  to  Burr  Oak 
Streets.  During  the  next  four  years  he  made  his 
home  thereon,  devoting  his  time  and  attention  to 
the  improvement  of  his  purchase,  after  which  he 
returned  to  Chicago  and  engaged  in  the  produce 
commission  business  at  Market  and  Lake  Streets, 
being  thus  employed  until  after  the  death  of  his 
wife. 

Mrs.  Young  passed  away  in  Chicago  in  Oc- 
tober, 1863.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Congre 
gational  Church,  and  was  highly  esteemed  for  her 
many  excellencies  of  character.  She  left  two  chil- 
dren, and  one  had  died  in  infancy.  The  surviv- 
ing sons,  Charles  S.  and  Frank  O.,  are  both 
prominent  residents  of  Blue  Island. 

On  the  yth  of  February,  1866,  Mr.  Young  was 
again  married,  his  second  union  being  with  Min- 
erva P.,  daughter  of  Sweet  and  Eliza  Brayton, 
of  Blue  Island.  The  lady  was  born  in  Marion, 
Wayne  County,  N.  Y.,  and  still  resides  in  Blue 
Island.  She  has  one  son,  Chauncey  Brayton 
Young. 

In  1866,  Joshua  P.  Young  returned  to  Blue 
Island,  erected  a  fine  residence  and  began  dealing 


in  real  estate  in  Chicago,  handling  both  city  and 
suburban  property.  In  company  with  John  K. 
Rowley,  he  laid  out  the  south  part  of  Englewood, 
between  Sixty-third  and  Sixty-eighth  Streets, 
and  subsequently  they  platted  the  town  of  South 
Lawn,  now  Harvey.  Mr.  Young  continued  to 
engage  in  the  real-estate  business  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  26th  of  May,  1889.  From 
the  age  of  sixteen  years  he  was  identified  with 
the  Congregational  Church.  In  Blue  Island  he 
organized  the  society,  and  contributed  liberally 
toward  the  erection  of  the  house  of  worship.  He 
served  as  Deacon  of  that  church  until  called  to 
the  home  beyond,  and  was  ever  one  of  its  most 
faithful  members.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential 
vote  for  William  Henry  Harrison,  and  his  last 
vote  for  Benjamin  Harrison.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Tippecanoe  Club,  and  filled  several  local 
offices,  discharging  his  duties  with  promptness 
and  fidelity.  He  was  a  man  of  unquestioned  in- 
tegrity and  lofty,  noble-minded  principles.  He 
was  not  partisan  or  sectarian,  but  advocated 
human  rights  in  politics,  righteousness  and  tem- 
perance in  society,  and  Christianity  in  the  church. 
He  was  ever  progressive,  and  gave  much  thought 
to  social  and  theological  questions,  though  con- 
stantly engaged  in  active  business.  The  influence 
of  his  exemplary  life  will  be  long  felt  wherever  he 
was  known. 


HENRY  HART  MASSEY. 


HENRY  HART  MASSEY,  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  northern  Illinois,  now  living  in   Blue  Is- 
land, has  since  an  early  day  witnessed  the 
growth  and  development  of  this  part  of  the  State, 
and  has  borne  his  part  in  its  progress  and  ad- 
vancement.    A  native  of  New  York,  he  was  born 


in  Watertown,  February  25,  1828,  and  is  a  son 
of  Hart  and  Nancy  (Matteson)  Massey.  His 
mother,  who  was  a  devout  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  and  an  earnest  Christian  lady, 
died  in  Watertown  October  n,  1845,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-nine.  The  father  afterward  married 


502 


H.   H.    MASSEY. 


Emeline  Utley,  and  about  1855  removed  to  Jack- 
sonville, 111.,  where  he  engaged  in  the  lumber 
business  for  a  few  years.  He  then  came  to  Blue 
Island  and  carried  on  a  fire  and  life  insurance 
agency.  He,  too,  was  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and.  was  a  highly  respected  citi- 
zen. His  death  occurred  on  the  3ist  of  January, 
1882,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  seventy-nine. 

To  Hart  and  Nancy  Massey  were  born  eight 
children:  Harriet  Amelia,  who  died  December 
14,  1846;  Henry  H.  of  this  sketch;  Julia  Jane, 
who  became  the  wife  of  A.  B.  Safford,  of  Cairo, 
111. ,  and  died  January  31,1 862 ;  Heman  Whelpley, 
who  died  in  Santa  Rosa,  Cal.,  November  25,  1891; 
James  Bates,  who  is  living  in  Oakland,  Cal. ;  Emily 
Elizabeth,  who  died  in  Blue  Island,  April  18, 
1894;  Ann  Eliza,  widow  of  A.  H.  Irvin,  and  a 
resident  of  Blue  Island;  and  Charles  M.,  who 
died  in  Blue  Island,  August  15,  1864. 

The  children  of  the  second  marriage  are:  Ella 
Amelia,  wife  of  Rev.  Samuel  F.  Dickenson,  now 
of  Grand  Junction,  Colo. ;  and  Harriet  Holmes, 
wife  of  George  T.  Hughes,  of  Downer's  Grove, 
111.  The  mother  died  in  Blue  Island  April  20, 
1876. 

H.  H.  Massey  of  this  sketch  was  reared  to 
manhood  on  his  father's  farm,  and  in  1847  re- 
moved to  Joliet,  111.,  where  he  was  employed  as 
clerk  in  a  general  store  for  two  years.  He  then 
went  to  Chicago  and  secured  a  position  in  the 
dry-goods  store  of  O.  Sherman  &  Co.,  at  No.  104 
Lake  Street,  then  one  of  the  leading  dry-goods 
establishments  of  the  city.  Nearly  all  of  the  bus- 
iness was  done  on  Lake  Street,  while  the  present 
commercial  center  of  the  city  was  a  residence  dis- 
trict. In  the  fall  of  1851,  Mr.  Massey  went  to 
Blue  Island  as  clerk  for  the  contractor  who  graded 
the  Rock  Island  Railroad.  The  following  yeai 
he  became  Treasurer  of  the  southern  division  of 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  with  headquarters  at 
Jonesboro,  until  the  road  was  completed  to  Cen- 
tralia,  when  his  office  was  removed  thither.  He 
also  acted  as  pay-master  between  Wapello  and 
Cairo,  111.,  until  1855,  when  he  resigned  and  re- 
turned to  Blue  Island.  Soon  after  he  bought  an 
interest  in  a  general  merchandise  store,  and  carried 
on  business  along  that  line  for  twelve  years. 


Mr.  Massey  has  since  been  prominently  identi- 
fied with  the  business  of  this  locality.  In  1868 
he  engaged  in  the  grain  and  commission  business 
on  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  with  which  he 
was  connected  until  1871.  From  that  time  until 
1876  he  dealt  in  real  estate  in  the  city  and  in 
Blue  Island,  after  which  he  was  appointed  Cash- 
ier in  the  County  Recorder's  office,  and  served 
for  five  years.  During  the  succeeding  year  he 
was  employed  in  the  real-estate  department  of  the 
Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  Railroad  Company, 
and  was  then  in  the  grain  commission  business 
until  1892,  when  he  retired  to  private  life.  He 
now  occupies  his  time  and  attention  with  improv- 
ing his  grounds  and  looking  after  his  real-estate 
interests  in  Blue  Island.  He  has  added  a  num- 
ber of  subdivisions  to  the  village  at  various  times. 

On  the  4th  of  August,  1853,  in  Blue  Island, 
was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Massey  and 
Miss  Clarissa  C.  Rexford,  daughter  of  Norman 
Rexford.  They  have  become  the  parents  of  five 
children:  Willie  R.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  six 
years;  Mary  S.,  now  the  wife  of  Charles  R. 
Clark,  of  Chicago;  Julia  R.,  wife  of  W.  N.  Rudd, 
of  Blue  Island;  Harry  A.;  and  Fred  F.,  who  is 
now  a  clerk  in  the  Continental  National  Bank  of 
Chicago. 

The  members  of  the  family  are  all  communi- 
cants of  the  Universalist  Church  of  Blue  Island, 
and  Mr.  Massey  has  served  as  one  of  its  Trustees 
and  as  Treasurer  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
time  since  its  organization.  Socially,  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  is  Treas- 
urer of  the  Illinois  Universalist  State  Convention, 
of  which  organization  he  was  a  charter  member. 
In  politics,  he  is  a  stalwart  Republican,  and  never 
fails  to  vote  in  support  of  the  men  and  measures  of 
his  party,  although  he  has  never  sought  office  for 
himself.  With  the  educational  interests  of  the 
community  he  has  long  been  identified,  serving 
as  School  Treasurer  of  Worth  Township  for 
twenty  years.  He  has  also  been  Notary  Public 
since  1856.  He  takes  a  commendable  interest  in 
all  questions  of  public  concern,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  esteemed  citizens  of  Blue  Island.  Mr.  Mas- 
sey remembers  when  tliere  was  only  one  house  at 
Washington  Heights  and  one  at  Auburn  Park. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

BNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


ORRINGTON  LUNT. 


503 


ORRINGTON  LUNT. 


RRINGTON  LUNT  is  one  of  the  founders 
of  Evanston,  and  of  the  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity,  and  has  been  one  of  the  important 
factors  in  the  upbuilding  of  Chicago.  In  the  days 
of  the  infancy  of  the  city,  he  cast  in  his  lot  %vith 
its  settlers,  and  his  interests  have  since  been  con- 
nected with  theirs.  Many  monuments  to  his 
handiwork  still  stand,  and  the  history  of  Cook 
County  would  be  an  incomplete  volume  without 
the  record  of  his  life.  He  was  born  December  24, 
1815,  in  Bowdoinham,  Me.  His  father,  William 
Lunt,  was  a  leading  merchant  of  that  place,  and 
represented  his  district  in  the  State  Legislature. 
He  was  a  direct  descendant  of  Henry  Lunt,  of 
Newburyport,  Mass. ,  who  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  from  England  in  1635.  The  mother  of  our 
subject  died  when  he  was  ten  years  old,  and  his 
father  afterwards,  married  again.  He  lived  to  a 
ripe  old  age,  and  both  he  and  his  second  wife 
died  December  31,  1863. 

Mr.  Lunt  of  this  sketch  attended  the  public 
and  private  schools  of  his  native  town,  and  in  his 
fourteenth  year  entered  his  father's  store,  serving 
as  clerk  until  he  attained  his  majority,  when  he 
was  admitted  to  partnership.  They  safely  passed 
through  the  financial  panic  of  1837,  for  their  busi- 
ness had  been  prudently  managed,  and  they  could 
thus  meet  the  crisis.  Soon  after,  the  father  re- 
tired, and  a  partnership  was  formed  between  Or- 
rington  and  his  brother  W.  H.  They  did  a  good 
business,  and  besides  dealing  in  dry  goods  traded 
largely  and  shipped  hay  and  produce  to  the  South. 
In  1842,  Mr.  Lunt  sold  out,  preparatory  to  mov- 
ing westward.  He  believed  that  better  advant- 
ages were  furnished  by  the  new  and  rapidly  grow- 
ing West,  and  the  then  young  town  of  Chicago 
attracted  him.  He  left  home  on  the  ist  of  No- 
vember, and  on  the  nth  reached  his  destination. 
This  western  town  had  then  not  a  single  railroad, 
and  its  business  at  that  time  was  very  slack,  not 


much  being  done  through  the  winter  season. 
Mr.  Lunt  hoped  for  better  opportunities  in  the 
spring,  but  his  wife's  health  at  that  time  forced 
him  to  return  to  Maine.  The  many  discourage- 
ments which  he  met  disheartened  him,  but  he 
would  not  give  up,  and  in  the  later  part  of  July 
we  again  find  him  in  Chicago.  He  had  no  capi- 
tal, but  was  furnished  with  letters  of  recommen- 
dation from  leading  merchants  in  the  East.  He 
began  business  as  a  commission  merchant,  and 
soon  had  built  up  a  flourishing  trade.  In  the 
summer  of  1844  he  began  dealing  in  grain,  and 
in  the  following  winter  packed  pork  to  a  limited 
extent.  Both  of  these  ventures  proved  profitable, 
and  he  then  leased  one  hundred  feet  of  ground  on 
the  river  front  for  ten  years,  erecting  thereon  a 
grain  house.  With  the  growth  of  the  city  his 
business  increased,  and  in  those  early  days  he 
made  one  sale  of  fifty  thousand  bushels,  which 
was  considered  a  large  transaction.  He  had  now 
made  about  $10,000,  but  trade  the  following  spring 
proved  disastrous,  and  he  lost  all  he  had.  He 
never  shipped  grain  East,  Chicago  being  his  only 
market,  and  through  the  experience  gained  by 
his  losses  he  became  a  prudent  and  careful  busi- 
ness man.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Trade  since  the  beginning,  but  the  business 
done  there  in  early  years  was  little,  as  the  organi- 
zation had  to  struggle  for  existence  for  some 
time,  notwithstanding  a  lunch  of  crackers  and 
cheese  served  as  an  attraction.  In  1853  he  aban- 
doned the  grain  trade,  and  retired  for  a  time  from 
commercial  life. 

Mr.  Lunt  has  been  connected  to  a  considerable 
extent  with  official  positions.  He  was  first  called 
to  office  when  in  his  twenty-second  year,  being 
elected  Clerk  and  Treasurer  of  his  town,  and  also 
appointed  Justice  of  the  Peace.  In  1855  he  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  Water  Commissioner  for 
three  years  for  the  south  division  of  the  city. 


504 


ORRINGTON.LUNT. 


On  the  expiration  of  his  first  term  he  was  re-elect- 
ed, and  during  the  last  three  years  he  served  as 
Treasurer  and  President  of  the  Board.  At  the 
end  of  the  six  years  the  city  departments  were  con- 
solidated in  the  Board  of  Public  Works.  He  was 
made  a  Director  of  the  Galena  &  Chicago  Union 
Railroad  in  1855,  and  continued  as  such  until  the 
consolidation  of  the  road  with  the  Northwestern. 
For  several  years  he  was  one  of  the  Auditors  of 
the  Board  of  Directors,  and  his  time  was  largely 
given  to  the  business  of  the  office.  During  his 
last  two  years  with  the  road  he  served  as  its  Vice- 
President.  In  1877  Mr.  Lunt  was  elected  by  the 
lot  owners  of  Rose  Hill  Cemetery  Company  as 
one  of  the  three  trustees  for  the  care  of  the  lot 
owners'  fund.  He  was  President  of  the  Board, 
and  for  the  last  few  years  its  Treasurer.  It  has 
been  well  managed,  and  a  fund  of  $100,000  col- 
lected and  now  in  their  hands  has  been  invested 
in  Cook  County  and  city  bonds. 

Mr.  Lunt  had  previously  leased  his  warehouse, 
but  the  parties  failed  after  the  panic  of  1857,  and 
he  took  possession  of  it  in  1859.  Forming  a 
partnership  with  his  brother,  S.  P.  Lunt,  they 
used  the  warehouse  as  a  canal  elevator,  and  did  a 
large  business,  sometimes  handling  three  and  a- 
half  million  bushels  annually.  Impaired  health, 
however,  forced  him  to  abandon  the  grain  trade 
in  1862,  and  in  1865  he  started  for  the  Old  World 
with  his  family,  spending  two  years  abroad,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  visited  many  of  the  famous 
cities  of  Europe  and  Asia. 

Mr.  Lunt  was  united  in  marriage,  on  the  i6th 
of  January,  1842,  to  Cornelia  A.  Gray.  Her  father, 
Hon.  Samuel  Gray,  was  a  prominent  attorney  of 
Bowdoinham,  his  native  town,  and  was  Repre- 
sentative, Senator  and  a  member  of  the  Gover- 
nor's Council  of  the  State.  He  was  also  promi- 
nent in  commercial  circles.  Four  children  were 
born  unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lunt,  three  sons  and  a 
daughter,  but  one  son  died  in  infancy.  Horace, 
who  graduated  from  Harvard  University,  is  a 
leading  attorney;  and  George  is  a  sturdy  busi- 
ness man.  Cornelia  G.,  the  accomplished  daugh- 
ter, seems  to  have  inherited  her  father's  philan- 
thropic nature,  and  takes  a  most  active  part  in 
charitable  and  benevolent  work. 


During  the  late  war  the  Union  found  in  Mr. 
Lunt  a  faithful  friend.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Committee  of  Safety  and  War  Finance,  appointed 
at  the  first  meeting,  which  convened  April  13, 
1 86 1.  The  Sunday  after  the  fall  of  Sumter  he 
spent  in  raising  supplies  and  in  preparing  the  first 
regiment  to  start  from  this  city  to  Cairo.  His 
labors  in  behalf  of  the  army  and  the  Union  then 
continued  until  victory  perched  on  the  banners  of 
the  North.  Four  years  after  the  commencement 
of  the  struggle  he  had  the  pleasure  of  being 
present  when  the  Old  Flag  was  again  flung  to  the 
breeze  from  the  battlements  of  the  fort,  attending 
the  Grand  Review  of  the  victorious  army,  and 
visiting  the  principal  cities  of  the  late  Confed- 
eracy. 

When  about  twenty  years  of  age,  Mr.  Lunt 
joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  his 
name  is  inseparably  connected  with  the  history  of 
its  growth  in  this  locality.  For  about  twenty 
years  he  was  Trustee  of  the  Clark  Street  Method- 
ist Church,  and  during  much  of  that  time  was 
Secretary  of  the  Board.  He  bought  several  lots 
on  the  corner  of  State  and  Harrison  Streets  in 
1848,  and  five  years  later  sold  them  on  three 
years'  time  to  the  church  at  cost  price.  That 
ground  was  afterwards  exchanged  for  the  site  of 
the  Wabash  Avenue  Methodist  Church,  to  which 
he  transferred  his  membership  in  1858.  He  has 
always  given  most  liberally  for  the  erection  of 
church  edifices,  both  of  his  own  and  other  denom- 
inations in  the  city,  and  struggling  churches  in 
the  West.  Of  the  Clark  Seminary  at  Aurora,  he 
was  one  of  the  first  Trustees.  This  was  built  by 
a  private  company,  but  subsequently  turned  over 
to  the  church  without  compensation.  He  was 
one  of  the  charter  members,  and  has  been  Secre- 
tary, Treasurer  and  General  Business  Agent  of 
the  Garrett  Biblical  Institute  from  its  organiza- 
tion in  1853.  In  company  with  a  few  others,  he 
procured  the  charter  for  and  incorporated  the 
Northwestern  University  of  Evanston.  The  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  secure  a  site.  They 
wished  to  get  land  on  the  lake  front,  but  could 
find  none  which  they  thought  near  enough  to  the 
city,  and  were  almost  closing  a  deal  for  property 
in  Jefferson.  Through  the  instrumentality  of 


MATERNUS  SCHAEFER. 


505 


Mr.  Lunt,  however,  who,  in  riding  one  day,  vis- 
ited the  present  site  of  Evanston,  the  business  was 
deferred,  and  his  iudgment  led  to  the  selection  of 
the  spot  where  now  stands  the  University.  To 
this  institution  he  has  contributed  in  time,  energy 
and  money,  and  while  he  was  in  Europe  the  board 
set  aside  land,  now  valued  at  $100,000,  which  he 
had  given,  as  the  Orrington  Lunt  Library  Fund. 
Desirous,  also,  to  render  passible  the  erection  of 
a  suitable  library  building,  he  has  given  $50,000 
toward  the  one  now  in  process  of  completion. 
This  splendid  building  is  of  Bedford  stone,  beau- 
tiful in  style,  graceful  and  enduring.  The  finest 
structure  on  the  campus,  it  is  a  fitting  memorial 
of  the  man  whose  name  it  perpetuates  in  the  let- 
ters carved  upon  its  noble  entrance:  THE  OR- 
RINGTON LUNT  LIBRARY.  He  has  always  been 
on  the  executive  committee  of  the  school,  and 
has  been  largely  instrumental  in  the  success  of 
the  institution.  He  was  early  connected  with  the 
Chicago  Orphan  Asylum,  and  raised  nearly  $20,- 
ooo  to  complete  the  edifice,  while  a  member  of 
the  building  committee  in  the  summer  of  1854. 

The  Chicago  fire  consumed  the  home  of  Mr. 
Lunt  and  all  of  the  buildings  from  which  he  de- 
rived an  income.  The  winter  following  he  served 
on  the  Special  Fire  Relief  Committee.  Many 
Methodist  Churches  and  the  Garrett  Biblical  In- 
stitute also  suffered  great  losses,  and  a  committee 
to  devise  means  for  their  relief  was  appointed  by 
the  Rock  River  Conference.  Arrangements  were 
made  to  solicit  funds,  and  Mr.  Lunt  became  Sec- 


retary and  Treasurer.  For  eighteen  months  he 
was  actively  engaged  in  the  disbursement  and 
collection  of  the  money  raised,  about  $150,000. 
By  this  means  he  was  enabled  to  rebuild  the  Gar- 
rett building,  the  structure  being  finer  than  the 
former  one.  When  he  could  find  time  for  his  own 
work  he  built  the  fine  banking-house  occupied  by 
Preston,  Kean  &  Co.  He  has  truly  borne  his 
part  in  the  upbuilding  of  Chicago. 

On  the  1 6th  of  January-,  1842,  was  celebrated 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lunt,  and  a  half- 
century  later  was  celebrated  their  golden  wedding. 
Two  hundred  friends  met  to  extend  to  this  worthy 
couple  their  congratulations  for  the  happy  years 
that  had  passed,  to  review  the  lives  so  well  spent, 
and  to  wish  them  the  return  of  many  more  such 
pleasant  occasions.  The  co-workers  of  Mr.  Lunt 
in  church,  in  business  and  in  his  university  labors 
all  bore  their  testimony,  not  only  to  his  pleasant 
companionship,  but  to  his  honorable,  upright  life 
and  exemplary  character.  Many  beautiful  gifts 
attested  the  esteem  and  love  of  guests,  which 
could  not  be  expressed  in  words  alone.  Al- 
though Mr.  Lunt  has  led  a  very  prominent  life, 
he  is  yet  retiring  and  very  unassuming  in  man- 
ner. He  has  followed  the  Golden  Rule,  has 
walked  in  the  light  as  he  saw  it,  has  been  un- 
wearied in  well-doing,  and  when  he  shall  have 
been  called  to  the  home  beyond  he  will  leave  to 
his  family  what  Solomon  says  is  better  than  great 
riches,  "a  good  name." 


MATERNUS  SCHAEFER. 


I ATERNUS  SCHAEFER,  a  retired  farmer 
residing  in  Gross  Point,  has,  as  ;the  result 
of  his  enterprise  and  industry  in  former 
years,  acquired  a  competency  that  now  enables 
him  to  lay  aside  business  cares.  He  claims  Prus- 
sia as  the  land  of  his  birth,  which  occurred  on 
the  26th  of  August,  1833.  He  is  the  eldest  in  the 
family  of  thirteen  children  born  to  Peter  and 


Lena  (Bleser)  Schaefer.  In  1843  the  parents 
bade  adieu  to  the  Fatherland,  and,  having  crossed 
the  briny  deep  to  the  New  World,  took  up  their 
residence  in  New  Trier  Township,  Cook  County, 
where  they  continued  to  make  their  home  until 
called  to  their  final  rest.  The  father  died  June 
12,  1894,  in  his  ninetieth  year,  and  his  wife  passed 
away  in  1891,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine.  They 


506 


GEORGE  WEIMER. 


were  well-known  and  highly-respected  people, 
and  further  mention  of  them  and  their  children  is 
made  in  connection  with  the  sketch  of  John 
Schaefer,  on  another  page  of  this  work. 

The  gentleman  of  whom  we  write  became  fa- 
miliar with  farming  in  all  its  details  at  an  early 
age.  He  was  married  on  the  26th  of  August, 
1854,  to  Miss  Mary  Schaefer,  daughter  of  John 
Schaefer,  a  tanner.  She  was  born  in  Prussia, 
November  4,  1835,  and  died  May  21,  1891,  the 
last  of  her  family  to  pass  away.  Fourteen  chil- 
dren were  born  of  this  union,  seven  sons  and 
seven  daughters,  of  whom  two  sons  and  six  daugh- 
ters are  yet  living,  namely:  Katrina,  who  was 
born  March  4,  1856,  and  is  the  wife  of  Louis  A. 
Brucks,  a  real-estate  dealer  and  insurance  agent 
of  Englewood;  Christina,  who  was  born  Decem- 
ber 19,  1857,  and  is  the  wife  of  Mathias  Wagner, 
a  carpenter  and  contractor  of  Englewood;  Anna 
Maria,  who  was  born  March  26,  1861,  and  is  the 
wife  of  Gerhard  Steffens,  a  liquor  dealer  of  Gross 
Point;  Peter  Joseph,  who  was  born  December  29, 
1862,  and  is  a  contractor  and  builder  of  Wilmette; 
Frank,  who  was  born  October  18,  1864,  and  fol- 
lows farming  at  Gross  Point;  Helena,  who  was 
born  February  21,  1867,  and  is  the  wife  of  Peter 


Sesterhenn,  an  agriculturist  of  the  same  locality 
Margarite,  born  November  24,  1868,  wife  of  Max 
Engels,  who  is  engaged  in  the  beer-bottling  busi- 
ness at  Gross  Point;  and  Eva,  who  was  born  No- 
vember 13,  1870,  and  is  the  wife  of  William  Wer- 
ner, a  teamster  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Schaefer  and  his  family  are  Catholics  in 
religious  faith,  belonging  to  St.  Joseph's  Church 
in  Gross  Point.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential 
vote  for  Buchanan,  then  supported  Lincoln,  and 
has  since  been  a  stanch  Republican.  He  has 
filled  the  offices  of  Town  Collector,  was  President 
of  the  Village  Board  for  thirteen  years,  and  has 
been  School  Director  for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
He  is  a  member  of  St.  Joseph's  Library  and  Sick 
Benefit  Association,  and  is  a  loyal  citizen,  devoted 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  community.  He  now 
owns  thirty-five  acres  of  valuable  land  on  section 
33,  New  Trier  Township,  besides  a  number  of 
residences  in  Wilmette.  He  is  a  worthy  repre- 
sentative of  an  honored  pioneer  family,  and  is  a 
highly-respected  citizen,  whose  excellencies  of 
character  have  gained  for  him  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  all  with  whom  he  has  been  brought  in 
contact. 


GEORGE  WEIMER. 


(2JEORGE  WEIMER  is  one  among  the  repre- 

bsentative  citizens  of  Lemont.  He  was  born 
in  Nassau,  Germany,  on  the  23d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1835,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Margaret 
(Weis)  Weimer.  The  father  was  a  blacksmith, 
and  died  when  George  was  only  five  years  old. 
Three  years  later,  Mrs.  Weimer  became  the  wife 
of  John  Noll. 

Our  subject  was  the  third  in  a  famity  of  four 


children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  At  the 
age  of  five  years,  he  began  to  attend  the  public 
schools,  and  finished  the  course  at  the  age  of 
twelve.  During  the  next  two  years  he  attended 
the  high  school  and  also  took  lessons  as  a  private 
student,  acquiring  a  good  practical  education.  In 
1853,  he  left  Germany  for  the  United  States,  and 
landed  at  New  York  on  the  23d  of  August  of  that 
year.  In  New  York  City  and  Raritan,  New  Jer- 


GEORGE  WEIMER. 


507 


sey,  during  the  succeeding  two  years,  he  learned 
the  cabinet-maker's  trade,  .after  which  he  started 
westward,  arriving  in  Chicago  August  23,  1855. 
There  he  learned  carpentering  and  made  the  city 
his  home  until  the  latter  part  of  1857,  a  portion 
of  the  time  being  engaged  as  a  carpenter  and 
builder.  In  November  of  that  year  he  went  to 
Europe  and  returned  with  his  parents  and  their 
family  the  following  spring.  They  settled  near 
Downer's  Grove,  Du  Page  County,  and  Mr. 
Weimer  resided  in  Chicago,  where  he  did  business 
as  a  contractor.  He  erected  many  buildings  in 
various  parts  of  Cook  County.  In  1860,  became 
to  Lemont. 

On  the  23d  of  June,  1861,  Mr.  Weimer  and 
Miss  Elizabeth  C.  Hein  were  united  in  marriage 
in  this  place.  The  lady  is  a  native  of  the  same 
town  as  her  husband  and  came  to  America  with 
her  parents  in  1856. 

After  two  or  three  years'  residence  in  Lemont, 
Mr.  Weimer  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  merchandising  until  1865,  at  which 
time  he  went  to  New  Buffalo,  Michigan,  and  car- 
ried on  contracting  and  building,  erecting  more 
than  a  hundred  buildings  during  his  stay  there. 
For  years  he  devoted  his  time  and  attention  to 
merchandising,  and  also  held  the  offices  of  Asses- 
sor and  Supervisor  from  1867  until  1877.  For 
ten  years  he  was  also  Justice  of  the  Peace.  In 
1877,  he  returned  to  Lemont,  where  he  has  since 
resided.  For  a  short  time,  in  company  with  his 
brother,  Andrew  Weimer,  he  conducted  a  wagon 
and  blacksmith  shop,  but  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  time  he  has  been  a  contractor  and  builder.  In 
1879,  he  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  held 
that  office  for  four  years.  In  1893,  he  was  again 
elected  to  that  position,  and  is  kept  busy  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  in  the  discharge  of 
his  official  duties. 

Mr.  and  Mrs  Weimer  have  become  the  parents 
of  seven  children,  namely:  George  A.;  Rosa,  wife 
of  Peter  Meilinger,  of  Chicago;  Mary  Ann,  Joseph 
M.,  Maria  Elizabeth,  Frank  Joseph  and  Benjamin 
Franklin. 

George  A.  Weimer,  of  Lemont,  is  a  son  of 
George  and  Elizabeth  C.  Weimer,  whose  sketch  is 


given  above.  He  was  born  at  this  place  on  the 
5th  of  June,  1862,  and  obtained  a  good  education 
in  the  schools  of  the  town,  where  he  spent  his 
early  life,  attending  until  nineteen  years  of  age. 
In  1882,  he  began  to  learn  the  drug  business,  ar.d 
continued  in  that  line  until  May,  1893,  becoming 
in  the  mean  time  a  very  proficient  pharmacist. 
His  first  employer  was  G.  A.  Boclenschatz,  with 
whom  he  remained  six  years,  when  J.  G.  Boden- 
schatz  succeeded  to  the  business,  and  Mr.  Weimer 
spent  the  remaining  years  in  his  employ.  His 
genial  disposition  and  good  character  made  him 
a  favorite  with  Lemont  people,  and  when  but 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  was  elected  to  office, 
and  from  that  time  to  the  present  he  has  filled 
some  public  position.  In  1883,  he  was  elected 
Town  Clerk  and  filled  that  office  until  1888,  when 
he  was  appointed  City  Clerk,  thus  serving  until 
the  next  election,  when  he  was  elected.  In  dis- 
charging the  duties  of  that  position  his  time  was 
passed  until  April,  1893,  he  being  annually  re- 
elected.  At  the  last-mentioned  date,  he  was 
elected  Township  Supervisor,  and  was  again  the 
people's,  choice  in  1894.  In  1893,  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  a  place  in  the  County  Treasurer's  office, 
which  he  held  until  February,  1894,  when  he  was 
made  deputy  in  the  office  of  the  Recorder  of  Deeds 
in  Cook  County,  in  which  capacity  he  is  now 
serving.  In  the  fall  of  the  present  year  (1894) 
he  was  nominated  by  the  Democracy  as  the  can- 
didate of  that  party  for  State  Senator  from  the 
Seventh  Senatorial  District. 

On  the  22d  of  October,  1883,  Mr.  Weimer  was 
joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Lizzie  V.  Hettinger. 
daughter  of  George  Hettinger,  who  came  to  Le- 
mont about  1863.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first 
volunteer  fire  company  of  Chicago.  To  them 
four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  were 
born,  all  of  whom  died  of  diphtheria  in  less  than 
two  weeks' time,  in  May.  1893.  The  death  of  his 
children  destroyed  Mr  Weimer's  faith  in  the  ef- 
ficacy of  medicines  and  caused  him  to  abandon 
pharmacy.  He  is  an  ardent  and  influential  sup- 
porter of  Democracy  and  a  member  of  several  fra- 
ternal societies. 


508 


W.  S.  WHITE. 


WILLIAM  S.  WHITE,  M.  D. 


G>G|ILLIAM  SEYMOUR  WHITE,  M.  D.,  is  a 
\  A  I  native  of  Greenwood,  McHenry  County, 
Y  Y  Illinois,  and  was  born  on  the  3oth  of  De- 
cember, 1864.  The  records  show,  and  the  Doc- 
tor modestly  admits,  that  he  is  descended  on  the 
maternal  side  from  Francis  Capet  (Coquilette) , 
the  Huguenot  half-brother  of  Louis  XIV.,  King 
of  France,  who,  on  account  of  the  persecutions  to 
which  that  sect  was  subjected,  fled  to  America, 
and,  changing  his  name  to  Coquilette,  became  the 
progenitor  of  a  numerous  family  in  Westchester 
County,  New  York,  and  later  removed  with  his 
family  to  Rockland  County,  New  York.  His  de- 
scendant, William  Coquilette,  the  great-grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  died  in  Rock- 
land  County,  New  York,  at  an  early  age.  Maria 
(Garrison)  Coquilette,  his  wife,  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-eight  years.  Peter  Cook,  Dr.  White's 
maternal  grandfather,  a  native  of  New  York  and 
a  descendant  of  the  Knickerbockers,  married 
Eletta,  daughter  of  William  and  Maria  Coquilette. 

Capt.  William  White,  the  paternal  grandfather* 
of  Dr.  White,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Gottenburg, 
Sweden,  in  1813,  and  at  an  early  age  became  a 
sailor.  In  his  voyages,  Capt.  White  carried 
troops  to  Mexico  while  the  United  States  was  at 
war  with  that  country,  transported  the  first  ship- 
load of  stone  for  the  construction  of  Ft.  Moultrie, 
and  twice  circumnavigated  the  globe.  His  wife, 
who  still  survives  him,  was  Mary  Ehrhardt,  of 
Philadelphia. 

William  R.  White,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  and  the  son  of  Capt.  William  and 
Mary  White,  was  born  in  New  York  City,  in 
1841,  and  has  been  engaged  in  mercantile  pur- 
suits all  his  life.  He  married  Emily  A.  Cook, 
daughter  of  Peter  and  Eletta  Cook,  two  children, 


William  S.  and  Wilomene  T.,  being  the  result 
of  this  union. 

William  S.  White  came  to  Chicago  with  his 
parents  in  1865.  He  received  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Chicago.  His  first  work 
was  in  the  grocery  store  of  John  A.  Tolman  &  Co. , 
where  he  remained  a  year.  He  later  entered  the 
employ  of  D.  S.  Munger  &  Co.  as  office  boy,  and 
in  three  years  worked  his  way  upward  to  the 
position  of  cashier.  In  1884  ne  entered  the  Chi- 
cago Homeopathic  Medical  College.  At  that  time 
the  course  required  only  two  years,  but  he  at- 
tended three  years,  and  during  the  season  of 
1886-87  demonstrated  anatomy  to  the  class  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  and  also  a  part  of  that 
time  to  the  senior  class.  He  graduated  in  1888. 
Following  his  graduation,  he  was  successful  in 
winning  honors  in  a  competitive  examination,  and 
during  the  years  1888  and  1889  was  interne  in 
the  Cook  County  Hospital  for  eighteen  months. 
Subsequently  he  was  called  to  Rochester,  New 
York,  where  he  opened  and  put  in  practical  oper- 
ation the  Rochester  Homeopathic  Hospital,  com- 
monly known  as  the  Monroe  Avenue  Hospital. 

Returning  to  Chicago,  Dr.  White  entered  into 
the  general  practice  of  medicine  and  dermatology, 
in  which  he  has  since  been  engaged,  with  office 
at  No.  70  State  Street.  In  the  fall  of  1889  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  Demonstrator  of  An- 
atomy in  the  Chicago  Homeopathic  College.  In 
1890  he  was  made  clinical  assistant  in  the  depart- 
ment of  dermatology,  and  in  1893  was  appointed 
Adjunct  Professor  of  Physiology  in  the  same  insti- 
tution. In  January,  1893,  he  received  the  ap- 
pointment of  Dermatologist  in  the  homeopathic 
department  of  the  Cook  County  Hospital,  and 
still  fills  all  of  these  positions.  He  is  a  member 


JEROME  BEECHER. 


509 


of  the  Illinois  Homeopathic  Medical  Association 
and  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homeopathy. 
He  holds  membership  in  two  fraternal  organiza- 
tions, being  medical  examiner  in  the  Improved 
Order  of  Heptasophs. 

On  the  5th  of  October,  1892,  Dr.  White  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Isabelle  Stone,  of 
Charlotte,  Vermont,  daughter  of  L,uther  D.  and 
Phoebe  (Rogers)  Stone. 

f  o  judge  the  future  from  the  past,  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  predict  for  Dr.  White  success  in  a  much 


greater  measure  than  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of 
the  medical  practitioner.  His  mind  is  active,  his 
memory  retentive,  his  habits  studious,  his  com- 
prehension of  the  science  of  medicine  rapid,  intui- 
tive and  thorough.  His  manner  is  easy,  affable 
and  vivacious,  with  a  dash  of  bonhomie,  which, 
no  doubt,  is  inherited  from  his  Gallic  ancestors. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  mental  attrition 
with  Dr.  White  would  brighten  many  preten- 
tious members  of  the  medical  profession. 


JEROME   BEECHER. 


(TEROME  BEECHER,  among  the  early,  sub- 
I  stantial  and  most  exemplary  citizens  of  Chi- 
C2J  cago,  was  a  scion  of  old  and  well-known  New 
England  stock.  His  father,  Mather  Beecher  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  Central  New  York,  going 
thither  from  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  He  was 
a  tanner  by  occupation,  and  gave  to  his  family 
the  training  which  has  developed  so  much  of 
thrift,  enterprise  and  morality  among  the  sons  of 
New  England,  and  has  made  an  indelible  impres- 
sion upon  the  religious,  educational  and  mercan- 
tile conditions  of  the  United  States,  and  particul- 
arly the  northern  half  of  the  country.  Wherever 
a  leaven  of  Yankee  blood  is  found  in  a  community, 
there  are  sure  to  be  found  churches,  schools,  fac- 
tories and  sound  business  men,  Chicago  was  es- 
pecially fortunate  in  that  the  major  portion  of  her 
pioneers  came  from  the  land  of  industrious  habits 
and  careful  economy,  and  to  this  cause  alone 
may  be  attributed  her  wonderful  progress  in  busi- 
ness supremacy,  as  well  as  in  social  and  moral 
culture. 

Jerome  Beecher  was  born  in  the  town  of  Rem- 
sen,  Oneida  County,  New  York,  January  4,  1818. 
His  first  implement  for  self-help  was  the  intellect- 


ual training  afforded  by  the  village  school,  and 
he  was  early  made  familiar  with  the  occupation 
of  his  father,  mastering  all  that  pertained  to  the 
manufacture  of  leather  and  its  uses.  His  natural 
sagacity  and  shrewdness,  with  these  helps,  en- 
abled him  to  conduct  the  large  business  which  he 
built  up  in  later  years,  and  to  manage  intricate 
financial  trusts  which  were  placed  in  his  care. 

The  year  1838  found  him  in  Chicago,  whither 
his  father  sent  him  to  look  after  a  stock  of 
leather,  boots,  shoes  and  findings  which  had  been 
entrusted  to  an  incompetent  or  unfaithful  agent. 
He  managed  this  undertaking  with  such  success 
and  found  such  glowing  prospects  in  the  young 
city  that  he  decided  to  remain  here  and  engage  in 
business  permanently.  At  that  time  the  center 
of  business  clustered  about  the  corner  of  Lake  and 
LaSalle  streets,  and  his  pioneer  store  was  among 
those  forming  the  group.  He  shortly  set  up  a 
tannery,  which  was  destroyed  by  fire  about  1858. 
During  these  years,  he  had  grown  in  wealth  with 
the  rapid  growth  of  the  city  and  surrounding 
country,  his  industry  and  integrity  bringing  him 
a  large  trade,  which  he  retained  until  he  de- 
cided to  retire  and  give  attention  to  his  invest- 


JEROME  BEECHER. 


ments.  His  accumulations  had  been  invested  in 
land  and  improved  real  estate.  With  other  care- 
ful investments,  these  had  grown  in  value  beyond 
his  fondest  anticipations,  and  he  found  himself 
while  yet  in  vigorous  middle  life  a  man  of  in- 
dependent means,  and  at  the  time  of  his 'demise, 
after  more  than  half  a  century's  residence  here, 
his  estate  had  become  very  valuable. 

He  became  interested  in  the  gas  business  as 
early  as  1850,  and  was  made  a  director  in  the  Chi- 
cago Gas  Light  &  Coke  Company.  He  was  in- 
terested in  the  Merchants'  Savings,  Loan  & 
Trust  Company,  and  was  one  of  the  purchasers  of 
the  Chicago  West  Division  Railroad,  of  which  he 
was  many  years  a  director,  in  1863.  A  recent 
writer  says:  "Among  the  enterprises  of  his 
earlier  years,  for  which  he  should  be  remembered 
with  grateful  regard  by  those  who  survive,  was 
his  connection  as  trustee  and  treasurer  with  the 
Graceland  Cemetery  Improvement  Company,  in 
whose  peaceful  grounds  so  many  once  active  in  the 
brisk  life  of  Chicago  have  found  their  last  resting 
place." 

Mr.  Beecher  had  in  his  youth  attended  the 
worship  of  the  Unitarian  society  near  his  home  in 
New  York,  and  he  adhered  to  the  faith  which 
he  there  imbibed  throughout  his  long  and  useful 
life.  The  First  Unitarian  Society  of  Chicago 
was  a  feeble  band,  in  the  third  year  of  its  exist- 
ence, when  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  to  his  zealous 
aid  much  of  its  subsequent  strength  is  due.  At 
his  decease,  after  completing  more  than  the 
allotted  years  of  the  scripture,  the  church  pre- 
pared and  had  engraved  a  most  beautiful  and 
touching  memorial,  which  was  presented  to  his 
widow.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Calumet  Club, 
whose  meetings  of  old  settlers  in  annual  reunion 
gave  him  great  pleasure.  The  Old  Settlers'  As- 
sociation embraced  most  of  his  business  and  social 
companions,  and  he  was  prominent  in  its  con- 
duct. Mr.  Beecher  always  endeavored  to  fulfill 
the  duties  of  citizenship,  but  was  conspicious  in 
politics  only  once  in  his  life.  This  was  in  the 
memorable  campaign  of  1840,  when  the  Demo- 
cratic party  was  overthrown  and  William  Henry 
Harrison,  the  Whig  candidate,  elected  to  the 
Presidency.  Mr.  Beecher  was  a  delegate  in  the 


convention  which  nominated  Harrison,  and  took 
part  in  the  political  meetings  held  in  a  log  cabin 
on  the  north  side,  near  Rush  Street  bridge. 

In  his  business  relations,  Mr.  Beecher  was  a 
man  of  unspotted  integrity,  careful  and  quiet  in 
action,  and  reticent  in  speaking  of  himself  or  his 
affairs.  One  of  his  favorite  methods  of  benevolent 
action  was  the  assistance  of  some  worthy  man  in 
starting  in  business,  realizing  that  the  truest  way 
to  help  others  is  to  teach  and  aid  them  to  help 
themselves.  He  loved  to  gather  children  and 
young  people  about  him,  and  a  number  were 
taken  into  his  family  and  educated.  He  was  es- 
pecially fond  of  music,  and  to  his  own  family  con- 
nections and  friends  he  was  ever  generous.  His 
style  of  living  was  unostentatious,  and  his  hab- 
its were  simple  and  domestic.  In  bearing,  he 
was  affable  and  considerate,  and  he  always  spoke 
charitably  of  men,  making  it  a  rule  never  to  speak 
ill  of  any  person. 

Four  years  after  his  arrival  in  Chicago,  Mr. 
Beecher  took  a  helpmeet  in  the  person  of  Miss 
Mary  Warren,  daughter  of  Daniel  Warren,  whose 
biography  will  be  found  on  another  page  of  this 
book,  and  she  proved  in  every  way  a  companion 
to  him.  Mrs.  Beecher's  twin  sister  married 
Silas  B.  Cobb,  another  pioneer  leather  merchant 
(see  skeech  in  this  work).  The  sisters  so  closely 
resembled  each  other  as  to  be  often  mistaken,  one 
for  the  other. 

The  first  housekeeping  experience  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Beecher  was  in  a  modest  rented  house  at  the 
corner  of  Lake  Street  and  Michigan  Avenue,  and 
they  afterwards  built  a  home  on  Michigan  Ave- 
nue. The  advance  of  business  drove  them  to 
several  removals  until  thi  family  homestead  at 
No.  241  Michigan  Avenue  was  constructed.  This 
is  one  of  two  or  three  which  escaped  the  flames  in 
the  great  fire  of  187 1 ,  and  is  almost  the  sole  repre- 
sentative on  the  lake  front  of '  'old  Chicago. ' '  Here 
they  dwelt  for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  here 
Mrs.  Beecher  continues  to  reside.  She  is  greatly  in- 
terested in  benevolent  work,  and  has  been  active  in 
promoting  several  of  the  most  important  charities 
of  the  city,  regarding  a  fortune  as  a  blessing  only 
in  the  proportion  it  is  devoted  to  doing  good. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


REV.  JOSEPH  RUTERSHOFF 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


REV.  JOSEPH  RUTERSHOFF. 


REV.  JOSEPH   RUTERSHOFF. 


REV.  JOSEPH  RUTERSHOFF,  pastor  of 
Saint  Henry's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  of 
West  Ridge,  was  born  April  12,  1861,  in 
the  Province  of  Westphalia,  Germany,  and  is  a 
son  of  Theodore  and  Mary  (Lakenberg)  Ruters- 
hoff.  At  the  age  of  seven  years  he  was  sent  to 
the  parochial  school  at  Castrop,  which  he  attended 
several  years.  L,ater  he  took  a  course  of  study 
at  the  Rectorate  School  at  Walthrop,  and  was 
graduated  from  that  institution  when  eighteen 
years  old.  He  then  pursued  a  higher  course  of 
study  at  Paderboru,  being  graduated  therefrom 
after  four  years  of  diligent  work. 

In  1883  Father  RutershofF  was  called  to  Amer- 
ica by  Archbishop  Feehan ,  of  Chicago,  and  after 
his  arrival,  took  up  the  theological  course  at  the 
Seminar}^  of  Saint  Francis,  near  Milwaukee. 
Soon  after  completing  the  work  in  that  institu- 
tion, in  1887,  he  was  ordained  a  priest  and  was 
assigned  to  the  pastorate  of  Saint  Mary's  Church, 
at  Elizabeth,  Illinois,  in  August  of  that  year. 
Besides  this  pastorate,  Father  Rutershoff  had 
charge  of  two  missions,  one  at  Scales  Mound  and 
another  at  Hanover.  In  addition  to  his  pastoral 
labors,  he  gave  instruction  to  the  pupils  of  the 
parochial  school  connected  with  the  church.  Here 
he  labored  faithfully  and  with  success  until  his 
appointment  to  his  present  charge— April  15,  1891. 

Saint  Henry's  congregation  was  established  by 
the  Rev.  General- Vicar  Kopp,  previous  to  1860, 
and  was  attended  to  by  the  same  during  the  first 
years.  In  the  year  1863  the  congregation  was 
augmented  by  the  Rev.  Father  Jacob  Nagel,  Re- 
demptorist.  He  had  charge  until  July,  1864. 
From  then  until  October,  1879,  the  Reverend  Re- 


demptorist  Fathers,  Charles  Hahn,  Albert 
Schaeffler,  Theodore  Majerus,  Peter  Zimmer,  John 
Kuehn,  Albert  Stiessberger  and  Francis  Oberle, 
alternately  labored  here. 

After  the  Redemptorist  Fathers,  the  Rev. 
Fathers  Marschell  and  Haemers  had  charge  of 
the  congregation.  In  1870  Rev.  Father  Michels, 
of  Covington,  Kentucky,  came  here  and  had  care 
of  this  place  until  1873.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  Father  Wagner,  during  whose  pastorate  the 
present  church  edifice  was  built. 

Father  Wagner  remained  as  pastor  until  Sep- 
tember, 1875,  and  then  Rev.  F.  Niederberger 
took  his  place  until  June,  1879.  Father  Nieder- 
berger's  successor  was  Rev.  A.  Thiele,  who  re- 
mained here  and  built  the  new  schoolhouse.  Af- 
ter his  departure,  in  1884,  Rev.  Jacob  Mellertook 
up  the  pastorate,  and  under  the  active  manage- 
ment of  this  zealous  priest  a  parsonage  was  built 
in  •  1884. 

In  the  year  1887  the  congregations  of  Saint 
Matthias,  at  Bowmanville,  and  Saint  Nicholas, 
at  South  Evanston,  branched  off  from  Saint  Hen- 
ry's and  formed  new,  permanent  congregations. 
The  Saint  Henry's  parochial  school  is  conduct- 
ed by  Sisters  belonging  to  the  Order  of  the  Poor 
Handmaids  of  Christ  (who  also  conduct  the 
German  Catholic  Orphanage  at  Rosehill),  and 
a  lay  teacher  for  the  large  boys.  At  present  two 
hundred  eighty-five  pupils  attend  the  school. 
After  the  branching  off  of  the  two  new  congrega- 
tions there  were  one  hundred  sixty-five  families 
remaining,  and  the  number  has  increased  to  about 
three  hundred  sixty.  There  are  four  societies, 
three  courts  of  Catholic  Foresters,  Saint  Henry's 


512 


E.  F.  HEDRICH. 


Court,  No.  51,  having  one  hundred  fifty  mem- 
bers. Saint  Mary's  Ladies'  Society  has  one  hun- 
dred fifty  members. 

In  June,  1890,  Rev.  J.  Meller  left  for  his  home 
in  Europe,  from  whence  he  did  not  return.  In 
his  place  were  stationed  for  a  short  time  the  Rev. 
Fathers  E.  Goldsmith  and  A.  Royer.  In  the 
spring  of  1891,  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  J.  Ruters- 
hoff,  took  charge  of  Saint  Henry's.  Under  his 
guidance  the  congregation,  especially  the  school, 
flourishes.  At  present  the  school  is  visited  by 
two  hundred  sixty-six  pupils,  and  is  conducted  by 


four  Sisters,  Poor  Handmaids  of  Christ,  and  a 
male  teacher,  Mr.  J.  Hellrung,  for  the  large  boys. 
The  cares  of  the  parish  have  become  so  great  that 
the  pastor  now  has  an  assistant,  the  Rev.  Clement 
Duerr,  a  priest  of  large  experience. 

Father  Rutershoff  is  a  most  scholarly  man,  of 
pleasant  manners  and  genial  nature,  and  withal, 
wholly  unassuming.  His  influence  among  the 
Catholic  people  of  West  Ridge  is  far- reaching  and 
he  is  also  regarded  with  the  utmost  respect  by  all 
who  may  corne  into  the  wide  circle  of  his  acquaint- 
ance. 


EDWARD  F.   HEDRICH. 


r~DWARD  FREDERICK  HEDRICH  was 
rj  born  in  Saxony,  Germany,  July  8,  1841,  a 
L.  son  of  Carl  F.  Hedrich,  of  the  Fatherland. 
In  his  youth  young  Edward  was  half  orphaned  by 
the  death  of  his  mother. 

His  early  advantages  for  obtaining  an  educa- 
tion were  such  as  the  public  schools  afforded, 
learning  to  read  and  write.  He  was  early  ap- 
prenticed to  the  cabinet-maker's  trade  and  was  a 
good  workman  before  he  was  fourteen  years  old. 
In  1856  he  came  to  the  United  States,  being  in  his 
sixteenth  year  at  the  time.  He  took  up  his  resi- 
dence at  first  in  New  York  City,  where  he  in- 
dustriously followed  his  trade  until  the  outbreak 
of  the  late  Civil  War,  when  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany I,  of  the  Eighth  New  York  Infantry,  hav- 
ing been  mustered  into  service  April  23,  1861. 
He  went  at  once  into  active  duty  at  the  front 
with  his  regiment  and  in  one  of  the  engagements 
that  followed  he  received  a  wound  in  one  of  his 
wrists,  which  necessitated  his  accepting  a  dis- 
charge. 

He  then  came  West  and  temporarily  located  in 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  in  which  place,  December 
8,  1863,  he  re-enlisted  in  Company  B,  Ninth 


Indiana  Cavalry.  While  in  this  command  he 
participated  in  many  hard-fought  battles,  bravely 
sustaining  the  part  of  an  heroic  soldier  until  his 
capture  by  the  enemy  in  one  of  the  sanguinary 
conflicts  of  the  war.  He  was  incarcerated  in 
the  Catawba  prison,  where  he  was  held  a  close 
prisoner  for  a  long  time,  suffering  greatly  from 
exposure  and  want.  Finally,  his  exchange  was 
effected,  and  he,  with  others  of  his  comrades, 
started  for  home.  At  Vicksburg,  Mississippi, 
he  boarded  the  ill-fated  steamer,  "Sultana." 
This  was  a  large  Mississippi  River  steamer,  and 
was  loaded  to  her  fullest  capacity  with  soldiers 
returning  to  their  homes,  the  most  of  whom  were 
either  invalids  or  exchanged  prisoners  of  war. 
While  nearing  Memphis,  Tennessee,  her  boilers 
blew  up  and  nearly  two  thousand  of  her  pas- 
"sengers  were  lost.  Mr.  Hedrich  miraculously 
escaped  drowning.  He  was  blown  into  the 
water,  where  for  a  short  time  the  scene  was  in- 
describably appalling.  The  river  was  almost 
choked  with  wreckage  and  a  seething  mass  of 
humanity.  He  swam  until  nearly  exhausted, 
when,  fortunately,  he  floated  near  a  piece  of 
wreckage,  which  he  grasped,  and  with  it  he  finally 


HENRY  WIETOR. 


succeeded  in  making  his  way  to  land.  Only  four 
hundred  were  saved. 

After  the  war  he  resided  in  Indianapolis,  In- 
diana, and  >  Louisville,  Kentucky,  for  several 
years.  In  1872  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  soon 
after  he  received  an  appointment  to  the  city 
police  force  as  patrolman.  Later,  for  meritorious 
service,  he  was  promoted  to  be  desk  sergeant  at 
the  North  Avenue  Station,  which  position  he  re- 
tained several  years.  He  was  later  transferred 
to  the  Central  Station,  where  he  creditably  filled 
the  office  of  sergeant,  and  for  twenty-three  years 
he  served  in  this  department.  For  some  years  he 
was  chief  clerk  of  the  detective  bureau.  He  was 
a  brave  and  resolute  officer,  and  no  danger,  how- 
ever great,  appalled  him.  Wherever  duty  called 
he  was  there  to  execute.  During  the  celebrated 
Cronin  trial,  he  was  detailed  to  work  up  evidence 
for  the  State,  and  he  was  engaged  in  this  for 
several  months.  It  was  to  his  indefatigable  ef- 
forts that  the  State  was  largely  indebted  for  its 
success,  and  it  was  Mr.  Hedrich  who,  after  weeks 
of  searching,  finally  ran  down  and  captured 
"Little  Kunze." 

Mr.  Hedrich  was  in  the  Haymarket  riot,  and 


also  the  riots  in  South  Chicago.  He  was  greatly 
feared  by  the  lawless  element  in  the  city,  and  he 
received  many  letters  threatening  his  life.  He 
was  a  member  of  General  Hancock  Post,  No. 
560,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  of  which  he 
was  adjutant  eight  years,  and  also  quartermaster 
for  a  considerable  length  of  time.  He  was  also 
an  honored  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  af- 
filiating with  Lincoln  Park  Chapter,  and  of  the 
order  of  Maccabees.  Mr.  Hedrich  was  a  social 
gentleman,  and  decidedly  popular  with  a  large 
number  of  friends  and  acquaintances,  who  always 
delighted  in  doing  him  honor. 

He  was  married  in  Chicago,  January  27,  1875, 
to  Miss  Catherine,  daughter  of  Mathias  Barcal, 
an  old  settler  of  the  city.  Their  union  resulted 
in  nine  children,  all  of  whom  are  living,  namely: 
Arthur  Edward,  Stella,  Katie,  Walter,  Josephine, 
Archibald,  Percy,  Ella  and  Thomas. 

Mr.  Hedrich  died  August  29,  1896.  He  was  a 
kind  and  indulgent  father,  and  his  death  left  a 
void  in  the  family  that  can  never  be  filled.  His 
life's  work  was  well  and  thoroughly  done,  and 
he  left  to  his  children  as  a  legacy  the  heritage  of 
a  name  free  from  the  taint  of  dishonor. 


HENRY  WIETOR. 


HENRY  WIETOR,  a  successful  florist  of  the 
old  town  of  Lake  View,  is  a  native  of  the 
locality,  born  at  Calvary  November  6,  1861, 
— a  representative  of  one  of  the  old  families.  His 
parents  are  George  and  Lena  (Reinberg)  Wietor, 
both  natives  of  Germany.  They  were  married  in 
Paris,  France,  where  they  lived  a  few  years  be- 
fore coming  to  America.  Having  resolved  to 
seek  a  home  in  the  free  country  across  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean,  they  set  out  in  1857,  and  came  direct 
to  Cook  County.  Their  fortune  was  yet  to  be 
made,  and  Mr.  Wietor  accepted  any  honorable 


employment  which  came  in  his  way.  He  was  in 
debt  on  arrival,  but  his  patience  and  industry 
were  rewarded,  for  he  was  able,  after  half  a  dozen 
years  of  toil,  to  purchase  twenty  acres  of  land 
with  his  savings.  He  engaged  in  market-gar- 
dening, and  was  successful,  so  that  his  old  age  is 
being  spent  in  quiet  and  contented  retirement 
from  labor.  His  four  children  are  still  living, 
namely:  Katherine,  wife  of  John  Muno  (see  biog- 
raphy in  this  work) ;  Henry,  whose  name  heads 
this  sketch;  Mary  and  Nicholas,  still  residing 
with  their  parents. 


CAPT.  P.  N.  HAGEN. 


Henry  Wietor  was  educated  at  Saint  Henry's 
parochial  school,  and  he  received  practical  train- 
ing on  his  father's  domain.  He  started  a  green- 
house in  1883,  in  which  he  cultivated  vegetables 
until  1892,  and  since  that  date  has  given  his 
attention  to  the  production  of  flowers.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Rogers  Park  Floral  Company, 
with  salesroom  at  No.  41  Wabash  Avenue,  Chi- 
cago. His  greenhouses  cover  a  space  of  twenty- 
five  by  one  hundred  twenty  feet  each,  and  num- 
ber twenty-six,  all  devoted  to  the  growth  of  roses 
and  carnations.  His  success  is  due  to  his  con- 
stant exercise  of  industry,  combined  with  good 
judgment  and  prudent  care. 

Mr.  Wietor  is  numbered  among  the  faithful 
communicants  of  Saint  Henry's  Roman  Catholic 


Church,  and  he  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Or- 
der of  Foresters.  In  politics  he  affiliates  with  the 
Democratic  party,  but  gives  little  attention  to 
practical  politics,  preferring  the  sure  gains  found 
in  careful  attention  to  his  own  business  to  the  emol- 
uments and  attendant  worries  of  public  service. 

October  7,  1889,  he  was  happily  wedded  to 
Miss  Maggie  Evert,  who  was  born  in  the  same 
locality  as  himself,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Franz 
and  Mary  Evert,  both  of  German  birth.  One 
son,  named  George  Wietor,  has  come  to  the  home 
of  Mr.  Wietor.  As  a  result  of  the  careful  train- 
ing the  son  is  receiving,  he  may  be  reasonably 
expected  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father, 
reflecting  credit  upon  his  parents,  and  upon  his 
native  place. 


CAPT.  PETER  N.  HAGEN. 


EAPT.  PETER  N.  HAGEN,  of  Rogers  Park, 
is  a  native  of  Kragero,  Norway,  born  in 
1836,  and  is  a  son  of  Martin  and  Ellen  Hagen, 
natives  of  Norway,  who  died  in  their  native  land. 
The  boyhood  of  Peter  N.  Hagen  was  passed  in 
Kragero,  a  place  somewhat  noted  for  the  high 
character  of  its  schools,  where  he  received  a  prac- 
tical education,  and  received  papers  showing  his 
efficiency.  His  father  was  a  sea-faring  man,  and 
at  the  early  age  of  thirteen  years  young  Peter  was 
placed  before  the  mast. 

His  career  as  a  sailor  is  an  interesting  one.  He 
has  visited  all  of  the  Mediterranean  countries, 
Russia,  and  many  other  European  parts.  For 
nine  months  he  was  aboard  the  Norwegian  war 
ship  "Disaderia,"  while  on  her  first  trip,  and 
which  proved  to  be  her  last.  That  was  in  1854. 

In  1856  he  came  to  New  York  aboard  one  of  his 
country's  merchant  vessels.  He  then  shipped  on 
American  and  other  vessels,  and  later  returned 
to  Norway.  In  1863  he  returned  to  America  and 


settled  in  Chicago.  He  followed  the  lakes  for  a 
while,  having  secured  a  one-third  interest  in  the 
schooner  Pilot,  which  he  sailed  as  commanding 
officer  for  six  years.  Leaving  the  lakes,  he  was 
appointed  a  patrolman  on  the  city  police  force 
and  served  three  and  a-half  years,  proving  him- 
self a  brave  and  efficient  officer  and  securing  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  his  superiors  on  the 
force.  The  Great  Fire  of  1871  occurred  during  the 
time  he  was  on  the  police  force. 

In  1 88 1  he  went  to  Rogers  Park  to  take  charge 
of  the  toll  gate,  which  position  he  held  five  years, 
until  the  abolition  of  the  toll  road.  Subsequently 
he  received  an  appointment  as  policeman,  being 
the  only  night  police  in  the  place,  which  position 
he  creditably  filled  for  two  years,  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  trustees  and  citizens.  Since  then  he 
has  been  employed  in  various  ways,  at  the  present 
time  being  engaged  in  the  oil  and  gasoline  busi- 
ness. 

In  Rogers  Park  he  has  a  pleasant  home,  own- 


WILLIAM  STEAD. 


ing  one  acre  of  ground  at  Rogers  Avenue  and 
Robey  Street.  He  has  been  twice  married,  both 
wives  being  now  deceased.  He  has  two  children 
living — promising  boys — Richard  and  Harry. 
Sadie,  his  only  daughter,  died  late  in  December, 
1893. 

Captain  Hagen  is  a  member  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Foresters,  and  in  politics  is  a  stanch  Re- 


publican. He  is  the  eldest  of  eleven  children  born 
to  his  parents,  of  whom  ten  are  living,  and  all 
reside  in  Chicago. 

Captain  Hagen  is  a  well-preserved  man,  con- 
sidering his  years  and  the  exposure  he  has  expe- 
rienced. He  has  a  large  acquaintance  with  the 
old  settlers  of  the  city;  as  well  as  many  men  of 
the  representative  and  official  classes. 


WILLIAM  STEAD. 


fi>QlLLIAM  STEAD,  a  wealthy  farmer  of 
\  A  I  Niles  Township,  residing  on  section  34, 
V  V  and  having  land  in  sections  34  and  35,  is  a 
native  of  Yorkshire,  England,  born  April  10, 
1822.  He  is  a  son  of  John  and  Hannah  (Grange) 
Stead.  John  Stead  died  when  William  was  but 
seven  years  old,  and  his  widow  married  again. 

Not  being  satisfied  with  the  treatment  he  re- 
ceived from  his  step-father,  William  Stead  re- 
solved to  leave  home,  and  at  the  age  of  ten  years 
he  ran  away ,  becoming  the  master  of  his  own  for- 
tunes, and  beginning  the  battles  of  life  for  himself. 
Although  so  young,  he  endured  the  hardships  and 
difficulties  he  encountered  with  patience  that 
would  be  considered  remarkable  in  a  much  older 
person.  His  opportunity  for  acquiring  an  educa- 
tion was  extremely  limited,  and  he  was  able  to 
spend  only  a  few  months  at  school,  which  barel}' 
enabled  him  to  read  and  write.  He  found  em- 
ployment as  a  farm  laborer,  and  so  carefully  saved 
his  earnings  that  he  had  accumulated  sufficient 
money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  marriage,  in 
March,  1848,  to  Miss  Ann  Hannican,  and  to  pay 
their  passage  on  a  sailing-vessel  to  the  United 
States. 

On  their  arrival  in  New  York,  in  April  of  the 
same  year,  he  was  entirely  destitute  of  funds.  He 
worked  on  a  steamboat  to  pay  their  passage  to 
Albany,  where  he  was  engaged  to  assist  in  driv- 


ing on  the  Erie  Canal,  and  such  other  work  as 
might  be  required  of  him,  to  pay  their  passage  to 
Buffalo,  and  when  there  he  worked  on  a  steam- 
boat for  their  transportation  to  Chicago.  They 
reached  Chicago  in  May,  and  Mr.  Stead  found 
employment  with  a  farmer  named  Sweney,  of  Jef- 
ferson Township,  for  whom  he  worked  six  months. 
He  was  afterward  employed  two  years  as  a  farm 
hand  by  the  late  Leighton  Turner,  of  the  same 
township. 

Three  years  later  Mr.  Stead  bought  sixty  acres 
of  land  in  sections  34-35,  Niles  Township,  most 
of  which  was  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of 
timber.  His  first  residence  was  a  small  log  shan- 
ty, built  without  the  use  of  nails  or  window  glass. 
In  this  primitive  style  he  and  his  faithful  wife  be- 
gan housekeeping,  and  immediately  set  to  work 
to  clear  the  land  and  make  for  themselves  a  com- 
fortable home,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  of 
their  future  success.  By  great  perseverance  and 
industry  the  land  was  cleared  and  improved,  and 
it  gradually  developed  into  a  beautiful  and  pro- 
ductive farm,  upon  which  Mr.  Stead  has  success- 
fully carried  on  agriculture  ever  since.  One  child 
was  born  to  them,  but  it  died  in  infancy.  In  1879 
Mr.  Stead  met  with  an  irreparable  loss  in  the 
death  of  his  devoted  wife,  who  had  shared  his  re- 
verses and  successes  through  so  many  years  of 
ceaseless  toil  and  anxiety. 


MICHAEL  BECKER. 


Mr.  Stead  has  met  with  some  severe  financial 
losses,  but  has  never  succumbed  to  misfortune. 
When  the  Fidelity  and  State  Savings  Banks  of 
Chicago  failed  a  few  years  since,  he  lost  fifty- two 
hundred  dollars,  and  this  destroyed  his  confidence 
in  banks,  and  he  resolved  to  be  his  own  banker. 
December  20,  1880,  about  six  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing, his  home  was  visited  by  five  men,  who  beat 
him  into  insensibility  and  robbed  him  of  twenty- 
four  hundred  dollars,  leaving  him  for  dead.  He 
ultimately  recovered  from  these  injuries,  after  a 
surgeon  had  taken  thirty-seven  stitches  in  his 
scalp,  and  set  about  the  apprehension  and  con- 
viction of  his  assailants.  After  spending  five 


hundred  dollars  in  this  effort  he  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  seeing  three  of  them  sentenced  to  the  peni- 
tentiary, but  was  justly  annoyed  and  grieved,  as 
were  all  good  citizens  cognizant  of  the  facts,  at 
their  release  within  a  short  time. 

Mr.  Stead  is  distinctively  a  self-made  man,  as 
he  has  been  self-supporting  since  the  age  of  ten 
years.  He  has  passed  a  quiet,  industrious,  unas- 
suming life,  attending  strictly  to  his  own  affairs, 
and  is  numbered  among  the  substantial  and 
wealthy  members  of  the  community.  He  has 
been  able  to  achieve  success,  but  only  through 
untiring  industry  and  judicious  management  of 
his  own  affairs. 


MICHAEL  BECKER. 


ICHAEL  BECKER,  son  of  a  pioneer  mar- 
ket-gardener of  Cook  County,  is  now 
engaged  in  the  occupation  to  which  he  was 
reared  by  his  father.  He  was  born  March  8, 
1862,  near  the  spot  where  he  now  resides  (corner 
of  Peterson  Avenue  and  North  Lincoln  Street), 
being  the  second  child  and  eldest  son  of  Lawrence 
and  Elizabeth  (Seibert)  Becker. 

The  parents  were  born,  reared  and  married  in 
Germany.  They  set  out  to  seek  their  fortune  in 
the  New  World  soon  after  their  marriage,  and 
came  direct  to  Chicago.  This  was  about  1858. 
Having  no  fortune,  Mr.  Becker  took  up  any  labor 
that  was  honorable,  and  was  able,  after  a  time, 
to  begin  business  on  his  own  account,  on  rented 
land.  He  continued  from  this  time  to  grow  veg- 
etables for  the  city  market,  and  was  prospered  so 
that  he  soon  purchased  eleven  acres  of  land,  on 
which  his  sons  are  still  pursuing  the  calling  in 
which  he  earned  his  success.  By  their  aid  he  car- 
ried on  the  business  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred October  4,  1883,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five 
years.  He  was  an  industrious,  honest  man,  and 


succeeded  in  accumulating  a  nice  property. 
While  he  took  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  affairs 
of  his  adopted  country,  he  desired  no  part  in  the 
management  of  even  local  affairs,  but  went  on  his 
peaceful  way,  caring  for  his  family  and  leaving 
public  concerns  to  more  ambitious  souls.  He  was 
a  consistent  member  of  Saint  Henry's  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  his  remains  were  interred 
in  the  beautiful  cemetery  of  the  parish,  near  the 
church  where  he  was  wont  to  worship.  His  good 
and  faithful  wife  still  survives.  To  them  were 
born  five  children,  namely:  Katherine,  now  the 
wife  of  Peter  P.  Krantz,  an  insurance  agent  re- 
siding in  Chicago;  Michael,  whose  name  heads 
this  article;  Nicholas,  deceased;  Lawrence,  a 
gardener,  who  occupies  the  old  family  residence 
and  cultivates  a  part  of  the  original  estate;  and  a 
second  Nicholas,  who  died  in  childhood. 

Michael  Becker  was  early  wont  to  assist  in  the 
labors  of  his  father,  and  had  but  little  opportunity 
to  attend  school,  but  he  has  become,  through  the 
force  of  his  own  character  and  ability,  recognized 
as  a  leading  citizen  of  the  locality  in  which  he 


NICHOLAS   MILLER. 


lives.  From  constant  association  with  his  busi- 
ness he  became  master  of  all  its  details  before  he 
reached  manhood,  and  has  followed  in  a  creditable 
manner  the  example  of  his  father.  His  green- 
houses cover  an  area  of  one  hundred  twenty  by 
one  hundred  twenty-five  feet,  and  are  devoted  to 
the  growth  of  vegetables.  His  brother  has  about 
the  same  amount  of  ground  under  glass  for  the 
same  purpose. 

Mr.  Becker  is  an  enterprising  citizen,  who  takes 


a  commendable  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  sup- 
ports the  men  and  measures  of  the  Democratic 
party.  He  is  connected  with  Saint  Henry's 
Roman  Catholic  Church  and  with  the  Catholic 
Order  of  Foresters. 

March  3,  1886,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Katherine  Arndt,  who  was  born  in  this 
county,  of  German  parents.  Their  family  in- 
cludes three  children,  natned,  in  order  of  age, 
Cecelia,  Henry  and  Lawrence. 


NICHOLAS  MILLER. 


IJjICHOLAS  MILLER.  Among  the  many 
fy  sturdy  pioneers  and  excellent  citizens  that 
I  IS  Germany  has  furnished  to  Cook  County,  Mr. 
Miller  is  especially  prominent  and  deserving  of 
honorable  mention  in  this  volume.  He  was  born 
February  2,  1821,  near  Trier,  Rhine  Province, 
Germany,  and  came  to  America  in  1846.  After 
spending  three  years  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  he  lo- 
cated permanently  in  Cook  County  in  1849.  He 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in  the  town  of 
Ridgeville,  now  a  part  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  It 
was  mostly  timber  land,  and  with  the  industry 
characteristic  of  his  countrymen,  he  began  clear- 
ing it  up,  selling  the  timber  and  making  for  him- 
self a  home  and  good  farm. 

After  his  land  was  cleared  he  devoted  his  ener- 
gies to  market-gardening,  which  he  followed  sev- 
eral years  with  good  success.  Although  he  began 
life  in  this  country  a  comparatively  poor  man.  and 
with  the  disadvantage  of  having  no  knowledge  of 
the  English  language,  he  was  eminently  success- 
ful, and  became  one  of  the  wealth}7  and  substan- 
tial men  of  his  time.  This  came  through  his  in- 
dustry and  good  management,  with  the  assistance 
of  his  good  wife.  They  are  now  living  in  retire- 
ment in  their  pleasant  home  near  Rosehill. 

In  1850  Mr.  Miller  was  married  to  Miss  Anna 


Gruenewald,  who  arrived  in  that  year  from  Ger- 
many. To  this  worthy  couple  were  born  ten 
children,  of  whom  eight  grew  to  maturity,  name- 
ly: John,  a  gardener  of  Chicago;  Joseph,  of  Perry 
County,  Illinois;  Katherine,  now  deceased;  Nich- 
olas, a  grocer  of  Rees  Street,  Chicago;  Peter  L., 
of  whom  further  mention  is  made  in  this  sketch; 
Henry,  a  gardener  near  Rosehill;  Anna,  wife  of 
John  Meyer,  a  dry-goods  merchant  of  Chicago; 
and  Mathias. 

Mr.  Miller  gave  his  children  the  best  educa- 
tional advantages,  and  sufficient  financial  aid  to 
each  to  afford  a  good  start  in  life,  and  has  seen 
them  become  good  and  useful  citizens,  a  credit  to 
their  training  and  the  communities  in  which  they 
live.  He  takes  an  interest  in  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  public  welfare,  and  his  life  has  been 
characterized  by  perseverance,  honesty  and  good 
will  to  all.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  and  in 
religion  a  Roman  Catholic,  being  affiliated  with 
Saint  Henry's  Church  of  High  Ridge. 

Peter  L.  Miller,  the  fifth  child  and  fourth  son  of 
Nicholas  and  Anna  Miller,  was  born  February  17, 
1863,  in  the  town  of  Ridgeville,  Cook  County. 
He  was  reared  to  gardening,  and  liberally  educa- 
ted in  the  public  schools.  In  1888  he  began  bus- 
iness for  himself,  and  opened  a  grocery  store  at 


NICHOLAS  KARTHAUSER. 


Nos.  202  and  204  Foster  Avenue,  Chicago,  his 
present  place  of  business.  1111893,  to  meet  the 
demands  of  his  growing  trade,  he  established  a 
meat  market  adjoining  the  grocery.  He  is  always 
courteous  and  pleasant,  and  his  customers  are 
steadily  increasing  in  number.  His  stock  is  care- 
fully chosen  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  community, 
and  is  always  full  and  complete.  He  follows  the 
political  and  religious  tenets  of  his  father,  and  is  a 


faithful  communicant  of  Saint  Matthew's  Church 
at  Bowmanville. 

August  6,  1889,  he  married  Miss  Anna  Agnes 
Mailman,  a  native  of  Chicago,  daughter  of  Phil- 
ip and  Mary  Mailman,  the  former  a  native  of 
Germany  and  the  latter  of  Cook  County,  Illinois. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  have  had  three  children.  The 
first  died  in  infancy,  and  the  living  are  named 
Anthony  and  Mary. 


NICHOLAS  KARTHAUSER. 


UJICHOLAS  KARTHAUSER,  son  of  John  and 

|  /  Mary  Karthauser,  was  born  December  10, 
|/9  1860,  in  the  Rhine  Province  of  Prussia.  The 
father  died  there,  but  the  mother  is  still  living,  in 
Chicago,  whither  she  came  in  1877.  The  son, 
whose  name  heads  this  notice,  was  reared  to  the 
occupation  of  florist,  and  received  a  good  educa- 
tion in  his  native  language.  He  was  early  left  to 
his  own  resources  by  the  death  of  his  father,  and 
left  Germany  before  he  reached  the  age  of  four- 
teen years,  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  New  World. 

He  landed  at  New  York,  March  23,  1874,  and 
came  direct  to  Chicago.  The  first  year  after  his 
arrival  was  spent  at  Riverside,  in  the  employ  of 
Charles  Reisig,  a  florist  of  that  place.  Being 
anxious  to  learn  the  English  language,  he  decided 
to  go  into  the  country,  where  he  would  be  separ- 
ated from  his  German  friends,  and  have  more 
leisure  and  opportunity  to  study.  For  three  years 
he  worked  for  a  farmer  in  Jersey  County,  Illinois, 
and  utilized  every  opportunity  for  study,  becom- 
ing a  proficient  reader  and  writer  of  English.  He 
spent  the  next  two  years  at  Gladstone,  Henderson 
County,  in  the  same  State,  working  for  a  gar- 
dener. 

He  now  determined  to  make  a  start  on  his  own 


account,  and  went  to  Devil's  Lake,  North  Dakota, 
and  took  up  a  homestead  claim  of  a  quarter  sec- 
tion of  land.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Belcourt 
Mission  >  on  the  Turtle  Mountain  Indian  Reserva- 
tion, and  remained  four  years,  being  employed  in 
farm  labor  during  the  summer  and  baking  bread 
for  the  Government  school  in  the  winter.  Tiring 
of  life  among  the  Indians,  he  secured  a  position  as 
gardener  at  an  industrial  school  at  Morris,  Min- 
nesota, conducted  by  Sisters  of  Mercy.  After 
spending  two  years  there,  he  returned  to  Chicago 
to  settle  down. 

November  5,  1890,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  Zender,  a  native  of  Rogers  Park,  a  former 
suburb  of  Chicago,  now  part  of  the  city.  Two 
children  have  come  to  bless  his  home,  namely: 
Maria  and  Peter.  Mrs.  Karthauser's  parents, 
John  and  Mary  (Schmidt)  Zender,  were  born  in 
Germany,  and  came  to  the  United  States  in  1840, 
sailing  on  the  same  vessel.  They  were  married 
immediately  after  arriving  in  this  country,  and 
set  out  to  make  a  home  for  themselves.  Though 
poor  and  among  strangers,  they  were  industrious 
and  hopeful  of  the  future.  For  five  years  they  lived 
in  Chicago,  and  Mr.  Zender  tilled  rented  land. 

In  1845  he  bought  twenty-eight  acres  of  land 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


REV.  B.  J.  SCHUETTE 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


REV.  B.  J.  SCHUETTE. 


on  what  is  now  Ridge  Avenue  (Rogers  Park) , 
Chicago.  He.vigorously  prosecuted  farming  and 
gardening,  and  filled  every  day  not  thus  occupied 
by  teaming,  getting  out  timber,  or  any  labor  that 
promised  to  enable  him  to  better  his  condition. 
By  such  industry,  which  never  flagged,  he  accu- 
mulated a  handsome  property.  He  died  in  1876, 
and  his  wife  in  1892.  Of  the  seven  children  born 
to  this  worthy  couple,  but  four  are  now  living, 
namely:  Anna,  widow  of  Henry  Muno  (see  bi- 
ography of  Mr.  Muuo  in  this  volume);  John,  a 
resident  of  Ridge  Avenue;  Mary,  wife  of  Mr. 


Karthauser;  and  Adam,  a  florist,  located  on  Ridge 
Avenue. 

For  a  year  after  settling  in  Chicago,  Mr.  Kart- 
hauser kept  a  flower  store  on  North  Avenue;  and 
then  opened  a  cafe  and  pool  room  at  No.  3543 
Ridge  Avenue,  where  he  has  continued  since  to 
cater  to  the  tastes  of  his  neighbors.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Catholic  Order  of  Foresters,  and 
North  Shore  Commandery  of  the  Knights  and 
Ladies  of  Honor.  He  supports  the  Democratic 
party  in  political  matters,  but  is  in  no  sense  a  pol- 
itician or  office-seeker. 


REV.  BERNARD  J.  SCHUETTE. 


REV.  BERNARD  J.  SCHUETTE,  pastor  of 
Saint  Peter's  Roman  Catholic  Church  of 
Niles  Center,  was  born  August  i,  1863,  in 
Everswinkel,  Province  of  Westphalia,  Germany, 
and  is  the  son  of  Conrad  and  Gertrude  Schuette, 
natives  of  the  same  place.  He  received  his  early 
education  in  the  parochial  schools  of  his  native 
village,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years  entered 
the  gymnasium  of  Warendorf,  remaining  there 
five  years,  studying  the  classics.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and  after 
paying  a  brief  visit  at  Quincy,  Illinois,  he  went 
to  Saint  Francis  Seminary  at  Milwaukee,  where 
he  took  a  three-years  course  in  philosophy  and 
theology.  He  then  attended  American  College, 
at  Louvain,  Belgium,  two  years,  and  was  or- 
dained there  in  June,  1887.  In  September  of 
that  year  he  returned  to  America  and  became  an 
assistant  at  Wilmette,  Illinois,  one  year,  and 
then  went  to  Saint  Mary's  Church  at  Sublette, 
Lee  County,  in  this  State,  of  which  church  he 
had  charge  three  years  and  a-half.  He  came  to 


Niles  Center  in  1892,  and  has  since  had  charge 
of  Saint  Peter's  Church,  which  was  founded  in 
1868.  Under  his  pastorate  the  church  has  had  a 
steady,  healthy  growth  and  now  has  a  member- 
ship of  about  one  hundred  and  forty  families. 

Father  Schuette  is  loved  by  his  congregation, 
and  by  all  the  citizens  of  the  place  is  respected 
as  a  pleasant  and  genial  gentleman,  who  is  a 
benefactor  of  the  community.  He  is  well  edu- 
cated, and  is  still  a  close  student. 

In  1894  and  1895  he  built  the  present  beautiful 
church  edifice,  which  has  a  seating  capacity  of 
about  eight  hundred.  He  has  had  to  enlarge 
the  school  building,  in  which  are  now  three 
school  rooms,  with  an  average  attendance  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  scholars,  in  charge  of  three  sis- 
ters. The  church  property,  consisting  of  six 
acres,  was  donated  by  the  late  Peter  Blameuser, 
and  the  first  building  was  a  frame  structure  forty 
by  sixty  feet. 

The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  J.  J.  Reinecke,  who 
remained  three  years,  coming  in  1869.  He  died 


520 


CAPT.  MARTIN  HAUSLER. 


in  Kankakee  some  years  ago.  In  1872  came 
Rev.  A.  J.  Thiele,  at  present  pastor  of  Aloysius 
Church  of  Chicago.  After  him  came  his  brother, 
Rev.  D.  Thiele,  in  1880.  At  present  he  is  pastor 
of  Saint  Francis'  Church,  Chicago.  In  1882  Rev. 


W.  J.  Revis  took  charge  of  the  church,  was  fol- 
lowed in  1883  by  Rev.  Clement  Duerr,  who  re- 
mained until  1892.  The  new  church  is  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-two  by  fifty-three  feet  in  dimen- 
sions, and  cost  about  twenty-six  thousand  dollars. 


CAPT.  MARTIN  HAUSLER. 


EAPT.  MARTIN  HAUSLER  was  born 
in  Aschersleben,  Saxony  (now  Prussia), 
Germany,  December  25,  1848,  and  is  a  son 
of  Gottfried  Hausler  and  Mary  Schuster.  The 
father  was  the  first  of  the  family  to  seek  the 
larger  life  that  America  offered  the  workingman, 
and  came  to  this  country  in  1852.  He  found 
work  in  Chicago,  and  the  following  spring  was 
joined  by  his  wife  and  their  five  children,  namely 
Albertina  (Mrs.  Philip  Ehrenfelts),  Emily  (Mrs. 
Henry  Neuenberger) ,  Louis,  Charles  (deceased) 
and  Martin.  The  father  never  became  wealthy, 
but  was  an  honest,  hard-working  man,  and  cared 
well  for  his  family.  He  kept  house  in  the  winter 
of  1852-53  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Lake  and 
Clark  Streets,  and  in  the  spring  moved  to  Mil- 
waukee Avenue.  Later  on  he  moved  to  Indiana 
Street,  and  again  to  a  cottage  on  the  north  fork 
of  the  Chicago  River,  located  near  where  Feather- 
stone's  machine  shops  now  stand,  west  of  Halsted 
Street.  He  became  a  landowner,  paying  eight 
dollars  an  acre  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  good  farm  land  a  mile  south  of  the  present  site 
of  Riverdale.  Here  he  engaged  in  farming  for  a 
time,  then  sold  and  bought  twenty  acres  on  the 
Calumet  River,  and  removed  to  South  Chicago 
in  the  winter  of  1861-62,  and  settled  on  section  7, 
which  was  purchased  of  Stephen  A.  Thurston. 
Mr.  Hausler  built  a  house  that  still  stands  at  the 
corner  of  Commercial  Avenue  and  One  Hun- 
dredth Street.  In  1870  the  canal  company  desired 
this  property  and  secured  it  in  exchange  for  two 
lots  on  Harbor  Avenue,  and  twenty-five  hundred 
dollars  in  cash.  This  property  was  presently  ex- 


changed for  other  Harbor  Avenue  property,  near 
Mackinaw  Avenue,  which  is  still  in  the  family. 

Martin  Hausler  is  a  veteran  lake  captain,  and 
is  familiar  with  all  the  lakes  excepting  Superior. 
He  began  life  as  a  sailor  when  quite  young,  and 
has  had  a  long  and  honorable  business  career. 
He  received  his  license  as  a  captain  in  1877,  and 
the  first  boat  he  commanded  was  the  tug  "  Two 
Brothers, ' '  now  owned  by  the  Star  Construction 
Company.  It  was  also  the  first  boat  owned  by 
the  Hausler  Brothers.  They  built  the  tug  "Holli- 
day"  in  1881;  the  "William  Raller,"  now  owned 
by  McGillis  &  Co.,  in '1882;  the  "C.  W.  El- 
phicke  in  1889;  the  "M.  G.  Hausler"  in  1893, 
and  the  "T.  C.  Lutz,"  the  largest  tug  on  the 
Calumet,  in  1895.  All  these  tugs  were  built  by 
Captain  Hausler  and  his  associates  in  business. 

The  firm  of  Hausler  Brothers  continued  until 
1890,  when  the  subject  of  this  sketch  became  the 
sole  proprietor.  In  January,  1893,  he  sold  a  half- 
interest  in  the  towing  business  to  J.  S.  Dunham, 
and  the  firm  became  the  Hausler  &  Dunham 
Towing  and  Wrecking  Company.  The  following 
year  he  sold  a  part  of  his  pile-driver  business  to 
T.  C.  Lutz,  and  the  next  }'ear  Mr.  Dunham 
bought  of  him  one-quarter  of  the  pile-driver  busi- 
ness. Mr.  Dunham  sold  a  part  of  his  holding  to 
Mr.  Lutz,  and  the  firm  became  the  Hausler  & 
Lutz  Towing  and  Dock  Company.  This  firm 
was  regularly  incorporated  in  1896,  and  is  pre- 
pared to  do  a  general  towing  and  pile-driving 
business.  The  business  has  taken  on  large  pro- 
portions and  ranks  high  among  all  similar  con- 
cerns around  the  lakes.  Captain  Hausler  has 


JOHN  ZENDER. 


521 


retired  from  active  labor,  but  occasionally  takes 
out  a  boat  in  rush  times. 

When  the  Hauslers  first  came  to  South  Chi- 
cago, fishing  and  trapping  were  about  the  only 
paying  industries  established  along  the  Calumet, 
and  with  characteristic  enterprise  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  among  the  leading  fishermen  of 
the  south  shore.  The  Hausler  Brothers  conduct- 
ed for  many  years  the  most  extensive  fishing 
establishment  along  the  lake,  and  many  of  the 
most  important  catches  are  recorded  on  their 
books,  from  which  are  taken  the  following  fig- 
ures: The  spring  catch  of  white  fish  for  1873  was 
64,223  pounds;  for  1874  it  was  62,933  pounds; 
for  1875,  45,600  pounds;  for  1876,  65,480  pounds; 
and  for  1877,  89,830  pounds.  The  sturgeon 
catch  usually  exceeded  the  white  fish  by  a  few 
thousand  pounds.  The  spring  catch  of  herring 
for  1873  was  64,904  pounds;  for  1874,  49,871 
pounds;  for  1875  it  was  37,471  pounds;  for  1876, 
45,752  pounds,  and  for  1877  it  reached  55,549 
pounds.  It  was  a  hard  life,  fraught  with  much 
care  and  anxiety,  and  attended  by  uncertain  prof- 
its, and  in  1890  the  Hausler  Brothers  retired  from 
all  connection  with  or  interest  in  it.  In  the  six- 
ties game  of  all  kind  was  abundant  on  the  Calu- 
met. Ducks  and  deer  were  plentiful,  and -the 
muskrat,  mink  and  raccoon  richly  rewarded  the 
trappers'  skill  and  persistence.  The  Hauslers 
had  as  many  as  eight  dozen  traps  set  about  at  one 
time,  and  in  addition  shot  large  numbers  of  rats, 
using  a  shot  gun  for  that  purpose.  Captain 
Hausler  in  one  day  shot  one  hundred  and  four, 
and  his  brother  ninety -six.  In  ten  days  these 


two  young  men  shot  rats  enough  to  bring  them 
in  three  hundred  and  twenty-seven  dollars,  at 
twenty-seven  and  a-half  cents  each.  They  had  a 
dog  who  would  frequently  catch  more  rats  than 
the  boys  could  shoot.  He  would  also  catch  ducks 
and  kill  them  by  breaking  their  necks.  The 
hunting  on  the  Calumet  gradually  died  away,  and 
in  1885  came  to  an  end. 

Captain  Hausler  was  married  January  14,  1872, 
to  Miss  Augusta  Eggers,  and  they  are  the  parents 
of  an  interesting  family  of  children.  They  are: 
Fredrika,  Mary,  Martin,  Henry,  William,  Au- 
gusta (deceased),  Charles,  Frederick  and  Ernest 
(twins),  and  Albertina.  Captain  Hausler  is  the 
only  survivor  of  the  original  members  of  the . 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Emanuel  Church  of  South 
Chicago,  and  is  a  stanch  Republican.  He  has 
taken  an  active  part  in  all  matters  that  look  to 
public  improvement,  and  served  for  seven  years 
on  the  South  Chicago  School  Board. 

Gottfried  Hausler,  the  father  of  Captain  Haus- 
ler, was  born  in  Germany  in  1806,  and  died  in 
Chicago  December  13,  1893.  He  was  a  cloth 
weaver  by  trade,  but  never  engaged  in  that  occu- 
pation in  this  country.  His  father  was  a  weaver 
and  bought  and  sold  wool,  beet  seed,  blankets, 
and  kindred  commodities.  He  was  delivering  a 
consignment  of  blankets  to  the  German  army, 
when  both  he  and  Gottfried  were  captured  by  the 
Russians,  and  held  for  some  time  as  prisoners. 
The  maternal  grandfather  of  Captain  Hausler 
was  a  prosperous  German  farmer  and  miller.  His 
name  was  Christopher  Schuster,  and  he  was  a 
prominent  character  in  his  community. 


JOHN  ZENDER. 


(JOHN  ZENDER.     John  and  Mary  (Schmidt) 

I    Zender  were  natives  of  Germany,   and  came 

Q)  to  the  United  States  on  the  same  vessel,  in 

1840,  and  were  soon  married  after  their  arrival  in 

Chicago.     They  began  life  with  no  capital,  save 


strong  hands  and  willing,  hopeful  hearts.  For 
five  years  they  resided  in  Chicago,  carrying  on 
agriculture  on  rented  land,  and  in  1845  bought 
twenty,  acres  on  what  is  now  Ridge  Avenue 
(then  called  the  Ridge  Road),  which  they  imme- 


522 


NICHOLAS  REIS. 


diately  began  to  clear  and  improve.  The  timber 
found  a  ready  market  in  Chicago,  and  Mr.  Zender 
was  very  busy  in  teaming,  fanning  and  garden- 
ing. By  that  indefatigable  industry  and  thrift 
which  are  characteristic  of  the  German  people,  he 
was  successful  in  accumulating  a  handsome  prop- 
erty, and  left,  beside,  to  his  family  the  priceless 
heritage  of  a  good  name.  He  died  in  1876,  being 
survived  many  years  by  his  widow,  who  passed 
away  in  1892.  They  were  honest  and  valuable 
citizens  and  faithful  members  of  the  Roman 


Catholic  Church.  Of  the  seven  children  born  to 
this  worthy  couple,  only  four  are  now  living, 
namely:  Anna,  widow  of  Henry  Muno  (whose 
biography  appears  in  this  work) ;  John,  a  resi- 
dent on  Ridge  Avenue,  Chicago;  Mary,  wife  of 
Nicholas  Karthauser  (see  sketch  in  this  volume) ; 
and  Adam,  a  florist  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Zender  celebrated  their  silver 
wedding  in  May,  1867,  and  on  the  same  day  the 
parents  of  Mrs.  Zender,  Peter  and  Mary  Schmidt, 
celebrated  their  golden  wedding. 


NICHOLAS  REIS. 


REIS,  who  was  known  to  many 
of  the  early  settlers  of  the  South  Side  in 
Chicago  as  "Honest  Nic,"  was  a  native  of 
the  city,  born  March  14,  1842,  on  the  present 
site  of  the  Palmer  House,  State  and  Monroe 
Streets.  He  died  at  his  home  on  Indiana  Ave- 
nue, in  his  native  city,  December  30,  1896,  in  the 
fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

Peter  Reis,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  notice, 
was  born  May  18,  1815,  in  Uhrexweihler,  Saxe- 
Coburg,  Germany,  and  was  a  son  of  John  Peter 
Reis,  a  chorister  of  that  place.  In  1837  the 
last-named  came  to  Chicago,  with  his  family, 
which  consisted  of  his  wife,  Barbara,  and  nine 
children,  namely:  Margaret,  Peter,  Nicholas, 
Barbara,  John,  Ellen,  Jacob,  Mary  and  John 
Peter.  The  first  home  of  the  family  was  on 
Adams  Street,  near  the  present  post-office  site. 

For  ten  years  Peter  Reis  was  associated  with 
his  brother  Nicholas  in  delivering  water  with  a 
horse  and  wagon,  which  they  sold  by  the  barrel 
to  the  citizens  of  the  town.  Of  course,  this  was 
before  any  system  of  water  service  was  adopted 


by  the  city,  and  the  fact  is  illustrative  of  the 
primitive  conditions  which  obtained  for  ten  years 
following  1837.  On  the  decadence  of  this  busi- 
ness, through  the  public  improvements  inaugu- 
rated by  the  young  city,  Peter  Reis  opened  a 
grocery  store  on  La  Salle  Street,  near  Randolph. 
He  also  kept  boarders,  and  finally  abandoned 
the  grocery  and  devoted  himself  to  the  business 
of  hotel-keeping.  The  demands  of  business  in 
the  center  of  the  city  made  his  ground  valuable, 
and  he  sold  out  and  moved  to  No.  403  State 
Street.  About  1850,  for  six  hundred  dollars,  he 
purchased  two  lots  at  this  location,  on  which  he 
erected  a  hotel,  in  which  he  lived  and  did  business 
until  his  death,  March  2,  1870.  His  wife,  Eliza- 
beth (Baumgarten)  Reis,  survives  him,  and  still 
resides  on  this  homestead,  where  she  has  lived 
since  1852.  She  is  a  native  of  Pitlingen,  Lorraine 
(now  a  province  of  Germany),  and  a  daughter  of 
Moritz  Baumgarten,  who  came  to  Chicago,  with 
his  family,  in  1836.  He  was  well  known  among 
the  pioneers,  and  followed  teaming  all  his  life  in 
this  city.  All  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reis 


LIBRARY 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


JOHN  ECKERT 


JOHN  ECKERT. 


523 


—  Margaret,  Nicholas,  Magdalena,  Barbara, 
Katharine,  Elizabeth  and  Caroline — married  and 
reared  children.  Of  these,  only  three  are  now 
living,  namely:  Mesdames  Barbara  Sinclair, 
Elizabeth  Lauer  and  Caroline  Martzel. 

Nicholas  Reis,  whose  name  heads  this  notice, 
was  educated  in  a  German  Catholic  school  of 
Chicago,  and  learned  the  tinsmith's  trade,  which 
he  followed  with  such  success  that  he  was  able  to 
purchase  his  father's  business  when  the  latter 
was  ready  to  retire.  This  he  continued  until  his 
death,  and  he  was  known  to  the  law-abiding  citi- 
zens of  Chicago  as  "Honest  Nic,"  a  title  which 
he  won  by  his  integrity  and  regard  for  the  welfare 


of  society.  He  was  the  friend  of  rich  and  poor. 
He  served  as  a  soldier  in  defense  of  the  Union,  and 
was  esteemed  by  a  wide  circle  of  acquaintances 
for  his  open,  manly  character. 

He  was  married  May  17,  1868,  to  Miss  Ellen 
Murphy,  a  daughter  of  Michael  and  Ann 
(McComb)  Murphy.  She  was  born  August  30, 
1848,  in  Albion,  New  York,  where  her  father  was 
for  a  time  engaged  in  business.  He  was  later  a 
clothing  merchant  in  Detroit,  Michigan,  where 
he  died.  He  was  a  native  of  Cork,  Ireland,  and 
a  nephew  of  Bishop  Murphy  of  that  city.  L,ike 
all  their  near  relatives,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reis  were 
faithful  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 


JOHN  ECKERT. 


(JOHN  ECKERT,  now  living  in  retirement 
I  from  the  active  cares  of  life,  is  an  early  set- 
Q)  tier  of  Chicago.  He  was  born  April  19, 1830,  in 
Kreis  Mainz,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany,  and  was 
educated  there.  He  was  reared  upon  a  farm  and 
was  early  accustomed  to  the  duties  and  labors  of 
rural  life,  and  continued  in  that  capacity  until  he 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1857.  He  arrived 
in  New  York  in  August  of  that  year,  and  re- 
mained a  few  months  in  that  city. 
»  He  then  came  to  Chicago,  whence  he  proceeded 
to  Galesburg,  Illinois,  and  remained  there  until 
March  15  of  the  year  1858.  He  then  returned  to 
Chicago  and  bought  twenty-two  and  one-half 
acres  of  land  where  he  now  lives.  In  1865  he 
engaged  in  market-gardening  and  continued  until 
1891,  when  he  sold  all  of  his  land  except  the  por- 
tion occupied  by  his  residence,  and  since  then  has 
not  been  engaged  in  active  business.  He  takes 


an  interest  in  what  is  going  on  around  him  and  is 
a  patriotic  son  of  the  country  in  which  he  has 
been  so  blessed.  He  is  independent  in  political 
matters,  being  ruled  by  his  own  considerations  as 
to  the  fitness  of  candidates. 

In  1859,  in  Chicago,  he  was  married  to  Anna 
Kneib,  a  native  of  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany, 
who  was  born  in  1836.  Two  children  were  born 
of  this  union,  namely:  Michael  and  Mary.  The 
former  resides  at  No.  1635  North  Clark  Street, 
and  the  latter  is  the  widow  of  Dr.  Mathias  L,inster, 
who  died  October  i,  1896.  Mrs.  Anna  Eckert 
died  August  18,  1893,  and  on  the  I2th  of  April 
following  Mr.  Eckert  married  Magdalena  Thart, 
daughter  of  Michael  and  Elizabeth  Thart,  who 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1886.  The  'family 
is  identified  with  Saint  Henry's  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Mr.  Eckert  visited  the  Fatherland  in 
1874,  in  1877,  and  again  in  1890. 


524 


PHILIP  ROGERS. 


PHILIP  ROGERS, 


ROGERS,  deceased,  was  one  of  the 
L/  prominent  pioneers  of  Cook  County.  He 
1^)  was  born  August  15,  1812,  in  Dublin,  Ire- 
land, and  came  to  the  United  States  in  childhood, 
with  his  parents,  James  and  Catherine  (Mc- 
Gregor) Rogers,  of  Scotch-Irish  origin.  They 
located  at  Watertown,  Jefferson  County,  New 
York,  where  Philip  grew  to  manhood  and  re- 
ceived his  education.  Under  the  instruction  of 
an  elder  brother,  who  was  a  college  graduate,  he 
acquired  considerable  proficiency  in  civil  engin- 
eering. He  was  deeply  interested  in  the  study 
of  geology,  and  before  coming  West  had  made  an 
extensive  examination  into  the  formations  of  the 
earth  strata  of  the  United  States,  and  was  em- 
ployed for  some  time  as  assayist  by  an  iron  ore 
firm.  He  soon  decided  to  locate  in  Illinois,  and 
started  in  1835,  in  company  with  his  brother, 
Milton  Rogers,  the  founder  of  Saint  Joseph,  Mis- 
souri. The  latter  was  not  pleased  with  the  pros- 
pects of  the  West  and  returned  to  New  York, 
only  to  repair  to  the  far  West  again.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  not  dismayed  by  the 
hardships  which  the  pioneers  were  compelled  to 
endure,  and  went  to  work  at  ditching,  splitting 
rails,  and  any  labor  that  seemed  to  be  demanded 
in  this  region.  He  staked  out  a  claim  in  Lake 
View  Township,  which  included  a  judicious  pro- 
portion of  timber  and  prairie,  and  subsequently 
purchased  land  from  time  to  time,  chiefly  from 
the  Government,  until  his  landed  estate  comprised 
sixteen  hundred  acres.  Much  of  this  he  improved, 
and  his  farming  operations  became  quite  exten- 
sive, being  conducted  under  his  own  supervision. 
In  1841  he  married  Mrs.  Mary  Ward  Hickey, 


widow  of  James  Fox  Hickey,  and  daughter  of 
Thomas  Breen  Masterson,  Esq.,  of  Mishal, 
County  Carlow,  Ireland.  Thomas  Breeu  Mas- 
terson was  a  native  of  Mishal,  descended  from 
the  Breens  of  Bally  Breen,  County  Wicklow,  Ire- 
land. He  was  born  May  4,  1781,  and  died  in 
1814.  Mrs.  Rogers  was  born  July  15,  1802,  in 
Blossom  Terrace,  London,  England,  and  was 
married  to  James  Fox  Hickey,  in  Saint  Paul's 
Cathedral  in  that  city,  October  12,  1829.  They 
took  ship  at  Gravesend  May  23,  1831,  on  a  sail- 
vessel,  bound  for  the  shores  of  the  New  World. 
After  a  prolonged  journey,  caused  by  storms  and 
adverse  winds,  they  arrived  in  New  York  July  4 
— glorious  Independence  day.  Those  were  the 
days  when  the  great  anniversary  was  properly 
commemorated  by  the  veterans  of  the  Revolution 
and  their  patriotic  children,  and  woe  to  the  rash 
"Britisher"  who  would  point  a  finger  of  scorn 
at  the  thirteen  stars  and  stripes  as  they  floated 
triumphantly  over  all  that  hot  July  day,  sixty-six 
years  ago. 

In  her  widowhood  Mrs.  Hickey  was  left  child- 
less, and  with  considerable  property  at  the  present 
site  of  the  Sunnyside  Hotel.  With  her  second 
husband,  Philip  Rogers,  she  began  life  in  true 
pioneer  style,  and  two  children  came  to  bless  their 
western  home.  The  youngest  of  these,  Philip 
M.,  died  a  year  after  attaining  his  majority.  The 
other,  Catherine,  is  now  Mrs.  P.  L.  Touhy,  of 
Rogers  Park. 

Mr.  Rogers  was  a  Jacksonian  Democrat,  and 
took  a  keen  interest  in  the  success  of  his  party,  as 
well  as  in  all  measures  that  seemed  to  him  calcu- 
lated to  promote  the  general  welfare.  He  was 


FREDERICK  SULZER. 


525 


very  enterprising  and  public-spirited,  and  was 
respected  by  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
He  lived  at  peace  with  the  Indians,  who  were 
numerous  about  him  in  the  early  days,  as  well  as 
with  all  others,  and  always  counseled  harmony 
among  the  settlers.  He  spoke  and  wrote  the 
German  language  with  ease,  and  assisted  in 
bringing  many  Germans  to  settle  about  him,  and 
aided  the  early  settlers  in  many  ways. 

He  was  a  deep  reader,  of  broad  and  liberal 
views.  In  religious  opinion  he  most  nearly  coin- 
cided with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  He 
held  the  office  of  assessor  in  the  town  of  Evans- 
ton  for  twelve  years,  or  from  the  time  of  its 
organization  to  his  death.  Physically  he  was 
large  and  powerful,  and  was  noted  for  his  great 
good  humor.  He  died  of  congestion  of  the  brain 
December  13,  1856,  after  a  short  but  very  active 
and  useful  life. 

The  memory  of  Mr.  Rogers  will  always  be 
revered  by  his  grandchildren,  though  none  of 
them  bear  his  name.  His  daughter  Catherine, 


educated  in  Saint  Agatha's  Academy  of  Chicago, 
married  P.  L.  Touhy  in  1865.  They  have  had 
ten  children,  as  follows:  Mabel,  Edniond  Rogers, 
Stephen  Rogers,  Catherine,  Joseph  G.,  John 
Rogers,  Alice  B.,  Grace  A.,  and  two  who  died, 
unnamed,  in  infancy.  The  second,  who  was  a 
graduate  of  the  Chicago  Law  Institute,  class  of 
1891,  died  January  9,  1894,  and  the  sixth  died  at 
the  age  of  four  years.  All  of  the  living  are  pos- 
sessed of  exceptional  talents  and  are  enjoying 
excellent  educational  advantages. 

Mrs.  Rogers  died  in  1890,  sincerely  mourned  by 
a  large  number  of  persons.  She  was  a  member  of 
the  Humane  Association  in  London  from  its  origin. 
After  the  death  of  her  second  husband  she  managed 
the  estate,  with  the  assistance  of  her  son-in-law. 
The  name  was  given  to  the  former  suburb  of 
Rogers  Park  in  honor  of  Mr.  Rogers,  its  founder. 
At  present  the  estate  is  being  managed  by  Mrs. 
Catherine  C.  Touhy  and  his  son,  S.  Rogers 
Touhy,  a  practical  and  efficient  real-estate  man- 
ager. 


FREDERICK  SULZER. 


f~  REDERICK  SULZER,  whose  death  occurred 
ry  at  his  home  in  Ravenswood,  February  6, 
|  1892,  belonged  to  one  of  the  pioneer  families 
of  Cook  County.  He  was  born  in  Watertown, 
Jefferson  County,  New  York,  March  5,  1836.  In 
June  of  the  same  year  his  parents,  Conrad  and 
Christina  Sulzer,  emigrated  from  the  State  of  New 
York  to  Chicago.  The  great  city  was  then  but  a 
village  on  the  lake  shore,  of  a  few  hundred  inhab- 
itants, and  gave  no  promise  of  the  wonderful 
growth  to  which  it  has  since  attained. 

In  1837  the  family  removed  to  what  was  sub- 
sequently Lake  View  Township,  where  Mr.  Con- 


rad Sulzer  purchased  a  farm,  which  is  now  includ- 
ed in  the  city,  formerly  the  suburb  of  Ravenswood. 
Forty  acres  of  the  original  plat  of  one  hundred 
ninety -four  acres,  which  was  laid  out  by  the  Ra- 
venswood Land  Company,  was  purchased  from 
Mr.  Sulzer  in  1868.  Mr.  Conrad  Sulzer  and  fam- 
ily were  probably  the  first  settlers  on  the  site  of 
Ravenswood. 

He  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising,  and 
was  prominently  connected  with  the  growth  and 
development  of  this  part  of  Cook  County.  He  was 
assessor  of  the  town  of  Lake  View  in  1857,  and 
the  first  to  hold  that  office  after  the  organization  of 


524 


PHILIP  ROGERS. 


PHILIP  ROGERS. 


ROGERS,  deceased,  was  one  of  the 
L7  prominent  pioneers  of  Cook  County.  He 
jsJ>  was  born  August  15,  1812,  in  Dublin,  Ire- 
land, and  came  to  the  United  States  in  childhood, 
with  his  parents,  James  and  Catherine  (Mc- 
Gregor) Rogers,  of  Scotch-Irish  origin.  They 
located  at  Watertown,  Jefferson  County,  New 
York,  where  Philip  grew  to  manhood  and  re- 
ceived his  education.  Under  the  instruction  of 
an  elder  brother,  who  was  a  college  graduate,  he 
acquired  considerable  proficiency  in  civil  engin- 
eering. He  was  deeply  interested  in  the  study 
of  geology,  and  before  coming  West  had  made  an 
extensive  examination  into  the  formations  of  the 
earth  strata  of  the  United  States,  and  was  em- 
ployed for  some  time  as  assayist  by  an  iron  ore 
firm.  He  soon  decided  to  locate  in  Illinois,  and 
started  in  1835,  in  company  with  his  brother, 
Milton  Rogers,  the  founder  of  Saint  Joseph,  Mis- 
souri. The  latter  was  not  pleased  with  the  pros- 
pects of  the  West  and  returned  to  New  York, 
only  to  repair  to  the  far  West  again.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  not  dismayed  by  the 
hardships  which  the  pioneers  were  compelled  to 
endure,  and  went  to  work  at  ditching,  splitting 
rails,  and  any  labor  that  seemed  to  be  demanded 
in  this  region.  He  staked  out  a  claim  in  Lake 
View  Township,  which  included  a  judicious  pro- 
portion of  timbtr  and  prairie,  and  subsequently 
purchased  land  from  time  to  time,  chiefly  from 
the  Government,  until  his  landed  estate  comprised 
sixteen  hundred  acres.  Much  of  this  he  improved, 
and  his  farming  operations  became  quite  exten- 
sive, being  conducted  under  his  own  supervision. 
In  1841  he  married  Mrs.  Mary  Ward  Hickey, 


widow  of  James  Fox  Hickey,  and  daughter  of 
Thomas  Breen  Masterson,  Esq.,  of  Mishal, 
County  Carlow,  Ireland.  Thomas  Breeu  Mas- 
terson was  a  native  of  Mishal,  descended  from 
the  Breens  of  Bally  Breen,  County  Wicklow,  Ire- 
land. He  was  born  May  4,  1781,  and  died  in 
1814.  Mrs.  Rogers  was  born  July  15,  1802,  in 
Blossom  Terrace,  London,  England,  and  was 
married  to  James  Fox  Hickey,  in  Saint  Paul's 
Cathedral  in  that  city,  October  12,  1829.  The}' 
took  ship  at  Gravesend  May  23,  1831,  on  a  sail- 
vessel,  bound  for  the  shores  of  the  New  World. 
After  a  prolonged  journey,  caused  by  storms  and 
adverse  winds,  they  arrived  in  New  York  July  4 
— glorious  Independence  day.  Those  were  the 
days  when  the  great  anniversary  was  properly 
commemorated  by  the  veterans  of  the  Revolution 
and  their  patriotic  children,  and  woe  to  the  rash 
"Britisher"  who  would  point  a  finger  of  scorn 
at  the  thirteen  stars  and  stripes  as  they  floated 
triumphantly  over  all  that  hot  July  day,  sixty-six 
years  ago. 

In  her  widowhood  Mrs.  Hickey  was  left  child- 
less, and  with  considerable  property  at  the  present 
site  of  the  Sunnyside  Hotel.  With  her  second 
husband,  Philip  Rogers,  she  began  life  in  true 
pioneer  style,  and  two  children  came  to  bless  their 
western  home.  The  youngest  of  these,  Philip 
M.,  died  a  3rear  after  attaining  his  majority.  The 
other,  Catherine,  is  now  Mrs.  P.  L.  Touhy,  of 
Rogers  Park. 

Mr.  Rogers  was  a  Jacksonian  Democrat,  and 
took  a  keen  interest  in  the  success  of  his  party,  as 
well  as  in  all  measures  that  seemed  to  him  calcu- 
lated to  promote  the  general  welfare.  He  was 


FREDERICK  SULZER. 


525 


very  enterprising  and  public-spirited,  and  was 
respected  by  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
He  lived  at  peace  with  the  Indians,  who  were 
numerous  about  him  in  the  early  days,  as  well  as 
with  all  others,  and  always  counseled  harmony 
among  the  settlers.  He  spoke  and  wrote  the 
German  language  with  ease,  and  assisted  in 
bringing  many  Germans  to  settle  about  him,  and 
aided  the  early  settlers  in  many  ways. 

He  was  a  deep  reader,  of  broad  and  liberal 
views.  In  religious  opinion  he  most  nearly  coin- 
cided with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  He 
held  the  office  of  assessor  in  the  town  of  Evans- 
ton  for  twelve  years,  or  from  the  time  of  its 
organization  to  his  death.  Physically  he  was 
large  and  powerful,  and  was  noted  for  his  great 
good  humor.  He  died  of  congestion  of  the  brain 
December  13,  1856,  after  a  short  but  very  active 
and  useful  life. 

The  memory  of  Mr.  Rogers  will  always  be 
revered  by  his  grandchildren,  though  none  of 
them  bear  his  name.  His  daughter  Catherine, 


educated  in  Saint  Agatha's  Academy  of  Chicago, 
married  P.  L.  Touhy  in  1865.  They  have  had 
ten  children,  as  follows:  Mabel,  Edtnond  Rogers, 
Stephen  Rogers,  Catherine,  Joseph  G.,  John 
Rogers,  Alice  B.,  Grace  A.,  and  two  who  died, 
unnamed,  in  infancy.  The  second,  who  was  a 
graduate  of  the  Chicago  Law  Institute,  class  of 
1891,  died  January  9,  1894,  and  the  sixth  died  at 
the  age  of  four  years.  All  of  the  living  are  pos- 
sessed of  exceptional  talents  and  are  enjoying 
excellent  educational  advantages. 

Mrs.  Rogers  died  in  1890,  sincerely  mourned  by 
a  large  number  of  persons.  She  was  a  member  of 
the  Humane  Association  in  London  from  its  origin. 
After  the  death  of  her  second  husband  she  managed 
the  estate,  with  the  assistance  of  her  son-in-law. 
The  name  was  given  to  the  former  suburb  of 
Rogers  Park  in  honor  of  Mr.  Rogers,  its  founder. 
At  present  the  estate  is  being  managed  by  Mrs. 
Catherine  C.  Touhy  and  his  son,  S.  Rogers 
Touhy,  a  practical  and  efficient  real-estate  man- 
ager. 


FREDERICK  SULZER. 


j~  REDBRICK  SULZER,  whose  death  occurred 
fy  at  his  home  in  Ravenswood,  February  6, 
I  1892,  belonged  to  one  of  the  pioneer  families 
of  Cook  County.  He  was  born  in  Watertown, 
Jefferson  County,  New  York,  March  5,  1836.  In 
June  of  the  same  year  his  parents,  Conrad  and 
Christina  Sulzer,  emigrated  from  the  State  of  New 
York  to  Chicago.  The  great  city  was  then  but  a 
village  on  the  lake  shore,  of  a  few  hundred  inhab- 
itants, and  gave  no  promise  of  the  wonderful 
growth  to  which  it  has  since  attained. 

In  1837  the  family  removed  to  what  was  sub- 
sequently Lake  View  Township,  where  Mr.  Con- 


rad Sulzer  purchased  a  farm,  which  is  now  includ- 
ed in  the  city,  formerly  the  suburb  of  Ravenswood. 
Forty  acres  of  the  original  plat  of  one  hundred 
ninety-four  acres,  which  was  laid  out  by  the  Ra- 
venswood Land  Company,  was  purchased  from 
Mr.  Sulzer  in  1868.  Mr.  Conrad  Sulzer  and  fam- 
ily were  probably  the  first  settlers  on  the  site  of 
Ravenswood. 

He  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising,  and 
was  prominently  connected  with  the  growth  and 
development  of  this  part  of  Cook  County.  He  was 
assessor  of  the  town  of  Lake  View  in  1857,  and 
the  first  to  hold  that  office  after  the  organization  of 


526 


REV.  A.  P.  LONERGAN. 


the  township.  He  was  deeply  interested  in  edu- 
cational progress  and  whatever  tended  to  promote 
the  moral  and  material  interests  of  the  community. 
His  death  occurred  in  1873.  The  wife  and 
mother  survived  her  husband  a  number  of  years. 

Frederick  Sulzer  was  but  an  infant  when  the 
family  came  to  Cook  County.  He  lived  at  home 
on  the  farm  with  his  parents  until  1857,  when  he 
went  to  Rochester,  New  York,  to  learn  the  nursery 
business,  returning  in  the  fall  of  1859.  There  he 
acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  that  industry, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1860  began  the  planting  of  a 
nursery.  He  was  successfully  engaged  as  nurs- 
eryman and  florist  for  many  years.  The  former 
he  discontinued  some  time  previous  to  his  death, 
but  continued  as  florist  until  about  two  years  pre- 
vious to  that  event. 

February  2,  1870,  Mr.  Frederick  Sulzer  was 
married  to  Miss  Anna  M.  Buether,  of  Chicago. 
Mrs.  Sulzer  is  a  daughter  of  Glaus  and  Rebecca 
Buether,  natives  of  Hanover,  Germany,  but  early 
settlers  of  Chicago.  Her  father  is  deceased,  but 


the  mother  is  still  living.  Mrs.  Sulzer  is  one  of  a 
family  of  two  sons  and  one  daughter.  The  chil- 
dren born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sulzer  are:  Julia  R., 
Angelina  M.,  Harriet  L.,  Albert  F.  and  Grace  E. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  Mr.  Sulzer  was,  doubt- 
less, the  oldest  settler  of  the  town  of  Lake  View. 
He  held  various  official  positions,  including  that 
of  town  clerk,  to  which  he  was  elected  in  1867. 
He  was  elected  highway  commissioner  in  1868, 
and  supervisor  and  treasurer  in  1875.  He  was 
especially  interested  in  the  growth  and  efficiency 
of  the  schools,  acting  as  school  director  for  many 
years.  Several  of  his  children  are  now  engaged 
in  educational  work,  in  connection  with  the 
schools  of  Ravenswood.  He  was  long  a  represen- 
tative citizen,  and  highly  esteemed  by  all  who 
knew  him.  His  family  resides  in  a  beautiful 
home,  No.  1306  Perry  'Street,  where  the  husband 
and  father  passed  away  after  a  brief  illness.  Mr. 
Sulzer  resided  on  the  land  which  his  father  pur- 
chased in  1837  for  the  long  period  of  fifty-five 
years. 


REV.  ARTHUR  P.  LONERGAN. 


REV.  ARTHUR  PATRICK  LONERGAN, 
pastor  of  St.  Jerome's  Church  in  Rogers 
Park,  was  born  in  Yarmouth,  Nova  Scotia, 
and  is  the  son  of  Edmond  and  Anne  M.  Loner- 
gan.  He  received  his  classical  education  at  Saint 
Francis  Seminary,  Milwaukee,  and  his  theological 
education  at  Saint  Mary's  Seminary  in  Baltimore. 
He  was  ordained  deacon  in  the  cathedral,  Balti- 
more, December  23,  1882,  and  was  promoted  to 
the  priesthood  by  the  Most  Reverend  Archbishop 
Feehan,  December  29,  1882.  He  was  then  ap- 
pointed assistant  to  the  Reverend  Father  Roles,  at 


Saint  Mary's  Church,  Wabash  Avenue  and  Eld- 
redge  Court,  Chicago.  Later  he  served  as  as- 
sistant to  the  Very  Reverend  Doctor  Butler,  at 
Saint  John's  Church,  on  the  corner  of  Eighteenth 
and  Clark  Streets,  in  the  same  city.  From  Saint 
John's  Church  he  went  to  Amboy,  Illinois,  where 
he  labored  as  pastor  for  four  years,  when  he  was 
called  to  this  city  to  assume  charge  of  the  newly 
organized  parish  of  Saint  Jerome,  May  10,  1895. 
Under  his  able  guidance  the  parish  has  been  thor- 
oughly organized  and  is  now  in  a  most  prosper- 
ous condition. 


O.  D.   RANNEY. 


527 


ORRIN  D.  RANNEY. 


IRRIN  DATUS  RANNEY  was  born  at  East 
Granville  (on  Holden  Hill),  Massachusetts, 
March  6,  1812,  unto  Orrin  and  Betsy  Ran- 
ney,  ( nee  Gibbons. )  He  had  one  brother  and  three 
sisters,  all  of  good  attainments.  The  brother, 
Timothy  Pickering  Rauney  (now  deceased),  was 
long  a  prominent  laywer  at  Newark,  New  Jersey. 
His  sisters,  Nancy  Deborah  and  Sarah  Sheppard 
Ranney,  were  both  graduates  of  Mount  Holyoke 
Seminary,  Massachusetts.  The  former  (now  de- 
parted) for  many  years  had  a  private  ladies' 
seminary  at  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey.  Sarah  mar- 
ried Mr.  J.  Austin  Scott,  a  capitalist,  of  Toledo, 
Ohio.  Sarah  Sheppard  Ranney  Scott  and  hus- 
band are  now  both  dead. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  on  account  of  ill 
health  was  obliged  to  forego  youthful  aspirations 
for  becoming  a  clergyman.  After  finishing  his 
common  school  education,  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
years,  he  began  clerking  in  Westfield,  Massachu- 
setts. Upon  his  marriage,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  he  began  to  conduct  his  own  store  at  Lee, 
Massachusetts,  whence  he  removed  to  Adrian, 
Michigan.  Thence  he  went  to  Maumee  City, 
Ohio,  where  he  remained  for  a  period  of  about 
ten  years;  thence  to  Toledo,  Ohio.  In  all  of 
these  places  he  continued,  with  varying  fortunes, 
in  the  mercantile  business. 

Removing  from  Toledo,  Ohio,  he  came  to  the 
final  destination  of  his  earthly  life,  arriving  in 
Chicago  in  1856.  He  went  directly  into  the  pro- 
vision commission  business,  on  South  Water 
Street,  where  he  was  long  associated  with  the 
still  surviving  veteran  Sherman  Hall.  Later  he 
was  for  some  years  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  in  which  we  need  not  add  he  was  deeply 
interested,  and  at  whose  marvelous  growth  he  was, 
with  his  compeers  of  earlier  days,  obliged  to  mar- 
vel greatly. 

In  May,  1872,  he  became  attached  to  the  force 


of  the  First  National  Bank,  serving  that  corpora- 
tion most  faithfully  in  the  capacity  of  Manager  ol 
the  Safety  Deposit  Vaults,  for  upwards  of  a  score 
of  years,  unto  the  very  time  of  his  death,  March 
4,  1894. 

By  political  faith,  he  was  a  staunch  Republi- 
can, following  the  progressive  career  of  that  su- 
premely American  party  in  every  election  with 
his  unvarying  support  at  the  ballot  box.  The 
uplifting  force  of  his  long  and  good  life  is  found 
in  the  Presbyterian  dogma,  to  which  he  sub- 
scribed by  actions  which  "speak  louder  than 
words. ' '  At  the  time  of  his  coming  to  our  city, 
he  identified  himself  with  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,,  in  which  he  was  ever  honorably  promi- 
nent, acting  as  an  Elder  for  long  years,  up  to 
within  about  two  years  of  the  time  of  his  decease. 
He  was  also  warmly  interested  in  the  welfare  of 
the  Foster  Mission,  a  time-honored  school  of  that 
denomination.  The  Rev.  Herrick  Johnson  offici- 
ated at  his  funeral,  and  he  was  laid  at  rest  in 
Albion,  Michigan. 

Our  departed  friend  belonged  to  no  clubs,  he 
was  no  society  man;  he  belonged  to  his  home;  he 
was  a  man  for  the  fireside  and  his  tried,  true 
friends.  Said  one  of  those  high  in  position,  with 
whom  business  associations  for  a  lengthy  period 
had  brought  the  subject  of  this  sketch  into  close 
relations  of  importance, ' '  I  would  as  soon  have 
thought  of  our  bank  suddenly  becoming  bankrupt 
for  some  inexplicable  reason,  as  to  know  that 
anything  had  gone  wrong  with  our  Deposit  De- 
partment while  it  was  under  Mr.  Ranney's  super- 
vision." Another,  standing  under  the  shadow 
of  his  tomb,  said,  "He  was  an  honest  man  in 
every  way,  church,  business,  social  and  domestic 
life;  none  could  come  nearer  perfection  than  Orrin 
Datus  Ranney.  All  knew  him  only  to  respect 
and  love,  as  one  of  God's  noblemen." 

As  the  Creator  does  not  finish  the  lives  of  any, 


528 


M.  N.  KIMBELL. 


no  matter  how  saintly,  upon  this  lower  earth,  so 
we  cannot  record  in  worthy  fulness  what  is  most 
deserving  of  historic  remembrance  and  emulation 
on  the  part  of  succeeding  generations  of  business 
men,  about  to  enter  upon  important  duties  in  our 
vast  and  rapidly  growing  metropolis.  Surely,  we 
may  trustfully  believe,  as  he  was  without  fear, 
he  passed  to  fields  of  Paradise  without  punish- 
ment; as  he  submissively  wore  the  cross,  the 
crown  of  eternal  bliss  is  already  encircling  his  be- 
loved brow. 

Mr.  Ranney  was  twice  married,  having  and 
leaving  children  only  by  the  former  marriage. 
The  first  union  was  with  Miss  Phoebe  Eldredge, 
the  ceremony  being  performed  by  the  Rev.  Isaac 
Knapp,  at  Westfield,  Massachusetts,  April  15, 
1833.  Three  children  came  to  them,  as  follows: 
Charles  Luce  Ranney,  born  January  14,  1834  in 
Westfield,  Massachusetts;  went  through  the  Civil 
War,  and  died  in  a  hospital  in  Portland,  Oregon, 
in  1890,  unmarried.  Ellen  Maria  Ranney,  born 
July  5,  1839,  in  Lee,  Berkshire  County,  Massa- 
chusetts, died  in  childhood  at  Maumee  City ;  Alice 
Maria  Ranney,  born  July  5,  1849  at  Maumee 
City,  Ohio;  educated  at  Miss  Ranney's  Private 
School  in  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  and  later  a 
graduate  of  the  Chicago  Dearborn  Seminary. 
She  married  December  10,  1868,  Walter  Weeks 
Hilton,  a  banker  of  early  Chicago,  by  whon  she 
has  two  children:  Myra  Fisk  Hilton,  born  Sep- 
tember 27  1869,  educated  at  the  Chicago  Dear- 
born Seminary;  and  married  June  26,  1889,  to 
Mr.  William  Z.  Mead,  formerly  of  Virginia,  now 


of  Minneapolis,  Minnesota,  where  he  is  engaged 
in  the  insurance  business.  John  Ranney  Hilton, 
born  September  5,  1873,  educated  in  the  Chicago 
High  School,  unmarried. 

On  the  i  gth  of  January,  1881,  Mr.  Ranney  was 
married  to  Mrs.  Adeline  S..Peabody,  (wrcGrosve- 
ner)  a  prominent  family  of  Albion,  Michigan,  by 
the  Rev.  Daniel  M.  Cooper,  of  Detroit,  Michigan. 
Their  more  than  half  a  score  of  happy  years  of 
wedded  life  were  not  blessed  by  offspring.  She 
still  survives  him,  living  at  Albion,  and  visiting 
his  last  resting  place  on  frequent  occasions,  feel- 
ing honored  in  being  the  associate  of  one  in  every 
way  so  worthy  of  the  best  of  womankind. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Mr.  Ranney  leaves  no  male 
child  to  bear  his  name  throughout  the  coming 
years;  therefore,  although  the  good  traits  of  fe- 
male descendants  will  loudly  voice  themselves  in 
his  behalf,  it  is  especially  appropriate  that  at  this 
time  and  in  this  place  and  manner,  in  dignified 
setting,  surrounded  by  the  best  of  his  contempo- 
raries, a  lasting  memorial  be  created,  befitting 
in  some  degree  the  superlative  characteristics  of 
manhood  possessed  by  him  of  whom  this  is  written. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  some  fuller  record  of 
Mr.  Ranney's  lineal  ancestry  is  not  available;  for- 
the  present  it  is  known  that  his  maternal  grand- 
parents were  Timothy  and  Elizabeth  Gibbons, 
and  that  the  preceding  in  the  male  line  was  Peter 
Gibbons.  It  is  unnecessary  to  call  attention  to 
those  prominent  in  this  family,  a  Cardinal  being 
in  the  mouths  of  us  all,  at  first  mention.  The  pa- 
ternal grandfather  was  Jonathan  Ranney. 


MARTIN  N.  KIMBELL, 


[ARTIN  NELSON  KIMBELL,  one  of  the 
most  public-spirited  of  Cook  County's  pio- 
neers, who  ably  bore  his  part  in  promoting 
its  moral  and  intellectual  progress,  as  well  as  aid- 


ing in  its  material  prosperity,  was  born  in  Still- 
water  Township,  Saratoga  County,  New  York, 
January  24,  1812.  He  was  the  eldest  child  of 
Abel  Kimbell  and  Maria  Powell.  The  former 


M.  N.  KIMBELL. 


529 


was  born  at  Pownal,  Bennington,  County,  Ver- 
mont, and  was  a  son  of  Noah  Kimbell,  a  native 
of  Rhode  Island,  who  removed  to  Vermont  while  • 
a  young  man.  The  last-named  was  of  Scotch- 
Irish  descent,  and  a  farmer  and  miller  by  occu- 
pation. He  joined  the  Continental  forces  and 
took  part  in  the  battle  of  Bennington.  Abel 
Kimbell,  in  early  life,  removed  to  Saratoga 
County,  New  York,  where  his  death  occurred  in 
1833  at  the  age  of  forty-two  years.  He  was  a 
veteran  of  the  War  of  1812. 

Mrs.  Maria  Kimbell  died  in  Saratoga  County, 
New  York,  in  1830.  Her  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Nelson,  was  of  Dutch  descent,  and  her 
father's  name  was  Frost  Powell.  He  was  of 
English-Welsh  extraction,  sonof  Obadiah  Powell, 
a  Quaker,  who  died  in  Saratoga  County  at  the 
age  of  nearly  one  hundred  years.  Some  time 
previous  to  the  Revolutionary  War  he  removed 
thither  from  Dutchess  County,  New  York,  with 
his  wife  Betsy,  bringing  all  their  belongings  on  a 
pack  pony.  They  became  the  parents  of  three 
sons  and  eight  daughters,  all  of  whom  lived  to 
extreme  old  age.  During  the  Revolutionary 
struggle,  Obadiah  Powell  was  much  censured  by 
his  neighbors  on  account  of  his  non-combatant 
principles,  and  most  of  his  personal  property  was 
confiscated.  He  was  steadfast  in  his  convictions, 
however,  and  lived  to  become  one  of  the  leading 
farmers  of  the  county.  At  the  age  of  ninety -eight 
years  he  husked  several  baskets  of  corn  and  car- 
ried them  to  the  loft  of  his  carriage  house.  His 
house  was  a  favorite  gathering-place  of  his  nu- 
merous descendants,  including  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  who  was  the  recipient  of  considerable  at- 
tention from  the  old  gentleman  on  account  of  his 
being  the  first  great-grandchild.  About  1840 
Frost  Powell  moved  to  Wisconsin,  settling  near 
Waterford,  in  Racine  County,  where  he  died  a 
few  years  later. 

Martin  N.  Kimbell  was  but  six  years  old  when 
the  family  moved  to  Windham,  Bradford  County, 
Pennsylvania, and  a  few  years  later  another  remov- 
al was  made  to  Tioga  Count}',  New  York.  Though 
his  parents  were  able  to  equip  him  with  little 
other  education,  they  implanted  in  his  mind  those 
upright  and  honorable  principles  which,  with  the 


habits  of  industry,  frugality  and  sobriety  acquired 
in  early  youth,  admirably  fitted  him  for  the  battle 
of  life.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  began 
working  out  among  the  neighboring  farmers,  his 
first  wages  being  $4  per  month.  The  money 
earned  in  this  way  was  spent  for  schooling — most 
of  his  education  being  obtained  after  he  had 
passed  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  At  the  age  of 
twenty  he  returned  to  Saratoga  County,  New 
York,  where  he  was  employed  as  foreman  upon  a 
large  farm  at  the  extraordinary  salary  of  $11  per 
month,  the  other  help  receiving  from  $6  to  $8. 
So  satisfactory  were  his  services  that  he  was 
offered  still  farther  advance  in  salary,  but  after  a 
few  years  he  again  went  to  Tioga  County  and 
taught  school  for  several  terms  at  a  salary  of  $15 
per  month,  "  boarding  around. "  Having  heard 
wonderful  tales  of  the  great  West,  in  1836  he 
came  to  Chicago.  His  first  employment  here  was 
at  farm  work  and  teaming.  In  the  fall  of  the  same 
year  he  made  a  claim  to  a  quarter-section  of  land 
in  Jefferson  Township,  now  inside  of  the  city 
limits,  and  in  the  spring  of  1837  built  a  shanty  of 
hay  on  his  claim.  In  1838  he  purchased  this 
land,  paying  to  the  middle  man  who  secured  the 
title  from  the  Government,  the  sum  of  $2.50  per 
acre  in  annual  installments  of  $100.  The  same 
year  he  built  a  frame  house  near  the  location  of 
his  late  residence,  and  engaged  in  active  farming 
operations.  Four  years  later  he  rented  a  hotel 
on  Milwaukee  Avenue,  at  the  corner  of  the  thor- 
oughfare now  known  as  Warner  Avenue.  This 
house  was  at  that  time  known  as  ' '  The  Prairie 
Grocery,"  but  he  changed  its  name  to  "  Live  and 
L,et  Live. ' '  Although  this  enterprise  was  quite 
successful,  he  resolved  to  abandon  it  because  it 
did  not  provide  satisfactory  environment  for  his 
growing  family,  and  two  years  later  he  returned 
to  his  farm,  which  was  his  home  during  the  rest 
of  his  life.  At  one  time  his  farm  comprised  two 
hundred  and  seventeen  acres,  most  of  which  has 
been  subdivided  in  city  lots.  In  addition  to  his 
farming  operations  he  engaged  for  some  years  in 
jobbing  and  general  contracting.  In  1849  ne 
began  to  grade  and  plank  the  highway  known  as 
Milwaukee  Avenue,  and  built  about  three  miles 
thereof,  and  was  afterward  employed  for  five 


532 


A.  J.  GALLOWAY. 


compensation  offered  to  competent  engineers. 
Under  the  instructions  of  Professors  Harney  and 
Thompson,  he  made  special  studies  in  mathemat- 
ics and  engineering,  and  received  his  diploma  as 
civil  engineer  in  April,  1837. 

Proceeding  to  Evansville,  he  hoped  to  obtain  a 
position  on  the  Indiana  Central  canal,  but  was  of- 
fered the  charge  of  the  Mount  Carmel  Academy 
at  Mount  Carmel,  Illinois,  soon  after,  and  accepted 
for  one  year.  Among  his  pupils  were  many 
young  men  who  have  since  become  distinguished 
men  of  business,  law  and  letters.  At  the  close  of 
his  school  year,  he  accepted  an  appointment  as 
assistant  engineer  in  the  service  of  the  State,  and 
was  actively  employed  in  the  location  and  con- 
struction of  railways  in  that  section  of  the  State. 

In  the  fall  of  1840,  he  went  to  Springfield,  and 
was  employed  during  a  part  of  the  following  win- 
ter as  assistant  enrolling  clerk  of  the  Senate.  In 
the  following  July,  he  received  an  appointment 
from  the  Canal  Commissioners  as  engineer  on  the 
Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal,  under  Chief  Engineer 
William  Gooding  and  his  assistant,  Edward  B. 
Talcott.  He  continued  in  this  work  until  the 
suspension  of  operations  in  the  winter  of  1843-4, 
when  he  retired  to  the  farm  which  he  had  pur- 
chased in  1842,  on  the  Big  Vermillion  river  in 
La  Salle  County.  In  1845,  he  resumed  his  posi- 
tion and  employment  on  the  canal,  with  head- 
quarters at  Marseilles,  and  continued  until  De- 
cember, 1846,  when  the  work  was  about  com- 
pleted and  he  was  relieved.  Within  a  few  days, 
he  was  elected  enrolling  and  engrossing  clerk  of 
the  lower  house  of  the  Legislature,  to  which  posi- 
tion he  was  also  elected  in  1848.  At  the  close  of 
the  session  in  1849,  he  was  appointed  Secretary 
to  the  State  Trustee  of  the  Canal  Board,  with  of- 
fice in  Chicago.  He  moved  his  family  to  the 
city,  and  for  over  two  years  filled  this  position, 
until  he  resigned  to  accept  the  office  of  assistant 
engineer  under  Col.  Roswell  B.  Mason,  on  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad. 

Mr.  Galloway  located  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  of  the  line  of  this  road,  and  superin- 
tended the  construction  of  the  twelfth  division 
until  near  completion,  when  he  was  transferred 
to  the  land  department  of  the  same  road,  with  an 


increase  of  $1,000  per  annum  in  salary.  He 
superintended  the  survey  of  more  than  a  million 
acres  of  the  company's  lands,  and  made  sketches 
for  maps  of  the  same,  with  descriptions  of  the 
character  and  quality  of  every  tract  surveyed. 

He  retired  from  the  railroad  service  in  July, 
1855,  and  formed  a  company,  with  two  others, 
to  deal  in  real  estate  and  lands,  under  the  title  of 
A.  J.  Galloway  &  Company.  Before  the  close  of 
that  year,  they  bought  sixty  thousand  acres  of 
Illinois  Central  lands,  all  of  which  eventually 
passed  into  the  individual  possession  of  Mr.  Gal- 
loway. For  some  years  he  was  occupied  in  dis- 
posing of  these  holdings,  together  with  sales  on 
commission  for  the  company  and  other  owners, 
and  has  done  his  share  in  securing  the  location 
of  desirable  citizens  in  the  State. 

Mr.  Galloway  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote 
for  Martin  Van  Buren,  in  1836,  and  has  voted 
in  every  national  contest  since.  He  adhered  to 
the  Democratic  party  until  the  organization  of 
the  Republican  in  1856,  since  which  he  has  af- 
filiated with  the  latter  party.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly  of  Illi- 
nois, and  chairman  of  the  committee  on  canal  alid 
river  improvements  in  the  house.  This  was  the 
first  Legislature  under  the  present  State  Consti- 
tution, and  held  four  sessions,  two  of  them  being 
called  by  the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  one  of 
which  was  made  necessary  by  the  fearful  conflagra- 
tion which  destroyed  some  two  hundred  million 
dollars'  worth  of  property  in  Chicago  in  the  brief 
space  of  twenty  hours.  He  was  elected  to  fill  a  va- 
cancy in  the  Cook  County  Board  of  Commissioners 
in  November,  1872,  by  some  eight  thousand  major- 
ity, but  was  beaten  on  the  "law  and  order"  ticket 
in  the  following  year  for  the  same  office,  by  some 
ten  thousand  majority  given  for  the  candidate  on 
the  "people's ticket."  In  1882,  he  was  a  candi- 
date on  the  Republican  ticket  for  County  Clerk, 
and  though  elected  by  the  legal  votes  cast,  was 
counted  out.  While  at  Springfield,  he  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  their 
mutual  friendship  continued  with  the  life  of  the 
latter. 

As  chairman  of  the  committee  on  taxation  of 
the  Citizens'  Association,   he  has  rendered  valu- 


JAMES   TOMPKINS. 


533 


able  aid  to  that  very  useful  organization,  and  at 
various  times,  through  the  medium  of  the  press, 
has  given  to  the  public  useful  hints,  facts  and 
statistics  which  ought  not  to  be  forgotten. 

In  November,  1838,  Mr.  Galloway  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Rebecca  Buchanan,  youngest  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  Victor  Buchanan,  senior,  of  Law- 
rence County,  Illinois,  a  well-known  and  highly 
esteemed  farmer,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  who 
died  and  was  buried  on  his  farm  in  the  year  1843, 


having  reached  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-one  years. 
Following  are  the  names  of  Mr.  Galloway's 
children:  Rebecca  Elizabeth,  wife  of  George  G. 
Gunther,  now  residing  in  California;  Robert  Wil- 
son, an  amateur  artist  and  member  of  the  Chicago 
Board  of  Trade,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven 
years;  Margaret,  widow  of  Samuel  L.  Fogg,  and 
James  Buchanan,  a  prominent  business  man,  re- 
side in  Chicago.  Jessie  died  in  1870,  aged 
twenty  years. 


REV.  JAMES  TOMPKINS,  D.  D. 


REV.  JAMES  TOMPKINS,  D.  D.,  for  seven- 
teen years  Superintendent  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Home  Missionary  Society  of  Illinois, 
is  not  only  an  able  preacher  but  a  superior  busi- 
ness man  as  well.  His  practical  ideas  and  genial, 
sunnj7  disposition  inspire  confidence  and  interest 
in  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact,  and  secure 
ready  co-operation  in  his  work.  He  was  born  in 
Galesburg,  Illinois,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1840. 
His  father,  Deacon  Samuel  Tompkins,  was  one. 
of  the  founders  of  that  city,  being  a  member  of 
the  committee  that  came  from  New  York,  in 
1835,  to  select  the  site  of  an  institution  of  learning 
and,  incidentally,  of  a  town  in  the  "wild  West." 
The  committee  entered  a  township  of  Govern- 
ment land  and  platted  a  village  in  its  center,  in 
the  name  of  Knox  College.  Tompkins  Street, 
on  which  is  located  Knox  Female  Seminary,  is 
named  in  honor  of  this  pioneer.  Samuel  Tomp- 
kins was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and  his  wife, 
Mary  Grinnell,  was  born  at  Paris  Hill,  Oneida 
County,  New  York. 

James  Tompkins  spent  his  early  years  in  his 
native  place,  studying  in  the  public  schools,  until 
1854,  when  he  entered  the  preparatory  depart- 


ment of  Knox  College.  He  graduated  from  that 
institution  in  1862,  taking  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Science.  In  1865,  having  pursued  special 
lines  of  study,  he  received  the  degree  of  Master 
of  Arts.  In  1867,  he  graduated  from  Chicago 
Theological  Seminary,  and  in  1888  he  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from 
Illinois  College. 

During  his  preparatory  and  college  course,  he 
maintained  himself  by  teaching  school,  and  the 
same  year  of  his  graduation — at  the  age  of  twen- 
ty-two— he  took  charge  of  Elmwood  Academy,  at 
Elmwood,  Illinois.  He  continued  here  two  years, 
at  the  end  of  which  period  a  regular  system  of 
graded  schools  was  established  by  the  town  and 
the  trustees  of  the  academy  decided  to  merge 
that  institution  in  the  public  high  school.  The 
formation  of  the  grades  and  establishment  of  the 
high  school  was  a  task  assigned  to  Mr.  Tomp- 
kins, and  faithfully  carried  out. 

While  he  was  in  college,  the  call  of  President 
Lincoln  was  issued  for  seventy-five  thousand  men 
to  put  down  the  rebellion,  and  a  company  was 
enlisted  at  Knox  College,  Mr.  Tompkins  being 
among  the  first.  So  many  men  were  enlisting 


534 


JAMES  TOMPKINS. 


throughout  the  State  that  it  was  feared  the  com- 
pany of  students  would  not  be  accepted,  and  its 
captain  was  sent  to  Springfield  to  urge  the  matter 
upon  Governor  Yates,  but  the  mission  was  vain, 
and  thus  several  good  soldiers  were  spoiled  in  the 
making  of  some  good  ministers. 

After  graduating,  Mr.  Tompkins  aided  in  re- 
cruiting some  companies  of  volunteers  under  a 
later  call.  These  went  into  the  Seventy-seventh 
and  Eighty-fifth  Regiments  of  Illinois  Volunteers. 
Through  much  open  air  speaking  in  recruiting, 
Mr.  Tompkins  was  suffering  from  a  slight  inflam- 
mation on  the  lungs  at  this  time,  and  the  exam- 
ining surgeon  refused  to  pass  him  for  military 
duty.  As  he  was  anxious  to  go  out  with  the 
men  he  had  enlisted,  he  endeavored  to  persuade 
the  surgeon  that  his  ailment  was  temporary,  but 
the  official  was  inexorable  and  he  was  compelled 
to  remain  behind.  After  resigning  his  position 
at  Elmwood,  however,  in  June,  1864,  he  was  en- 
abled to  give  his*  services  to  the  country  by  join- 
ing the  United  States  Christian  Commission, 
which  did  such  valuable  work  for  the  "boys  in 
blue"  in  camp  and  hospital  and  on  the  battle- 
field. In  this  service,  he  remained  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  He  was  first  sent  to  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  in  company  with  Rev.  W.  G.  Peirce, 
the  beloved  and  heroic  chaplain  of  the  Seventy- 
seventh  Illinois.  When  they  reached  City  Point, 
Virginia — General  Grant's  headquarterc — they 
responded  to  a  call  for  volunteers  to  go  to  the 
front,  and  were  assigned  to  duty  at  Point  of  Rocks, 
on  the  Appomatox  river.  Here  Mr.  Tompkins 
met  with  an  accident  which  nearly  proved  fatal. 
After  hovering  between  life  and  death  for  a  week, 
he  rallied  sufficiently  to  betaken  in  an  ambulance 
to  City  Point,  and  was  placed  on  a  steamer  bound 
for  Baltimore. 

On  his  recovery,  he  was  engaged  for  several 
weeks  in  lecturing  throughout  Central  Illinois  on 
the  work  of  the  Christian  Commission,  and  col- 
lected several  thousand  dollars  for  its  use.  He 
then  visited  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  and 
followed  General  Thomas  as  he  drove  the  Con- 
federate army,  commanded  by  General  Hood,  out 
of  Tennessee.  He  cared  for  the  sick  and  wounded 
of  both  armies,  took  the  last  message  of  the  dy- 


ing for  the  loved  ones  at  home,  and  aided  in  giv- 
ing a  decent  burial  to  the  remains  of  those  who 
had  given  up  their  lives  for  their  country. 

Mr.  Tompkins  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the 
Gospel  Ministry  April  24,  1867,  immediately  after 
graduating  from  Chicago  Theological  Seminary, 
in  the  Congregational  Church  at  Prospect  Park 
(now  called  Glen  Ellyn),  and  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  the  Congregational  pastorate,  serving 
jointly  this  church  and  the  First  Church  of  Christ 
in  the  neighboring  village  of  Lombard,  Illinois. 
On  visiting  Minnesota  for  rest  and  recuperation, 
he  was  engaged  as  stated  supply  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  at  St.  Cloud.  From  there,  he 
was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Minneapolis.  Three  years'  resi- 
dence in  Minnesota  made  it  apparent  that  a 
milder  climate  was  necessary  to  the  health  of  both 
himself  and  wife,  and  he  resigned  his  charge  in 
Minneapolis.  He  soon  after  accepted  a  call  from 
the  Congregational  Church  at  Kewanee,  Illinois, 
which  he  served  as  pastor  for  over  six  years. 

In  May,  1878,  the  General  Congregational  As- 
sociation of  Illinois  voted  to  appoint  a  Superin- 
tendent of  its  work  in  the  State.  A  number  of 
prominent  clergymen  were  candidates  for  the 
position,  and  after  several  ballotings,  Mr.  Tomp- 
kins received  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast  and  was 
declared  elected.  He  entered  upon  his  new  duties 
in  the  succeeding  July,  with  headquarters  in 
Chicago,  and  is  still  occupying  that  position.  He 
has  introduced  several  new  methods  in  the  prose- 
cution of  the  work,  and  awakened  a  deeper  inter- 
est and  more  hearty  co-operation  in  all  the 
churches.  The  most  important  of  the  new  in- 
strumentalities was  the  employment  of  able  men 
as  State  Evangelists.  This  gave  new  impetus, 
strength  and  enlargement  to  the  work. 

In  1869,  on  the  8th  of  September,  Mr.  Tomp- 
kins married  Miss  Ella  A.  Kelley,  a  native  of 
Rutland,  Vermont,  daughter  of  J.  Seeley  Kelley 
and  Mary  E.  Hall.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tompkins 
have  been  given  four  children,  namely:  Roy 
James,  born  in  Minneapolis,  Mabel  Ella,  William 
C. ,  born  at  Kewanee,  Illinois,  and  Seeley  Kelley, 
born  at  Oak  Park,  Illinois. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  H  MNOIS 


KASPAR  G.  SCHMIDT 


K.  G.  SCHMIDT. 


535 


KASPAR  G.  SCHMIDT. 


RASPAR  G.  SCHMIDT  was  born  in  Vocken- 
hausen,  near  Wiesbaden,  Nassau,  Germany, 
February  20,  1833.  His  parents'  names 
were  John  and  Elizabeth  (Dinges)  Schmidt. 
John  Schmidt  was  a  tailor  by  trade  and,  in  later 
life,  became  foreman  of  a  tannery.  He  served  in 
the  German  army  as  a  sergeant-major  under 
General  Blucher.  After  participating  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Waterloo,  he  accompanied  the  victorious 
army  to  Paris.  His  death  occurred  in  1854,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-two  years.  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Schmidt  survived  until  1882,  attaining  the  vener- 
able age  of  eighty-two  years. 

Kaspar  G.  Schmidt  is  one  of  a  family  of  nine 
children,  of  whom  but  one  beside  himself  came 
to  America.  This  was  a  brother,  named  Nicholas, 
who  now  resides  in  Chicago.  Kaspar  received  a 
common-school  education  and,  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen years,  began  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  machinist. 
After  serving  a  four  years'  -apprenticeship  at 
Mines,  he  followed  the  same  occupation  for  some 
time  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main.  In  April,  1854, 
he  set  sail  for  America.  After  a  tempestuous 
voyage  lasting  fifty-six  days,  he  landed  in  New 
York.  Thence  he  came  direct  to  Chicago,  where 
he  soon  obtained  employment  at  his  trade.  His 
enterprising  spirit  was  not  destined  to  be  confined 
to  mere  mechanical  labor,  however,  and  he  began 
saving  his  surplus  earnings  with  a  view  to  mak- 
ing a  permanent  investment.  He  did  not  have 
to  wait  long  for  an  opportunity,  and  when,  in 
1857.,  several  large  Milwaukee  brewers  became 
bankrupt,  he  purchased  a  stock  of  beer  at  an  ad- 
vantageous figure  and  began  doing  a  small  whole- 
sale business  in  that  product.  This  enterprise 
continued  to  prosper  until  1860,  when  he  was  en- 
abled to  start  a  small  brewery,  at  the  corner  of 
Superior  and  Clark  Streets.  Two  years  later,  he 
removed  to  Grant  Place,  which  has  ever  since 


been  the  scene  of  his  operations.  His  extensive 
buildings  were  totally  destroyed  in  the  great  fire 
of  1871.  His  loss  at  that  time,  including  his 
residence,  amounted  to  one-fourth  of  a  million 
dollars.  He  was  able  to  recover  but  a  small  per- 
centage of  his  insurance,  and  the  entire  business 
had  to  be  built  up  anew.  Rebuilding  upon  a 
small  scale,  he  enlarged  the  establishment  at  in- 
tervals until  it  attained  a  capacity  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  barrels  per  day  and  furnished  employ- 
ment to  one  hundred  men.  Having  more  than 
recovered  his  loss  by  the  great  fire,  and  being  re- 
solved to  retire  from  active  life,  he  sold  out  his 
plant  in  1890,  and  is  practically  retired  from 
business. 

Mr.  Schmidt  was  married  in  1856  to  Barbara 
Wagner,  who  was  born  in  Rhodt,  Rheinpfalz, 
Bavaria.  She  died  on  the  2ist  of  September, 
1894,  at  the  age  of  sixty  years.  Of  the  eight 
children  born  to  this  union,  five  reached  mature 
years.  Barbara  Elizabeth  is  now  the  wife  of 
George  W.  Kellner,  of  Chicago;  Katie  Emma  is 
Mrs.  Martin  Herbert,  of  Chicago;  August  died  in 
1889,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight  years;  George 
K.  and  Edna  complete  the  list  of  the  survivors. 
Ten  living  grandchildren  make  glad  the  heart  of 
Mr.  Schmidt. 

Mr.  Schmidt  was  a  charter  member  of  Mithia 
Lodge  No.  410,  F.  &  A.  M.,  in  which  body  he 
has  filled  all  the  chairs,  and  served  as  Master  for 
five  years.  He  helped  to  organize  the  Germania 
Club,  with  which  he  has  since  been  identified, 
and  is  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Sonne- 
felter — a  German  singing  society.  Ever  since  he 
became  a  citizen,  he  has  given  faithful  allegiance 
to  the  Republican  party,  because  its  principles 
embodied  his  ideas  of  progress  and  good  govern- 
ment. In  1868,  he  was  elected  Alderman  of  the 
Thirteenth  Ward,  serving  four  and  one-half  years 


536 


G.  M.  DEARLOVE. 


in  that  capacity.  The  time  of  election  was 
changed  during  his  term  from  fall  to  spring,  thus 
prolonging  his  term  six  months.  From  1874  to 
1877,  he  served  as  County  Commissioner,  during 
which  time  he  was  chairman  of  the  Building 
Committee  of  that  body,  and  had  charge  of  the 
construction  of  the  present  court  house.  His  ex- 
perience in  the  repeated  construction  of  his  own 
ample  buildings  was  especially  useful  to  him  in 
the  discharge  of  this  duty,  and  was  of  great 


benefit  to  the  county,  and  the  city  of  Chicago. 
He  owns  a  fine  stock  farm  at  Twin  Lakes,  Wis- 
consin, where  he  has  spent  considerable  time  in 
recent  years,  and  where  he  finds  enjoyment  and 
recreation.  Though  sixty-two  years  of  age  at 
this  writing,  Mr.  Schmidt  is  still  hale  and  hearty. 
His  interest  in  the  growth  and  development  of 
Chicago  is  unabated,  and  he  views  with  pride  and 
satisfaction  the  continuous  progress  in  which  he 
was  for  many  years  an  active  participant. 


GEORGE  M.  DEARLOVE. 


OEORGE  M.  DEARLOVE,  B.  L.,  a  young 

I  (  man  of  pronounced  judgment  and  business 
\J  ability,  who  makes  his  home  in  Chicago, 
though  spending  much  of  his  time  in  travel,  is 
a  native  of  Cook  County.  He  was  born  in 
Northfield  Township,  in  1873,  and  is  a  son 
of  George  and  Mary  A.  Dearlove,  the  his- 
tory of  whose  lives  may  be  found  elsewhere 
in  this  volume.  In  his  early  years  he  attend- 
ed the  public  schools  of  Chicago,  and  later, 
as  a  youth,  the  Morgan  Park  Military  Academy. 
After  graduating  from  the  last-mentioned  institu- 
tion, he  attended  the  North- Western  Military 
Academy  at  Highland  Park,  from  which,  after 
passing  the  Government  examination  in  an  able 
manner,  he  received  his  commission  of  Second 
Lieutenant  in  the  State  Militia,  subsequently  at- 
taining to  the  rank  of  Senior  Captain  and  Ad- 
jutant. While  attending  the  academy  he  was 
President  of  the  Class  of  1891. 

Not  satisfied  with  his  attainments  thus  far,  Mr. 
Dearlove  then  attended  Lake  Forest  University, 
completing  the  entire  course  with  the  exception 
of  the  senior  year.  Thence  he  went  to  Monmouth 
College  at  Monmouth,  Illinois,  where  he  took  a 
course  in  Liberal  Arts,  graduating  June  6,  1893, 
with  the  degree  of  B.  L-  While  a  student  of 


Lake  Forest  University,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Zeta  Episiton,  and  of  the  Eccritian  Society  while 
attending  the  college  at  Monmouth.  In  the  lat- 
ter institution,  as  well  as  at  Lake  Forest,  he 
made  a  special  study  of  Economics  and  of  Finan- 
ciering. 

Possessed  of  strong  human  interests  and  a  live- 
ly intelligence,  it  is  not  strange  that  Mr.  Dear- 
love  should  find  one  of  his  keenest  delights  in 
traveling,  especially  as  lie  is  financially  able  to  do 
so.  Since  1887  he  has  spent  most  of  his  vaca- 
tions in  traveling,  chiefly  through  the  South  and 
West.  In  these  journeys  he  has  happily  com- 
bined pleasure  and  business,  for,  being  possessed 
of  considerable  foresight  and  discernment,  his 
travels  have  given  him  abundant  opportunities 
for  investment  in  promising  enterprises.  He  was 
one  of  the  promoters  and  constructors  of  the  As- 
toria &  Columbia  River  Railroad,  and  is  still  one 
of  the  Directors  of  the  company  which  operates 
the  same — a  corporation  which  pays  the  largest 
dividends  of  any  railroad  company  in  the  United 
States.  He  was  also  one  of  the  original  incor- 
porators,  and  is  now  Vice-President  of  the  Florida, 
Ocean  &  Gulf  Railroad ;  Director  of  the  Florida 
Central  &  Peninsular  Railroad;  and  Director  and 
Vice- President  of  the  Florida  Engineering  and 


E.  C.  LONG. 


537 


Construction  Company,  which  owns  about  two 
million  acres  of  land  in  Florida.  In  addition  to 
these  numerous  offices,  Mr.  Dearlove  is  a  Direc- 
tor of  the  Florida  Development  Company,  which 
has  extensive  fruit  lands  in  Florida,  with  offices 
at  Jacksonville,  Florida  and  Chicago;  and  a  Di- 
rector of  the  Avon  Park  National  Bank  at  Avon 
Park,  Florida. 


With  the  foregoing  record  of  his  business  con- 
nections before  one,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  re- 
mark that  Mr.  Dearlove  is  a  young  man  of  keen 
perception  and  ready  decision,  who  never  loses  a 
business  opportunity  for  lack  of  promptitude  in 
action.  In  address  he  is  pleasing  and  intelligent, 
showing  a  great  general  knowledge  of  men  and 
affairs,  remarkable  in  one  so  young. 


EUGENE  C    LONG. 


FT  UGENE  CON  ANT  LONG  was  born  in  Bran- 
re)  don,  Vermont,  October  31,  1834,  and  is  a 
|_  son  of  James  and  Cerusa  (Conant)  Long, 
who  were  among  the  early  pioneers  of  Cook 
County.  James  Long  was  born  in  Washington, 
District  of  Columbia,  and  was  a  son  of  Andrew 
and  Alice  Long,  of  Baltimore,  Maryland.  An- 
drew Long  was  killed  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States  during  the  War  of  1812.  The  family  of 
Long  (or  Laing,  as  it  was  originally  spelled)  is 
of  Scotch  extraction,  and  was  founded  in  America 
by  four  brothers  who  settled  at  Baltimore  about 
1660.  Commodore  Long,  who  was  in  the  United 
States  naval  service  during  the  Revolution,  was 
descended  from  one  of  these. 

While  a  young  man,  James  Long  went  to  New 
York  City,  where  he  became  a  partner  with  Sam- 
uel Hoard,  afterwards  Postmaster  of  Chicago,  in 
the  publishing  business.  A  few  years  later,  the 
firm  removed  to  Brandon,  Vermont,  where  they 
published  a  newspaper  for  some  years.  In  1835 
James  Long  moved,  with  his  family,  to  Cook 
County  and  engaged  in  farming  in  Jefferson  town- 
ship, near  the  present  village  of  that  name,  now 
within  the  limits  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  Not  find- 
ing agriculture  very  profitable,  after  three  years' 
experience,  he  sold  out  and  moved  to  Chicago 
and  built  a  steam  grist  mill  on  Michigan  Avenue, 
at  the  corner  of  Lake  Street.  This  he  operated 


for  several  years.  The  engine  in  this  mill  was 
employed  in  pumping  the  water  which  was  first 
supplied  by  the  city  to  the  people  of  Chicago. 
This  contract  continued  some  years,  the  water 
being  forced  through  hollow  logs  laid  in  a  few 
streets  near  the  river.  Those  outside  the  service 
were  wont  to  keep  barrels  for  storing  a  supply, 
and  these  barrels  were  filled  by  private  enterprise, 
at  ten  cents  per  barrel. 

After  disposing  of  the  mill,  Mr.  Long  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Polk  as  Keeper  of  the  light- 
house, which  stood  near  the  site  of  the  present 
Rush  Street  bridge.  He  subsequently  served  as 
County  Treasurer,  and  for  a  number  of  }rears  filled 
the  office  of  Alderman  of  the  First  Ward.  After  re- 
tiring from  business  and  public  life,  he  spent  con- 
siderable time  in  travel,  and  his  death  occurred 
in  Paris,  France,  on  the  loth  of  April,  1876,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-four  years. 

Mrs.  Cerusa  Long  died  in  Chicago  in  1874,  a* 
the  age  of  sixty-seven  years.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  Conant  and  Chara  Broughlon,  of 
Brandon,  Vermont.  John  Conant  was  descended 
from  one  of  the  earliest  American  families.  His 
grandfather,  Ebenezer  Conant,  served  in  the  Con- 
tinental army,  as  Captain  of  a  Massachusetts  com- 
pany. Roger  Conant,  father  of  the  last-named, 
was  among  the  Colonial  Governors  of  Massachu- 
setts— preceding  Governor  Endicott. 


538 


FRANCIS  HUTCHISON. 


Eugene  C.  Long  was  still  in  his  infancy  when 
the  family  came  to  Cook  County,  Chicago  being 
at  that  time  a  village  of  three  or  four  thousand  in- 
habitants. While  a  boy,  he  was  accustomed  to 
do  the  family  marketing.  The  chief  produce 
market  was  on  State  Street  near  Randolph,  and 
its  wares  were  brought  by  farmers  from  long  dis- 
tances and  displayed  in  wagons  and  other  vehi- 
cles, much  after  the  present  fashion  of  the  Hay- 
market  of  the  West  Side.  The  pioneers  of  that 
day  did  not  lack  for  the  substantials,  though  there 
was  little  cash  in  circulation,  and  they  were  largely 
ignorant  of  the  present  style  of  living  in  the  city. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  Eugene  C.  Long 
graduated  from  the  Beardsly  Seminary,  and  soon 
after  became  a  clerk  and  teller  in  the  Marine 
Bank.  His  connection  with  that  institution  con- 
tinued for  twenty-two  years,  during  the  last  twelve 
of  which  he  served  as  Cashier.  In  1874  he  re- 
signed this  position  and  engaged  in  the  stock  and 
brokerage  business,  continuing  that  occupation 


five  years.  He  then  entered  the  office  of  the  late 
Judge  Van  H.  Higgins.  Since  1880  he  has  been 
a  stockholder  and  Secretary  of  the  Rose  Hill  Cem- 
etery Company,  and  since  1893  has  also  been 
Treasurer  of  the  corporation. 

He  was  married  in  October,  1858,  to  Harriet 
Alexander,  step-daughter  of  Van  H.  Higgins, 
and  daughter  of  the  first  Mrs.  Higgius — Elizabeth 
(Morse)  Alexander.  Mrs.  Long  was  born  in 
Jacksonville,  Illinois,  and  is  the  mother  of  two 
daughters,  Eugenie  and  Harriet,  the  first  being 
now  the  wife  of  Edward  L-  Frasher,  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Long  and  his  family  are  members  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  he  has  been  a 
life-long  Republican  in  principle  and  practice. 
The  record  of  his  business  career  shows  him  to 
be  capable  and  upright,  for  only  through  these 
qualities  could  any  one  hold  the  positions  he  has 
filled.  In  manner,  he  is  courteous  and  easy,  show- 
ing long  familiarity  with  the  best  men  and  methods 
of  the  day. 


FRANCIS  HUTCHISON. 


["~RANCIS  HUTCHISON,  a  successful  Chi- 
rQ  cagoan  now  living  in  practical  retirement, 
|  is  a  Scotchman  by  nativity  and  spent  his 
youth  upon  the  banks  of  the  river  Leven,  the 
outlet  of  Loch  Lomond,  a  locality  which  has  been 
rendered  famous  in  song  and  story,  and  abounds 
with  historic  interest  and  romantic  scenery.  His 
birth  occurred  on  the  3oth  day  of  April,  1828,  in 
the  village  of  Alexandria,  Dumbartonshire.  His 
parents,  James  and  Janet  (Weir)  Hutchison, 
were  in  humble  circumstances  and,  though  able 
to  afford  their  offspring  but  a  rudimentary  intel- 
lectual training,  endowed  them  with  habits  and 


principles  which  fitted  them  for  filling  responsible 
and  useful  positions  in  life. 

James  Hutchison  was  born  at  Abernathy,  near 
Perth,  Scotland,  but  removed  during  his  youth 
to  Dumbartonshire  where  his  later  life  was  spent. 
Mrs.  Janet  Hutchison  was  a  daughter  of  Donald 
Weir,  a  well-to-do  farmer  and  herdsman  of  Argyle- 
shire.  But  three  of  their  nine  children  are  now 
living,  and  Francis  is  the  only  resident  of  the 
United  States.  The  other  survivors  are  Rev. 
John  Hutchison,  an  Independent  (Congrega- 
tional) minister  at  Ashton-under-line,  England, 
who  has  filled  his  present  pastorate  for  upwards 


FRANCIS  HUTCHISON. 


539 


of  forty  years,'  and  Donald  Hutchison,  who  is 
the  chief  engineer  of  a  steamship  company,  which 
operates  a  line  of  vessels  plying  between  Liver- 
pool and  the  La  Plata  river  in  South  America. 

At  the  age  of  eight  years,  Francis  Hutchison 
began  to  earn  his  daily  bread  by  laboring  in  the 
print  and  dye  works  which  abound  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  his  birthplace.  At  fourteen  he  was  set  to 
learn  the  carpenter  trade  serving  five  years  ap- 
prenticeship at  that  industry.  He  was  afterwards 
employed  as  a  ship-carpenter  and  acquired  a  de- 
gree of  skill  and  proficiency  which  has  since 
served  him  in  good  stead. 

Having  heard  fabulous-sounding  stories  of  the 
great  land  beyond  the  Atlantic  ocean,  he  deter- 
mined to  see  and  investigate  its  wonderful  re- 
sources by  a  personal  visit  and,  not  without  con- 
siderable misgivings  as  to  the  duration  of  his 
sojourn,  in  1858  he  took  passage  upon  the  steamer 
"Kangaroo"  for  New  York,  arriving  in  that  city 
on  the  ninth  day  of  June.  He  went  from  there 
to  Rochester,  New  York,  and  after  spending  a 
few  months  at  that  place,  took  passage  by  way  of 
the  lakes  for  Chicago  whither  he  arrived  in  due 
time,  landing  upon  a  temporary  pier  at  Clark 
Street.  His  destination  was  the  home  of  his  uncle, 
Donald  Weir,  who  lived  on  the  Des  Plaines  river 
near  "the  Sag,"  but  as  the  address  which  had 
been  furnished  him  was  rather  vague,  he  spent 
several  days  in  unnecessary  travel  before  reach- 
ing the  place,  a  delay  which  was  amply  atoned 
for  by  the  hearty  welcome  accorded  him  upon  his 
arrival.  As  a  number  of  farm  houses  were  being 
erected  in  that  neighborhood,  he  found  a  ready 
demand  for  his  services,  and  his  first  season's 
earnings  so  far  exceeded  any  sum  he  had  ever 
received  for  a  corresponding  period  of  time  that 
all  doubts  concerning  the  superior  advantages  of 
this  country  as  a  permanent  place  of  residence 
were  dispelled  from  his  mind  and  he  determined 
to  become  an  American  citizen. 

In  the  fall  of  1860  he  went  to  Helena,  Arkan- 
sas, where  he  was  employed  at  his  trade  until  the 
following  spring,  when,  owing  to  the  outbreak  of 
the  rebellion  and  not  wishing  to  be  pressed  into 
the  Confederate  service,  he  returned  to  the  North 
without  being  able  to  collect  the  money  he  had 


earned  there.  His  brief  residence  at  the  South 
had  given  him  a  good  understanding  of  the  con- 
ditions which  prevailed  there,  however,  and  en- 
abled him  to  take  a  more  conservative  view  of 
the  questions  which  divided  the  union  than  pre- 
vailed among  the  more  enthusiastic  partisans  of 
the  North. 

The  prevailing  wages  for  house-builders  in 
Chicago  at  this  time  ranged  from  seventy-five 
cents  to  one  dollar  per  day,  and  Mr.  Hutchison 
found  it  more  profitable  to  engage  in  ship  car- 
pentry. He  was  subsequently  employed  in  build- 
ing gun-boats  for  the  United  States  Government 
at  St.  Louis,  and  at  Cairo,  Illinois.  In  1863  he 
purchased  an  interest  in  a  distillery  at  Joliet,  but 
as  some  features  of  the  business  became  distaste- 
ful to  him,  he  sold  out  the  following  year  and  in- 
vested his  profits  in  vessels  plying  between  Chi- 
cago and  the  lower  lake  ports.  He  continued 
the  carrying  trade  for  the  next  nine  or  ten  years, 
and  in  the  meantime  purchased  several  lots  and 
a  residence  at  the  corner  of  Van  Buren  and 
Throop  Streets.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  city 
soon  created  a  demand  for  this  location  for  com- 
mercial purposes  and  he  replaced  his  residence 
with  several  substantial  business  blocks.  He  has 
since  bought  and  improved  other  valuable  west- 
side  property,  and  of  recent  years  the  care  and 
renting  of  these  buildings  has  absorbed  most  of 
his  time  and  attention. 

Mr.  Hutchison  was  married  in  1864  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Jones,  daughter  of  Thomas  Jones,  who 
died  in  Chicago  in  1882,  at  the  age  of  more  than 
eighty  years.  The  lady  was  born  in  Denbigh- 
shire, Wales,  and  came  to  America  in  1856.  She 
has  been  an  able  helpmeet  and  counsellor  of  her 
husband,  and  their  union  has  been  blessed  with 
four  children,  three  of  whom  are  still  under  the  par- 
ental roof,  namely:  Elizabeth  Agnes,  Catherine 
Jane,  wife  of  S.  B.  Foster,  James  Francis  and  Jean- 
nette  Weir.  All  the  members  of  this  family  are 
identified  with  the  Jefferson  Park  Presbyterian 
Church. 

Mr.  Hutchison  is  a  man  of  simple  tastes,  and 
leads  a  quiet  and  unostentatious  life,  though  he 
does  not  think  it  out  of  place  to  crack  an  occa- 
sional joke  among  his  old-time  friends.  Since  the 


54» 


W.  B.  SNOW. 


war  he  has  been  a  pronounced  Republican,  but 
sometimes  ignores  party  lines  concerning  ques- 
tions of  local  import.  When  he  first  arrived  in 
Chicago  his  total  cash  assets  were  c6mprised  in 
a  gold  quarter  eagle.  This  he  carefully  hoarded 
for  some  time  and  when  obliged  to  spend  a  por- 


tion of  it  for  repairing  his  shoes,  he  received  in 
change  a  one-dollar  bill  of  "wild-cat"  currency, 
which  proved  to  be  worthless.  His  subsequent 
prosperity,  therefore,  may  be  attributed  solely  to 
his  frugal,  industrious  habits,  correct  judgment 
and  integrity  of  character. 


WILLIAM   B.  SNOW. 


P  GJlLLIAM  BLAKE  SNOW,  who  put  on  track 
\A/  *^e  first  railway  passenger  coach  built  in 
V  Y  Chicago,  is  descended  from  an  old  Ameri- 
can family.  The  environment  of  the  New  Eng- 
land fathers  was  calculated  to  develop  all  that  was 
sturdy  in  mind  and  body,  and  in  many  of  their 
descendants  are  found  the  qualities  which  enabled 
them  to  survive  the  hardships  they  were  com- 
pelled to  endure  and  caused  them  to  prosper  in 
the  midst  of  most  forbidding  conditions.  The 
spirit  of  adventure  and  progress  which  led  to  the 
colonization  of  New  England,  still  lives  in  the 
posterity  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  has  raised  up  sim- 
ultaneously throughout  the  northern  half  of  the 
United  States  churches,  school  houses  and  fac- 
tories. 

William  B.  Snow  was  born  in  Bellows  Falls, 
Vermont,  February  13,  1821,  and -is  a  son  of  Sol- 
omon and  Lucina  Snow.  His  ancestors  were, 
doubtless,  English,  and  early  located  in  America. 
His  paternal  grandfather  was  a  chocolate  manu- 
facturer near  Boston,  and  his  maternal  grand- 
father, "Bill"  Blake,  established  the  Bellows 
Falls  Gazette,  one  of  the  first  newspapers  in  Ver- 
mont. His  wife  was  Polly  Wait,  of  Milbury, 
Massachusetts. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  passed  his  boy- 
hood in  his  native  village,  receiving  his  education 
in  the  schools  there  existing.  At  the  age  of  four- 
teen years,  he  began  working  in  his  father's 
wagon  and  carriage  shop,  becoming  expert  in  the 


use  of  woodworking  implements.  For  some  years 
he  was  employed  by  his  uncles  in  a  paper  mill. 
When  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he  set  out  to  make 
his  fortune,  going  to  Springfield,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  took  contracts  for  carpenter  work.  From 
there  he  went  to  Seymour  (then  called  Hum- 
phreysville),  Connecticut,  where  he  was  employed 
by  the  American  Car  Company,  and  moved  with 
that  establishment  to  Chicago  in  1852.  At  this 
time  he  had  a  contract  with  the  company  for 
building  coaches,  and  set  up  the  first  one  ever 
constructed  in  this  city.  This  was  purchased  by 
the  Chicago  &  Galena  Union  Railroad,  then  in 
its  infancy.  An  account  of  the  origin  of  that  en- 
terprise will  be  found  in  this  work,  in  the  sketch 
of  John  B.  Turner,  who  was  its  founder.  When 
the  American  Car  Company  sold  out  to  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  Company,  Mr.  Snow  was 
employed  by  the  new  proprietor,  with  whom  he 
continued  from  1857  to  1872.  His  integrity  and  ex- 
ecutive ability  had  meantime  become  known  to 
many  Chicago  citizens,  and  he  was  offered  a  lucra- 
tive position  by  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company, 
for  which  he  traveled  three  years.  At  the  end  of 
this  period,  he  again  took  employment  with  the 
Illinois  Central  Company,  and  so  continued  until 
he  retired  from  active  business  in  October,  1891. 
Mr.  Snow  has  always  been  a  quiet  citizen,  giv- 
ing his  undivided  attention  to  business,  and  leav- 
ing others  to  manage  their  concerns  in  their  own 
way.  He  has  been  a  faithful  attendant  of  the 


A.  G.  LULL. 


Reformed  Epistopal  Church,  with  which  his  fam- 
ily is  affiliated ,  being  identified  with  Bishop  Che- 
ney's congregation.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  a  demitted 
Freemason.  His  early  political  associations  were 
with  the  Whig  party,  and  he  has  adhered  to  the 
Republican  organization  since  it  came  into  exist- 
ence. He  has  never  sought  political  preferment,  • 


but  has  fulfilled  that  imperative  duty — as  well  as 
privilege — of  the  good  American  citizen,  a  vote 
in  every  important  contest.  In  1843  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Orra  L.  Dyke,  of  American  parentage, 
and  two  children  have  blessed  this  union.  The 
eldest,  Frank  Austin  Snow,  resides  in  Chicago, 
as  does  also  the  other,  Lottie,  wife  of  A.  G.  Farr, 
of  the  firm  of  N.  W.  Harris  &  Company. 


ALBERT  G.  LULL 


GILBERT  GALLATIN  LULL  was  born  in 
I  I  Windsor,  Vermont,  February  20,  1827,  and 
/  I  died  in  Chicago,  February  13,  1892.  His 
parents,  Joel  and  Celia  (Smith)  Lull,  were  na- 
tives of  the  Green  Mountain  State,  the  Lull  fam- 
ily being  one  of  the  oldest  in  that  commonwealth. 
Mrs.  Celia  Lull  died  in  Windsor,  and  her  hus- 
band afterwards  came  to  Chicago,  where  he 
served  as  constable  for  several  years.  His  death 
occurred  in  1880,  at  North  Attleboro,  Massachu- 
setts. 

After  leaving  the  public  schools,  Albert  G.  Lull 
became  a  student  for  a  time  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege. At  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  he  took  up 
the  study  of  gunsmithing  and  mechanics.  In 
1849,  he  came  to  Chicago  and  obtained  employ- 
ment in  the  machine  shop  of  H.  P.  Moses.  While 
thus  engaged,  he  assisted  in  the  construction  of 
the  first  water  works  in  the  city.  He  was  subse- 
quently employed  by  Foss  Brothers,  in  a  large  plan- 
ing mill  on  Canal  Street,  near  Monroe,  the  site  of 
which  is  now  occupied  by  the  Union  Passenger 
Station  and  railroad  tracks.  When  this  mill  was 
torn  down,  preparatory  to  the  construction  of  the 
depot,  he  purchased  the  machinery,  in  company 
with  his  brother-in-law,  Isaac  Holmes,  and  built 
a  new  mill  on  the  west  side  of  Canal  Street,  be- 
tween Jackson  and  Van  Buren  Streets.  The  firm 
dealt  in  lumber  and  carried  on  the  manufacture 
of  packing  boxes,  doing  an  extensive  business 
until  1871,  when  the  entire  plant  was  consumed 


in  the  fire,  which  occurred  on  Saturday  night,  the 
8th  of  October,  preceding  by  one  day  the  memor- 
able "great  fire."  The  disaster  which  destroyed 
the  mills  of  Lull  &  Holmes  made  a  gap  which 
saved  the  West  Side  from  the  ravages  of  the  suc- 
ceeding fire.  The  firm  rescued  the  safe  contain- 
ing their  books  from  the  ruins  and  placed  them  in 
the  office  of  a  friend,  on  the  south  side  of  Van  Buren 
Street,  only  to  be  lost  in  the  greater  conflagration 
of  the  following  day.  This  alone  inflicted  a  serious 
loss  on  Mr.  Lull,  whenever  recovered  his  fortunes 
and  suffered  a  permanent  loss  of  health  from  the 
shock  and  exertions  in  trying  to  rescue  his  prop- 
erty. He  retired  a  few  years  later  from  all  busi- 
ness activities. 

On  the  5th  of  April,  1855,  he  was  married  to 
Mrs.  Maty  Sammons,  daughter  of  John  and  Ellen 
Holmes,  widow  of  Elijah  H.  Sammons.  Mrs. 
Lull  was  born  at  Bradford,  England,  and  came  to 
America  with  her  parents  in  1835,  arriving  in 
Chicago  in  April  of  that  year.  She  is  still  active 
in  mind  and  body,  and  relates  many  incidents  of 
pioneer  life  in  Chicago.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Cathedral  Church  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  in 
which  Mr.  Lull  was  also  a  communicant.  Two 
children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lull — Rich- 
ard H.,  who  is  a  physician  now  practicing  in 
Chicago,  and  Mary  C.,  who  is  the  wife  of  Mark 
R.  Sherman,  an  attorney  of  the  same  city. 

Mr.  Lull  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic order,  and  likewise,  of  the  Independent 


542 


E.  F.  DANIELS. 


Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  in  which  last  fraternity  he 
had  taken  all  the  degrees  and  was  a  member  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  United  States.  From  the 
first  organization  of  the  Republican  party,  he  was 


one  of  its  most  steadfast  and  consistent  suppor- 
ters, and  as  a  man  and  citizen,  he  ever  sought  to 
promote  the  material,  moral  and  intellectual 
growth  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived. 


EDWIN  F.  DANIELS. 


P~  DWIN  F.  DANIELS,  an  enterprising  busi- 
Iv)  ness  man  of  Chicago,  was  born  at  Concord. 
L  Jackson  County,  Michigan,  January  23, 
1848.  He  is  a  son  of  George  and  Delzina  (John- 
ston) Daniels,  both  of  whom  died  before  he  was 
five  years  old.  George  Daniels  was  born  at  Hull, 
England,  and  was  one  of  a  family  of  eleven  chil- 
dren who  came  to  America  with  their  parents  in 
1832.  They  settled  at  Dearborn,  Michigan,  near 
Detroit.  George  Daniels  afterwards  moved  to 
Jackson  County,  where  his  death  occurred  in 
1854,  at  the  age  of  thirty -two  years.  His  wife 
was  of  Irish  descent. 

Edwin  F.  Daniels  lived  with  his  paternal 
grandparents  and  attended  school  at  Hudson, 
Michigan.  Before  completing  his  education,  how- 
ever, he  went  to  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  to  as- 
sist his  uncle,  Capt.  William  H.  Johnston,  who 
was  a  commissary  officer  in  charge  of  forage  for 
the  army.  He  continued  in  that  employment 
until  Sherman's  army  started  on  its  famous  "march 
to  the  sea,"  when  he  became  a  messenger  in 
charge  of  forage  on  the  railroad  from  Chattanoo- 
ga to  Atlanta.  At  the  time  when  the  rebels 
tore  up  the  track,  at  Big  Shanty,  Georgia,  the 
train  on  which  he  was  serving  returned  to  Al- 
toona,  just  in  time  to  escape  capture.  After  the 
battle  between  Hood  and  Corse,  in  which  the  for- 
mer was  defeated,  Mr.  Daniels  returned  to  Chatta- 
nooga and  soon  afterwards  left  the  service  and 
returned  to  his  boyhood  home  in  Michigan.  He 
then,  for  some  years,  engaged  in  the  manufac- 


ture of  woodenware  and  also  operated  a  planing 
mill. 

In  February,  1876,  he  came  to  Chicago,  and 
was  employed  for  four  years  as  Clerk  in  the 
County  Treasurer's  office.  In  1881,  he  began 
dealing  in  coal,  an  occupation  which  he  has  con- 
tinuously and  successfully  followed  until  the 
present  time.  The  original  firm  of  Weaver, 
Daniels  &  Co. ,  was  succeeded  in  turn  by  Pea- 
body,  Daniels  &  Co.,  and  Edwin  F.  Daniels  & 
Co.  Since  1890,  Mr.  Daniels  has  been  sole  pro- 
prietor, and  the  business,  which  was  inaugurated 
on  a  rather  limited  scale,  has  grown  to  immense 
proportions  and  is  now  one  of  the  most  extensive 
in  its  line  in  the  city. 

He  was  married  in  1880,  to  Miss  Kate  Elkins, 
daughter  of  Henry  K.  Elkins,  whose  biography 
appears  elsewhere  in  this  work.  Mrs.  Daniels 
was  born  in  Chicago,  and  has  presented  her  hus- 
band with  two  sons,  Henry  Elkins  and  Raymond 
Elkins  Daniels.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniels  are  mem- 
bers of  the  First  Unitarian  Church  of  Chicago, 
and  the  former  is  identified  with  the  Union 
League,  Kenwood,  Chicago  Athletic  and  Tolles- 
ton  Shooting  Clubs,  and  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Trade.  During  the  hunting  season,  he  finds 
recreation  by  making  weekly  trips  to  Tolleston 
for  shooting  water  fowl.  He  is  an  advocate  of 
Republican  principles,  but  ignores  party  lines  in 
voting  upon  local  issues.  His  success  may  be  at- 
tributed to  his  enterprising  business  methods, 
ready  decision  and  integrity  of  character. 


I,.  C.    CLARK. 


543 


LYMAN  C.  CLARK. 


I  YMAN  C.  CLARK  is  one  of  the  leading  and 
I  C  prominent  business  men  of  Turner,  where 
12  he  has  made  his  home  since  1870.  During 
the  years  which  have  since  passed,  he  has  con- 
tinuously engaged  in  the  insurance  business.  He 
was  born  June  10,  1833,  in  Darien,  Genesee 
County,  N.  Y. ,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  S.  and  Deb- 
orah R.  (Carpenter)  Clark.  The  paternal  grand- 
father, Joshua  Clark,  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier 
and  served  under  Gens.  Washington  and  Green. 
He  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and  after  his  re- 
moval to  New  York  he  took  up  several  hundred 
acres  of  land.  Throughout  his  life  he  followed 
farming  as  a  livelihood.  A  prominent  and  influ- 
ential citizen,  he  was  honored  with  the  office 
of  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  over  forty  years.  His 
death  occurred  in  the  Empire  State  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  eighty-seven.  In  his  family  were 
thirteen  children,  twelve  of  whom  grew  to  mature 
years.  The  maternal  grandfather  of  our  subject, 
James  Carpenter,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and 
his  entire  life  was  spent  in  that  State,  where  he 
died  at  an  advanced  age. 

Henry  S.  Clark  was  born  in  Rhode  Island,  and 
became  a  contractor  and  builder  of  New  York. 
He  also  engaged  in  painting,  and  his  death  was 
the  result  of  his  being  poisoned  by  paint,  in  1855, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-two  years.  His  wife,  who 
was  born  in  Connecticut,  died  in  the  Empire 
State  in  1881,  at  the  age  of  eight}-- four.  Both 
were  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  the 
father  was  a  local  preacher  of  that  denomina- 
tion. He  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812, 
and  his  widow  received  a  pension  on  that  account. 
In  their  family  were  four  sons  and  five  daughters, 
of  whom  the  following  are  now  living:  Henry  H. ; 
Lyman  C. ;  Loriiida  E. ,  wife  of  William  Waldron, 


of  Trenton,  Canada;  and  Susan  M.,  wife  cf  Albert 
Blackman,  of  Erie  County,  N.  Y.  Two  brothers 
lost  their  lives  during  the  late  war.  Jerome  was 
killed  at  Bentonville,  N.  C.,  and  Dennis  died  at 
home  from  injuries  received  in  the  service. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  our 
subject,  who  was  reared  in  the  State  of  his  nativ- 
ity, and  in  the  common  schools  of  the  neighbor- 
hood acquired  a  good  English  education.  When 
about  fourteen  years  of  age,  he  began  learning 
the  trade  of  carriage- maker,  which  he  followed 
continuously  until  1865.  The  following  year  he 
emigrated  westward  and  took  up  his  residence  in 
Davenport,  Iowa,  where  he  embarked  in  the  life- 
insurance  business.  In  1870  he  came  to  Turner, 
where  he  has  since  devoted  his  time  and  energies 
to  the  same  pursuit  with  good  success. 

On  the  1 8th  of  September,  1855,  Mr.  Clark  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Laura  E.  Babcock, 
daughter  of  Rev.  R.  and  Lucinda  (Gilbert)  Bab- 
cock,  the  former  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and 
the  latter  of  New  York.  Seven  children  have 
been  born  of  this  union,  two  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters. Altie  Florence  is  the  wife  of  C.  E.  Norris,  of 
Turner,  by  whom  she  has  four  children:  Charles 
H.,  Carroll  W.,  Ernest  L.  and  Florence.  Clar- 
ence Henry,  deceased,  was  a  twin  brother  of  Altie 
Florence.  Clara  Louise,  Henrietta  and  Charles 
Herbert  are  all  deceased.  Ella  Laura  is  the  wife 
of  E.  B.  Holmes,  of  Turner;  and  Lulu  Pauline 
completes  the  family. 

The  parents  are  both  members  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church  and  take  a  most  active  part 
in  church  and  benevolent  work.  Mr.  Clark  has 
been  Steward  of  the  church  for  thirty -seven  con- 
secutive years,  and  has  also  served  as  Trustee 
and  Class-leader  for  many  years.  He  is  now  Su- 


544 


E.  H.  CASTLE. 


perintendent  of  the  Sunday-school,  which  is  mak- 
ing good  progress  under  his  able  management. 
He  has  also  been  prominently  identified  with  tem- 
perance work.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican, 
and  socially  is  connected  with  Amity  Lodge  No. 
472,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  Doric  Chapter  No.  166,  R. 
A.  M.;  and  Siloam  Conimandery  No.  54,  of  Oak 
Park.  He  and  his  wife  are  both  members  of  the 
Order  of  the  Eastern  Star.  Mr.  Clark  has  a  good 


home  and  other  town  property  in  Turner,  and  is 
numbered  among  the  valued  and  representative 
citizens  of  this  community.  He  has  lived  an  up- 
right, honorable  life,  and  his  career  is  one  well 
worthy  of  emulation.  He  has  the  confidence  and 
high  regard  of  all  with  whom  he  has  been  brought 
in  contact,  and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  we  present 
to  our  readers  this  record  of  his  life. 


EDWARD  HERRICK  CASTLE. 


|"~DWARD  HERRICK  CASTLE.  To  the 
1^  student  of  human  progress,  or  the  youth  who 
seeks  an  example  worthy  of  his  emulation, 
the  history  of  this  successful  man  offers  especially 
interesting  features.  His  career  has  been  full  of 
adventure  and  excitement,  and  yet  the  experi- 
ences of  his  life  have  made  his  mind  philosophical 
and  his  heart  sympathetic.  When  he  was  born, 
the  nation  was  young  and  still  almost  an  experi- 
ment, so  that  men  were  not  encouraged  to  ven- 
ture into  strange  fields  of  action.  He  has  lived  to 
see  the  American  nation  become  one  of  the  great- 
est of  the  earth;  and  now,  in  his  old  age,  he  re- 
joices that  he  has  been  permitted  to  witness  the 
triumph  of  the  institutions  of  liberty. 

E.  H.  Castle  was  born  in  Amenia,  Dutchess 
County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1811,  and 
is  now  nearing  the  completion  of  his  eighty-third 
year.  His  great-grandfather,  Gideon  Castle,  was 
one  of  the  early  Colonists  who  came  from  Eng- 
land. A  brother  went  to  Virginia,  while  another 
accompanied  him  to  New  York.  Gideon,  son  of 
Gideon  Castle,  who  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety- 
six  years,  occupied  an  honorable  place  in  his- 
tory as  a  member  of  Gen.  Washington's  per- 
sonal staff.  He  was  with  the  immortal  com- 
mander through  the  Revolutionary  War  as  Com- 
missary of  Subsistence.  He  owned  a  mill  in 


Dutchess  County,  which  manufactured  flour  for 
the  Continental  army.  After  the  treaty  of  peace  he 
removed  to  Amenia,  where  his  son,  William 
Castle,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  biography, 
passed  his  life.  His  farm  was  situated  about  two 
miles  from  the  village  of  Amenia,  and  here  Ed- 
ward H.  Castle  grew  up  to  be  a  strong  and  hearty 
youth,  full  of  ambition.  He  longed  to  go  to  sea 
and  visit  strange  lands,  and  to  make  his  fortune 
in  the  world.  However,  he  remained  upon  his 
father's  farm  until  about  ten  years  of  age,  attend- 
ing the  small  school  in  the  vicinity.  He  after- 
ward attended  Dr.  Taylor's  academy  in  Cortland 
County,  but  his  restless  disposition  soon  drove 
him  to  sea,  and  he  shipped  on  a  bark  bound  for  a 
distant  port.  After  a  voyage  of  many  months, 
he  returned  to  find  his  mother  dead  and  the  house- 
hold in  mourning. 

This  seems  to  have  been  a  turning-point  in  Mr. 
Castle's  life.  The  death  of  his  dear  mother  af- 
fected him  deeply.  He  had  started  out  into  the 
world  full  of  youth's  bright  hopes,  and  this  sud- 
den bereavement  was  a  severe  blow.  He'had  not 
been  permitted  to  close  the  dying  eyes  of  his  best 
friend  on  earth,  or  receive  her  last  blessing.  He 
determined  to  honor  her  memory  by  making 
something  of  himself.  In  deference  to  his  father's 
earnest  wish,  he  consented  to  enter  the  office  of 


E.  H.  CASTLE. 


545 


his  father's  attorney,  Samuel  Perkins,  and  take 
up  the  study  of  law.  He  studied  faithfully  two 
years,  until  an  attack  of  measles  resulted  in  a 
partial  loss  of  his  eyesight.  He  had  long  been 
convinced  that  he  was  not  calculated  to  make  a 
lawyer,  and  on  being  relieved  from  his  studies, 
he  began  to  look  about  for  an  opportunity  to  enter 
a  business  life,  much  to  his  father's  disappoint- 
ment. His  subsequent  fortune  shows  the  wisdom 
of  his  choice. 

Soon  after  attaining  his  majority,  on  the  ist  of 
September,  1832,  Mr.  Castle  started  out  from  his 
father's  home  in  Freetown,  Cortland  County, 
whither  he  had  moved  from  Dutchess  County. 
He  traveled  on  foot  over  a  lonely  road  to  Carbon- 
dale,  Pa.,  one  hundred  miles  distant.  At  Car- 
bondale,  Deacon  Hodgden  had  a  force  of  men  and 
horses  employed  in  hauling  coal  from  the  mines 
to  the  canal.  Young  Castle  applied  to  him  for 
employment,  and  was  offered  $14  per  month  and 
board.  He  stipulated,  however,  for  what  he 
proved  to  be  worth  at  the  end  of  three  months,  a 
unique  plan,  which  was  accepted  by  the  Deacon 
with  alacrity.  Before  the  day  of  settlement  came 
around,  Castle  was  foreman  and  was  paid  $40  per 
month.  By  gradual  increase  his  salary  soon  rose 
to  $100  per  month,  and  he  shortly  bought  out  his 
employer,  giving  in  payment  his  personal  note, 
which  was  promptly  paid  when  due. 

After  three  years  of  business,  Mr.  Castle  en- 
tered into  partnership  with  Stephen  Clark, 
and  the  firm  carried  on  a  large  lumber  trade  and 
opened  a  general  store.  They  also  secured  through 
attorneys  the  lease  of  the  Fall  Brook  coal  mines 
for  ninety-nine  years,  and  added  mining  to  their 
lumbering  and  mercantile  business.  Mr.  Castle 
finally  became  sole  owner  by  purchasing  his  part- 
ner's interest,  and  continued  to  prosper  until  his 
store  and  stock  were  destroyed  by  fire  in  1838. 

The  year  previous  to  that  last  above  mentioned 
had  brought  reports  to  Mr.  Castle's  Pennsyl- 
vania home  of  the  wonderful  village  on  the  shore 
of  Lake  Michigan,  under  the  shadow  of  Ft.  Dear- 
born. During  that  year  this  village  began  to  be 
a  thriving  business  center,  and  streets  were  opened 
&.-,  far  west  along  the  main  river  as  the  north  and 
sourb  branches.  A  paper  was  established  by 


John  Calhoun,  of  New  York,  and  was  making 
the  prospective  advantages  of  the  town  known. 
Although  he  had  been  very  successful  in  Carbon- 
dale,  Mr.  Castle  felt  that  the  growing  West  of- 
fered him  greater  advantages  than  he  had  hith- 
erto enjoyed.  He  purchased  a  stock  of  goods  in 
Philadelphia,  which  was  transported  by  the  only 
method  then  known — by  wagon — over  the  moun- 
tains to  Pittsburgh.  Here  he  added  iron,  nails, 
and  the  heavy  goods  manufactured  at  Pittsburgh, 
and  chartered  a  steamer  to  carry  his  stock,  with 
which  he  proceeded  down  the  Ohio  and  up  the 
Mississippi  and  Illinois  Rivers  to  Peru.  Here  he 
decided  to  open  business,  and  soon  after  started 
another  store  at  Joliet,  having  added  to  his  stock 
at  St.  Louis  on  the  way  up.  In  a  short  time, 
Mr.  Castle  went  into  partnership  with  Gov.  Mat- 
terson  and  Hiram  Blanchard,  in  a  contract  for 
excavating  a  part  of  the  Illinois  &  Michigan 
Canal. 

In  the  spring  of  1839,  Mr.  Castle  became  a 
resident  of  Chicago,  arriving  on  the  ist  of  May, 
having  previously  disposed  of  his  mercantile  bus- 
iness at  Peru  and  Joliet.  He  opened  a  store  in  an 
unfinished  building  at  the  corner  of  Lake  and 
Wells  Streets,  so  far  out  of  the  then  business  cen- 
tre that  his  venture  was  considered  risky  by  many. 
The  business  soon  grew  to  be  profitable,  however, 
and  Mr.  Castle  shortly  became  a  pioneer  in  what 
has  since  proved  one  of  the  greatest  glories  of  the 
western  metropolis — the  grain  trade.  Although 
the  modern  grain  elevator  was  then  unknown,  he 
handled  in  one  year  100,000  bushels,  shipping  by 
lake  and  canal  to  New  York. 

With  his  usual  business  foresight,  Mr.  Castle 
early  secured  large  tracts  of  land,  entering  one 
tract  of  swamp  lands  in  the  Illinois  Valley,  em- 
bracing six  hundred  acres,  at  ten  cents  per  acre. 
Many  derided  him  for  buying  this  worthless  land, 
but  he,  with  others,  secured  the  passage  of  a 
drainage  act  by  the  State  Legislature,  and  within 
ten  years  after  its  purchase  he  sold  portions  of  it 
for  $50  per  acre.  Mr.  Castle  also  opened  a  dairy 
farm  at  Wheeling,  and  found  a  ready  market  for 
the  product  of  his  fifty  cows  in  the  city. 

Navigation  seemed  natural  to  Mr.  Castle,  and 
we  find  him  engaged  hi  the  Mississippi  River 


E.  H.  CASTLE. 


trade  for  seven  winters,  exchanging  the  products 
of  the  St.  Louis  markets  for  those  of  New  Or- 
leans. At  one  time  he  sailed  the  fine  steamer 
' '  Alonzo  Child. ' '  He  secured  a  tract  of  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  in  Washington  County,  Tex. , 
and  several  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  making 
a  beautiful  plantation  of  this  land. 

In  November,  1849,  Capt.  Castle  bade  farewell 
to  his  Chicago  friends  and  set  out  for  the  newly- 
discovered  gold  fields  of  California.  Proceeding 
down  the  Mississippi  River  to  New  Orleans,  he 
accepted  the  position  of  mate  on  the  "Florida," 
and  set  sail  for  Chagres.  Crossing  the  Isthmus, 
he  found  at  Panama  the  good  ship  '  'Unicorn, ' ' 
of  the  Aspinwall  Line,  and  was  tendered  its  com- 
mand by  the  owner.  On  account  of  the  crowded 
condition  of  the  port,  it  was  found  impossible  to 
carry  all  who  wished  to  go,  and  a  plot  was  made 
by  some  of  the  disappointed  ones  to  murder  Capt. 
Stout,  but  the  plot  was  overheard  by  Capt.  Castle 
and  a  friend,  and  was  frustrated.  With  a  crew 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty  men  and  seven  hun- 
dred passengers,  Capt.  Castle  set  sail  for  San 
Francisco,  stopping  on  the  way  at  Acapulco  to 
secure  as  much  provisions,  cattle  and  coal  as 
could  be  procured.  January  5,  1850,  found  them 
in  San  Francisco  without  accident.  Among  all 
the  hordes  found  there,  one  desire  seemed  para- 
mount— gold.  Fabulous  prices  were  paid  for  all 
the  necessaries  of  life,  and  the  most  fortunate 
were  those  who  discreetly  remained  in  town  and 
sold  merchandise.  Capt.  Castle  was  one  of  these. 
He  plied  a  small  steamer,  the  "Eldorado,"  be- 
tween San  Francisco  and  Sacramento,  and  opened 
a  store  ,in  the  latter  city.  On  the  5th  of.  Feb- 
ruary, 1850,  he  opened  a  hotel,  called  the  Illinois 
House,  in  San  Francisco,  which  at  once  did  a 
thriving  business.  He  also  purchased,  or  secured 
the  consignment  of,  over  four  hundred  cargoes, 
and  operated  a  very  extensive  warehouse  trade. 

Being  admonished  by  failing  health  to  return 
home,  Capt.  Castle  sailed  on  the  steamer  "Col- 
umbus" for  Panama  in  the  fall  of  1851.  The  sea 
voyage  and  careful  nursing  which  he  received 
from  the  ship's  matron  soon  made  him  compara- 
tively well.  During  the  voyage,  he  was  sent  for 
by  a  Mr.  Saltpaugh,  who  had  noticed  that  Capt, 


Castle  was  a  Mason.  Mr.  Saltpaugh  was  dying 
with  cholera,  and  confided  to  Capt.  Castle's  care 
his  money  ($1,200)  to  be  delivered  to  Mrs.  Salt- 
paugh at  Port  Gibson,  N.  Y.  The  captain  of 
the  vessel  claimed  the  custody  of  this  money  un' 
der  a  United  States  law,  but  Capt.  Castle  said: 
"I  promised  that  man,  who  was  a  brother  Mason, 
to  deliver  the  money  to  his  widow,  and  you  can 
only  secure  it  from  my  dead  body."  The  matter 
was  not  pressed  any  further,  and  Capt.  Castle 
subsequently  had  the  pleasure  of  delivering  the 
money  to  its  rightful  owner.  By  steamer  "Fal- 
con" to  Cuba,  and  "Ohio"  to  New  York,  Capt. 
Castle  was  once  more  united  with  his  wife  and 
daughter,  who  met  him  in  New  York,  and  the 
meeting  was  a  joyful  one. 

Soon  after  his  return  to  Chicago,  Capt.  Castle 
was  appointed  Western  Agent  of  the  Erie  Rail- 
road, and  administered  its  affairs  for  four  years, 
largely  increasing  its  traffic,  and  at  the  same  time 
he  dealt  more  or  less  in  city  property,  with  profit 
to  himself.  During  most  of  this  period  he  acted 
as  General  Agent  for  the  entire  Mississippi  Val- 
ley. After  retiring  from  the  railroad  agency,  Mr. 
Castle  engaged  in  the  real-estate  business  on  a 
large  scale,  in  partnership  with  Lewis  W. 
Clark,  which  continued  until  the  death  of  Mr. 
Clark,  after  which  Mr.  Castle  continued  alone. 

In  1858,  Mr.  Castle  turned  his  attention  to  rail- 
road construction,  and  secured,  after  much  ef- 
fort, a  charter  from  the  State  of  Missouri  for 
a  road  from  Canton  to  the  Missouri  River,  a 
distance  of  two  hundred  miles.  The  people  along 
the  line  promptly  subscribed  for  double  the  stock, 
and  he  had  completed  about  fifty  miles  of  track 
when  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  stopped  all 
operations  and  caused  him  a  heavy  loss.  The 
rebel,  Gen.  Greene,  drove  Capi.  Castle  and  his 
men  from  the  State  and  seized  all  the  stores,  iron 
and  cars,  valued  at  about  $2 ,000,000.  Nearly  all 
of  Capt.  Castle's  force  was  composed  of  single 
men,  who  were  loyal  to  the  Union,  and  when  he 
asked  them  to  join  the  Union  army  they  responded 
almost  to  a  man.  Chartering  a  steamer,  he  took 
them  to  St.  Louis,  where  they  were  accepted  by 
Maj.-Gen.  Fremont,  and  Mr.  Castle  was  made  a 
colonel  on  Fremont's  staff.  Col.  Castle  was  made 


K    H.   CASTLE. 


547 


Superintendent  of  Railroads  for  the  Western  De- 
partment, comprising  twenty-seven  lines,  with" 
headquarters  at  St.  Louis.  By  his  arrangement, 
various  lines  centering  there  were  connected,  and 
a  vast  amount  of  delay  and  expense  thus  saved  to 
the  Government.  He  prepared  a  uniform  scale 
of  freight  rates,  which  was  accepted  by  Congress 
and  known  as  the  Castle  Rates.  He  and  his  faith- 
ful men  were  kept  busy  in  repairing  the  damage 
to  bridges  and  grades  by  the  rebels,  who  well 
knew  that  the  success  of  the  Union  troops  was 
much  enhanced  by  rapid  transportation. 

A  warm  friendship  sprang  up  between  Col. 
Castle  and  his  brave  commander,  which  contin- 
ued as  long  as  both  of  them  were  permitted  to 
live.  When  Gen.  Fremont  was  ordered  to  Vir- 
ginia, Col.  Castle  accompanied  him  and  was  em- 
ployed in  bridge-building.  He  had  bridges  and 
wagons  for  their  transportation  built  in  Pitts- 
burgh, and  because  of  his  presence  everywhere  in 
preparing  a  way  to  cross  rivers  on  pontoon  bridges, 
the  soldiers  dubbed  him  "Col.  Pontoon." 

After  Sheridan's  famous  raid  up  the  Shenan- 
doah  River,  Col.  Castle  was  summoned  to  Wash- 
ington by  President  Lincoln,  for  whom  he  per- 
formed some  special  services,  and  received  the 
thanks  of  the  President  and  Congress.  After  the 
surrender  of  Vicksburg,  Col.  Castle  contracted  to 
furnish  Gen.  Grant's  army  with  twenty-eight 
thousand  tons  of  ice,  which  was  done  with  con- 
siderable difficulty  on  account  of  the  fall  of  water 
in  the  Mississippi,  necessitating  the  employment 
of  railroad  transportation  a  part  of  the  way,  and 
re-shipment  by  boat  at  Cairo.  When  the  ice  was 
delivered  at  Vicksburg,  Gen.  Grant  thanked  Col. 
Castle  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  the  town  was 
illuminated.  Col.  Castle  was  sent  by  the  Presi- 
dent to  confer  with  Gen.  Banks  at  New  Orleans 
concerning  the  contemplated  Red  River  expedi- 
tion, but  Banks  spurned  the  advice  of  Col.  Castle, 
who  showed  him  the  disaster  that  was  sure  to  re- 
sult from  his  plans,  and  the  result  proved  the  wis- 
dom of  Col.  Castle's  conclusions,  based  upon  his 
long  experience  in  travel  and  navigation.  In  the 
spring  of  1865,  he  again  entered  the  real-estate 
business,  with  office  on  La  Salle  Street,  in  which 
he  continued  to  be  successful.  About  two  years 


later  he  experienced  religion,  and  devoted  much 
of  his  time  to  the  cause  of  the  Master,  with  tell- 
ing effect  among  his  neighbors  and  friends. 

Col.  Castle's  first  wife,  Miss  Caroline  E.  John- 
son, of  Norwich,  Conn.,  was  a  woman  of  deep 
piety  and  many  beautiful  graces.  He  first  met 
her  in  Carbondale,  Pa.,  and  after  a  married  life 
of  thirteen  years  she  was  called  to  her  reward  in 
heaven.  His  present  wife,  Mrs.  Emeline  Castle, 
was  born  in  Pittston,  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  in 
1818.  She  is  descended  from  Quaker  ancestors, 
and  married  Wells  Bennett,  of  Wilkes  Barre,  Pa. , 
for  her  first  husband,  with  whom  she  came  to 
Illinois  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  She  was  one 
of  the  pioneers  of  Methodism  in  northern  Illi- 
nois. 

Col.  Castle  has  been  for  over  fifty  years  a  Free 
Mason,  and  more  than  forty  years  a  Master 
Mason.  He  believes  the  society  has  led  him  to 
high  and  noble  resolves,  and  has  contributed  more 
than  $25,000  to  the  benefit  of  the  order.  He  is 
the  only  surviving  charter  member  of  Cambrian 
Lodge  No.  58,  I.  O.  O.  P.,  of  Carbondale,  to 
which  he  has  been  a  liberal  contributor. 

As  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Union  Veteran 
Club,  he  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  old  soldiers.  His  great  pleasure  now,  how- 
ever, is  the  Mission  on  West  Lake  Street,  near 
Garfield  Park,  which  is  now  known  as  the  Garfield 
Park  Methodist  Church.  It  was  his  interest  in 
this  mission  which  led  him  to  sever  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Park  Avenue  Methodist  Church  two 
years  ago,  in  order  to  devote  more  time  to  mis- 
sion work.  He  is  one  of  the  supporting  mem- 
bers of  the  Lake  Street  Mission. 

At  the  present  time,  Col.  Castle  is  actively  en- 
gaged in  business,  and  attends  to  his  large  inter- 
ests with  a  regularity  remarkable  for  one  of  his 
great  age.  His  large  hall  at  the  corner  of  Lake 
and  Paulina  Streets  is  occupied  by  the  Salvation 
Army,  and  a  godd  work  is  being  accomplished  by 
this,  the  greatest  corps  in  the  world. 

And  now,  as  the  long  and  eventful  career  draws 
to  a  close,  Col.  Castle  looks  back  over  the  many 
years  of  struggle  and  strife  with  a  tranquil  mind. 
Having  done  the  best  that  he  could,  he  leaves  the 
rest  with  his  God.  His  life  is  well  worth  the 


E.  D.  PARMELEE. 


study  of  any  young  man.  His  is  a  character  of 
true  nobility,  formed  by  years  of  honest  labor  and 
honorable  dealings  with  his  fellow- men.  No  dif- 
ficulty was  so  great  that  it  could  not  be  overcome, 
and  no  path  so  rough  that  could  not  be  made 
smooth.  He  can  well  say  to  the  young,  with 
Bryant: 


"  So  live,  that  when  thy  summons  comes  to  join 
The  innumerable  caravan  that  moves 
To  that  mysterious  realm  where  each  shall  take 
His  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death, 
Thou  go  not,  like  the  quarry  slave  at  night. 
Scourged  to  his  dungeon;  but  sustained  and  soothed 
By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  thy  grave 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams." 


EDWARD  DAVID  PARMELEE. 


|"~  DWARD  DAVID  PARMELEE,  city  ticket 
r»)  agent  at  Chicago  of  the  Chicago  &  North- 
Li  western  Railroad,  claims  New  York  as  the 
State  of  his  nativity,  his  birth  having  occurred  in 
Aurora,  Cayuga  County,  August  27,  1859.  His 
parents  were  David  L-  and  Jeannette  Brown 
(Kimball)  Parmelee.  His  father  was  born  in 
Middlefield  Centre,  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  and 
was  a  graduate  of  Hamilton  College,  of  Clinton, 
N.  Y.  Later  he  served  as  Principal  of  the  Cay- 
uga Lake  Academy,  and  subsequently  carried  on 
a  private  bank  in  Aurora,  N.  Y.,  where  he  made 
his  home  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1866, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-eight  years.  In  politics,  he 
was  a  Republican,  and  was  connected  with  a  num- 
ber of  college  societies.  In  religious  belief,  he 
was  a  Presbyterian,  and  lived  an  honorable,  up- 
right life,  which  won  him  high  regard.  His  wife 
was  born  in  Chicago,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Mark 
Kimball,  who  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  city. 
Her  birth  occurred  on  Monroe  Street,  near  the 
present  office  of  the  Adams  Express  Company, 
which  locality  was  then  one  of  the  chief  residence 
portions  of  the  metropolis.  The  lake  then  ex- 
tended to  Michigan  Avenue. 

In  the  Parmelee  family  were  four  children,  but 
our  subject  is  the  only  survivor.  He  had  one 
sister,  Fannie,  who  died  in  Canton,  N.  Y. ,  about 
six  yenrs  since,  and  the  other  two  died  in  infancy. 
He  was  a  lad  of  seven  years  when  the  family  re- 
moved to  Orange,  N.  J.  Subsequently  they  took 


up  their  residence  in  Adams,  N.  Y. ,  where  hf  At- 
tended Hungerford's  Collegiate  Institute,  pu_ .su- 
ing a  classical  course  of  study.  At  the  ag<;  of 
seventeen,  just  before  completing  the  course,  he 
came  to  Chicago,  to  accept  a  position  as  clerk  in  the 
General  Baggage  Agent's  office  of  the  Chicago 
&  Northwestern  Railroad.  Since  that  time  he 
has  been  with  the  same  company,  and  has  won 
promotion  from  time  to  time,  until  he  has  attained 
his  present  responsible  position.  He  was  first 
made  assistant  depot  ticket  agent,  and  in  1884 
was  made  assistant  city  ticket  agent  at  the  old  of- 
fice in  the  Sherman  House.  Since  1887  he  has 
filled  his  present  position,  and  a  large  volume  of 
business  is  transacted  under  his  supervision  and 
management. 

Mr.  Parmelee  supports  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party,  and  was  one  of  the  original 
members  of  the  Marquette  Club.  He  served  for 
several  years  on  its  board  of  directors,  during 
which  time  it  first  nominated  Benjamin  Harrison 
for  the  Presidency.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the 
Chicago  Athletic  Association,  and  is  a  cultured 
and  accomplished  gentleman,  who  has  gradually 
risen  to  his  present  responsible  position  by  fidel- 
ity and  strict  attention  to  business.  He  merits 
and  receives  the  confidence  and  good-will  of  the 
traveling  public  as  well  as  that  of  his  superior 
officers.  A  courteous  aud  genial  gentleman,  he  is 
well  fitted  for  his  position,  which  he  is  acceptably 
and  creditably  filling. 


CHARLES  ADAMS. 


549 


CHARLES  ADAMS,  M.  D. 


MARGES  ADAMS,  M.  D.,  oueofthephysi- 
cians  of  Chicago  who  have  risen  by  their  own 
\J  unaided  efforts  to  a  conspicuous  place  among 
the  medical  practitioners  of  the  city,  is  of  English 
birth.  He  was  born  in  Northamptonshire,  Eng- 
land, on  the  zgth  of  May,  1847.  His  father,  John 
Adams,  was  of  a  yeoman  family,  which  for  gen- 
erations had  been  engaged  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits and  stock-raising.  His  mother,  Elizabeth 
(Clarke)  Adams,  was  a  daughter  of  a  gentleman 
farmer  of  the  same  country. 

At  an  early  age  the  Doctor  began  his  studies, 
and  when  a  youth  of  ten  he  had  completed  the 
course  in  the  grammar  school  at  Wellingborough, 
in  his  native  county.  In  1856,  his  father  bade 
adieu  to  Old  England,  and  the  fair  fields,  pretty 
leas  and  spreading  elms  that  cause  its  scenery  to 
be  so  long  remembered,  and,  accompanied  by  his 
family,  sailed  for  the  United  States.  He  settled 
in  the  then  new  and  crude  West,  which  years  of 
patient  effort  are  making  to  resemble,  in  its  phys- 
ical features  and  in  many  of  its  institutions,  the 
land  of  our  forefathers.  The  Adams  family  first 
located  in  Milwaukee,  where  they  remained  until 
1861,  when  they  came  to  Chicago. 

During  that  period,  the  Doctor  spent  the  greater 
part  of  his  time  in  school,  but  on  moving  to  Chica- 
go he  became  book-keeper  for  his  father,  who  was 
engaged  in  the  live-stock  business.  There  he 
continued  until  1868.  Much  of  his  leisure  time 
was  devoted  to  study,  and  in  this  way  he  obtained 
a  wide  and  varied  knowledge.  In  connection 
with  his  general  reading,  he  also  took  up  the 
study  of  medicine,  mastered  various  works  on  that 
science,  and  resolved  to  make  the  practice  of  the 
healing  art  his  life  work.  He  finally  entered  the 
office  of  Dr.  J.  S.  Mitchell,  and,  after  spending 


some  time  there  as  a  student,  he  entered  Hahne- 
mann  Medical  College  of  this  city,  from  which  in- 
stitution, on  the  completion  of  a  three-years  course, 
he  was  graduated  in  1872.  The  year  after  his 
graduation  he  spent  as  house  surgeon  in  Scammon 
Hospital,  of  Chicago.  The  greater  part  of  the 
year  1873  he  passed  in  Europe,  taking  a  special 
course  of  surgery  in  London.  On  his  return  to  the 
United  States,  he  took  up  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  Chicago,  where  his  thorough  training  and  fit- 
ness for  the  profession  soon  brought  him  a  profit- 
able practice  among  the  upper  classes  of  Chicago's 
citizens. 

In  1875,  Dr.  Adams  again  crossed  the  Atlantic 
and  visited  the  land  of  his  nativity.  He  went  to 
Wellingborough,  and  was  there  wedded  to  Miss 
Mary  Curtis,  daughter  of  Thomas  S.  Curtis,  a  mer- 
chant of  that  place.  By  their  union  were  born  two 
children,  one  of  whom,  Cuthbert,  a  young  man  of 
eighteen,  is  still  living.  Mrs.  Adams  died  in  1888, 
and  the  following  year  the  Doctor  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Mrs.  Elizabeth  (Mitchell)  Gaylord, 
of  Chicago,  widow  of  Henry  Gaylord,  and  a 
daughter  of  W.  H.  Mitchell,  the  well-known  Vice- 
President  of  the  Illinois  Trust  and  Savings  Bank. 

When  he  again  came  to  the  United  States,  in 
1873,  Dr.  Adams  accepted  the  chair  of  surgical 
pathology  in  Hahnemann  College  and  thus  served 
until  1875,  when,  on  the  organization  of  the  Chi- 
cago Homeopathic  College,  he  accepted  the  chair 
of  principles  and  practice  of  surgery,  which  he 
filled  for  some  years.  Now,  after  an  absence  of 
considerable  length,  he  again  occupies  that  posi- 
tion. The  Doctor  is  also  surgeon  of  the  Chicago 
Homeopathic  Hospital,  the  Chicago  Nursery,  the 
Half  Orphan  Asylum  and  the  First  Regiment, 
Illinois  National  Guards.  He  is  a  member  of  the 


550 


HENRY  BUDDE. 


Association  of  Military  Surgeons  of  the  United 
States,  of  the  Illinois  Homeopathic  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, the  Chicago  Medical  Association,  belongs 
to  the  Academy  of  Science  of  Chicago,  and  is  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Microscopical  Society  of 
London. 

Dr.  Adams  possesses  a  large  library  of  profession- 
al works  and  also  of  general  literature,  the  charac- 
ter of  which  shows  his  wide  knowledge  of  books, 


and  splendid  ability  to  select  the  best,  and  none 
other.  He  not  only  possesses  a  library,  but  has  a 
knowledge  of  the  contents  of  almost  every  volume 
in  it,  whether  English,  French  or  German.  His 
success  is  a  fitting  reward  of  his  labors.  He  has 
been,  and  still  is,  a  hard  student,  an  earnest,  pains- 
taking and  successful  practitioner,  a  faithful  friend 
and  a  cultured,  genial  gentleman. 


HENRY  BUDDE. 


NENRY  BUDDE,  a  well-known  farmer  of 
Niles  Township,  Cook  County,  residing  on 
section  17,  is  the  youngest  in  a  family  of 
three  sons,  whose  parents  were  Conrad  and  L,eo- 
nore  (Baesner)  Biidde.  He  was  born  December 
5,  1815,  in  Messenkomp,  Hanover,  Germany, 
and  his  brothers  were  William  and  Christian 
Budde.  His  parents  died  when  he  was  only  two 
years  of  age.  Losing  the  entire  estate  which 
came  to  them  from  their  father,  the  three  brothers 
separated,  and  Henry,  when  only  a  child,  was 
thrown  upon  the  mercies  of  a  cold,  and  often  pit- 
iless, world.  In  July,  1845,  he  left  his  native 
land  and  sailed  for  America,  landing  in  New 
York  after  a  voyage  of  five  weeks.  He  at  once 
came  to  Cook  County,  arriving  July  20,  1845. 
Here,  during  the  following  winter,  he  chopped 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  cords  of  wood,  re- 
ceiving in  compensation  for  his  hard  labor  three 
shillings  per  cord.  The  next  year  he  became  the 
possessor  of  sixty  acres  of  land  on  section  17, 
Niles  Township,  where  he  now  resides. 

In  1846,  when  war's  cruel  tongue  was  calling 
for  brave  men  to  do  battle  against  the  Mexicans, 
Mr.  Budde  believed  it  his  duty  to  enlist  in  de- 
fense of  his  country ,  for  although  he  was  not 
an  American  born,  he  was  now  an  American  cit- 
izen. In  June  he  became  a  member  of  Company 


K,  First  Illinois  Infantiy,  under  Capt.  Mowers, 
and  was  honorably  dischaiged  in  1847.  At  the 
battle  of  Buena  Vista,  on  the  22d  of  February  of 
that  year,  he  was  wounded  in  the  left  leg. 

Returning  from  the  scene  of  strife,  he  laid  aside 
the.  weapons  of  war  for  Cupid's  bow  and  arrow, 
and  wooed  and  won  Miss  Marie  Linaman,  who 
•became  his  wife  April  8,  1848.  They  had  four 
children:  Henry,  born  October  4,  1850;  Marie, 
May  20,  1852;  John,  born  in  1854;  and  Louis, 
January  21,  1859.  After  the  death  of  his  first 
wife,  Mr.  Budde,  in  July,  1882,  married  Mrs. 
Marie  Ludwig,  who  was  called  to  the  home  be- 
yond December  5,  1887,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years. 
He  was  again  married,  for  the  third  time,  August 
23,  1894,  to  Mrs.  Sophia  Uhrscheller,  widow  ot 
Charles  Uhrscheller,  of  Chicago.  Mrs.  Budde' s 
first  husband,  Henry  Schmidt,  served  many 
years  on  board  of  a  United  States  man-of-war. 
From  New  York  he  removed  to  Chicago  about 
1864,  and  died  there  in  1878. 

Mr.  Budde  has  devoted  the  greater  part  of  his 
time  and  attention  through  life  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  received  from  the  Government  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  return  for  his 
services  as  a  Mexican  soldier,  and  this  he  traded 
for  the  farm  upon  which  he  now  resides.  It  is  a 
valuable  place,  highly  cultivated  and  well  im- 


JOHN  UNOLD. 


551 


proved,  and  its  neat  and  thrifty  appearance  indi- 
cates the  careful  supervision  of  the  owner.  He 
has  erected  thereon  a  fine  brick  residence,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  homes  in  this  locality. 

Mr.  Budde  holds  membership  with  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  in  which  he  is  now  sen-ing  as 
Trustee.  For  several  years  he  has  served  as 
School  Director,  and  the  cause  of  education  finds 
in  him  a  warm  friend.  He  cast  his  first  Presi- 
dential vote  in  1848.  He  said,  "  I  went  so  far 


astray  as  to  vote  for  Buchanan,  but  since  that 
time  I  have  been  a  Republican,"  and  he  is  true 
to  the  party  of  his  choice  to  this  day.  In  Mr. 
Budde  is  seen  a  self-made  man,  who  began  life 
without  capital,  but  success  crowned  his  efforts 
and  he  has  won  a  handsome  competence.  He  is 
now  recognized  as  one  of  the  substantial  agricul- 
turists of  this  community,  as  well  as  one  of  its 
highly  respected  citizens. 


CAPT.  JOHN  UNOLD. 


EAPT.  JOHN  UNOLD,  who  is  now  living  a 
retired  life  in  La  Grange,  is  one  of  the  hon- 
ored veterans  of  the  late  war,  who  followed 
the  Old  Flag  in  defense  of  the  Union  for  about 
three  years  and  faithfully  aided  in  securing  the 
victory  that  made  the  United  States  inseparable. 
He  was  born  in  Germany  on  the  2gth  of  Novem- 
ber, 1829,  and  is  a  son  of  George  and  Elizabeth 
(Brechiesen)  Unold.  The  family  numbered  six 
children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  as  follows: 
George  and  David,  both  now  deceased;  Chris- 
topher, who  is  the  owner  of  a  factory  for  the  man- 
ufacture of  wooden-ware  in  Germany;  Elizabeth, 
who  is  still  living  in  the  Fatherland;  and  Mary, 
now  deceased.  George  Unold  was  a  millwright 
by  trade,  and  in  German}'  he  spent  his  entire  life, 
as  did  the  mother  of  our  subject. 

The  Captain  was  born  and  reared  in  his  native 
village,  and  attended  the  public  schools  of  Ger- 
many until  thirteen  years  of  age,  when  he  was 
bound  out  for  a  three-years  apprenticeship  to  the 
harness-maker's  trade.  He  then  traveled  through 
Germany  for  three  years,  working  at  that  occupa- 
tion, and  in  1849,  when  a  young  man  of  twenty 
years,  he  crossed  the  broad  Atlantic  to  America  - 
on  a  sailing-vessel,  which  after  six  weeks  upon 
the  bosom  of  the  Atlantic  dropped  anchor  in  the 
harbor  of  New  York  City.  He  made  his  first  lo- 


cation in  Newark,  N.  J. ,  where  he  worked  at  his 
trade  for  two  years.  He  then  went  to  New 
Haven,. Conn.,  where  he  spent  the  four  succeed- 
ing years  of  his  life,  and  in  1855  removed  to  Chi- 
cago. For  two  years  he  was  there  employed  as  a 
harness-maker,  after  which  he  went  to  Fullers- 
burg,  DuPage  County,  where  he  started  a  shop 
of  his  own  and  engaged  in  business  until  1861. 
He  also  carried  on  a  general  store  at  that  place, 
and  was  Postmaster  of  Fullersburg  for  a  time, 
but  in  1862  he  disposed  of  his  business  interests 
in  order  to  enter  the  service  of  his  adoped  coun- 
try. 

Mr.  Unold  had  watched  with  interest  the  prog- 
ress of  events  and  saw  that  the  war  was  to  be  no 
holiday  affair;  so,  prompted  by  patriotic  impulses, 
on  the  isth  of  August,  1862,  he  became  a  private 
of  Company  D,  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Illinois 
Infantry.  Before  he  was  mustered  into  service, 
which  event  took  place  at  Dixon,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  Company  I,  and  became  Second  Sergeant. 
The  first  active  engagement  in  which  he  partici- 
pated was  at  Frankfort,  Ky.  He  afterwards  took 
part  in  the  battles  of  Resaca,  New  Hope  Church, 
Cassville,  Kennesaw  Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek 
and  Clintonville.  He  was  wounded  in  the  left 
ankle  by  a  shell  at  the  battle  of  New  Hope 
Church,  but  did  not  go  to  the  hospital.  At  At- 


552 


L.  P.  HASKELL. 


lanta,  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  First  Lieu- 
tenant, and  was  mustered  out  as  Captain.  He  re- 
ceived his  discharge  June  15,  1865,  for  the  war 
was  then  practically  over,  and  the  preservation  of 
the  Union  an  assured  fact. 

Capt.  Unold  at  once  returned  to  his  home  in 
Fullersburg,  where  he  established  another  har- 
ness shop,  which  he  carried  on  until  1868,  when  he 
came  to  La  Grange,  and  opened  a  general  store. 
He  carried  on  business  along  that  line  until  1887, 
when  he  sold  out  and  has  since  lived  retired.  He 
was  successful  in  his  business  dealings  and  there- 
by acquired  a  comfortable  competence, which  now 
enables  him  to  enjoy  the  rest  which  he  has  so 
truly  earned  and  richly  deserves.  He  now  owns 
considerable  real  estate  in  La  Grange. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  1852,  Capt.  Unold  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Martha  Hoppach. 
Unto  them  have  been  born  nine  children,  namely: 
Willemanie,  now  deceased;  Lewis,  who  holds 
the  position  of  book-keeper  in  his  brother's 


store  in  La  Grange;  George,  who  carries  on  a 
large  general  merchandise  establishment  in  La- 
Grange;  Julia,  deceased;  Amelia,  wife  of  Ed- 
ward Tillotson,  who  is  living  in  Michigan;  Ottil- 
da,  widow  of  Samuel  Clifford;  and  Amanda,  Lou- 
isa and  Sherman,  all  of  whom  have  now  passed 
away. 

In  politics,  Capt.  Unold  is  a  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party,  and  from  1869  until  1875  he 
served  as  Postmaster  of  La  Grange.  He  was  for 
seventeen  years  one  of  its  School  Directors,  and 
did  effective  service  in  the  cause  of  education, 
proving  a  capable  officer.  Socially,  he  is  con- 
nected with  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 
He  came  to  this  country  a  poor  boy  and  has  made 
all  that  he  possesses  by  his  own  careful  business 
management,  his  thrift  and  enterprise.  Kis  life 
has  been  well  and  worthily  spent,  and  he  has 
achieved  a  success  which  now  enables  him  to 
spend  his  declining  years  surrounded  by  all  the 
comforts  and  many  of  the  luxuries  of  life. 


LOOMIS  POMROY  HASKELL, 


I  OOMIS  POMROY  HASKELL,  who  has  for 
1C  thirty-seven  years  been  successfully  engaged 
|_2?  in  the  practice  of  dentistry  in  Chicago,  has 
won  a  reputation  for  skill  and  ability  that  has 
made  him  known  not  only  in  this  city  but  through- 
out the  world.  His  prominence  in  professional 
circles  makes  him  well  worthy  of  representation 
among  the  leading  citizens  of  Cook  County. 

Dr.  Haskell  was  born  in  Bangor,  Me.,  April 
25,  1826,  and  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  and  Mary 
(Fuller)  Haskell,  who  were  natives  of  Gloucester, 
Mass.  The  Haskell  family  in  America  was 
founded  by  three  brothers,  who  in  an  early  day 
emigrated  from  England,  their  native  land,  to  the 
New  World,  and  became  early  settlers  in  the  Mass- 
achusetts Colony.  About  1823,  the  father  of  our 


subject  removed  to  Bangor,  Me. ,  and  five  years 
later  went  to  Marblehead,  Mass. ,  where  his  last 
days  were  passed,  his  death  occurring  in  1830. 
He  was  a  shoe-maker  by  trade,  and  opened  the 
first  shoe-store  in  Bangor,  Me.  His  wife,  who 
survived  him  thirty  years,  died  in  Milwaukee, 
Wis.,  in  1860.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Rev. 
Thomas  Fuller,  a  Congregational  minister  of 
Gloucester,  Mass.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haskell 
were  members  of  the  Congregational  Church,  and, 
socially,  he  was  connected  with  the  Masonic 
order. 

After  the  death  of  the  father  the  family  removed 
to  Salem,  Mass. ,  where  the  Doctor  attended  school 
until  fifteen  years  of  age.  He  then  went  to  Bos- 
ton and  entered  a  printing-office,  where  he  was 


J.  O.  HUTCHINSON. 


553 


employed  for  four  years.  His  experience  there 
formed  an  excellent  supplement  to  the  limited  ed- 
ucational privileges  he  had  previously  received. 
On  leaving  the  printing-office,  he  took  up  the 
study  of  dentistry  in  the  office  of  his  brother-in- 
law,  Dr.  M.  P.  Hanson,  of  Chelsea,  Mass.,  and 
in  connection  with  the  latter  he  gave  considerable 
attention  to  the  manufacture  of  carved  block 
teeth.  It  was  through  this  means  that  he  became 
widely  known  among  his  professional  brethren  in 
New  England. 

Ere  leaving  the  East,  Dr.  Haskell  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Sarah  E.  Wason,  a  native  of 
Chester,  N.  H.  Six  children  were  born  of  their 
union,  but  only  four  of  the  number  are  now  liv- 
ing, namely:  Ella  P.;  Lizzie  M.,  wife  of  Rev.  W. 
J.  Clark,  of  Lamoille,  111.;  Sarah  Isabel,  wife  of 
Col.  J.  B.  Parsons,  of  Dwight,  111.;  and  Anna  N., 
wife  of  W.  T.  Barr,  of  Hinsdale,  111.  The  two 
children  now  deceased  are  Harriet  N. ,  who  died 
in  infancy ;  and  Mary  F. ,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  years. 

In  1856,  Dr.  Haskell  left  his  old  New  England 
home  and  removed  to  Milwaukee,  Wis.  The 
following  year  he  came  to  Chicago,  where  he  has 
since  been  almost  continuously  engaged  in  prac- 
tice. He  demonstrated  the  excellence  of  his 
methods  for  two  terms  in  the  Baltimore  College 
of  Dental  Surgery,  and  for  two  terms  in  the  Minn- 
eapolis College.  He  was  Professor  of  prosthetic 
dentistry  in  the  Chicago  College  of  Dental  Sur- 
gery for  four  years,  and  for  three  years  in  the 
dental  department  of  the  Northwestern  Univer- 
sity. In  1888  he  established  the  first  post-grad- 
uate school  of  dentistry,  which  since  that  time 


has  furnished  instruction  to  hundreds  of  students, 
mostly  practicing  dentists  from  all  parts  of  North 
America,  as  well  as  England,  Germany,  Holland, 
Chile,  Australia  and  New  Zealand.  The  Doctor 
is  a  frequent  contributor  to  dental  journals,  and 
is  the  author  of  "The  Student's  Manual  and 
Hand  Book  for  the  Dental  Laboratory,"  which 
circulates  extensively  among  the  profession  in 
America,  and  has  been  republished  in  France  and 
Germany.  Since  the  organization  of  the  party, 
Dr.  Haskell  has  been  a  stanch  Republican.  In  1848 
he  cast  his  first  vote,  supporting  Martin  Van  Buren 
on  the  Free-Soil  ticket,  and  he  was  a  delegate 
to  the  first  Free-Soil  Convention  ever  held  in 
the  United  States,  which  met  at  Worcester, 
Mass.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Dental 
Club,  the  Illinois  State  Dental  Society,  and  the 
American  Dental  Association.  He  and  his  fam- 
ily are  members  of  the  Congregational  Church  of 
Hinsdale,  where  they  make  their  home.  He  has 
practiced  dentistry  longer  than  any  other  dentist 
in  Chicago,  and  with  one  exception  has  been  ac- 
tively engaged  in  dental  work  here  longer  than 
any  other  member  of  the  profession.  He  keeps 
fully  abreast  of  the  times,  and  is  continually 
studying  to  gain  new  knowledge  on  the  subject 
to  which  he  has  given  his  life  work.  Thus  has 
he  won  a  front  rank  among  the  dentists  of  the 
world.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  pleasing  address 
and  prepossessing  manner,  and  is  an  interesting 
writer  and  able  speaker.  So  well  known  is  he 
throughout  the  Northwest,  that  the  history  of 
Cook  County  would  be  incomplete  without  this 
sketch. 


JAMES  O.  HUTCHINSON. 


(I  AMES    O.    HUTCHINSON,    who   for   nine 
I    years   has   been   in  the  employ  of  the  well- 
ed known  firm  of  Thomas  Cook  &  Sons,  now  oc- 
cupies  the   position  of  General  Western  Agent, 
with  headquarters  at  No.  234  South  Clark  Street, 


Chicago.  His  long  continuance  with  the  com- 
pany is  a  testimonial  of  his  ability  and  fidelity 
more  expressive  than  any  words  could  be.  Mr. 
Hutchinson  was  born  in  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  in 
1845,  and  comes  of  one  of  the  oldest  families  of 


554 


C.  A.  COOLEY. 


the  Empire  State.  His  ancestors  were  originally 
natives  of  Scotland,  and  came  from  that  country 
to  America  not  long  after  the  Colonies  had  been 
founded  on  the  shores  of  the  New  World.  The 
father  of  our  subject  was  a  man  of  prominence 
and  influence,  and  served  as  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  New  York.  The  maternal 
grandfather,  Judge  Strong,  sat  on  the  Supreme 
Bench  of  the  State  in  1812,  and  was  a  prominent 
figure  in  the  history  of  that  time. 

James  O.  Hutchinson  spent  the  days  of  his  boy- 
hood and  youth  in  his  parents'  home,  acquiring 
his  education  in  the  public  schools  and  in  the 
naval  academy.  He  acted  as  Lieutenant  for  five 
years,  from  1860  until  1865,  and  then  became 
Chief  Clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Adjutant-General 
of  New  York.  There  he  remained  until  1880. 
Two  years  later  he  formed  a  connection  with  the 
firm  of  Thomas  Cook  &  Sons,  which  has  contin- 
ued up  to  the  present  time,  and  which  has  seen 
him  advanced  from  one  position  to  another,  until 
he  is  now  General  Agent  for  all  western  territory, 
having  entered  upon  the  duties  of  that  position 
on  the  2oth  of  April,  1893, 

Thomas  Cook  &  Sons  are  general  steamship 
and  railway  agents,  and  secure  passage  for  sin- 


gle tourists  or  parties  visiting  any  known  point 
on  the  face  of  the  globe.  They  have  their  agents 
in  all  countries,  who  make  the  traveling  arrange- 
ments, and  secure  a  hotel  and  other  accommoda- 
tions for  visitors,  thus  giving  the  tourist  time  for 
sight-seeing  which  otherwise  would  be  largely 
taken  up  in  planning  and  executing  the  trip. 
They  also  issue  letters  of  credit  and  do  all  ex- 
change business  with  the  banks. 

Mr.  Hutchinson  himself  has  made  several  trips 
to  distant  lands,  has  visited  Asia,  spent  some 
time  in  India,  China  and  Egypt,  and  has  seen 
many  of  the  points  of  interest,  historical  and 
otherwise,  in  Europe.  He  expects  soon  to  start 
for  Japan,  where  he  will  spend  seven  months 
among  one  of  the  most  interesting  peoples  known. 

In  his  social  relations,  he  is  connected  with  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  in  his  political 
affiliations  is  a  Democrat.  His  life  has  been  a 
busy  one,  and  he  well  merits  the  confidence  and 
trust  reposed  in  him  by  the  company  with  which 
he  is  now  connected.  His  position  is  a  responsi- 
ble one,  for  he  is  agent  for  the  entire  Western 
Territory,  and  attends  to  all  the  business  of  this 
section  of  the  country. 


CLARK  A.  COOLEY. 


ELARK  A.  COOLEY  is  the  efficient  Clerk 
of  Elk  Grove  Township,  Cook  County. 
He  resides  on  section  16,  and  is  numbered 
among  the  prominent  farmers  of  the  community. 
His  entire  life  has  been  spent  in  this  locality,  and 
an  honorable,  upright  career  has  gained  him  the 
high  regard  of  all  with  whom  he  has  been  brought 
in  contact.  He  was  born  in  Elk  Grove  Town- 
ship, this  county,  September  21,  1847,  and  comes 
of  an  old  New  England  family.  His  father, 
Charles  Cooley,  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  and 
emigrated  to  Illinois  in  1845,  locating  in  Elk 
Grove  Township,  where  he  took  up  a  claim  from 


the  Government  and  began  the  development  of  a 
farm,  transforming  the  raw  prairie  into  rich  and 
fertile  fields.  There  he  carried  on  agricultural 
pursuits  and  made  his  home  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1884,  in  his  sixty-fourth  year. 
In  politics,  he  was  a  Democrat,  and  served  as 
School  Director.  Mrs  Cooley,  who  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  Clara  Green,  is  a  native  of  Mass- 
achusetts, and  is  yet  living,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two.  Both  families  were  of  English  origin. 

In  the  Cooley  family  were  seven  children,  our 
subject,  who  is  the  eldest,  being  the  only  son. 
The  daughters  were:  Kittie,  wife  of  William 


LOUIS  VOLTZ. 


555 


Higgins,  of  Elk  Grove  Township;  Mary,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  six  years;  Sarah,  widow  of 
John  B.  Weeks,  and  a  resident  of  Beadle  County, 
S.  Dak.;  Addie,  who  died  at  the  age  of  a  year  and 
a-half;  Clara,  wife  of  John  Carson,  a  resident  of 
Iowa;  and  Mary,  who  is  engaged  in  teaching 
school,  and  makes  her  home  in  Arlington 
Heights. 

C.  A.  Cooley  spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood 
and  youth  in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads,  and 
in  the  schools  of  Elk  Grove  Township  acquired  a 
good  English  education.  From  an  early  age  he 
has  been  familiar  with  all  the  details  of  farming, 
for  as  soon  as  old  enough  to  handle  the  plow  he 
began  work  in  the  fields,  and  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits has  since  devoted  his  energies.  In  his  deal- 
ing, he  has  been  quite  successful.  His  farm  com- 
prises one  hundred  and  fifty-six  acres  of  valuable 
land,  and  is  considered  one  of  the  best  in  the  town- 
ship, for  the  fields  are  well  tilled,  and  it  is  sup- 
plied with  all  modern  accessories  and  conven- 
iences. In  connection  with  general  farming,  the 


owner  also  carries  on  stock-raising  and  dealing, 
and  has  met  with  success  in  this  line. 

In  1871,  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Cooley  and  Miss  Rosa  J.  Crego,  a  native  of  New 
York,  who,  when  a  maiden  of  twelve  summers, 
removed  with  her  parents  to  Arlington  Heights, 
111.  There  her  girlhood  days  were  passed.  Two 
children  grace  this  union,  a  son  and  daughter, 
Frank  A.  and  Anna  E.,  both  of  whom  are  still 
at  home. 

In  his  political  affiliations,  Mr.  Cooley  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  in  1893  was  elected  Clerk  of  his 
township,  which  position  he  is  now  creditably  fill- 
ing. He  has  also  served  as  School  Director,  and 
has  filled  other  offices.  Having  spent  his  entire 
life  in  this  community,  Mr.  Cooley  has  witnessed 
the  many  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  the 
county,  has  seen  its  growth  and  upbuilding,  and 
has  aided  in  its  development.  He  has  ever  been 
a  progressive  and  public-spirited  man,  and  is  rec- 
ognized as  a  valued  citizen. 


LOUIS  VOLTZ. 


I  GUIS  VOLTZ,  who  is  successfully  engaged 
1C  in  fanning  on  section  10,  Northfield  Town- 
I \  J  ship,  Cook  County,  claims  Germany  as  the 
land  of  his  birth.  He  was  born  in  Hesse-Darm- 
stadt, September  30,  1833,  and  is  the  second  in  or- 
der of  birth  in  a  family  of  six  children  whose  par- 
ents were  Louis  and  Elizabeth  Voltz.  They  were 
also  natives  of  Germany.  In  the  common  schools 
of  the  neighborhood  our  subject  acquired  his  edu- 
cation. No  event  of  special  importance  occurred 
during  his  boyhood  and  youth,  which  were  quietly 
passed  in  his  father's  home.  Having  arrived  at 
years  of  maturity,  he  determined  to  seek  his  for- 
tune in  America,  and  in  1857  crossed  the  Atlantic 
to  the  New  World.  He  made  his  way  direct  to  Chi- 
cago, and  thence  removed  to  McHenry  County, 
111.,  where  lie  secured  work  as  a  farm  hand  by  the 


month.  When  he  had  acquired  a  sufficient  capi- 
tal, he  purchased  land  in  Jefferson  Township,  Cook 
County,  and  began  fanning  in  his  own  interest. 
For  a  time  he  continued  the  cultivation  and  im- 
provement of  that  tract,  but  at  length  sold  out,  and 
in  1870  purchased  the  farm  on  which  he  now  re- 
sides in  Northfield  Township. 

Mr.  Voltz  was  married  in  Jefferson  Township 
in  1862,  the  lad}-  of  his  choice  being  Miss  Mar- 
garet Kilwy,  a  native  of  Germany,  who  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years  left  the  Fatherland  and  came 
to  the  United  States.  By  the  union  of  this  worthy 
couple  were  born  the  following  children:  Louis, 
who  is  now  deceased;  William,  who  is  married; 
Katie,  who  has  passed  away;  Charlie,  at  home; 
Emma,  deceased;  Emma,  the  second  of  that  name; 
Edward,  Walter,  Sophia,  Ella,  George,  Frank, 


556 


A.  SOHM. 


Richard  and  Albert,  all  of  whom  are  yet  under 
the  parental  roof.  The  children  were  all  born  in 
Cook  County,  and  nine  of  the  number  are  still  at 
home. 

Mr.  Voltz  now  carries  on  general  farming,  and 
is  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and  six  acres  of  good 
land,  which  he  has  placed  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation.  He  has  also  made  many  good  im- 
provements upon  his  farm,  audits  neat  and  thrifty 
appearance  indicates  his  careful  supervision.  His 
life  has  been  a  busy  one,  and  as  the  result  of  his 
energy  and  untiring  labors  he  has  become  the 
possessor  of  a  comfortable  property.  He  may 
truly  be  called  a  self-made  man. 


In  religious  belief,  Mr.  Voltz  is  a  Lutheran,  and 
in  politics  is  a  Republican,  having  supported  his 
party  by  his  ballot  for  many  years.  He  has 
held  the  office  of  School  Director  for  a  long  period, 
and  the  cause  of  education  finds  in  him  a  warm 
friend.  For  six  years  he  served  as  Township 
Commissioner,  and  is  now  Township  Treasurer. 
In  September,  1883,  he  was  elected  Supervisor  of 
Northfield  Township,  and  has  held  that  position 
continuously  since,  discharging  his  duties  with  a 
promptness  and  fidelity  that  have  not  only  caused 
his  retention  in  office,  but  have  also  won  him  the 
high  commendation  of  all  concerned. 


A.  SOHM. 


a  SOHM  is  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  leading 
engraving  establishments  of  Chicago,  and  is 
doing  a  good  business,  which  has  been  se- 
cured through  excellent  workmanship,  courteous 
treatment  and  honorable  dealing.  His  success  is 
therefore  well  deserved.  Mr.  Sohm  claims  Aus- 
tria as  the  land  of  his  birth,  which  occurred  in 
1862.  His  father,  Joseph  Sohm,  was  also  a  na- 
tive of  Austria.  Under  the  parental  roof  our 
subject  was  reared  to  manhood,  the  days  of  his 
boyhood  being  quietly  passed.  The  schools  of 
the  vicinity  afforded  him  his  educational  privi- 
leges, and  when  he  had  mastered  the  common 
branches  of  learning,  he  turned  his  attention  to 
business  pursuits,  whereby  he  might  earn  his 
own  livelihood.  For  some  time  he  engaged  in 
block-cutting. 

At  length  Mr.  Sohm  resolved  to  try  his  fortune 
in  America,  for  he  had  heard  much  of  its  advan- 
tages and  privileges,  and  believed  that  he  might 
thereby  benefit  his  financial  condition.  In  1881 
he  crossed  the  ocean  to  the  New  World,  and  on 
his  arrival  in  America  learned  the  engraving 
business  in  the  establishment  of  the  Acme  En- 
graving Company,  of  Chicago.  He  spent  three 
years  in  mastering  the  trade,  becoming  a  most 
excellent  workman,  and  then  for  five  years  fol- 


lowed that  vocation  in  the  employ  of  other  firms 
in  the  city. 

It  was  in  1888  that  Mr.  Sohm  embarked  in 
business  for  himself,  being  then  located  on  L,a 
Salle  Street.  About  a  year  later,  however,  he 
removed  to  the  Staats  Zeitung  Building,  where 
he  has  now  been  for  the  past  four  years.  He  en- 
gages in  mechanical  engraving,  and  the  artistic 
work  which  he  turns  out  has  secured  for  him  a 
liberal  patronage.  He  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
best  engravers  in  the  city,  and  his  high  reputa- 
tion is  well  deserved. 

In  the  year  1891,  was  celebrated  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Sohm  and  Miss  Gertrude  Bruh.  He  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
in  the  social  circles  in  which  they  move  they  have 
many  friends  who  esteem  them  highly.  In  his 
political  views,  our  subject  is  a  supporter  of  the 
Democracy,  but  has  never  been  an  aspirant  for 
public  office,  preferring  to  devote  his  entire  time 
and  attention  to  other  interests.  It  proved  a  for- 
tunate day  for  him  when  he  determined  to  leave 
his  native  land  and  make  a  home  in  the  New 
World,  and  he  has  never  yet  had  occasion  to  re- 
gret the  change,  for  he  has  here  won  a  prosperity 
that  would  probably  not  have  come  to  him  had 
he  remained  upon  his  native  soil. 


MATHIAS  HOFFMAN. 


557 


MATHIAS  HOFFMAN. 


HOFFMAN,  a  prosperous  and 
highly  respected  fanner  of  Niles  Township, 
Cook  County,  residing  on  section  18,  was 
born  on  the  25th  of  July,  1825,  on  the  River 
Rhine,  in  Prussia,  and  is  a  son  of  Peter  and  Su- 
sannah (Saul)  Hoffman,  both  of  whom  were  born 
in  Prussia  in  the  year  1799.  The  grandfather, 
Mathias  Hoffman,  was  also  a  native  of  the  same 
country  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  In 
1842,  the  parents  with  their  children  turned  their 
faces  toward  the  setting  sun  and  started  for  the 
New  World.  They  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  a 
sailing-vessel  and  made  their  way  to  Chicago, 
taking  up  their  residence  on  the  northwest  quar- 
ter of  section  18,  Niles  Township,  Cook  County, 
where  the  father  purchased  a  farm  of  ninety -five 
acres,  paying  $3  per  acre.  At  his  death  in  1846, 
he  was  the  possessor  of  two  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  a  valuable  and  desirable  place. 

The  children  born  to  Peter  and  Susannah 
Hoffman  were:  Mathias;  John,  who  was  a  farmer 
of  Northfield  Township;  Michael,  who  lives  in 
Des  Plaines;  Marguerite;  Nicholas,  a  farmer  of 
Niles  Township;  and  Mrs.  Catherine  Schmelzer. 
John  and  Marguerite  are  deceased. 

Mathias  Hoffman  was  in  his  seventeenth  year 
when,  with  the  family,  he  bade  adieu  to  the  Fa- 
therland and  came  to  the  United  States.  In  Niles 
Township  he  has  since  made  his  home,  and  during 
the  long  years  which  have  since  passed  his  hon- 
orable, upright  life  has  made  him  many  friends. 
He  was  married  on  the  jth  of  September,  1850, 
to  Miss  Barbara  Harsom,  daughter  of  John  Har- 
som,  a  farmer  and  a  native  of  Bavaria.  The  lady 
was  born  September  19,  1828,  and  by  their  union 
have  been  born  five  children,  who  in  order  of 
birth  are  as  follows:  William,  who  was  born  Sep- 
tember ii,  1851,  and  is  now  a  carpenter  of  South 


Evanston;  John,  born  February  24,  1853,  who  is 
now  living  retired  at  Gross  Point;  Nicholas,  a 
farmer  of  Northfield  Township,  born  October  19, 
1854;  Catherine,  who  was  born  March  23,  1857, 
and  is  now  the  wife  of  James  Dalton,  of  South  Chi- 
cago; and  Marguerite,  who  was  born  March  11, 
1859,  and  is  the  wife  of  Anton  Mayer,  a  farmer 
of  Hamlet,  Indiana. 

Mr.  Hoffman  received  as  his  portion  of  his 
father's  estate  forty  acres  of  the  old  home  place 
and  twelve  acres  of  timber-land.  All  his  other 
property  has  been  acquired  through  his  own  ef- 
forts. By  perseverance  and  untiring  industry,  he 
has  made  life  a  success  and  has  acquired  a  hand- 
some competency.  Some  years  since  he  gave  to 
each  of  his  children  seventy  acres  of  valuable 
prairie  land,  and  ten  acres  of  timber,  save  to 
one  daughter,  to  whom  he  gave  $7,000  in  cash. 
He  has  ever  been  of  a  liberal  and  generous  nature, 
free  and  open-handed  with  those  in  whom  he 
takes  an  interest,  and  cannot  do  too  much  to  en- 
hance the  happiness  and  promote  the  welfare  of 
his  family.  Although  he  has  transacted  a  large 
volume  of  business,  he  has  never  had  a  lawsuit, 
but  has  ever  been  at  peace  with  all  mankind. 

The  parents  and  their  children  are  all  members 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  are  highly  respected, 
having  many  friends  in  this  community.  In  his 
political  views,  Mr.  Hoffman  is  a  Democrat,  and 
cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  in  1848.  Although 
he  has  never  been  an  office-seeker,  he  has  served 
as  Assessor  of  Niles  Township  for  twenty-four 
years,  has  been  Road  Commissioner  six  years,  and 
School  Director  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Be- 
ing a  man  of  excellent  judgment,  he  has  made 
an  efficient  officer,  and  his  fidelity  to  duty  is  well 
attested  by  his  long  service. 


558 


T.  S.  ROGERS. 


CAPT.  THEODORE  S.  ROGERS. 


EAPT.  THEODORE  S.  ROGERS  is  one  of 
the  leading  citizens  of  Downer's  Grove,  and 
an  honored  veteran  of  the  late  war,  who 
wore  the  blue  in  defense  of  the  Union,  and  vali- 
antly followed  the  Old  Flag  in  many  of  the  most 
hotly  contested  battles  of  that  struggle,  which 
not  only  did  away  with  slavery,  but  made  the 
Union  more  indissoluble  than  before.  The  Cap- 
tain was  born  in  Morristown,  St.  Lawrence 
County,  N.  Y.,  August  30,  1831.  The  family  is 
of  English  lineage.  The  father,  Joseph  I.  Rogers, 
was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island.  Removing  to 
the  Empire  State,  he  there  married  Caroline 
Smith,  who  was  born  in  New  York,  and  was  also 
of  English  extraction.  Her  father  was  a  well- 
educated  man,  and  kept  a  hotel  in  New  York  for 
a  number  of  years.  In  1844  Mr.  Rogers  came 
with  his  family  to  Illinois,  making  the  journey 
by  water  to  Chicago,  where  he  hired  a  team,  with 
which  he  came  to  DuPage  County.  Here  he 
purchased  a  farm,  upon  which  he  spent  his  re- 
maining days.  He  was  a  stanch  Republican, 
and  took  quite  an  active  part  in  local  politics. 
His  death  occurred  in  this  county,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-two  years.  He  was  the  only  son  of  the 
family  who  lived  to  any  age,  but  has  a  sister, 
Mrs.  Julia  Aldrich,  who  is  now  living  in  this 
county,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-five  years. 
The  mother  of  our  subject  still  survives  her  hus- 
band, and  although  now  in  her  eighty-third  year, 
her  mental  and  physical  faculties  are  well  pre- 
served. 

The  Rogers  family  numbered  six  children, 
three  sons  and  three  daughters,  but  Ella  is  now 
deceased.  The  others  are  Mary  L-,  widow  of 
Chauncy  Harmon,  and  a  resident  of  Downer's 
Grove,  Theodore  S.;  Joseph  W.,  a  prosperous 


merchant  of  this  place;  Francis  A.,  a  successful 
farmer  of  Downer's  Grove  Township;  and  Sarah, 
wife  of  John  A.  Kinley,  of  Aurora,  111. 

Capt.  Rogers  spent  the  first  thirteen  years  of 
his  life  in  the  State  of  his  nativity,  and  in  1844 
came  with  his  parents  to  Illinois.  He  remained 
at  home  until  twenty  years  of  age,  when  he  be- 
gan teaching  school  in  this  county.  For  twelve 
winters  he  followed  that  profession,  while  in  the 
summer  months  his  labors  were  devoted  to  work 
upon  the  home  farm.  He  had  attended  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  was  graduated  from  the  Down- 
er's Grove  High  School.  On  the  igth  of  July, 
1862,  prompted  by  patriotic  impulses,  he  re- 
sponded to  the  country's  call  for  troops,  and  en- 
listed as  a  private  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fiftt 
Illinois  Infantry.  On  the  organization  of  Com 
pany  B,  he  was  elected  Captain.  The  regiment 
went  into  camp  at  Dixon,  and  was  mustered  into 
the  United  States  service  September  2,  1862,  and 
sent  thence  to  Louisville  and  Frankfort,  Ky.,  en- 
gaging at  the  skirmish  at  the  latter  place.  Capt, 
Rogers  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Bowling  Green, 
Taylor's  Ridge,  Smoke  Creek  Gap,  and  at  the 
battle  of  Resaca  had  charge  of  the  skirmish  line 
in  front  of  the  assaulters.  He  led  his  men  at 
Calhoun,  Cassville,  the  advance  on  Dallas,  New 
Hope  Church,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Lookout 
Mountain,  Golgotha,  the  assault  on  Kenesaw,  the 
battle  of  Marietta,  Chattahoochee  River,  Peach 
T:ee  Creek,  the  battle  of  Atlanta,  and  the  siege 
of  that  city.  On  the  3oth  of  September,  1864, 
he  resigned  and  was  honorably  discharged  from 
the  service.  He  participated  in  many  skirmishes 
and  battles,  and  his  war  record  is  one  of  which  he 
may  well  be  proud. 

On  the  1 3th  of  December,  1855,  the  Captain 


CAPT.  THEO.  S.  ROGERS 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


P.  C.  GARDNER. 


559 


married  Miss  Helen  M.,  a  daughter  of  Dexter 
and  Nancy  (Capron)  Stanley,  who  were  among 
the  early  settlers  of  DuPage  County.  She  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania,  February  6,  1833,  but 
since  her  second  year  has  made  her  home  in  this 
county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rogers  had  two  children, 
Bertha  and  Glen,  but  both  died  in  infancy. 

The  Captain  was  elected  Sheriff  of  DuPage 
County  in  1860,  but  on  entering  the  sen-ice  of 
his  country  he  left  reliable  deputies  to  perform 
the  duties  of  that  office.  He  has  served  as  Super- 
.  visor,  Township  Clerk  and  Collector.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Town  Trustees  for  four- 
teen years,  and,  with  the  exception  of  one  year, 
was  President  during  that  entire  time.  He  cast 
his  first  Presidential,  vote  for  Scott,  but  it  is  need- 
less to  say  that  he  is  now  a  stanch  Republican, 
supporting  that  party  which  was  formed  to  pre- 
vent the  further  extension  of  slavery.  In  1892 
he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Fifer  on  the  Board  of 
Equalization  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the 
death  of  Henry  L.  Bush.  He  is  a  prominent 
Grand  Army  man,  and  with  the  exception  of  one 
year  has  been  Commander  of  Naper  Post  No. 
468,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Downer's  Grove,  since  its  or- 
ganization: At  that  time  he  refused  to  have  the 
office,  but,  his  comrades  insisting  upon  his  ac- 
cepting the  position  again,  he  is  now  the  incum- 
bent. He  has  served  as  Superintendent  of  the 
Agricultural  Society  of  the  county  for  a  number 


of  years,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity of  Downer's  Grove,  and  the  Royal  Arcanum 
of  Hinsdale.  He  also  belongs  to  the  Loyal 
Legion  of  Illinois,  the  last  two  being  societies  of 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  and  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee. 

After  his  return  from  the  war,  the  Captain  en- 
gaged in  teaching  school  for  a  year,  then  spent 
one  year  in  the  insurance  business,  and  in  July, 
1866,  embarked  in  the  market  and  provision  busi- 
ness in  Chicago.  In  1871,  in  the  great  fire,  he 
was  burned  out,  and  again  in  1874,  but  with 
characteristic  energy  he  rebuilt,  retrieved  his 
losses,  and  has  since  successfully  carried  on  busi- 
ness. He  now  has  one  of  the  finest  markets  in 
Chicago,  located  at  the  corner  of  Wabash  Ave- 
nue and  Eighteenth  Street.  His  possessions  have 
all  been  acquired  through  his  own  earnings,  and 
he  has  gained  a  handsome  competence,  but  in- 
stead of  using  it  all  for  selfish  ends,  he  gives  lib- 
erally to  charitable  and  benevolent  work.  The 
needy  are  never  turned  from  his  door  empty- 
handed,  and  probably  no  man  has  contributed  so 
much  to  the  poor  of  Downer's  Grove  as  has 
Capt.  Rogers.  He  has  a  beautiful  home  here 
and  several  lots  and  business  houses.  Through- 
out DuPage  and  Cook  Counties  he  has  a  host  of 
friends,  and  is  held  in  the  highest  regard  by  all 
with  whom  he  has  been  brought  in  contact. 


CAPT.  PETER  G.  GARDNER. 


EAPT.  PETER  G.  GARDNER,  one  of  the 
representative  citizens  of  La  Grange,  and  a 
man  prominent  in  public  affairs  in  this  com- 
munity, claims  Ohio  as  his  native  State.    He  was 
born  near  Zanesville,   September   12,    1842,   and 
was  the  second  in  a  family  of  four  children,  three 
sons  and  a  daughter,  born  unto  Adam  and  Eliza- 
beth Gaertner.     The  mode  of  spelling  the  sur- 
name was  changed  to  Gardner  by  the  Captain. 


The  father  was  born  in  Germany,  and  there  grew 
to  mature  years.  Having  married,  he  came  to 
this  country,  locating  near  Zanesville,  Ohio.  His 
wife  died  in  1846,  after  which  the  family  was 
scattered,  and  the  father  joined  an  Ohio  regiment 
for  sen-ice  in  the  Mexican  War.  He  was  killed 
in  the  siege  of  the  City  of  Mexico. 

Capt.  Gardner  was  only  four  years  of  age  at 
the  time  of  his  mother's  death.     He  was  bound 


56o 


P.  C.  GARDNER. 


out  to  a  farmer  near  Zanesville,  and  there  resided 
until  fifteen  years  of  age,  when  he  began  work- 
ing as  a  farm  hand  by  the  month  through  the 
summer  season,  and  in  the  winter  he  attended 
the  common  schools.  On  the  lyth  of  April,  1861, 
he  joined  Company  A,  of  the  Fifteenth  Ohio  In- 
fantry, for  three  months'  service,  being  among  the 
first  to  respond  to  the  call  for  troops.  When  that 
term  had  expired,  he  immediately  re-enlisted,  and 
was  made  Corporal  March  7,  1862.  He  was  ap- 
pointed Sergeant  January  i,  1864,  and  was  made 
First  Lieutenant  February  9,  1865.  On  the  ist 
of  January,  1864,  he  again  enlisted  for  another 
term  of  three  years,  if  the  war  continued  so 
long.  On  the  gth  of  February,  1865,  he  was  dis- 
charged as  an  enlisted  man,  to  accept  a  commis- 
sion as  First  Lieutenant  of  his  old  company  and 
regiment.  On  the  22d  of  December,  1865,  in 
Columbus,  Ohio,  he  received  his  final  discharge. 
He  participated  in  the  engagement  at  Philippi, 
W.  Va. ,  and  afterwards  took  part  in  the  battles 
of  Carricks  Ford,  Cheat  Mountain  and  Shiloh. 
He  also  participated  in  the  engagement  at  Liberty 
Gap,  Chickamauga  and  Mission  Ridge,  and  was 
in  the  entire  campaign  from  Chattanooga  to  At- 
lanta, which  lasted  from  May  i  until  Septem- 
ber i,  1864.  During  all  that  time  hardly  an  hour 
passed  during  which  the  sound  of  the  guns  could 
not  be  heard.  He  took  part  in  the  engagements 
at  Resaca,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  New  Hope  Church, 
Kennesaw  Mountain, Chattahoochee  River,  and  for 
five  weeks  was  in  the  siege  of  Atlanta.  The  army 
then  went  South,  and  after  the  battle  of  Franklin 
the  regiment  in  which  Mr.  Gardner  served,  which 
formed  a  part  of  the  rear-guard,  had  to  destroy 
the  bridge  at  that  place.  They  then  returned  to 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  with  Gen.  Thomas  in  com- 
mand, and  participated  in  the  campaign.  In  June, 
1865,  Capt.  Gardner  was  sent  to  western  Texas, 
and  during  the  month  of  August,  with  his  troops, 
marched  from  Matagorda  Bay  to  San  Antonio, 
where  he  remained  on  duty  until  December,  1865. 
He  then  marched  back  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
after  which  he  returned  home.  He  received  no 
serious  wounds,  but  had  some  very  narrow  es- 
capes. He  still  has  in  his  possession  the  sword 
which  he  carried  through  the  greater  part  of  the 


war,  and  upon  it  is  a  large  scar  that  was  caused 
by  a  piece  of  shell  striking  it. 

When  his  country  no  longer  needed  his  serv- 
ices, Capt.  Gardner  returned  to  his  home  in 
Zanesville,  Ohio,  but  after  a  short  time  went  to 
visit  his  sister  in  Mattoon,  111.  The  eldest 
brother  of  the  family,  now  deceased,  was  in  the 
Sixth  Iowa  Infantry.  The  Captain  had  not  seen 
him  since  the  home  was  broken  up  until  the 
night  following  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  when  they 
chanced  to  meet.  The  brother  was  wounded  at 
the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  and  was  a  cripple 
throughout  the  remainder  of  his  life.  George  A., 
another  brother,  was  a  member  of  the  same  com- 
pany and  regiment  as  our  subject,  and  is  now 
residing  in  Chula,  Mo.,  a  retired  farmer  and 
prominent  citizen  of  that  place,  where  he  is  en- 
gaged in  the  banking  business.  Their  sister, 
Catherine,  is  now  the  wife  of  Henry  Hortinstine, 
a  farmer  residing  in  Chillicothe,  Mo. 

Removing  to  Clinton,  Iowa,  in  1866,  Capt. 
Gardner  there  engaged  in  the  fire-insurance  bus- 
iness until  1869,  when  he  went  to  Chicago,  where 
he  followed  the  same  pursuit  and  where  he  is 
still  engaged  in  business.  In  the  spring  of  1871, 
he  came  to  where  the  town  of  LaGrange  now 
stands,  being  the  first  resident  of  the  village. 
Purchasing  a  lot  on  the  prairie,  he  has  made 
this  place  his  home  continuously  since. 

In  June,  1869,  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Gardner  and  Miss  MaroaE.  Conklin,  of  Dar- 
ien,  Wis.,  who  died  in  1873,  leaving  one  son, 
Charles  A.,  who  is  now  in  the  Treasurer's  office 
of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad, 
filling  a  responsible  position.  Our  subject  was 
again  married,  in  December,  1874,  his  second  un- 
ion being  with  Miss  Luella  W.  Humphry,  of  Port- 
land, Me.  They  had  five  children,  but  three  of 
the  number  died  in  infancy,  and  William  R.,  a 
young  man  of  much  promise,  died  at  the  age  of 
seventeen.  Eugene,  the  youngest,  is  a  lad  of 
eleven  years. 

Mr.  Gardner  takes  considerable  interest  in  civic 
societies,  especially  in  Masonry,  in  which  he  has 
taken  the  Thirty-second  Degree.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  La  Grange  Lodge,  and  an  honorary 
member  of  Garden  City  Lodge  of  Chicago.  He 


N.  S.  CARRINGTON. 


belongs  to  the  Commandery  of  the  military  order 
of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  He  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  Hiram  McClintock  Post  No. 
667,  G.  A.  R.,  of  La  Grange,  and  was  its  first 
Commander.  He  also  organized  the  Masonic 
lodge  at  this  place,  was  its  Master  for  six  years, 
and  is  now  High  Priest  of  the  Chapter.  With 
the  Royal  Arcanum  he  is  also  connected.  In  his 
political  views,  he  is  a  stanch  Republican,  who 
always  gives  his  support  to  the  men  and  meas- 
ures of  his  party.  He  is  now  serving  as  Secre- 
tary of  the  High  School  Board,  is  Secretary  and 


Treasurer  of  the  Music  Hall  Association  of  La- 
Grange,  is  a  warm  friend  to  education,  and  is  a 
patron  of  all  those  enterprises  which  are  calcu- 
lated to  uplift  humanity.  He  is  now  doing  a 
large  insurance  business  in  Chicago,  and  has  the 
respect  and  esteem  of  all  who  know  him.  He  is 
an  honored  member  of  various  societies,  and  has 
won  prominence  through  merit  and  ability.  He 
was  ever  true  to  his  country  in  her  hour  of  peril, 
and  for  four  years  and  a-half  was  actively  en- 
gaged in  her  service,  faithfully  defending  the  Old 
Flag  which  now  floats  so  proudly  over  the  united 
nation. 


N.  STARR  CARRINGTON. 


|O  STARR  CARRINGTON,  who  resides  upon 
\"l  a  farm  on  section  18,  Lyons  Township,  is 
I  /J  numbered  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Cook 
County  of  1836.  His  residence  therefore  in  this 
community  covers  a  period  of  fifty-seven  years. 
He  was  born  in  Middletown,  Conn.,  on  the  I2th 
of  December,  1816,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and 
Susan  (Starr)  Carrington,  both  of  whom  were  of 
English  descent.  The  Starr  family  was  founded 
in  America  in  1634.  The  grandfather,  Nathan 
Starr,  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  Unto 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carrington  were  born  seven  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Susan,  Elizabeth,  Mary,  Henry, 
Starr,  Lorrania  and  William,  but  our  subject  is 
now  the  only  one  living.  While  in  the  East,  the 
father  served  as  cashier  of  the  Middletown  Bank. 
At  length  he  determined  to  seek  a  home  on  the 
broad  prairies  of  the  West,  and  emigrated  to  Chi- 
cago, then  a  small  town,  giving  little  or  no  evi- 
dence of  its  future  growth  and  importance.  He 
there  engaged  in  the  brokerage  business  in  con- 
nection with  E.  K.  Hubbard  until  1837,  when  he 
removed  to  the  farm  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  which  he  had  purchased  of  B.  Jacobs  for 
$12.50  per  acre  the  year  previous.  Upon  this 
farm  he  made  his  home  until  1840,  when  he  re- 


turned to  Middletown,  Conn.,  and  became  Treas- 
urer and  Secretary  of  the  Savings  Bank  of  that 
place.  He  was  entirely  a  self-made  man,  and  for 
the  success  of  his  life  deserves  great  credit.  With 
the  Congregational  Church  he  held  membership, 
and  his  career  was  an  honorable,  upright  one. 
He  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-three 
years. 

In  the  schools  of  his  native  town,  Mr.  Carring- 
ton of  this  sketch  acquired  a  good  business  edu- 
cation and  under  the  parental  roof  he  spent  his 
childhood  days.  With  his  father  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois, but  he  remained  in  Chicago  only  a  short 
time.  On  leaving  that  place  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence upon  the  farm  which  is  now  his  home. 
There  were  no  improvements  upon  the  place,  save 
a  log  cabin,  which  is  still  standing,  one  of  the  few 
landmarks  that  yet  remain.  Chicago  was  the 
nearest  trading-point  and  they  hauled  all  their 
grain  and  farm  produce  to  that  place.  When  he 
first  reached  that  city,  Mr.  Carrington  boarded  at 
the  old  Lake  Street  Hotel.  There  was  not  a 
bridge  in  the  place,  and  many  portions  that  are 
now  solidly  built  up  with  fine  residences  or  busi 
ness  houses  were  then  only  wet  prairie.  Mr. 
Carrington  now  owns  two  hundred  and  twenty 


562 


WESLEY  POLK. 


acres  of  good  land,  and  carries  on  general  farming 
and  stock-raising.  Idleness  is  utterly  foreign  to 
his  nature,  and  a  busy  and  well-spent  life  has 
brought  him  a  comfortable  competence. 

On  the  i6th  of  August,  1841,  Mr.  Carrington 
was  joined  in  marriage  with  Miss  Laura  Butler, 
and  unto  them  have  been  born  eight  children, 
namely:  William  H.,  now  deceased;  Susan; 
Mary;  Elizabeth;  William  H.;  Lorriana,  de- 
ceased; Laura  and  Edward. 

In  his  political  affiliations,  in  early  life,  Mr. 
Carrington  was  a  Whig,  and  since  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Republican  party  has  been  one  of  its 
stanch  supporters.  He  has  been  honored  with 


some  public  offices,  has  served  as  Commissioner, 
for  the  past  twelve  years  has  filled  the  office  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  is  the  present  incum- 
bent. The  best  interests  of  the  community  have 
ever  found  in  him  a  friend.  His  co-operation  and 
support  are  given  to  worthy  enterprises,  and  all 
that  is  calculated  to  benefit  the  community  re- 
ceives his  assistance.  The  history  of  Cook 
County  is  well  known  to  him,  for  since  its  early 
days  he  has  watched  its  growth  and  advance- 
ment. He  may  truly  be  classed  among  the  hon- 
ored pioneers,  and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  we  pre- 
sent to  our  readers  the  sketch  of  this  worthy  gen- 
tleman. 


WESLEY  POLK. 


POLK  was  a  native  of  Kentucky. 
He  was  born  in  Jefferson  County,  on  the 
4th  of  November,  1818,  and  was  one  of  six 
children  whose  parents  were  Edmund  and  Mar- 
garet Polk.  Their  children  were  H.  H.,  James, 
William,  Wesley  and  Wilson,  but  Henry  H.  is 
the  only  'one  now  living. 

Our  subject  was  born  and  reared  upon  the 
home  farm  in  Kentucky,  and  acquired  the  greater 
part  of  his  education  outside  the  school-room. 
He  began  life  for  himself  when  a  young  man,  and 
was  afterward  dependent  upon  his  own  resources. 
In  1831  he  left  the  State  of  his  nativity  and  re- 
moved to  Indiana,  where  he  made  his  home  un- 
til 1833,  when  he  came  to  Illinois,  making  the 
journey  by  wagon.  He  located  in  Lyons  Town- 
ship, where  he  purchased  a  tract  of  wild,  uncul- 
tivated land  on  section  2 1 ,  upon  which  a  log  cabin 
was  built.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  parents 
and  family,  and  they  experienced  all  the  hard- 
ships and  trials  of  life  on  the  frontier.  The  In- 
dians were  still  numerous  in  the  settlement,  and 
Chicago  was  the  trading-point  of  the  pioneers. 

Mr.  Polk  grew  to  manhood  upon  the  new  farm, 
and  there  made  his  home  until  1849,  when,  in 


connection  with  his  brother  H.  H.,  and  three 
other  young  men,  they  started  with  pack  mules 
for  California.  They  walked  much  of  the  dis- 
tance, but  at  length  after  traveling  for  several 
months  reached  their  destination.  There  Mr. 
Polk  engaged  in  prospecting  and  mining  from 
1849  until  1851.  His  trip  proved  quite  a  success- 
ful one,  and  he  returned  home  .by  way  of  New 
York  City  and  the  water  route.  He  then  came 
back  to  the  farm,  and  to  agricultural  pursuits  de- 
voted his  energies  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war,  when,  in  1861,  prompted  by  patriotic  im- 
pulses, he  responded  to  the  country's  call  for 
troops.  He  enlisted  as  a  private,  was  assigned 
to  Company  H,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty -seventh 
Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  mustered  into  service  in 
Chicago.  He  faithfully  followed  the  Old  Flag  for 
three  years,  and  during  that  time  was  never  either 
wounded  or  taken  prisoner,  but  was  always  found 
at  his  post  of  duty,  participating  in  all  the  engage- 
ments in  which  the  regiment  took  part,  a  faithful 
and  valiant  defender  of  the  Union.  When  mus- 
tered out  he  held  the  rank  of  Corporal. 

When  the  war  was  over,   Mr.   Polk  returned  to 
the  old  farm,  where  he  lived  until  1881.    He  then 


C.   H.    HARRISOX.  JR. 


563 


purchased  the  farm  now  owned  by  the  family.  It 
comprised  one  hundred  and  ninety  acres  of  rich 
and  valuable  land,  under  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion and  well  improved  with  all  the  accessories 
and  conveniences  of  a  model  farm.  Mr.  Polk  be- 
gan life  a  poor  boy,  but  his  career  was  a  success- 
ful one,  for  he  was  diligent  and  enterprising  and 
possessed  good  business  ability. 

In  1860  Mr.  Polk  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  MaryJ.  Bielby.  Her  birthplace  was  near 
Utica,  N.  Y.  They  had  only  one  child,  Edmund 
R.,  who  was  born  March  7,  1866.  He  attended 
the  public  schools  and  was  graduated  from  the 
.Metropolitan  Business  College  of  Chicago.  On 
the  1 4th  of  January,  1891,  he  married  Miss  Agnes 
L,ittle,  and  they  have  become  the  parents  of  one 
son,  Wesley  W.  Edmund  now  carries  on  the 


home  farm  and  is  a  wide-awake  and  enterprising 
agriculturist. 

The  father  was  called  to  his  final  rest  May  23, 
1893,  and  his  remains  are  interred  in  Lyonsville 
Cemetery.  He  had  the  respect  of  all  who  knew 
him  and  his  death  was  deeply  mourned.  In  poli- 
tics, he  was  a  stalwart  advocate  of  the  Republican 
party  and  its  principles,  and  did  all  in  his  power 
to  insure  its  success.  For  fourteen  successive 
years  he  creditably  and  ably  filled  the  office  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  was  Township  Collector,  and 
also  served  as  Supervisor.  Socially,  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Grand  Army  post,  and  in  religious 
belief  he  was  a  Congregationalist.  Alike  true  in 
public  and  private  life,  and  faithful  to  every  trust, 
he  had  the  confidence  and  regard  of  all  with  whom 
business  or  social  relations  brought  him  in  contact. 


CARTER  H.  HARRISON,  JR. 


EARTER  H.  HARRISON,  JR.,  the  editor  of 
the  Chicago  Times,  the  leading  Democratic 
newspaper  of  the  city,  has  spent  his  entire 
life  here,  with  the  exception  of  three  years  spent 
in  Germany  and  the  time  passed  in  college.  The 
Harrison  family  has  been  prominently  connected 
with  the  city's  interests  since  an  early  day,  and 
the  ancestors  of  our  subject  were  among  those 
who  aided  in  achieving  the  independence  of  this 
country.  The  family  originated  in  England,  and 
some  of  its  members  came  from  that  country  to 
the  United  States  in  the  seventeenth  century,  lo- 
cating in  Virginia.  It  had  several  representatives 
in  the  Colonial  army  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  Gen.  William  Russell,  one  of  the  ma- 
ternal ancestors  of  our  subject,  won  his  title  during 
that  eight-years  struggle.  Benjamin  Harrison, 
who  first  came  to  America,  was  a  man  of  promi- 
nence in  Virginia,  and  served  as  Colonial  Gov- 
ernor. For  three  generations  after  him  the  blood 
was  transmitted  through  a  Benjamin  Harrison. 


The  fourth  Benjamin  had  two  sons,  Benjamin 
and  Carter.  In  direct  line  the  descendants  of  the 
former  are  William  Henry,  Scott  H.  and  Benja- 
min. Of  the  latter  they  are  Robert  Carter,  Carter 
H.,  Carter  H.  (the  late  Mayor  of  the  city), 
Carter  H.,  Jr.,  of  this  sketch,  and  his  little  son, 
who  also  bears  the  name  of  Carter  H. 

The  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  record 
was  born  in  Chicago,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1860. 
His  father  had  located  here  several  years  previ- 
ous, and  from  that  time  until  his  death  was  ac- 
tively connected  with  the  welfare  of  the  city. 
The  son  was  educated  in  private  schools  until 
1873,  when  he  went  to  Germany.  In  1876,  he 
attended  college  in  New  York,  and  later  was 
graduated  from  St.  Ignatius'  College,  of  Chicago. 
He  afterwards  entered  Yale  College,  and  com- 
pleted the  law  course  in  that  renowned  institution 
in  the  Class  of  '83. 

Returning  to  his  home,  Mr.  Harrison  then  em- 
barked in  the  real-estate  business,  and  carried  on 


564 


CHRISTIAN   THIELE. 


operations  along  that  line  for  a  number  of  years, 
when,  in  1891,  in  connection  with  his  father,  he 
bought  out  the  Chicago  Times,  and  assumed 
charge  of  the  editorial  department  of  the  paper. 
The  Times  is  too  well  known  to  need  mention 
here.  It  is  an  old  paper,  yet  its  success  and  high 
reputation  have  been  greatly  increased  since  Mr. 
Harrison's  connection  with  it. 

In  the  year  1887,  our  subject  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Edith  Ogden,  daughter  of  Rob- 
ert N.  Ogden,  of  New  Orleans,  La.,  and  to  them 
has  been  born  a  son,  who  was  named  for  his  father 
and  grandfather.  Mr.  Harrison  holds  member- 
ship with  the  University  Club  and  the  Chicago 


Athletic  Club.  His  connection  with  the  Times  at 
once  indicates  his  political  views  to  be  Democratic. 
He  is  well  known  in  his  -native  city,  his  father's 
prominence  having  brought  him  a  wide  acquaint- 
ance among  leading  people,  while  his  own  qualities 
have  gained  for  him  their  high  regard  and  es- 
teem. He  possesses  the  same  attractive  manner 
for  which  the  Harrison  family  is  noted.  Although 
yet  a  young  man,  he  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
leading  and  influential  citizens  of  the  second  city 
in  the  Union,  and  whether  he  should  continue  in 
newspaper  work  or  leave  the  journalistic  field  he 
is  sure  to  occupy  a  position  of  importance. 


CHRISTIAN  THIELE. 


/2f  HRISTIAN  THIELE,  a  well-known  citizen 
1 1  of  Proviso  Township,  this  county,  is  a  native 
\j  of  Germany,  his  birth  having  occurred  in 
Hanover,  on  the  igth  of  January,  1834.  His  boy- 
hood and  youth  were  quietly  passed;  the  common 
schools  afforded  him  his  educational  privileges, 
and  in  his  native  land  he  learned  the  carpenter's 
trade.  Thinking  to  better  his  financial  condition 
by  emigrating  to  the  New  World,  in  1850  he 
sailed  for  America,  and  after  a  voyage  of  nine 
weeks  landed  in  New  York  City.  During  the 
trip  across  the  water  he  served  as  the  ship's  car- 
penter. He  left  home  with  a  capital  of  $50,  which 
his  father  gave  him,  and  with  this  he  started  out 
in  life  in  the  United  States,  a  stranger  in  a 
strange  land.  After  remaining  in  New  York 
City  for  a  short  time,  he  took  an  emigrant  train  to 
Chicago. 

On  reaching  that  place,  Mr.  Thiele  found  that 
his  money  was  exhausted,  but  he  soon  secured 
employment  as  a  carpenter,  and  thus  worked  for 
about  eighteen  months.  He  then  went  to  what 
is  now  Addison,  and  worked  at  his  chosen  trade, 
building  houses  for  the  farmers  of  that  locality 
for  a  period  of  about  nine  years.  With  the  capi- 


tal thus  acquired,  he  purchased  a  ten-acre  tract  of 
land  where  the  village  of  Proviso  now  stands,'  and 
has  here  made  his  home  continuously  since.  He 
rented  an  additional  tract,  and  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  farming,  which  he  carries  on  in  connection 
with  the  hay  business. 

In  1857,  Mr.  Thiele  was  joined  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Minnie  Summerman,  of  Cook  County, 
and  unto  them  were  born  two  children:  Henry, 
who  is  now  carrying  on  a  grocery  on  Madison 
Street,  in  Oak  Park,  Chicago;  and  Sophia,  wife 
of  William  Ruchty,  a  resident  of  Fullersburg. 
In  the  year  1872,  the  mother  of  this  family  was 
called  to  her  final  rest,  and  in  1874  Mr.  Thiele 
was  again  married,  his  second  union  being  with 
Miss  Margaret  Bernard,  by  whom  he  has  two 
children,  a  son  and  daughter,  Arno  and  Lizzie, 
both  at  home. 

Mr.  Thiele  is  now  the  owner  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  valuable  land  in  Cook  County, 
together  with  a  handsome  brick  residence,  store 
and  saloon,  which  are  valued  at  $23,000.  He 
also  has  a  granary  worth  $6,000.  Everything 
that  he  now  possesses  has  been  acquired  through 
his  own  efforts.  When  he  reached  Chicago,  he 


A.   F.  WEBB. 


565 


slept  for  two  nights  in  the  depot,  for  he  had  not 
money  enough  to  pay  for  lodging.  Undaunted, 
however,  by  the  difficulties  in  his  path,  he  soon 
secured  work,  and  as  he  was  enabled  to  save 
something  from  his  earnings,  he  made  judicious 
investments  of  his  capital,  and  is  now  numbered 


among  the  substantial  citizens  of  this  community. 
He  may  be  truly  called  a  self-made  man.  In  his 
political  views,  Mr.  Thiele  is  a  Republican,  and 
has  served  his  township  as  Highway  Commis- 
sioner. 


ALBERT  F.  WEBB. 


Gl  LBERT  F.  WEBB,  superintendent  of  the 
J  1  Stinson  Stock  Farm  at  Thornton,  was  born 
/I  in  Chicago,  on  the  ist  of  March,  1863,  and 
is  a  son  of  Francis  and  Amelia  (Wheeler)  Webb. 

The  father  was  a  native  of  England,  born  near 
London.  In  1861,  he  took  up  his  residence  near 
Thornton,  having  that  year  crossed  the  Atlantic 
to  America,  and  upon  the  farm  where  he  located 
he  made  his  home  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1881,  at  the  age  of  fifty-one  years.  Hiswidow 
still  resides  on  the  old  homestead.  She  was 
born  in  Oxford,  England,  and  came  to  America 
in  1862.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  had  a  family  of 
four  children,  but  two  of  the  number  died  in  child- 
hood. Albert  F.  and  Bessie  are  the  survivors. 
The  father  of  this  family  was  a  well-known  citi- 
zen of  Thornton  and  vicinity  for  some  years. 
For  a  long  time  he  carried  on  a  general  store  in 
the  village  of  Thornton  and  did  a  good  business 
in  that  way.  At  the  same  time  he  operated  his 
farm,  and  it  also  yielded  him  a  good  income.  He 
was  not  a  member  of  any  church,  but  was  an  hon- 
orable, upright  man,  and  for  several  years  was 
superintendent  of  a  union  Sabbath-school  in 
Thornton,  and  was  always  recognized  as  one  of 
the  most  useful  and  esteemed  citizens  of  the  place. 

Albert  F.  Webb  attended  the  public  schools, 
where  he  acquired  a  fair  English  education,  and 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  years  he  began  clerking  in  a 
grocery  store  in  Chicago.  Thus  he  started  out 
in  life  for  himself  and  since  that  time  he  has  made 


his  own  way  in  the  world.  For  a  year  he  con- 
tinued to  serve  as  a  salesman,  and  then  began 
learning  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  followed 
for  nine  years.  On  the  expiration  of  that  period, 
in  the  spring  of  1890,  he  became  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  Stinson  Stock  Farm  at  Thornton, 
which  position  he  yet  fills.  This  farm  com- 
prises about  seven  hundred  acres  of  land  and  is 
devoted  to  the  breeding  of  trotting  horses  and 
Jersey  cattle.  About  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thoroughbred  trotters  are  kept  on  the  farm,  most 
of  them  bred  under  the  management  of  Mr. 
Webb.  His  stables  are  extensive,  are  well 
lighted  and  ventilated  and  are  models  of  conven- 
ience in  all  particulars.  They  were  built  under 
the  personal  supervision  of  Mr.  Webb  and  indi- 
cate his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  needs  and 
care  of  horses.  The  farm  is  now  a  first-class 
stock-breeding  establishment.  About  thirty  men 
are  employed  upon  the  place,  including  several 
expert  trainers,  and  altogether  it  is  considered 
one  of  the  best  stock  farms  in  the  State.  Since 
locating  here  Mr.  Webb  has  also  superintended 
the  establishment  of  another  stock  farm  on  a 
similar  plan  at  Highlands,  Indiana. 

In  1882,  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  and  Miss  Winnie  Wendt, 
daughter  of  Frederick  Wendt,  of  Homewood.  She 
was  born  in  Germany,  and  came  with  her  par- 
ents to  Cook  County  when  four  years  of  age. 
Two  children  were  born  of  their  union,  but  the 


566 


son,  George,  died  at  the  age  of  ten  years, 
daughter,  Amy,  is  still  with  her  parents. 

Mr.  Webb  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity and  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters. 
In  politics,  he  has  been  a  life-long  Republican, 
and  is  a  warm  advocate  of  the  principles  of  his 
party.  He  served  for  two  terms  as  School  Direc- 


E.  P.  PATCH. 
The 


tor  of  Thornton.  His  position  as  Superintendent 
of  the  Stinson  Stock  Farm  lie  has  filled  for  four 
years,  and  in  its  management  has  given  entire 
satisfaction.  He  is  a  systematic  farmer  and  busi- 
ness man,  a  practical  and  enthusiastic  stockman, 
and  a  public-spirited  citizen. 


EDWARD  P.  PATCH. 


IT  D  WARD  PATRICK  PATCH,  Clerk  of  the 
1^  village  of  Wilmette,  is  a  native  of  Cook 
I  County  who  reflects  credit  upon  the  place  of 
his  nativity.  He  was  born  in  Chicago,  on  Saint 
Patrick's  Day,  1867,  and  is  a  son  of  Theodore  J. 
and  Rose  (Cassidy)  Patch,  the  former  a  native  of 
Albany,  New  York,  and  the  latter  of  Ireland. 

T.  J.  Patch  is  still  a  resident  of  Chicago,  where 
he  located  in  1844,  settling  on  the  West  Side,  and 
has  ever  since  been  engaged  in  the  dray  and  ex- 
press business.  He  has  built  up  a  large  business, 
and  employs  a  number  of  men  and  teams.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  Germany,  the  name  being 
originally  spelled  Fach.  Mrs.  Patch  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1851,  and  after  living  five  years  in  Brook- 
lyn, came  to  Chicago.  Her  father,  Edward 
Cassidy,  was  a  Captain  in  the  British  army,  and 
lost  his  life  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  His  widow, 
Bridget  Cassidy,  died  in  Chicago,  at  the  age  of 
ninety-eight  years.  Mr.  Patch  was  born  in  1855, 
and  his  wife  two  years  later. 

Edward  P.  Patch  was  educated  at  the  school 
attached  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Family,  at 
Twelfth  and  Morgan  Streets,  completing  the 
course  before  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  He  im- 
mediately entered  the  employ  of  the  North  Amer- 
ican Accident  Insurance  Company,  and  continued 
one  year.  For  the  past  nine  years  he  has  been 


with  the  Standard  Life  and  Accident  Insurance 
Company,  for  the  last  five  years  in  the  capacity 
of  manager  of  its  general  agency  at  Chicago.  He 
has  supervision  of  the  business  of  the  company 
all  over  the  West,  which  is  chiefly  transacted 
with  railroad  employes.  His  long  continuance 
and  steady  progress  with  his  present  employers 
attest  his  faithfulness  and  business  ability. 

In  1890  Mr.  Patch  took  up  his  residence  at  Wil- 
mette, where  he  built  a  handsome  home,  and  in 
April,  1895,  he  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  village. 
Since  August,  1894,  he  has  been  the  Wilmette 
correspondent  of  the  North  Shore  News.  He  is  a 
progressive,  public-spirited  citizen,  and  takes  an 
intelligent  interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  native 
country.  He  keeps  thoroughly  informed  on  all 
questions  of  the  day,  and  adheres  to  the  Republi- 
can party  in  matters  of  public  policy,  because  its 
principles  and  practice  exemplify  his  ideas  of 
good  government.  He  is  a  member  of  Ouilmette 
Council  of  the  Royal  Arcanum. 

May  27,  1889,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lavinia 
M.  Bruno,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  one  child, 
Rose  Louise,  aged  five  years.  Mrs.  Patch  is  a 
native  of  Geneva,  Illinois,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Louise  M.  Bruno.  Her  father  died 
from  wounds  received  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States  during  the  Civil  War. 


HENRY  GREENEBAUM. 


567 


HENRY  GREENEBAUM. 


HENRY  GREENEBAUM,  a  well-known  bus- 
iness man  of  Chicago  of  long  years'  stand- 
ing, is  descended  from  very  ancient  and  hon- 
orable families.  His  grandfather,  Elias  Greene- 
baum,  was  an  iron  merchant  at  Reipolskirchen, 
in  Rhenish  Bavaria.  It  is  notable  that  this  line  of 
mercantile  industry  has  been  continued  to  the 
present,  one  of  the  leading  iron  houses  of  Chicago 
having  been  until  recently  conducted  by  great- 
grandsons  of  Elias  Greenebaum.  Being  a  Jew, 
the  last-named  was  at  a  great  social  disadvantage 
in  Germany,  yet  such  were  his  energy,  capability 
and  integrity,  that  he  was  appointed  Treasurer 
of  his  county.  This  position  involved  great  re- 
sponsibility at  that  time,  owing  to  the  existence  in 
the  neighborhood  of  a  powerful  bandit,  who  com- 
manded a  strong  organization  of  followers,  whom 
he  ruled  with  despotic  power.  He  was  known 
by  the  nickname  of  "Schinderhannes,"  and  acted 
much  upon  the  plan  of  the  Robin  Hood  of  Eng- 
lish history,  who  took  from  the  rich  and  gave 
largely  to  the  poor.  For  many  years  he  was  a 
terror  to  the  people  and  officers  of  the  region 
where  he  flourished,  but  was  finally  captured  and 
beheaded  at  Mainz.  During  his  term  of  official 
life  Elias  Greenebaum  was  compelled  to  maintain 
a  strong  guard  about  his  premises  continually  to 
protect  the  public  funds,  as  well  as  his  own,  from 
attacks  of  the  robber  king. 

Jacob  Greenebaum  and  Sarah  Herz,  parents 
of  the  subject  of  this  biography,  were  cousins, 
and  grandchildren  of  "Jakob,"  of  Rathskirchen, 
who  was  born  in  the  early  part  of  the  eight- 
eenth century,  and  whose  descendants  have  been 


active  and  prominent  citizens  in  many  lands.  One 
of  his  sons,  Herz  Felsenthal,  was  a  delegate  to 
the  synod  held  in  Paris  in  1806,  by  decree  of 
Napoleon  I.  It  was  during  this  time  that  the 
Jews  in  Germany  took  surnames,  and  this  family 
assumed  that  of  Felsenthal.  Among  Jakob's 
great-grandchildren  were  Dr.  Felsenthal,  an  emi- 
nent physician  of  Darmstadt,  who  died  in  1885, 
and  Dr.  Greenebaum,  who  was  Rabbi  emeritus  at 
Landau,  Bavaria,  and  died  in  1893.  Dr.  B.  Fel- 
senthal, of  Chicago,  now  in  his  seventy-fifth  year, 
and  long  known  here  as  a  man  of  science  and  pub- 
lic spirit,  is  one  of  the  great-great-grandchildren; 
so  also  is  August  Blum,  Cashier  of  the  Union  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Chicago;  Eli  B.  Felsenthal,  an  at- 
torney-at-law,  and  a  Trustee  of  the  Chicago  Uni- 
versity; also  Mrs.  Hannah  Greenebaum  Solomon, 
President  of  the  National  Council  of  Jewish 
Women  of  America.  A  niece  of  Mrs.  Solomon, 
and  representing  the  sixth  generation  from  Jakob, 
was  married  in  San  Diego,  California,  at  the 
home  of  her  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Max^Lesem, 
in  1894. 

Jacob  Greenebaum  was  born  at  Reipolskirchen, 
and  lost  his  father  by  death  when  he  was  six 
years  old.  He  was  brought  up  to  commercial 
pursuits,  having  the  advantage  of  a  thorough  ed- 
ucation in  the  German,  French  and  Hebrew  lan- 
guages, and  became  a  merchant  at  Eppelsheim, 
in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Darmstadt.  He  possessed 
a  taste  for  agriculture,  and  gradually  came  into 
possession  of  land  in  the  Commune  of  Eppelsheim 
and  adjoining  territory,  until  he  owned  and  man- 
aged a  large  estate.  His  wife,  of  sacred  memory, 


568 


HENRY  GREENEBAUM. 


was  a  daughter  of  Michael  and  Jetta  (Felsen- 
thal)  Herz,  of  Eppelsheim,  where  Mr.  Herz  was 
a  veterinary  surgeon  and  a  livestock  dealer.  They 
were  able  to  give  their  children  the  benefit  of 
the  best  schools,  and  did  not  fail  to  thus  perform 
their  duty  in  preparing  them  for  the  stations  for 
which  they  were  fitted  by  birth  and  capability. 
In  1852  Mr.  Greenebaum  sold  his  possessions  and 
came  to  Chicago  to  be  near  his  sons,  three  of 
whom  had  preceded  him  by  several  years.  He 
did  not  engage  in  active  business  after  coming 
here,  but  made  real-estate  purchases  and  built  a 
number  of  houses  for  rent.  He  died  in  1870,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-three  years,  and  was  followed  to 
the  grave  by  a  very  large  concourse  of  people, 
the  large  courthouse  bell  being  tolled  as  the  pro- 
cession moved,  May  n,  1870.  His  wife  survived 
him  thirteen  years,  reaching  the  age  of  eighty- 
seven  years.  Eight  of  their  thirteen  children 
came  to  America,  the  others  having  died  before 
the  removal  of  their  parents  from  Eppelsheim, 
several  of  them  in  infancy.  Elias,  the  eldest,  is 
a  prominent  banker  in  Chicago.  Michael,  the 
second,  was  an  iron  merchant,  and  did  an  exten- 
sive business  in  Chicago,  where  he  died  in  1894, 
leaving  a  widow  and  a  large  and  interesting  fam- 
ily of  sons  and  daughters.  He  came  to  America 
in  1846,  and  to  Chicago  the  next  year.  Jacob, 
the  third,  died  here  in  1871,  and  Isaac  in  1885. 
The  latter  was  a  hardware  merchant,  and  later  in 
life  became  a  broker  in  Chicago.  Henry  is  the 
next  in  order  of  birth.  Hannah  died  while  the 
wife  of  Gerhard  Foreman,  an  old-time  banker  of 
this  city.  Barbara  is  the  wife  of  A.  Wise,  of 
Chicago;  and  David  S.,  the  youngest  of  the  fam- 
ily, is  engaged  in  the  banking  business  in  the 
same  city.  Elias,  Michael  and  Henry  preceded 
the  rest  of  the  family  to  Chicago. 

Henry  Greenebaum  was  born  at  Eppelsheim, 
Germany,  June  18,  1833.  He  received  his  prim- 
ary education  in  the  public  schools,  where  he 
early  attracted  the  favorable  notice  of  the  teachers 
and  school  officers.  He  then  took  up  the  classics 
at  Alzey  and  Kaiserslautern,  and  only  left  off 
his  literary  researches  when  he  started  for  Amer- 
ica. He  arrived  in  Chicago  October  25,  1848, 
and  at  once  took  employment  as  a  hardware  sales- 


man in  the  establishment  of  W.  F.  Dominick, 
who  conducted  a  strictly  cash  and  one-price  busi- 
ness. Young  Greenebaum  found  this  employ- 
ment congenial,  especially  as  its  conduct  harmon- 
ized with  his  ideas  of  integrity  and  sound  financial 
management.  After  two  years  of  service,  in 
which  he  did  not  fail  to  improve  his  opportunities, 
he  engaged  as  clerk  in  the  banking  house  of 
General  R.  K.  Swift.  Here  he  met  many  prom- 
inent citizens  of  the  state,  and  his  intercourse  with 
them  enhanced  his  knowledge  of  men  and  affairs. 
He  was  inspired  with  a  laudable  ambition  to  be- 
come a  man  of  business,  and  he  so  applied  him- 
self as  to  be  thoroughly  conversant  with  banking 
in  the  course  of  four  years,  during  which  time  he 
made  a  trip  to  Europe  and  formed  business  con- 
nections for  his  employer. 

At  the  end  of  this  period,  in  connection  with 
his  elder  brother,  Elias,  a  clerk  in  the  same  bank, 
he  opened  a  similar  business  on  his  own  account. 
In  fact,  all  of  the  Greenebaum  brothers,  except 
Jacob,  became  at  one  time  or  another  bankers, 
though  not  in  the  same  bank.  The  subject  of 
this  sketch  did  not  follow  the  limited  lines  of 
nationality  or  religious  affiliation,  but  fraternized 
with  New  Englanders  and  Southerners,  as  well 
as  the  natives  of  the  Fatherland.  He  was  a  reader 
and  lover  of  books,  and  joined  the  Young  Men's 
Library  Association,  in  whose  affairs  he  was  an 
active  officer,  with  Robert  Collyer  and  others,  until 
the  Great  Fire.  He  was  among  the  early  officers 
of  the  Athenaeum,  another  literary  institution 
after  the  fire,  and  was  among  the  promoters  of 
the  City  Library.  As  a  member  of  the  commit- 
tee of  which  the  late  Thomas  Hoyne  was  Chair- 
man, he  went  to  Springfield  and  aided  in  securing 
the  permanent  establishment  of  this  great  institu- 
tion, which  has  grown  to  be  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  valuable  establishments  of  the  city 
of  his  home. 

He  became  President  of  the  German-National 
Bank,  which  was  compelled  by  the  panic  of  1877 
to  close  its  doors  after  a  long-continued  run,  in 
which  it  paid  eighty  per  cent,  of  its  liabilities  in 
cash,  and  within  a  comparatively  short  time  paid 
the  balance,  with  interest.  The  German  Sav- 
ings Bank,  of  which  he  was  also  President,  had 


HENRY  GREENEBAUM. 


569 


a  similar  experience  at  the  same  time,  and  met 
its  liabilities  in  the  same  honorable  manner.  The 
aggregate  deposits  of  these  banks  in  the  time  of 
their  highest  prosperity  approximated  five  mill- 
ions of  dollars. 

In  his  social  and  benevolent  activities  Mr. 
Greenebaum  has  accomplished  a  stupendous 
work,  the  simple  enumeration  of  which  almost 
exceeds  the  capacity  of  this  article.  His  great 
heart  and  wide  popularity  are  evidenced  by  the 
mere  mention  of  these  associations.  He  is  a  life 
member  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  the 
Academy  of  Sciences,  the  Astronomical  Society, 
and  of  several  kindred  associations.  Through 
secret  and  benevolent  societies  he  has  been  per- 
mitted to  do  more  for  his  fellows  than  often  falls 
in  the  way  of  a  single  man.  All  Jewish  interests, 
congregational,  charitable  and  educational,  owe  a 
heavy  debt  to  the  tireless  energy  and  enthusiasm 
of  Mr.  Greenebaum.  In  1855,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
he  joined  the  nearest  lodge  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  B'nai  B'rith,  and  two  years  later  took  a 
card  of  withdrawal  in  order  to  assist  in  institut- 
ing Rammah  Lodge  Number  33,  of  that  frater- 
nity, in  Chicago.  He  was  an  active  member  of 
District  Lodge  Number  2  for  ten  years,  and  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Cleveland  Orphan  Asy- 
lum, of  whose  Board  of  Trustees  he  is  still  a 
member.  At  the  convention  of  the  order  in  1868, 
at  New  York,  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Constitution,  he  was  largely  instrumental  in  plac- 
ing the  entire  body  upon  a  Democratic  basis,  es- 
tablishing the  sovereignty  of  lodges.  .  At  that 
convention  a  charter  was  granted  to  District  Grand 
Lodge  Number  6,  of  which  he  became  the  first 
Grand  President  by  unanimous  choice,  and  twice 
succeeded  himself.  His  usefulness  in  these  and 
other  matters  is  well  known  to  the  great  body 
of  the  Jewish  people  in  Chicago,  and  has  become 
almost  as  well  established  in  foreign  lands.  In 
June,  1885,  he  assisted  Julius  Bien,  President  of 
this  order,  in  instituting  District  Grand  Lodge 
Number  8  at  Berlin,  Germany.  Five  years  later 
he  was  in  attendance  at  the  convention  of  the  order 
at  Richmond,  Virginia,  representing  the  Berlin 
District  Grand  Lodge,  and  in  May,  1895,  repre- 
sented District  No.  9,  Roumania,  at  the  conven- 


tion in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  He  has  delivered  many 
addresses  in  various  conventions,  the  last  being 
at  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  in  February,  1892, 
upon  "Knowledge  and  Character."  His  spoken 
and  written  matter  is  always  clear  and  effective. 
He  is  an  officer  of  the  Jewish  Training  School,  a 
Director  in  the  German  Altenheim,  and  holds 
membership  in  many  other  organizations. 

In  the  purely  religious  institutions  of  his  people 
in  Chicago  he  has  ever  been  foremost  and  efficient. 
Before  he  was  of  age  he  was  Secretary  of  the  con- 
gregation B'nai  Sholom.  In  1855  he  withdrew 
to  join  that  of  Anshe  Maarib,  and  was  elected  an 
honorary  member  of  the  congregation  of  B'nai 
Sholom.  He  was  one  of  a  minority  in  Anshe 
Maarib  who  proposed  a  modification  of  forms  of 
Jewish  worship,  and  was  associated  with  Levi 
Rosenfeld  and  Lazarus  Silverman  as  a  commit- 
tee to  make  the  desired  changes  in  the  official  rit- 
ual. Although  the  majority  were  favorable  to 
their  report,  Mr.  Greenebaum  would  not  consent 
to  its  adoption  by  a  mere  majority,  and  accord- 
ing to  his  desire  the  reformers  were  induced  to 
go  out  and  form  a  new  congregation,  which  is 
now  known  as  Sinai,  and  is  the  strongest  con- 
gregation in  Chicago.  In  1864  Mr.  Greenebaum 
was  the  founder  of  Zion  Temple  on  the  West  Side, 
and  was  its  President  seven  years.  In  1882  he 
was  requested  to  take  charge  again,  which  he 
did  for  two  years,  and  during  this  time  the  move- 
ment was  started  for  the  building  of  the  beautiful 
temple  of  the  society  erected  at  Washington 
Boulevard  and  Ogden  Avenue.  In  the  fall  of 
1895  a  large  number  of  co-religionists  living  south 
of  Thirty-ninth  Street  united  to  organize  the 
Isaiah  Temple,  a  Jewish  Reform  congregation, 
with  Dr.  Joseph  Stoltz  as  Rabbi,  and  Mr.  Greene- 
baum was  elected  the  first  President  of  the  con- 
gregation by  a  unanimous  vote. 

Mr.  Greenebaum  was  one  of  the  foremost  in 
placing  on  a  firm  foundation  the  United  Hebrew 
Charities,  formerly  known  as  the  United  Hebrew 
Relief  Association.  It  built  and  maintained  a  hos- 
pital on  La  Salle  Avenue.  At  the  laying  of  its  cor- 
ner-stone, when  Mayor  John  B.  Rice  was  the  only 
speaker  beside  Mr.  Greenebaum,  the  latter  said: 
"While  it  is  true  that  it  is  to  be  built  and  when 


570 


HENRY  GREENEBAUM. 


completed  will  be  maintained  by  the  Jews  of  Chi- 
cago, yet  its  doors  will  ever  be  open  to  any  poor  or 
sick  man,  without  any  reference  to  nationality,  de- 
nomination, creed  or  color;"  and  his  utterance 
was  deeply  applauded  by  the  Jewish  people  pres- 
ent. He  takes  a  just  pride  in  the  fact  that  he  is 
an  honorary  member  of  Johanna  Lodge,  the  lead- 
ing organization  of  Jewish  ladies  in  Chicago, 
devoted  to  charity  and  intellectual  culture.  He 
is  also  President  of  the  Past- Presidents'  Associa- 
tion of  District  Grand  Lodge  Number  6, 1.O.B.B., 
and  for  thirty  years  officiated  in  Zion  Temple  as 
reader  on  the  most  important  Jewish  holiday,  the 
eve  of  the  Day  of  Atonement. 

As  early  as  1856  he  took  an  active  part  in  or- 
ganizing several  German  societies,  and  was  Pres- 
ident of  the  German  Aid  Society  in  1861.  He 
was  the  first  President  of  the  Orpheus  Mannaer- 
chor,  in  1869.  On  account  of  his  services  in  fur- 
thering the  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Amer- 
ican Union,  he  is  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Eighty-second  Illinois  Veteran  Association.  Dur- 
ing the  Civil  War  he  maintained  a  recruiting  of- 
fice in  Chicago  at  his  own  expense,  and  furnished 
a  man  to  serve  in  the  army  as  his  representative. 
He  was  Chief  Marshal  on  the  following  occasions: 
the  Siegel  Festival  in  1862;  the  great  Peace  Jubi- 
lee of  1871;  the  opening  of  Humboldt  Park  by. 
the  German  people;  and  the  unveiling  of  the 
Humboldt  monument.  He  was  Division  Marshal 
at  the  unveiling  of  the  Fritz  Reuter  monument, 
and  was  Adjutant-General  on  German  Day  at 
the  World's  Fair  in  1893,  and  also  at  the  recent 
commemoration  of  the  German  victory  at  Sedan. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  he  is  and  has  been  for 
forty  years  a  prominent  representative  of  the  best 
German  element  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Greenebaum  has  never  been  a  politician, 
and  holds  broad  and  liberal  views  on  political,  as 
well  as  religious,  questions.  He  originally  af- 
filiated with  the  Democratic  party,  and  was  a 
warm  admirer  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  whose 
personal  friend  he  was.  Without  his  previous 
knowledge,  he  was  placed  on  the  Democratic 
electoral  ticket  in  1860.  His  only  political  office 
previous  to  that  was  that  of  Alderman  from  the 
Sixth  Ward,  defeating  in  the  election  the  '  'know- 


nothing"  candidate.  In  the  City  Council  he  act- 
ed as  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee.  After 
the  war  he  became  a  Republican,  and  was  chosen 
Elector-at- Large  on  the  Presidential  ticket  of  that 
party  in  1872.  With  Charles  B.  Farwell,  he 
represented  Cook  County  on  the  first  Equaliza- 
tion Board  of  the  state,  and  the  clear  financial 
ideas  of  these  two  gentlemen  enabled  the  first 
board  to  complete  its  business  in  five'days.  He 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Palmer  a  delegate  to 
a  national  convention  at  Indianapolis  to  devise 
means  for  protecting  European  immigrants,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  committee  which  laid  the 
matter  before  Congress.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Committee  on  Finance  to  make  preliminary 
arrangements  for  the  Philadelphia  Exposition  of 
1876.  He  was  active  in  promoting  the  adoption 
of  Chicago's  park  system,  and  was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  West  Chicago  Park  Commission 
in  1869,  and  was  once  re-appointed.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  promoters  of  direct  trade  between 
Chicago  and  Europe,  and  for  many  years  his  let- 
ters-of-credit  were  readily  cashed  throughout  the 
civilized  world. 

In  1855  Mr.  Greenebaum  was  married,  in  New 
York,  to  Miss  Emily  Hyman,  whose  birthplace 
is  not  far  from  that  of  her  husband.  Having  been 
trained  in  the  same  manner  and  under  the  same 
customs,  they  have  been  happily  united  all  these 
years  in  aim  and  thought,  and  are  warmly  wel- 
comed in  general,  as  well  as  Jewish,  society. 
Mrs.  Greenebaum  sympathizes  wholly  with  her 
husband's  benevolent  disposition,  and  does  her 
part  in  aiding  him.  For  twenty-two  years  she 
has  been  the  representative  of  the  Jewish  people 
in  the  directory  of  the  Home  for  the  Friendless, 
and  has  fulfilled  her  duties  in  perfect  accord  with 
her  associates.  The  only  child  of  this  couple, 
born  August  24,  1856,  was  named  George  Wash- 
ington, and  died  on  the  day  which  completed  his 
first  year  of  life.  Several  orphaned  children  of 
relatives  have  been  reared  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Greenebaum  with  the  same  loving  care  which 
their  own  would  have  received  had  he  been 
spared  to  them. 

Though  still  influenced  much  by  his  early  Ger- 
man training,  Mr.  Greenebaum  is  a  true  Ameri- 


D.  S.  SMITH. 


can,  loyal  through  and  through.  He  is  a  student 
of  literature  and  modern  languages,  of  which  he 
speaks  half  a  dozen,  and  is  much  interested  in 
music.  He  has  contributed  liberally  to  the  mu- 
sical culture  of  Chicago,  and  to  providing  a  home 
for  musical  art.  He  is  a  firm  believer  in  the 
power  of  woman  in  the  ethical  development  of  the 
world,  and  approves  of  every  effort  to  remove  her 
trammels  and  make  her  the  equal  of  man  in  lib- 
erties and  power,  as  she  is  in  talent. 

Mr.  Greenebaum  is  a  resident  Manager  at  Chi- 


cago of  the  Equitable  Life  Assurance  Society  of 
the  United  States,  and  has  been  connected  with 
the  company  since  the  spring  of  1882.  His  ster- 
ling character  and  business  activity  have  secured 
for  him  a  large  business  from  the  best  element  of 
Chicago,  and  won  for  him  a  deserved  respect  and 
confidence  on  the  part  of  the  general  officers  of  the 
society.  Although  in  his  sixty-third  year,  he  is 
a  special  favorite  of  the  young  people,  to  whom  he 
is  sympathetic  and  congenial  as  an  associate.  He 
is  an  optimist,  and  always  pleasant  and  agreeable. 


PROF.  DAVID  S.  SMITH,  M.  D. 


.  D.  S.  SMITH,  M.  D.,  late  President  of 
yr  the  Hahnemann  Medical  College  of  Chicago, 
[3  was  born  in  Camden,  New  Jersey,  April  28, 
1816.  His  father,  Isaac  Smith,  was  born  in  Salem 
County,  of  that  state.  His  mother's  family  name 
was  Wheaton,  a  family  of  Welsh  extraction. 
The  sturdy,  manly  principles  which  mark  the 
career  of  Professor  Smith  are  largely  due  to  the 
character  he  inherited  from  his  parents.  They  were 
both  noted  for  great  force  of  character,  and  they 
trained  their  children  in  ways  of  strict  right- 
eousness and  integrity.  Besides  this  training, 
David  received  from  his  parents  a  nature  full  of 
energy  and  perseverance,  attributes  which  were 
strong  factors  in  leading  him  to  a  grand  success 
in  the  field  of  labor  he  eventually  chose  as  his 
life  work.  From  his  mother,  particularly,  he 
received  a  taste  for  learning  that  led  him  to  be- 
come a  most  diligent  student.  He  made  rapid 
progress  in  his  studies,  and  early  evinced  a  strong 
inclination  for  the  study  of  medicine.  In  this  he 
was  encouraged,  and  when  only  seventeen  became 
a  medical  student  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Isaac  Mul- 
ford,  of  Camden,  New  Jersey.  He  attended  three 
full  terms  of  lectures  at  the  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege in  Philadelphia,  and  graduated  in  1836. 


Chicago,  at  that  time,  began  to  attract  the  en- 
terprising youth  of  the  East,  and  Dr.  Smith, 
with  his  references,  began  practice  in  Chicago. 
He  was  successful  from  the  start,  and  in  1837 
went  back  to  Camden  to  visit  his  parents.  It 
was  a  momentous  visit,  as  it  was  then  that  Dr. 
Smith  attained  the  first  insight  into  the  then  new 
doctrine  of  homoeopathy.  So  interested  did  he 
become  in  the  subject,  that  he  resolved  to  investi- 
gate it  thoroughly.  He  bought  all  the  books  he 
could  find  in  the  English  language  treating  upon 
the  matter,  and  brought  them  with  him  when  he 
returned  to  Chicago.  Circumstances  led  him  to 
Joliet  for  a  time,  and  there  he  studied  assiduously 
the  doctrines  of  Hahnemann.  The  world  to-day 
knows  the  result  of  his  researches.  Dr.  Smith 
brought  the  new  science  to  the  front  to  such  pur- 
pose that  he  has  been  called  ' '  the  Father  of 
Western  Homoeopathy."  He  procured  from  the 
Illinois  Legislature,  in  1854-55,  the  charter  of 
Hahnemann  Medical  College  of  Chicago.  The 
original  draft  of  this  charter  was  written  by  Dr. 
Smith  in  the  law  office  of  Abraham  Lincoln  at 
Springfield,  Illinois.  The  achievement  of  con- 
ceiving and  establishing  this  college  gave  to  Dr. 
Smith  great  honor  and  credit. 


572 


D.  S.  SMITH. 


Dr.  Smith  remained  in  Joliet  until  1842,  when 
he  returned  to  Chicago.  In  the  spring  of  1843 
he  adopted  the  new  system  in  his  practice.  He 
was  thus  the  first  physician  to  introduce  homoe- 
opathic practice  west  of  the  Great  Lakes,  a  region 
that  now  has  six  medical  colleges,  twice  as  many 
hospitals,  and  more  than  two  thousand  prac- 
titioners to  represent  what  he  stood  for  singly  and 
alone.  He  was  both  surprised  and  gratified  at 
the  favor  with  which  the  new  system  was  received 
by  the  public.  He  soon  had  more  calls  than  he 
could  respond  to,  and  other  practitioners  were 
attracted  to  his  side.  So  rapidly  did  the  new 
school  increase  in  members,  that  a  medical  body 
was  soon  formed  whose  power  has  kept  pace  with 
the  other  great  factors  in  the  growth  of  the  west- 
ern metropolis.  Dr.  Smith  was  naturally  elected 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Hahnemann 
Medical  College  when  it  was  organized.  He  held 
that  position  until  1871,  when  he  resigned  in 
favor  of  Dr.  A.  E.  Small.  At  the  death  of  the 
latter  he  was  again  elected  President,  and  held 
the  office  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was 
obliged  to  desist  from  his  labors  on  account  of 
failing  health  at  various  times,  and  in  1866  he 
went  to  Europe,  where  he  spent  a  year  in  travel. 
His  reputation  had  preceded  him,  and  he  was 
received  at  the  various  hospitals  and  colleges 
which  he  visited  with  the  friendliest  attention 
and  consideration  from  the  distinguished  mem- 
bers of  the  profession.  When  he  returned  home, 
in  1867,  he  was  fully  restored  to  health,  and  fol- 
lowed his  profession  till  the  day  of  his  death. 

Dr.  Smith  was  an  attendant  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  through  his  mother's  in- 
fluence he  became  early  imbued  with  a  deep 
religious  conviction.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling 
integrity  and  unflinching  uprightness,  simple  in 
his  habits,  dignified,  urbane  and  generous.  His 
noble  efforts  and  humane  spirit  were  recognized 
when  the  cholera  epidemic  fell  upon  the  city  from 
1848  to  1854.  Instances  of  his  devotion  to  the 
suffering  poor  at  that  time  can  be  related  which 
place  him  in  the  ranks  of  the  most  noted  bene- 
factors of  the  human  race.  He  was  hospitable 
in  the  extreme,  and  an  attentive  listener  to  all 
who  sought  his  ear  for  counsel.  Thoroughly  ac- 


curate in  his  own  habits,  he  was  a  strict  disciplin- 
arian, and  demanded  the  same  adhesion  to  duty 
which  he  rendered  himself.  In  recognition  of 
his  ability,  and  in  appreciation  of  his  services  to 
the  cause  of  homoeopathy,  an  honorary  degree 
was  conferred  upon  him,  in  1856,  by  the  Homoe- 
opathic Medical  College  of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  In 
1857  he  was  elected  General  Secretary  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  in  1864  was 
chosen  President,  and  in  1865  Treasurer  of  this 
national  association. 

Naturally,  with  his  many  professional  duties, 
Dr.  Smith  never  sought  political  honors,  but  he 
lived  and  died  a  stalwart  Republican.  He  was 
President  of  the  Second  Ward  Republican  Club 
in  its  palmiest  days,  during  the  Hayes  campaign. 
He  was  at  the  time  of  his  death  the  honored  and 
popular  President  of  the  old  Tippecanoe  Club  of 
Chicago,  which  was  organized  in  July,  1887,  by 
those  who  ad  voted  for  General  Harrison  in 
1840. 

Dr.  Smith  was  married,  in  1837,  to  Miss 
Rebecca  Ann  Dennis,  a  native  of  Salem,  New 
Jersey,  who  survives  him.  She  came  to  Chicago 
in  1835  with  her  uncle,  E.  H.  Mulford,  in  whose 
family  she  resided  until  her  marriage.  Four 
children  blessed  their  union,  two  of  whom  survive. 
The  eldest  is  the  widow  of  Maj.  F.  F.  White- 
head,  of  the  United  States  army.  Caroline  is  the 
wife  of  E.  L.  Ely,  of  New  York  City. 

Dr.  Smith  died  in  Chicago,  April  29,  1891. 
The  following  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the 
faculty  of  Hahnemann  Medical  College  and  Hos- 
pital of  Chicago,  and  the  members  of  the  hospital 
staff: 

' '  Inasmuch  as  we  have  been  deeply  grieved  by 
the  death  of  our  worthy  and  venerable  colleague, 
Dr.  David  S.  Smith,  we,  as  a  faculty,  in  expres- 
sion of  deep  sorrow,  and  in  acknowledgment  of 
his  inestimable  services,  do  hereby  adopt  the  fol- 
lowing resolution: 

' '  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  first  of  all  the  loss 
of  the  profession  at  large,  in  which,  as  the  first 
representative  of  our  school  of  practice  in  this 
locality,  his  undaunted  energy  and  marked  abil- 
ity during  the  pioneer  days  have  given  the  im- 
print of  success  and  of  character  to  the  modern 


F.  I.  JACOBS. 


573 


standard  of  medicine.  What  he  knew  to  be  right 
he  faithfully  prescribed.  What  he  honestly  be- 
lieved he  bravely  defended  and  earnestly  applied. 
To  his  ability  and  his  faithfulness  the  followers  of 
homoeopathy  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude,  and  the 
generations  to  come  will  bow  in  reverence  to  his 
name. 

' '  Resolved,  That  as  the  President  of  our  College 
and  Hospital,  we  shall  miss  his  guiding  spirit 
and  his  encouraging  presence.  In  all  our  work 
he  has  ever  been  a  willing  helper  and  a  good  ad- 
viser. His  life  was  consecrated  to  the  college  he 
established  and  loved,  and  his  pride  was  centered 
in  her  prosperity.  The  joy  of  his  last  days  was 
the  realization  that  '  Old  Hahnemann  '  had  ful- 
filled the  desire  of  his  heart  and  had  become  the 


largest  homeopathic  college  of  the  world.  To 
every  student  his  words  were  an  encouragement 
to  honest  ambition.  To  every  graduate  he  gave 
the  inspiration  of  hope. 

' '  Resolved,  That  more  than  all  we  admire  the 
manly  qualities  and  the  Christian  character  of  his 
life.  In  all  things  he  was  ennobling.  At  all 
times  the  silent  dignity  of  his  faith  gave  a  strength 
to  his  work.  His  absence  will  ever  be  mourned 
and  his  memory  forever  honored.  In  our  loss  we 
shall  sacredly  prize  the  record  he  leaves  us. 

' '  Resolved,  That  to  his  bereaved  family  we  ten- 
der our  sincere  sympathy,  and  offer  the  token  of 
love  we  bore  our  departed  friend  and  associate  in 
their  sorrow." 


FRANCIS  I.  JACOBS. 


[""  RANCIS  IRVING  JACOBS,  a  gallant  vet- 
It)  eran  of  the  great  Civil  War,  residing  at  Wil- 
|  *•  mette,  was  born  at  Spafford  Hollow,  Onon- 
daga  County,  New  York,  October  4,  1846.  He 
is  the  son  of  Rev.  Milo  E.  and  Cornelia  (O'Far- 
rel)  Jacobs.  Milo  E.  Jacobs  was  born  in  Ver- 
mont, and  removed  with  his  parents  to  New 
York  in  boyhood.  His  father,  Elias  Jacobs,  was 
a  native  of  Vermont,  of  German  descent.  Betsey 
Jacobs,  wife  of  the  latter,  was  of  Welsh  descent. 
The  Jacobs  family  dates  from  early  Colonial  times 
in  this  country,  Elnathan  Jacobs,  the  father  of 
Elias,  having  been  born,  probably  in  Vermont, 
in  1750. 

Milo  E.  Jacobs  was  educated  at  Cazenovia, 
New  York.  He  entered  the  Methodist  ministry 
while  a  young  man.  In  1857  he  went  to  Ogle 
County,  Illinois,  and  settled  on  a  farm.  Two 
years  later  he  removed  to  Winnebago,  Illinois, 
where  he  joined  the  Rock  River  Conference,  and 
was  successively  located  at  Lena,  Richmond,  Sand 
Lake,  Lanark  and  other  charges.  He  died  in 


Winnebago,  on  account  of  an  injury  received  in 
Chicago  in  the  spring  of  1874,  aged  fifty-one 
years.  His  widow  died  in  Chicago  in  1893,  aged 
seventy-two  years.  She  was  born  at  Spafford 
Hollow,  New  York.  Her  father,  William  O'Far- 
rel,  who  was  born  August  28,  1784,  was  a  farmer, 
of  Irish  descent.  His  wife,  Dinah,  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  and  Catharine  Turbush,  of  Fishkill, 
New  York.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Milo  E.  Jacobs  had 
three  sons  and  a  daughter:  Francis  I. ;  Charles 
H.,  of  Marble  Rock,  Iowa;  Wilbur  F.,  of  Rock- 
ford,  Illinois;  and  Alfaretta,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  eleven  years,  at  Winnebago. 

Francis  I.  Jacobs  attended  the  public  schools 
until  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War.  In  August, 
1861,  being  then  fourteen  years  and  ten  months 
old,  he  enlisted  in  Company  C,  Thirty-seventh 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  served  nearly 
five  years,  beginning  with  Fremont's  campaign  in 
Missouri.  This  included  the  battles  of  Pea  Ridge 
and  Prairie  Grove  (where  five  thousand  Union 
troops  drove  twenty  thousand  rebels  from  the 


574 


F.  I.  JACOBS. 


field),  and  other  engagements  of  minor  character. 
After  the  Missouri  service  he  was  taken  down  the 
river  to  Vicksburg,  and  took  part  in  the  siege  of 
that  place  and  other  expeditions  in  Mississippi. 
Thence  he  went  to  Port  Hudson,  where  he  was 
stationed  for  some  time,  and  later  he  was  at  Mor- 
ganza  Bend,  Louisiana.  He  camped  at  New 
Orleans  and  various  points  in  Louisiana.  He  was 
on  the  Texas  frontier  during  the  winter  of  1863 
-64,  where  the  regiment  re-enlisted,  and  he  re- 
ceived a  veteran's  furlough. 

While  returning  to  the  front  after  the  expira- 
tion of  his  furlough,  Mr.  Jacobs  met  General 
Banks'  army  on  retreat  from  its  disastrous  Red 
River  expedition.  The  steamers  going  down 
stream  met  those  going  up  and  formed  a  bridge, 
on  which  the  army  crossed  from  the  west  bank  to 
an  island  in  the  river.  This  temporary  bridge 
was  instantly  and  readily  removed  before  the 
enemy  could  advance  and  take  possession.  Mr. 
Jacobs  continued  to  New  Orleans.  Later  the 
regiment  went  to  Pensacola  by  boats,  thence 
overland  to  Mobile  Bay,  and  helped  capture  the 
forts  opposite  the  city,  with  severe  fighting.  After, 
the  capture  of  Mobile,  they  encamped  three  miles 
from  the  city,  where  pieces  of  iron  fell  in  camp  at 
the  explosion  of  the  arsenal  at  Mobile  Bay.  From 
here  they  went,  by  way  of  Selma,  to  Montgomery, 
Alabama,  and  heard  of  Lee's  surrender  on  the 
march. 

Mr.  Jacobs  was  soon  afterward  sent  to  New 
Orleans,  and  thence  went  on  an  expedition  to 
Sabine  Pass,  Columbus  and  Houston,  Texas. 
While  on  the  levee  at  Morganza  Bend,  Louisiana, 
he  was  detailed  to  serve  in  the  artillery  force. 
Being  surprised  by  the  enemy  while  saddling  a 
horse,  he  received  a  kick  from  the  animal,  in  con- 
sequence of  its  pain  at  being  shot.  This  consti- 
tuted the  only  injury  he  received  during  his  service 
of  four  years  and  ten  months,  though  frequently 
exposed  to  a  galling  fire.  He  was  captured  that 
evening  and  marched  about  a  mile  to  the  enemy's 
camp.  Being  unable  to  walk  on  account  of  lame- 
ness from  the  kick  of  the  horse,  he  was  assigned 
to  an  ambulance,  and  helped  to  care  for  the 
wounded.  During  the  night  a  Union  ambulance 
corps  arrived,  under  cover  of  a  flag  of  truce,  and 


by  claiming  to  be  wounded  he  was  taken  in  the 
wagon  to  the  Union  camp.  Among  several  hun- 
dreds of  his  comrades  captured  on  that  day,  most 
were  kept  prisoners  for  eighteen  months,  and  many 
were  starved  and  killed.  While  on  duty  guard- 
ing a  plantation  in  Texas,  he  was  offered  the  use 
of  a  large  cotton  plantation  for  three  years,  free  of 
cost.  The  owner  was  about  to  leave  the  state  for 
fear  of  arrest  for  treason,  and  thought  he  could 
leave  his  property  in  no  safer  hands  than  those  of 
a  Union  soldier;  but  his  offer  was  declined.  Dur- 
ing his  service  he  traveled  over  13,000  miles, 
marching  on  foot  about  one-fourth  of  that  dis- 
tance, and  took  part  in  four  battles  and  thirteen 
skirmishes. 

After  the  war  he  was  engaged  in  stock-farming 
at  Downer's  Grove,  Illinois,  where  he  reared 
thoroughbred  horses  and  cattle.  In  the  fall  of 
1871,  he  moved  to  Chicago,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed in  overseeing  preparations  for  rebuilding 
the  burned  city.  He  was  also  engaged  in  buying 
old  iron  for  an  eastern  foundry.  For  two  years 
he  was  engaged  in  the  grocery  trade  on  West 
Madison  Street,  and  two  years  in  commission 
business  On  South  Water  Street.  Five  years 
were  spent  in  the  office  of  the  ' '  Panhandle ' ' 
Railroad,  at  Crown  Point,  Indiana.  The  next  six 
years  were  passed  on  a  stock  farm  in  Franklin 
County,  Iowa,  breeding  high-grade  horses,  cattle 
and  swine.  Since  1887  he  has  been  connected 
with  the  commission  firm  of  Wayne  &  Low,  on 
South  Water  Street,  Chicago,  taking  charge  of 
their  butter  trade. 

Since  the  fall  of  1894  Mr.  Jacobs  has  lived  at 
Wilmette,  where  he  built  a  pleasant  home.  His 
business  career  has  been  marked  by  integrity, 
activity  and  thoroughness. 

He  was  married,  in  1869,  to  Miss  Julia  Flora 
Hudson,  daughter  of  Horace  Hudson,  of  Winne- 
bago,  Illinois.  They  have  one  adopted  child, 
Edith  Wilson  Jacobs.  Mr.  Jacobs  is  a  member 
of  George  H.  Thomas  Post  Number  5,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  While  living  at  Crown 
Point  he  joined  the  Masonic  order.  He  takes 
considerable  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  gives 
his  enthusiastic  support  to  Republican  candidates 
and  principles. 


LIBRARY 

Of  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


GEORGE  McKINNEY 


GEORGE  McKINNEY. 


575 


GEORGE  McKINNEY. 


QEORGE  McKINNEY  was  born  in  Hender- 
I—  son  County,  Illinois,  November  18,  1836. 
\Jl  His  ancestors  were  the  hardy  and  thrifty 
people  of  Scotland.  On  the  authority  of  Alex- 
ander McKenzie,  one  of  the  most  noted  genealo- 
gists of  Scotland,  in  the  revised  edition  of  his 
celebrated  work,  published  in  1894,  the  family  is 
a  very  old  one,  and  is  traced  back  to  the  O'Beolan, 
Earls  of  Ross,  or  Gilleoin  of  the  Aird,  one  of  the 
Celtic  earls  who  besieged  King  Malcolm  at  Perth, 
in  1 1 60;  and  we  find  from  the  oldest  Norse  Saga 
connected  with  Scotland,  that  the  ancestor  of  the 
Earls  of  Ross  was  chief  in  Kintail  as  early  as  the 
beginning  of  the  tenth  century.  This  powerful 
chief  in  the  north  of  Scotland,  named  O'Beolan, 
married  the  daughter  of  Ganga  Rolfe,  or  Rollo, 
the  noted  pirate,  who  afterward  became  the  cele- 
brated Earl  of  Normandy.  Following  down  the 
genealogy  of  the  family,  it  will  be  seen  that  they 
are  descended  from  the  ancient  Celtic  McAlpine 
line  of  Scottish  kings;  from  the  original  Anglo- 
Saxon  kings  of  England,  and  from  the  Scandina- 
vian, Charlemagne  and  Capetian  lines  as  far  back 
as  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century.  Through 
their  inter-marriages  they  formed  the  network  of 
cousinship  which  ultimately  included  all  the  lead- 
ing families  in  the  Highlands,  every  one  of  which, 
through  these  alliances,  has  the  royal  blood  of 
all  the  English,  Scottish  and  Scandinavian  kings, 
including  the  royal  blood  of  Bruce  and  the  Plan- 
tagenet  royal  blood  of  England,  and  many  of 
the  early  foreign  monarchs,  coursing  in  their 
veins.  The  family  name  was  derived  from  John, 
the  son  of  Kenneth,  who  would  be  called  in  the 
original  native  Gaelic  "Ian  MacChoinnich,"  the 


pronunciation  of  which,  to  a  foreigner,  would  be 
as  if  spelled  MacKenny,  and  it  is  from  this  pro- 
genitor the  McKennies,  McKinneys  and  McKen- 
zies  derive  their  family  name.  In  the  case  of  the 
McKenzies,  in  Scotland  the  Z  has  the  sound  of 
Y,  and  the  name  is  pronounced  as  if  spelt  "Mc- 
Kenyie." 

In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
Collin  McKinney  and  his  wife,  with  three  broth- 
ers of  this  old  family,  emigrated  to  America,  loca- 
ting in  Virginia.  A  part  of  the  family  remained 
there,  and  have  occupied  many  positions  of  hon- 
or and  trust  in  the  Old  Dominion,  one  having  re- 
cently been  Governor  of  the  state.  Others  moved 
out  into  East  Tennessee,  from  which  family  came 
Judge  McKinney,  of  Knoxville,  who  for  many 
years  was  upon  the  Supreme  Bench  of  Tennessee. 

Collin  McKinney  had  five  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters. A  part  of  the  family,  among  whom  was 
his  son,  George  McKinney,  the  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  moved  to  Casey  Coun- 
ty, Kentucky,  in  1800.  While  on  their  way 
thither,  over  the  mountains,  he  became  attached 
to  Ann  Riley,  a  beautiful  Irish  lassie,  whom  he 
married,  and  who  was  closely  related  to  Barnabas 
Riley,  the  author  of  the  first  Ohio  code  of  laws. 
To  them  were  born  a  number  of  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, the  latter  noted  for  their  beauty,  which  they 
inherited  from  their  mother.  The  children  were: 
John,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Col- 
lin, who  spent  most  of  his  life  in  Tennessee,  as  a 
minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church;  Archibald, 
who  was  a  noted  lawyer  and  Judge  in  Texas  at 
the  time  of  his  death;  Margaret,  Mary  and  Ann. 

A  portion  of  the  family  who  came  out  to  Ken- 


576 


GEORGE  McKINNEY. 


tiicky,  led  by  Uncle  Collin  McKinney,  went  to 
Texas  and  settled  in  Collin  County,  of  which  Mc- 
Kinney is  the  county  seat. 

John  McKinney  was  born  in  Lincoln  County, 
Kentucky,  November  2,  1801,  and  was  married 
there,  in  November,  1827,  to  Elizabeth  Goode,  a 
native  of  the  same  state.  In  early  life  he  was  a 
farmer,  and  then  spent  five  years  in  the  office  of 
John  Riley,  Clerk  of  Butler  County,  Ohio;  and 
he  later  on  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  John 
Pope,  in  Springfield,  Kentucky,  who  had  been  a 
United  States  Senator,  and  was  afterward  ap- 
pointed Governor  of  Arkansas  by  President  Jack- 
son. Here  he  obtained  a  good  knowledge  of 
human  affairs,  but  he  soon  tired  of  the  confine- 
ment of  an  office,  and  returned  to  farming.  He 
had,  before  studying  law,  in  1825,  settled  his  fa- 
ther's estate  in  Kentucky.  He  settled  on  Gov- 
ernment land  in  Illinois  in  1832,  at  a  place  since 
known .  as  McKinney 's  Grove,  in  Henderson 
County,  where  he  pre-empted  a  large  tract  of 
land  and  lived  like  a  patriarch,  surrounded  by  a 
large  family  and  a  host  of  friends.  In  Ohio  he 
had  become  an  Abolitionist,  which  induced  him 
to  settle  in  a  free  state.  He  was  quite  prosperous 
as  a  farmer,  and  owned  eight  hundred  acres  of 
land.  In  1844  ne  removed  to  Oquawka,  where 
he  became  a  merchant  and  pork-packer.  Success 
followed  his  efforts,  and  he  removed  to  Aledo,  the 
county  seat  of  Mercer  County,  Illinois,  and  en- 
gaged in  banking,  with  a  partner,  under  the  style 
of  McKinney  &  Gilmore.  After  a  time  he  pur- 
chased the  interest  of  his  partner  in  the  banking 
business.  He  died  at  Aledo,  rich  in  years,  honors 
and  in  this  world's  goods,  January  14,  1892,  hav- 
ing attained  the  ripe  old  age  of  ninety-one  years. 
Elizabeth,  his  first  wife,  died  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
six  years.  The  following  are  the  children  who 
grew  to  maturity:  Hiram,  Ann,  Elizabeth,  John, 
George  and  Collin.  Of  these,  Hiram  and  John 
are  now  deceased.  Another  son,  William,  died 
in  infancy.  Mr.  McKinney 's  second  wife  was 
Mary  M.  Stewart.  She  was  the  mother  of  Ade- 
laide, James,  Archibald,  Mrs.  Mary  Bergen  and 
Robert  McKinney,  who  are  yet  living. 

John  McKinney  had  a  personal  acquaintance 
with  many  of  our  National  statesmen,  especially 


of  the  West,  among  them  Henry  Clay,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Horace  Greeley, 
William  H.  Seward,  Gov.  William  Brass,  Rich- 
ard Yates,  and  others.  In  early  life,  at  one  time 
he  occupied  the  same  bed  at  a  hotel  with  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  then  a  young  law  student.  He,  at 
one  time  or  another,  entertained  most  of  these 
people  at  his  home  in  Oquawka,  Illinois. 

George  McKinney  was  partially  educated  in 
the  public  schools  of  Oquawka,  but,  tiring  of 
school  life,  he  requested  his  father  to  allow  him 
to  learn  the  printer's  trade,  which  he  did,  enter- 
ing as  an  apprentice,  or  "devil,"  in  the  office  of 
the  Oquawka  Plaindealer,  edited  by  F.  A.  Dai- 
lam,  a  well-known  journalist.  After  a  year's  ap- 
prenticeship, he  entered  Knox  College,  at  Gales- 
burg,  Illinois,  but,  having  been  badly  burned  by 
the  explosion  of  a  lamp  in  which  burning  fluid 
was  used,  he  was  unable  to  pursue  his  studies, 
and  hence  left  the  college  about  the  time  Pres- 
ident Blanchard  left  the  institution.  Through 
ill -health,  and  a  love  of  adventure  and  roving, 
which  he  has  retained  to  the  present  day,  he  was 
induced  to  accompany  his  brother-in-law  on  a 
trip  to  New  Mexico,  visiting  Santa  Fe  and  Los 
Vegas.  At  the  latter  place  he  bought  a  Mexican 
mustang,  and,  joining  a  wool  train,  returned  to 
the  Missouri  River.  At  Topeka,  Kansas,  he  dis- 
posed of  his  pony,  and  after  working  a  short  time 
in  a  printing-office,  returned  home,  via  the  Mis- 
souri and  Mississippi  Rivers.  Arriving  in  Oquaw- 
ka, he  returned  to  the  store,  filling  the  position 
of  bookkeeper  and  clerk.  Here  Mr.  McKinney 
was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Frances  Chickering, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Chickering,  a  talented  musi- 
cian and  popular  citizen  of  that  place.  Rev.  J. 
W.  Chickering,  the  well-known  divine,  was  a 
brother  of  Mrs.  McKinney 's  father.  Only  two 
of  the  children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKinney 
survived  the  period  of  childhood,  namely:  Alice 
and  William.  The  former,  Alice,  is  now  deceased, 
and  the  other,  William,  is  connected  with  a  Chi- 
cago business  house  as  bookkeeper. 

Before  the  war  the  father  of  Mr.  McKinney  had 
retired  from  business,  and  turned  the  store  over 
to  his  sons.  The  eldest,  Hiram,  died  in  Novem- 
ber, 1 86 1.  Another  son,  Collin,  enlisted  in  the 


R.  J.  HAMILTON. 


577 


army  at  the  first  call  for  troops,  and  he  was  fol- 
lowed to  the  field  by  John.  This  left  only 
George  to  manage  the  store,  and,  his  health  fail- 
ing, he  sold  the  store  back  to  his  father,  and,  ac- 
companied by  his  wife,  went  to  California  by  the 
Nicaragua  route,  returning  two  years  later  by  the 
Panama  route,  and  locating  in  Chicago  in  the  fall 
of  1864.  His  health  began  to  improve  gradually, 
and  he  became  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trade. 
His  field  of  operation  was  chiefly  in  the  grain- 
commission  business,  and  for  eighteen  years  he 
was  a  well-known  figure  in  business  marts.  He 
had  the  required  perseverance,  and  was  rewarded 
by  satisfactory  results.  He  began  early  to  invest 
in  North  Shore  real  estate,  and  yet  owns  valuable 
property  there. 

In  the  spring  of  1872  he  took  up  his  residence 
at  Winnetka,  and  has  been  ever  since  a  useful 
citizen  of  that  suburb.  He  feels  an  interest  in 
every  movement  calculated  to  further  the  moral 


and  material  welfare  of  the  community  in  which 
he  resides.  He  has  always  been  a  Republican 
in  political  sentiment,  because  he  believes  the 
Republican  party  most  active  in  promoting  the 
general  welfare  of  the  people,  regardless  of  local 
or  personal  factions,  but  has  at  times  been  inde- 
pendent in  his  votes,  especially  when  the  old  par- 
ties conflicted  with  his  moral  ideas  of  reform 
movements.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKinney  are  char- 
ter members  of  the  Congregational  Church  at 
Winnetka,  where  both  are  held  in  high  esteem. 
Mrs.  McKinney  was  organist  for  many  years  in 
the  church  and  Sunday-school,  and  she  and  her 
husband  were  active  in  the  early  upbuilding  of 
the  church.  They  originally  united  with  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  in  Oquawka, 
and  while  in  California  became  charter  members 
of  the  first  Congregational  Church  in  Redwood 
City,  and  later  of  the  Tabernacle  Church  of 
Chicago. 


RICHARD  J.  HAMILTON. 


RICHARD  JONES  HAMILTON,  who  is 
famous  in  the  annals  of  Cook  County  as  its 
first  Circuit  Court  Clerk,  was  born  at  Jones- 
boro,  near  Danville,  Mercer  (now  Boyle)  Coun- 
ty, Kentucky,  August  21,  1799,  his  parents  be- 
ing James  L.  and  Sarah  (Jones)  Hamilton.  The 
father  was  born  in  England,  but  his  parents  emi- 
grated to  this  country  when  he  was  only  a  year 
old,  and  settled  in  South  Carolina,  on  the  Savan- 
nah River.  At  the  age  of  twenty  the  father  went 
northward  into  Kentucky,  and  after  his  marriage 
with  Miss  Sarah  Jones,  settled  near  Danville,  in 
that  state.  Sarah  Jones  was  a  daughter  of  Rich- 
ard Jones,  of  Kentucky,  whose  wife  was  a  Miss 
Wills,  of  Maryland.  In  1803  he  removed  to 
Shelby  County,  where  Richard  J.  spent  his  boy- 
hood and  youth  and  received  his  early  education, 


chiefly  at  the  Shelbyville  Academy,  then  in 
charge  of  instructors  of  some  eminence,  among 
others  Rev.  Mr.  Gray  and  Rev.  Mr.  Cameron. 
Finishing  his  academic  education  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  young  Hamilton  then  entered  a  store 
at  Shelbyville,  as  clerk,  and  later  held  a  similar 
position  at  Jefferson,  devoting  altogether  some 
fifteen  months  to  this  calling,  which  seems,  how- 
ever, to  have  had  little  attraction  for  him.  In 
1818  he  went  to  Louisville,  where  he  studied  law 
until  1820,  then  removing  to  Jonesboro,  Union 
County,  Illinois,  in  company  with  his  friend, 
Abner  Field.  The  two  young  men  owned  a  horse 
jointly,  and  the  journey  was  made  in  alternate 
stages  of  walking  and  riding,  the  horse,  which 
constituted  their  sole  property,  being  sold  on 
their  arrival  at  their  destination.  Here  Mr. 


578 


R.  J.  HAMILTON. 


Hamilton  taught  school  for  some  time,  still,  how- 
ever, continuing  his  law  studies  at  intervals,  un- 
der the  direction  of  Charles  Dunn,  who  had  re- 
cently been  admitted  to  the  Bar,  and  who  gained 
great  distinction  as  a  lawyer,  finally  becoming 
Chief-Justice  of  the  then  territory  of  Wisconsin. 

At  its  session  of  1820-21  the  Second  General 
Assembly  of  Illinois  established  the  old  State 
Bank,  and  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Directors  at 
Vandalia,  a  branch  was  authorized  at  Browns- 
ville, Jackson  County,  and  Mr.  Hamilton  was 
appointed  its  Cashier.  In  1822  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Diana  W.  Buckner,  of  Jefferson  County, 
Kentucky,  but  then  residing  near  Jackson,  Cape 
Girardeau  County,  Missouri.  Mrs.  Hamilton 
was  a  daughter  of  Col.  Nicholas  Buckner,  of  the 
historic  Kentucky  family  of  that  name. 

January  14,  1826,  by  the  General  Assembly, 
Mr.  Hamilton  was  confirmed  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  Jackson  County,  and  March  31,  1827, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar.  In  1829  he  is  on 
record  as  one  of  the  itinerant  lawyers  who  rode 
the  circuit  of  the  southern  counties,  deriving  a 
meagre  and  precarious  subsistence  from  the  few 
and  scattered  clients  who  fell  to  his  share  in  those 
early  days  in  Illinois,  when  the  cases  were  rare 
and  fees  were  small.  The  Brownsville  branch 
bank  closed  its  career  about  this  time,  Mr.  Hamil- 
ton retaining  to  the  last,  as  far  as  known,  his  po- 
sition of  Cashier,  the  duties  of  which,  especially 
in  those  later  years,  were  neither  exhaustive  nor 
remunerative. 

He  now  turned  his  eyes  toward  northern  Illi- 
nois, and  was  elected  by  the  General  Assembly 
as  the  first  Probate  Judge  of  the  new  county  of 
Cook,  January  29,  1831.  His  friend,  Judge 
Young,  of  the  Fifth  Judicial  District,  appoint- 
ed him  Clerk  of  Cook  County  Circuit  Court, 
and  Governor  Reynolds,  who  was  also  especially 
interested  in  his  welfare,  commissioned  him  as 
Notary  Public  and  Recorder.  He  arrived  in  Chi- 
cago early  in  March,  being  present  at  the  organ- 
ization of  the  county  on  the  8th  of  the  month, 
and  removed  his  family  (which  consisted  at  this 
time  of  his  wife  and  two  children,  Richard  N. 
and  Sarah  A.)  from  Brownsville  in  August.  In 
October  he  was  appointed  Commissioner  of  School 


Lands  for  Cook  County,  and  the  school  fund  re- 
mained in  his  charge  until  1840.  As  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  backward  condition  of  Chicago  at  the 
period  of  his  arrival,  he  used  to  refer  to  the  lim- 
ited mail  facilities,  saying  that  special  care  was 
used  in  reading  the  older  papers  first,  that  they 
might  be  properly  advised  of  the  events  in  the 
outside  world  in  the  order  of  occurrence.  He  re- 
sided with  his  family  in  Fort  Dearborn  for  some 
time  after  his  arrival,  and  there  his  second  daugh- 
ter, Eleanor,  was  born,  February  14,  1832.  This 
daughter,  now  Mrs.  E.  H.  Keenon,  is  still  a  resi- 
dent of  the  city,  and  is  stated  to  be  the  first  child 
of  purely  American  parentage  born  here;  she  is 
certainly  the  oldest  woman  living  a  native  of  the 
city.  The  eldest  daughter  is  the  widow  of  Col. 
Henry  A.  Mitchell,  who  died  from  the  effects  of 
a  bullet  wound  received  at  the  battle  of  Perry- 
ville,  in  the  Civil  War.  He  had  previously  com- 
manded a  revenue  cutter  on  the  Great  Lakes, 
and  was  Provost- Marshal  at  Covington,  Ken- 
tucky, after  he  was  wounded. 

The  year  that  witnessed  his  daughter's  birth 
saw  Mr.  Hamilton  appointed  Clerk  of  the  Coun- 
ty Commissioners'  Court,  which  office  he  held 
until  1837.  Besides  discharging  the.  duties  of 
his  various  offices,  which  were  more  numerous 
than  remunerative,  he  took  a  pioneer  part  in  tem- 
perance work,  and  in  1832  co-operated  energetic- 
ally with  Colonel  Owen,  the  Indian  Agent,  and 
other  influential  men,  in  keeping  the  Indians  in 
this  section  from  joining  the  hostile  bands  in  the 
disturbances  of  that  year.  Public-spirited  in  the 
highest  degree,  he  was  the  first  of  thirty-seven 
volunteers  who,  on  May  2,  1832,  "promised  obe- 
dience to  Capt.  Gholson  Kercheval  and  Lieuts. 
George  W.  Dole  and  John  S.  Hogan,  as  com- 
manders of  the  militia  of  Chicago,  until  all  appre- 
hension of  danger  from  the  Indians  may  have 
subsided."  Later  in  the  month,  with  Capt.  Jesse 
B.  Brown,  Joseph  Naper  and  twenty-five  mount- 
ed men,  he  scoured  the  Fox  River  country  to 
carry  succor  and  encouragement  to  the  scattered 
settlements.  Unfortunately,  they  did  not  arrive 
at  Indian  Creek  until  the  22d  of  the  month,  the 
day  after  the  terrible  massacre  by  the  Indians  at 
that  point.  Here  they  found  thirteen  dead  bod- 


R.  J.  HAMILTON. 


579 


ies,  those  of  members  of  the  families  of  Davis, 
Hall  and  Pettigrevv,  terribly  mangled.  The  com- 
pany escorted  some  of  the  refugees  to  Chicago, 
where  a  much  larger  number  had  sought  refuge 
as  early  as  the  loth.  Colonel  Hamilton  (whose 
title  seems  to  have  been  one  of  courtesy,  due  to 
the  fact  of  his  identification  with  the  state  militia 
for  some  years)  was  one  of  the  commissioners 
appointed  to  supply  them  with  food  and  shelter, 
and  was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts  in  their  behalf. 
He  moved  his  family  into  the  old  agency-house 
about  this  time,  the  fort  being  crowded  with  ref- 
ugees, and  being  occupied  after  July  by  the 
troops  who  had  arrived  to  take  part  in  the  Black- 
hawk  War. 

In  the  spring  of  1833,  m  conjunction  with 
Colonel  Owen,  Colonel  Hamilton  employed  John 
Watkins  to  teach  a  small  school,  near  the  old 
agency-house,  where  he  still  resided,  but  which 
he  soon  abandoned  for  his  own  house,  built  on 
what  is  now  Michigan  Street,  between  Cass 
and  Rush  Streets,  where  he  lived  for  nineteen 
years.  He  was  one  of  the  voters  for  the  incorpora- 
tion of  Chicago  August  5,  and  for  its  first  Board 
of  Trustees  five  days  later.  He  was  a  subscrib- 
ing witness  to  the  Indian  Treaty  of  September 
26,  and  his  claim  of  $500  was  allowed.  The  claims 
allowed  against,  and  paid  in  behalf  of,  the  Indians 
at  that  time  aggregated  in  their  entirety  about 
$175,0x30.  In  October,  as  Commissioner  of 
School  Lands,  in  compliance  with  a  petition 
signed  by  the  principal  residents  of  the  place,  he 
authorized  the  sale  of  the  Chicago  School  Section. 
November  13  of  that  year,  in  virtue  of  his  office 
as  Probate  Judge,  he  performed  a  marriage  cere- 
mony between  John  Bates,  junior,  and  Miss  Har- 
riet E.  Brown.  He  was  one  of  the  original  sub- 
scribers to  the  first  Chicago  newspaper,  which 
appeared  November  26,  and  in  December  he  ad- 
vertised $10,000  to  loan,  which  was  probably 
part  of  the  net  cash  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  school 
lands  two  months  before.  In  1834  he  was  Pres- 
ident of  the  Board  of  School  Trustees,  and  with 
characteristic  energy  labored  tirelessly  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  early  schools  of  Chicago.  In  con- 
junction with  Hiram  Pearsons,  he  laid  out  four 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  at  Canalport,  adjoin- 


ing what  is  now  Bridgeport,  which,  judging  from 
the  first  preliminary  survey,  they  supposed  would 
be  the  actual  terminus  of  the  Illinois  &  Michi- 
gan Canal,  but  which  the  final  survey  passed  by 
and  left  comparatively  worthless. 

In  1834  Colonel  Hamilton  suffered  a  deep  be- 
reavement in  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  soon 
after  the  birth  of  her  fourth  child,  who  was  named 
Diana  B.  in  memory  of  her  mother.  Mrs.  Ham- 
ilton was  highly  esteemed  as  an  intelligent  and 
zealous  Christian  lady,  one  who  suffered  the  hard- 
ships of  pioneer  life  uncomplainingly,  and  proved 
a  devoted  wife  and  mother.  She  was  a  member 
of  the  first  Methodist  Church  of  Chicago,  in 
whose  behalf  she  took  an  active  and  efficient  in- 
terest. March  25,  1835,  the  Colonel  married  Miss 
Harriette  L,.  Hubbard,  sister  of  Henry  G.  Hub- 
bard,  of  Chicago.  Mrs.  Harriette  Hamilton  died 
February  7,  1842,  leaving  one  child,  Henry  E. 
She  had  lost  an  infant  daughter  named  Pauline 
August  21,  1839,  and  another  of  the  same  name 
about  two  years  before.  The  son  is  now  famil- 
iarly known  as  "Colonel  Hamilton,"  as  it  were, 
by  right  of  inheritance. 

About  1834  the  subject  of  this  sketch  became 
largely  interested  in  outside  lands,  being  also 
probably  the  most  extensive  owner  in  the  county 
and  the  whole  Northwest.  These  lands  were 
often  purchased  on  joint  account  with  non-resi- 
dents, and  perhaps  at  the  time  with  no  larger  in- 
terest on  his  part  than  a  commission  for  the 
transaction  of  the  business,  but  they  were  usually 
made  and  recorded  in  his  name  for  greater  con- 
venience in  transfer  and  negotiation.  About  1835 
he  became  a  candidate  for  election  as  Recorder, 
and  published  the  following  card  in  answer  to 
certain  cavilings  about  his  many  offices: 

"In  1831  I  received  the  appointment  of  Clerk 
of  Circuit  Court,  Judge  of  Probate  and  Notary 
Public.  I  then  moved  to  Chicago,  and  found 
that  nobody  wanted  these  offices.  Soon  after, 
the  gentleman  holding  the  position  of  Clerk  of 
the  County  Commissioners'  Court  resigned,  and 
I  was  appointed.  The  office  of  School  Commis- 
sioner was  then  held  by  Col.  T.  J.  V.  Owen, 
who  resigned.  Up  to  September,  1834,  that  of- 
fice has  yielded  me  in  all  about  $200;  notary 


R.  J.  HAMILTON. 


fees  have  not  exceeded  $50;  probate  fees  have 
not  amounted  to  more  than  $50.  I  have  not  re- 
alized from  all  offices,  including  that  of  Recorder, 
during  four  years  more  than  $1,500.  The  whole 
number  of  instruments  recorded,  including  a  large 
number  of  Receiver's  certificates  for  lands  pur- 
chased at  late  sales,  have  been  to  July  i,  1835, 
about  thirteen  hundred,  at  seventy  cents  each." 

At  the  August  election  of  1835  he  was  elected 
Recorder  by  six  hundred  two  votes,  and  removed 
his  office,  toward  the  end  of  October,  to  the 
new  building  recently  erected  by  the  county  on  the 
public  square.  In  December  he  became  a  Di- 
rector in  the  Chicago  branch  of  the  new  State 
Bank.  The  offices  he  held  at  this  time  were: 
Judge  of  Probate,  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  Clerk 
of  Commissioners'  Court,  Recorder  of  Deeds, 
Notary  Public,  School  Commissioner  and  Bank 
Commissioner.  He  continued  to  discharge  the 
various  duties  of  these  offices,  with  the  help  of 
deputies  and  clerks  in  the  more  exacting  ones  as 
the  volume  of  business  in  each  required.  As 
Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  his  first  deputy  was 
Henry  Moore,  in  1834,  succeeded  by  J.  Young 
Scammon  in  1835.  Solomon  Wills,  who  had 
married  the  sister  of  his  first  wife,  became  his 
deputy  in  1836,  and  was  succeeded  in  1837  by 
George  Manierre,  who  gave  way  to  Thomas 
Hoyne  in  1839.  All  these  were  lawyers,  and 
nearly  all  young  men,  who  served  as  his  assist- 
ants until  the  professional  business  of  each  suc- 
cessively required  his  entire  attention. 

Colonel  Hamilton  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
new  Board  of  School  Inspectors  for  the  city  of 
Chicago  May  12,  1837,  in  recognition  of  his  serv- 
ices and  interest  in  the  early  schools,  and  of  his 
position  as  School  Commissioner.  Pinched  by 
the  financial  depression  of  1837,  he  weathered 
the  storm  without  becoming  bankrupt,  or  failing 
to  meet  his  financial  obligations.  In  1840  he  was 
nominated  Alderman  of  the  Sixth  Ward  by  the 
Democrats,  and  was  elected;  and  the  same  year 
he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  State  Democratic 
Convention  held  at  Springfield. 

In  contemporary  notices  of  the  press  Colonel 
Hamilton  appears  frequently  as  an  active  mem- 
ber in  public  meetings  of  the  period  on  all  ques- 


tions of  social,  political,  educational  and  religious 
interest,  and  he  was  frequently  chosen  on  com- 
mittees of  all  sorts  for  the  furtherance  of  public 
business,  being  apparently  one  of  that  worthy 
class  of  men  who  suffer  themselves  to  be  over- 
worked rather  than  shirk  the  responsibilities 
of  active  citizenship.  He  was  prominent  in  the 
meeting  held  in  memory  of  President  Harrison 
in  1841,  and  was  no  less  active  in  the  reception 
given  the  same  year  to  Governor  Carlin  in  Chi- 
cago. Meanwhile  the  time  had  arrived  for  re- 
linquishing some  of  his  offices,  the  increased  du- 
ties of  which  had  now  made  them  too  unwieldy 
even  for  superintendence  by  one  individual.  In 
1835  he  had  ceased  to  be  Judge  of  Probate,  in 
1837  Clerk  of  the  Commissioners'  Court,  and  in 
1839  Recorder  of  Deeds.  In  1840  William  H. 
Brown  was  elected  School  Agent,  an  office  which 
entitled  him  to  the  care  of  the  school  funds  of 
Chicago,  which  therefore  passed  out  of  the  care 
of  Colonel  Hamilton  with  the  close  of  that  year. 
He  still,  however,  retained  his  position  as  Com- 
missioner of  School  Lands  for  the  county,  for  he 
is  found  to  have  advertised  section  16,  township 
41,  for  sale  August  9,  1841,  as  such.  On  the 
reorganization  of  the  judicial  system  in  1841, 
Cook  County  fell  within  the  circuit  of  Associate- 
Justice  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  who  appointed  his 
son-in-law,  Henry  G.  Hubbard,  to  replace  Col- 
onel Hamilton,  who  resumed  the  practice  of  law, 
his  clerkship  terminating  March  12,  1841. 

About  1843  the  Colonel  formed  a  law  partner- 
ship with  J.  S.  Chamberlaine,  which  was,  how- 
ever, dissolved  in  1845,  and  in  1846  his  firm  be- 
came Hamilton  &  Moore,  Francis  C.  Moore  be- 
ing the  junior  member.  In  1847  this  partnership 
was  also  dissolved,  and  he  remained  alone  until 
his  retirement  from  practice,  which  took  place  in 
1850.  In  1849  he  was  elected  Alderman  from  the 
Ninth  Ward,  upon  the  resignation  of  Samuel 
McKay,  and  in  1850  and  1851  as  his  own  suc- 
cessor. He  was  Presidential  Elector  on  the  Dem- 
ocratic ticket  in  1852,  and  in  1856  he  was  a  can- 
didate for  Lieutenant-Governor  on  the  same  ticket, 
which  was,  however,  defeated  by  the  Repub- 
licans. 

His  appearance  as  a  candidate  for  the  above 


J.  F.  HENROTIN. 


office  seems  to  have  closed  his  long,  useful  and 
honorable  public  career.  December  26,  1860,  he 
died  of  paralysis,  in  his  sixty-second  year.  Five 
children  and  his  widow,  his  third  wife,  whom  he 
married  in  1843,  survived  him.  She  was  for- 
merly Mrs.  Priscilla  P.  Tuley,  of  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky, and  the  mother  of  the  present  Judge  Tuley, 
of  Chicago.  Colonel  Hamilton  was  buried  on 
the  28th  of  December,  1860,  with  Masonic  hon- 
ors. He  had  long  been  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic order,  and  stood  high  in  its  counsels  and 
honors,  having  been  an  officer  in  the  first 
grand  lodge  in  Illinois.  At  a  memorial  meet- 
ing of  the  Bar  held  on  the  same  day,  Judge 
Morris  said :  '  'There  is  scarcely  a  lawyer  here  now 
but  owes  much  in  his  early  life  to  Colonel  Ham- 
ilton. He  took  every  young  practitioner  who 
came  here  by  the  hand,  and  helped  him  to  busi- 
ness and  practice."  Judge  Wilson  said:  "Mr. 
Hamilton  was  a  gentleman  remarkable  in  many 
particulars;  of  very  high  notions  as  a  gentleman, 
and  of  unusual  sympathies."  Judge  Manierre  re- 
ported a  series  of  resolutions,  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing are  extracted:  "His  death  has  removed 
one  of  our  most  distinguished  citizens  and  pio- 
neers, and  the  oldest  member  of  the  legal  frater- 
nity; we  take  pleasure  in  bearing  testimony  to 


the  high  character  of  the  deceased  as  a  man  and 
a  citizen.  His  life  was  a  career  of  active  useful- 
ness. He  was  foremost  in  all  public  enterprises 
for  the  advancement  and  prosperity  of  the  com- 
munity. We  remember  with  pleasure  the  social 
and  genial  qualities  of  our  deceased  brother.  He 
was  a  zealous  friend;  his  heart  was  warm  and 
his  hand  ever  ready.  In  losing  him  the  com- 
munity has  lost  one  of  its  most  valued  citi- 
zens, and  this  Bar  one  of  its  most  respected  mem- 
bers. ' '  Twenty  years  after  death  he  was  char- 
acterized by  Hon.  Thomas  Hoyne  as  being  "of  a 
generous  and  open  nature,  a  good  citizen,  and  a 
kind  man,  and  one  of  those  men  who  were  then 
shaping  the  destinies  of  the  state. ' ' 

During  the  last  years  of  his  life  Colonel  Ham- 
ilton lived  on  the  West  Side,  in  a  residence  he  had 
erected  himself,  "on  Madison,  west  of  Bull's 
Head,"  afterward  the  southwest  corner  of  Hoyne 
Avenue.  He  devoted  the  remaining  years  of 
his  life  largely  to  beautifying  this  place,  which 
was  then  regarded  as  a  suburban  home.  Towards 
the  close  of  1860  he  became  a  member  of  the 
South  Presbyterian  Church,  the  denomination 
with  which  he  had  most  intercourse  in  early  life, 
and  to  which  his  wife  belonged. 


DR.  JOSEPH  F.  HENROTIN. 


@R.    JOSEPH    FORTUNAT    HENROTIN 
was  among  the  early  physicians  of  Chicago, 
and  endeared  himself  to  a  large  number  of 
citizens,   especially  on  the    North   Side,   by  his 
brave  and  unselfish  labors  during  the  cholera  epi- 
demic of  1849  to  1855.     At  that  time  there  was  a 
large  German  settlement  between   State   Street 
and  the  lake  shore,  north  of  Chicago  Avenue, 


known  as  New  Buffalo,  the  gratitude  of  whose 
denizens  toward  the  "good  French  Doctor,"  as 
they  called  him,  was  unbounded.  Without  stop- 
ping to  inquire  about  the  certainty  of  his  fees, 
when  many  others  had  left  the  city  in  alarm,  Dr. 
Henrotin  went  among  the  poor  and  rich  alike, 
carrying  good  cheer  and  healing  balm  to  the 
stricken  ones.  His  success  in  exterminating  the 


J.  F.  HENROTIN. 


scourge  gave  him  at  once  a  very  large  practice, 
and  he  acquired  what  is  a  large  fortune  to  be 
gained  in  medical  practice  in  a  few  years.  It  was 
only  his  lack  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  our  lan- 
guage that  prevented  his  taking  the  prominence  in 
the  professional  and  literary  world  that  he  de- 
served. He  was  a  ripe  scholar,  and  his  diction 
in  French  was  considered  an  ornament  to  the 
language.  His  reports  to  his  native  Government 
while  serving  as  Consul  are  still  preserved  as 
models  of  elegance,  clearness  and  practical  value. 

Joseph  Fortunat  Henrotin  was  born  in  Tellin, 
Belgium,  March  17,  1811.  His  grandfather  was 
a  farmer  at  that  place.  His  father,  Dr.  Clement 
Henrotin,  was  a  graduate  of  the  Medical  Univer- 
sity of  Paris,  France,  to  which  place  he  walked  in 
youth,  because  of  the  limited  means  of  transporta- 
tion in  that  day  and  region,  to  gain  an  education  in 
medicine.  While  there  he  befriended  and  en- 
couraged young  Dubois  (who  afterward  became 
the  French  Court  Physician)  to  take  up  the  study 
of  the  healing  art.  Dr.  Clement  Henrotin  prac- 
ticed medicine  sixty-five  years  at  Tellin,  where 
he  died,  full  of  honors,  at  the  age  of  ninety-six 
years.  His  wife  was  Miss  Rossion. 

Joseph  F.  Henrotin  pursued  his  elementary 
studies  in  his  native  town,  and  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  Liege,  Belgium,  from  which  he  gradu- 
ated at  the  age  of  twenty -two.  He  then  spent 
three  years  in  further  study  in  the  Belgian  hos- 
pitals, being  a  pupil  and  friend  of  Dr.  Seutin,  the 
inventor  of  the  starch  bandage,  who  secured  his 
appointment,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  as  sur- 
geon in  the  national  army,  with  the  privilege  of 
further  pursuing  his  investigations  and  studies  in 
the  hospitals.  He  continued  to  hold  this  position 
for  nearly  twelve  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
he  resolved  to  come  to  America. 

He  arrived  in  Chicago  in  the  autumn  of  1848, 
and,  as  above  related,  soon  acquired  a  large  and 
remunerative  practice.  This  was  general  through- 
out the  city,  but  most  of  his  work  was  done 
on  the  North  and  Northwest  Sides.  Having 
placed  himself  in  independent  circumstances  by 
eight  years  of  arduous  and  incessant  labor,  he 
returned  to  his  native  land,  in  1856.  A  year  later 
he  was  appointed  by  the  Belgian  Government  to 


be  Consul  to  the  Northwestern  States  of  this 
country,  and  returned  to  Chicago,  leaving  several 
of  his  children  abroad  to  be  educated.  In  1858 
he  was  commissioned  by  Belgium  to  make  a  spe- 
cial inspection  of  the  states  of  Illinois,  Wisconsin 
and  Minnesota  and  report  on  their  adaptability  as 
homes  for  Belgian  emigrants.  In  the  fulfillment 
of  this  charge  he  traveled  throughout  the  states 
named,  rendering  a  prompt  and  exhaustive  re- 
port to  his  Government.  For  this  service  he  re- 
ceived the  thanks  of  the  Belgian  Parliament,  on 
account  of  its  practical  value  and  literary  merit, 
and  copies  of  the  report  were  widely  distributed 
over  Germany  and  other  neighboring  countries, 
as  well  as  throughout  Belgium.  He  continued 
to  serve  as  Consul  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
March  17,  1876,  on  the  sixty  fifth  anniversary 
of  his  birth.  He  was  succeeded  in  office  by  his 
eldest  living  son,  a  sketch  of  whom  will  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  work.  Dr.  Henrotin  was  a 
heavy  sufferer  by  the  great  fire  of  1871,  but  par- 
tially recovered  from  his  loss  before  his  death. 

In  the  fall  of  1840,  Dr.  Henrotin  married  Adele 
Kinsoen,  a  native  of  Tournai,  Flanders,  born  in 
1821,  and  daughter  of  Henri  Kinsoen,  who  had 
a  contract  to  furnish  the  Dutch  army  with  sup- 
plies. A  brother  of  Henri  Kinsoen  was  a  noted 
portrait  painter,  who  numbered  the  members  of 
the  French  Court  among  his  patrons.  Both  were 
natives  of  Bruges,  Belgium,  as  was  Mrs.  Henro- 
tin's  mother,  Josephine  Brice. 

Besides  his  widow,  Dr.  Henrotin  left  eight 
children.  The  eldest  son,  Henry,  was  killed  at 
the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  Mississippi,  during  the 
Civil  War,  while  serving  in  Taylor's  Battery. 
All  the  living,  save  the  sixth,  who  is  engaged  in 
business  in  Havre,  France,  are  residents  of  Chi- 
cago. Following  are  their  names:  Charles;  Mar- 
garet, Mrs.  James  H.  B.  Daly;  Dr.  Fernand; 
Adolph;  Mary;  Victor;  Fortuni,  wife  of  George 
Le  Jeune;  and  Louise,  now  Mrs.  Maurice  Pin- 
coffs.  Mrs.  Henrotin  survived  her  husband  many 
years,  dying,  widely  mourned,  November  29, 
1893.  She  was  an  able  helpmate  to  her  husband, 
whom  she  nobly  aided  in  his  labors  among  the 
cholera  sufferers,  and  was  held  in  high  regard  by 
all  who  enjoyed  her  acquaintance. 


W.  M.  COULTER. 


583 


WILLIAM   M.  COULTER. 


,'LLIAM  MITCHELL  COULTER,  one  of 
the  survivors  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  re- 
siding in  Chicago,  is  a  native  of  the  Key- 
stone State.  His  birth  occurred  in  Oliver  Town- 
ship, Mifflin  Count}-,  Pennsylvania,  November 
17,  i?)23.  He  is  a  son  of  Irwin  Coulter  and  Mary 
C.  Mitchell.  The  latter  was  the  daughter  of  an 
Irish  gentleman  named  George  Mitchell,  who  was 
born  near  Belfast,  Ireland.  He  married  a  Scotch 
lady  named  Elizabeth  Thompson,  and  they  emi- 
grated to  America  previous  to  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Mr.  Mitchell  became  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers in  Mifflin  County,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Juniaia  river.  He  cleared  and  improved  a  large 
farm,  and  became  one  of  the  most  prominent  citi- 
zens cf  that  county. 

Irwin  Coulter,  whose  Christian  name  was  given 
him  to  perpetuate  the  family  name  of  his  mother, 
was  a  native  of  Mifflin  County.  His  father, 
David  Coulter  was  born  in  the  North  of  England, 
but  became  a  loyal  citizen  of  Pennsylvania  dur- 
ing the  colonial  days.  Soon  after  the  beginning 
of  the  Revolutionary  conflict,  he  enlisted  under 
Geneial  Washington,  and  afterwards  became  the 
captain  of  his  company.  He  was  wounded  while 
doing  gallant  service  at  the  battle  of  the  Brandy- 
wine.  The  rifle  which  he  carried  into  that  war 
and  the  sword  which  he  wore  in  his  official  capac- 
ity are  still  preserved  in  the  family.  Irwin  Coul- 
ter succeeded  to  the  ownership  of  the  Mitchell 
homestead,  where  his  death  occurred  about  1830, 
at  the  age  of  forty-nine  years.  Both  the  Coulter 
and  Mitchell  families  were  ardent  adherents  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  exhibited  many  ad- 
mirable characteristics,  being  firm  in  the  support 
of  principle  and  fearless  in  defense  of  their  con- 
victions. 

William  M.  Coulter  passed  his  boyhood  ia  his 


native  county  and,  at  an  early  age  began  to  take 
an  active  part  in  local  political  affairs.  He  was 
frequently  chosen  as  a  delegate  to  local  and  State 
conventions  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  helped 
to  nominate  several  Governors  of  the  common- 
wealth. When  the  United  States  Government 
called  for  volunteers  to  help  prosecute  the  war  with 
Mexico,  he  enlisted  as  a  member  of  Company  D, 
of  the  Eleventh  United  States  Infantry.  After 
being  drilled  for  a  time,  with  other  recruits,  near 
Corpus  Christie  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  they  were 
sent  forward  to  join  General  Scott's  army  at 
Puebla,  Mexico.  As  Scott's  limited  force  did  not 
permit  him  to  leave  any  garrisons  at  places  hs 
had  vanquished,  the  recruits  were  forced  to  figlit 
their  way  over  the  route  previously  pursued 
by  the  main  army.  One  of  their  duties  was 
to  escort  a  pay  train,  loaded  with  many  thousands 
of  dollars  in  gold  sent  to  pay  Scott's  army.  The 
Mexicans  having  knowledge  of  this  fact,  made 
desperate  efforts  to  capture  the  train,  and  the 
whole  course  of  the  journey  was  almost  a  con- 
tinuous battlefield.  At  the  National  Bridge,  the 
enemy  lay  in  ambush,  and  made  extraordinary  ef- 
forts to  destroy  the  little  band  of  devoted  Ameri- 
can troops.  Several  wagons,  containing  accoutre- 
ments and  supplies  of  the  soldiers,  were  thrown 
over  a  high  precipice  in  the  struggle  and  des- 
troyed, and  Mr.  Coulter  narrowly  missed  accom- 
panying one 'of  these  wagons  in  its  fall.  The  at- 
tack was  repulsed,  and  a  portion  of  the  knapsack? 
and  other  paraphernalia  was  recovered  next  day. 
The  train  was  turned  over  to  General  Scott  at 
Puebla  in  June,  1847,  without  the  loss  of  a  dollar, 
after  many  days  of  struggle  in  its  defense. 

After  joining  the  main  army,  Mr.  Coulter  par- 
ticipated in  the  battles  of  Contreras  Mountain, 
Cherubusco,  Chapultepec?:id  the  numerous  figbts 


T.  E.  HILL. 


about  the  gates  of  Mexico.  It  is  a  matter  of  his- 
tory that  the  American  troops,  in  a  strange  land, 
far  from  their  base  of  supplies,  conquered  im- 
mensely superior  numbers  throughout  their  march 
and  triumphantly  entered  the  city  of  Mexico  on 
the  1 3th  ot'  September,  1847,  having  traversed 
more  than  a  thousand  miles  of  distance,  over 
mountain  ranges  and  across  lava  beds  and  other 
regions  supposed  by  the  Mexicans  to  be  impass- 
able. At  the  capture  of  Molino  del  Rey,  where 
the  Mexicans  were  engaged  in  casting  cannon, 
most  of  his  superior  officers  having  been  killed  or 
disabled,  Corporal  Coulter  took  command  of  a 
company,  and  held  possession  of  the  foundry  un- 
til Lieutenant  U.  S.  Grant  came  up  and  received 
the-svvords  of  the  captured  Mexican  officers,  who 
refused  to  deliver  them  to  a  non-commissioned 
officer.  For  his  gallantry  on  this  and  other  oc- 
casions, he  was  made  Second  Sergeant  and  re- 
ceived honorable  mention  by  Maj.  John  F.  Hun- 
ter, commanding  the  Eleventh  regiment.  Mr. 
Coulter  gives  a  very  graphic  description  of  a  brief 
engagement  on  the  igthof  August,  where  eight 
thousand  mounted  Mexican  lancers  rode  down 
upon  three  brigades  of  American  infantry,  with 
the  evident  intention  of  overwhelming  them. 
The  lancers  were  quickly  repulsed  by  the  infan- 
try, formed  in  a  hollow  square,  with  fixed  bayo- 
nets, who  reserved  their  fire  until  the  enemy  came 
within  close  range.  So  deadly  were  the  volleys 


that  met  the  onslaught  that  the  lancers  were 
thrown  into  confusion,  and  the  survivors  turned 
and  fled.  The  Americans  suffered  but  slight  loss, 
and  this  incident  illustrates  the  superiority  of 
courage  and  discipline  over  mere  strength  of  num- 
bers, even  when  accompanied  by  the  advantage 
of  position.  The  impression  which  this  brief  en- 
counter made  upon  the  mind  of  Mr.  Coulter  is 
one  never  to  be  effaced. 

In  1858,  Mr.  Coulter  moved  from  Pennsylvania 
to  Monroe  County,  Missouri,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  agriculture  for  some  years,  and  during 
his  residence  there  served  two  terms  in  the  Missouri 
Legislature.  His  business  career  reflects  equal 
credit  with  his  military  record  upon  the  character 
of  Mr.  Coulter.  In  1876  he  became  a  resident  of 
Chicago,  where  he  has  since  been  dealing  in  real 
estate. 

He  was  married  in  1856,  to  MissLydiaF.  Cox, 
of  McVeytown,  Pennsylvania,  and  four  of  their  five 
children  still  survive.  Mr.  Coulter  is  still  iden- 
tified with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  faith 
of  which  he  was  reared.  In  early  life,  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 
Having  inherited  a  powerful  frame  and  iron  con- 
stitution from  his  ancestors,  Mr.  Coulter  is  still 
the  picture  of  robust  manhood  and  strength,  and  is 
evidently  prepared  to  continue  his  honorable  busi- 
ness career  and  socially-useful  life  for  many  years 
to  come. 


THOMAS  EDIE  HILL. 


"HOMAS  EDIE  HILL  was  born  in  Sand- 
gate,  Bennington  County,  Vt.,  February  29, 
_     1832.     He  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm, 
attending   in   the  winter  the  district  schools  of 
that  vicinity,  and  finishing  his  school  instruction 
at  the  Cambridge  Academy,  at  Cambridge,  N.  Y. 
Possessing  natural  aptitude  for  teaching,  Mr. 


Hill  entered  upon  that  work,  and  taught  his  first 
school  at  Eagleville,  East  Salem,  N.  Y.,  receiv- 
ing therefor  $10  per  month;  following  which, 
at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  taught  the  winter  school 
in  Londonderry,  Vt.,  receiving  $14  per  month 
and  "boarding  "round."  Fitting  himself  in  Bos- 
ton for  teaching  penmanship,  he  entered  upon  the 


T.  E.  HILL. 


58: 


work  of  conducting  evening  schools,  teaching 
penmanship  and  forms,  and  followed  that  profes- 
sion during  the  fifteen  succeeding  years,  the  field 
of  his  teaching  being  in  Vermont,  New  York, 
Ohio,  Wisconsin  and  Illinois.  He  left  this  work 
in  1866,  and  has  taught  none  since,  except  a 
school  in  parliamentary  practice,  which  (being 
deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of  such  a 
school)  he  opened  at  the  Chicago  Athenseum  in 
1891,  conducting  the  same  for  several  months  and 
closing  with  a  public  exhibition.  This  class  was 
the  first  of  its  kind,  up  to  the  time  when  it  was 
established. 

Settling  at  Waukegan,  111.,  in  1854  with  his 
wife,  formerly  Miss  Rebekah  J.  Pierce,  of  Lon- 
donderry, Vt.,  by  whom  he  had  one  child,  Flor- 
ence G.,  at  present  Mrs.  George  M.  Porteous,  he 
remained  there  until  1866,  when  he  located  at 
A.urora,  111.,  and  began  the  publication  of  the 
Aurora  Herald,  from  which  he  severed  his  con- 
nection a  few  years  afterward.  He  continued  his 
residence  in  that  city  for  twelve  years,  during 
which  time  he  founded  and  obtained  a  large  cir- 
:ulation  for  the  Herald.  He  also  established  the 
Suburban  Chicago  Purchasing  Agency  business, 
and  as  manager  for  a  time  of  the  Aurora  Silver 
Plate  factory,  placed  that  institution  upon  a  suc- 
cessful basis.  While  Mayor  of  Aurora,  in  1876 
and  1877,  he  introduced  various  improvements 
into  the  city,  among  them  being  the  suppression 
of  cows  from  running  at  large,  the  setting  out  of 
thousands  of  shade  trees,  the  taking  down  offences 
around  dwellings,  and  the  organizing  of  an  im- 
provement society,  which  since  that  time  has 
been  largely  instrumental  in  making  that  city  the 
metropolis  of  the  Fox  River  Valley. 

Giving  a  liberal  portion  of  the  property  which 
he  had  accumulated  up  to  that  time  (1878)  to  his 
wife,  she  secured  a  separation  from  him  by  mutual 
consent,  he  taking  up  his  residence  in  Chicago  to 
give  personal  supervision  to  the  management  of 
"Hill's  Manual  of  Social  and  Business  Forms," 
which  had  been  brought  out  by  Moses  Warren,  a 
publisher  of  Chicago,  in  1873,  Mr.  Hill  assuming 
the  publishing  of  it  in  1879.  Subsequently  mar- 
rying Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Whitcomb,  at  Shushan, 
N.  Y..  he  continued  his  residence  in  Chicago  un- 


til 1885,  at  which  time  he  purchased  a  farm  ad- 
joining the  village  of  Prospect  Park,  DuPage 
County,  111.  In  the  succeeding  year  he  settled 
thereon,  returning  thus  to  the  employment  with 
which  he  had  been  familiar  in  his  boyhood.  His 
return  to  farming  was  voluntary  and  not  of  neces- 
sity, a  phrenologist  on  one  occasion,  when  exam- 
ining his  head,  having  told  him  when  he  began 
his  teaching  that  he  would  succeed  in  anything 
that  he  undertook. 

With  large  natural  love  of  the  ornamental  in 
landscape  and  building,  he  became  the  publisher 
and  editor,  in  1884,  of  the  Chicago  National 
Builder,  in  which  he  gave  to  the  world  many 
beautiful  designs  of  buildings  and  ornamental 
grounds.  Retiring  from  this  publication  after 
making  it  the  best  magazine  of  its  class,  he  or- 
ganized a  land  syndicate  at  Prospect  Park,  en- 
abled several  of  the  old  fanners  of  that  vicinity 
to  sell  their  farms  so  well  as  to  retire  on  a 
competency,  changed  the  name  of  the  village  to 
Glen  Ellyn,  and  secured  the  making  of  the  charm- 
ing little  Lake  Glen  Ellyn,  the  construction  of  an 
elegant  hotel  upon  its  borders,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  several  springs  near  the  lake,  among 
them  being  the  famous  Glen  Ellyn  Apollo,  the 
waters  of  which  have  large  sale  in  Chicago. 

Among  Mr.  Hill's  literary  works  have  been 
several  books  of  large  circulation,  of  which  "Hill's 
Manual"  has  had  a  sale  of  about  four  hundred 
thousand  copies  at  this  writing,  at  an  average 
price  of  $6  per  copy;  "Hill's  Album  of  Biogra- 
phy," having  a  circulation  of  eighty  thousand 
copies;  "Hill's  Guide  to  Chicago;"  "Ways  of 
Cruelty,"  an  illustrated  pamphlet  used  in  great 
numbers  by  humane  societies;  "Right  and  Wrong 
Contrasted;"  and  "Money  Found,"  the  latter  a 
popular  book  on  the  subject  of  finance. 

This  latest  work  is  an  original  publication, 
which  fully  outlines  the  plan  by  which  the  Gov- 
ernment may  assume  the  ownership  of  banks, 
and  may  operate  them  at  all  central  points,  guaran- 
teeing depositors  against  loss,  preventing  finan- 
cial panics,  and  the  consequent  depressions  in  busi- 
ness. Mr.  Hill  is  the  first  person  to  put  forth  to 
the  world  a  practical  method  by  which  Govern- 
mental banking  may  be  established.  At  this 


L.  C.  RUTH. 


writing,  the  book,  "Money  Found,"  is  having  an 
immensely  large  sale,  with  a  fair  probability  of 
so  educating  the  people  as  to  cause  them  to  de- 
mand Government  ownership  of  banks  in  the  very 
near  future,  thus  revolutionizing  the  present  in- 
secure system  of  banking,  giving  the  profits  per- 
taining to  the  handling  of  the  people's  money  to 
the  people;  and  at  the  same  time  securing  relief 
from  bank  failures,  and  permanent  financial  pros- 
perity for  all. 


While  Mr.  Hill's  efforts  have  been  crowned 
with  success  for  himself,  his  labors  have  been 
largely  of  a  public  character,  and  have  resulted 
in  great  educational  benefit  to  the  people  in  all 
parts  of  the  country.  Though  a  quiet  resident  of 
Glen  Ellyn,  his  works  have  had  such  large  circu- 
lation as  to  make  his  name  much  more  familiar 
to  the  inhabitants  of  New  England,  the  Middle 
States  and  the  Pacific  Coast  than  it  is  to  the  peo- 
ple of  DuPage  County. 


LINUS  C    RUTH. 


I  INUS  C.  RUTH,  of  Hinsdale,  is  a  prominent 
1C  member  of  the  DuPage  County  Bar,  and 
I \  J  well  deserves  representation  in  this  volume. 
He  has  the  honor  of  being  a  native  of  Illinois,  for 
he  was  born  at  Long  Grove,  Lake  County,  on 
the  1 8th  of  December,  1854.  His  parents  were 
Irwin  and  Leah  (Brown)  Ruth,  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania The  family  is  of  English  origin,  and 
was  founded  in  America  by  George  E.  Ruth,  the 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  who  left  England,  his 
native  land,  and  emigrated  to  America,  locating 
in  Northumberland  County,  Pa.  The  year  1836 
witnessed  his  arrival  in  Illinois.  He  settled  near 
Waukegan,  then  called  Little  Fort,  where  he  died 
when  past  the  age  of  sixty  years.  He  reared  a 
family  of  eight  children.  The  maternal  grand- 
father, John  Brown,  was  born  in  the  Keystone 
State,  and  was  for  some  years  engaged  in  mer- 
chandising in  Philadelphia.  He  came  to  the 
West  in  1838,  settling  in  Cedarville,  111.,  where 
he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years. 

Mr.  Ruth  whose  name  heads  this  record  spent 
his  early  boyhood  upon  the  home  farm,  aiding  in 
the  labors  of  the  field  through  the  summer  months, 
while  in  the  winter  season  he  attended  the  district 
school  and  acquired  the  rudiments  of  his  educa- 
tion. Later,  he  was  a  student  in  the  High  School, 


and  in  the  Iowa  State  College,  of  Ames,  Iowa. 
On  the  completion  of  his  literary  education,  he  en- 
tered Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business  College  of 
Chicago,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1873. 
His  time  was  then  devoted  to  business  interests 
for  several-  years,  after  which  he  determined  to 
enter  upon  a  professional  career,  and  began  the 
study  of  law  in  the  Union  College  of  Law  in  Chi- 
cago. Two  years  later  he  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar.  During  several  succeeding  years,  he  was 
engaged  in  delivering  lectures  on  commercial  law 
and  the  law  of  real  property  in  Bryant  &  Strat- 
ton's College,  in  which  he  had  formerly  been  a 
student. 

On  the  1 8th  of  August,  1880,  Mr.  Ruth  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Ella  F.  Reardon. 
Three  children  have  been  born  of  their  union: 
Irwin,  Chester  and  Linus  C.  The  parents  are 
members  of  the  Hinsdale  Unity  Church,  and  con- 
tribute liberally  to  its  support.  They  occupy  an 
enviable  position  in  social  circles,  and  have  won 
the  high  regard  of  all  who  know  them. 

In  1881  Mr.  Ruth  came  to  Hinsdale,  and  has 
since  engaged,  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  with 
excellent  success.  He  has  been  honored  with  a 
number  of  official  positions,  having  served  as  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  the  Board  of 


C.  B.  SMITH. 


587 


Health,  and  for  three  years  has  been  Village  At- 
torney. He  discharges  his  duties  with  a  prompt- 
ness and  fidelity  that  have  won  him  high  com- 
mendation, and  his  public  and  private  life  are  alike 
above  reproach.  In  politics,  he  is  a  supporter  of 
the  Republican  party.  He  owns  some  good  prop- 
erty in  Hinsdale,  including  his  pleasant  residence, 
and  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Hinsdale 


Building  and  Loan  Association,  of  which  he  has 
served  as  attorney  from  the  start.  He  is  ever 
found  in  the  front  rank  of  any  enterprise  calcu- 
lated to  prove  of  public  benefit,  and  is  alive  to 
the  best  interests  of  this  community  and  its  wel- 
fare. Public-spirited  and  progressive,  he  is  a 
valued  citizen  and  a  man  of  sterling  worth. 


CHARLES  BENNETT  SMITH. 


/TJHARLES  BENNETT  SMITH,  only  son  of 
1C  William  G.  Smith,  a  pioneer  of  DuPage 
U  County,  this  State,  is  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful business  men  of  Wheaton.  He  was  born 
in  Whitehall,  N.  Y.,  April  6,  1853,  and  was 
brought  to  Illinois  when  an  infant.  He  attended 
the  public  schools  at  Warrenville  and  Wheaton, 
and  was  a  student  of  Wheaton  College  two  years. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  began  learning  the 
railroad  station  business  at  Elmhurst,  and  soon 
found  employment  in  the  station  at  Wheaton,  be- 
coming a  skillful  telegraph  operator.  In  the 
spring  of  1872  he  was  made  agent  for  the  Chicago 
&  Northwestern  Railway  and  the  American  Ex- 
press Company  at  Westside,  Crawford  County, 
Iowa,  and  filled  that  position  eight  years.  He 
then  took  charge  of  the  station  at  Carroll,  an  im- 
portant division  point  on  the  Northwestern  sys- 
tem, for  three  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  at 
his  request,  he  was  transferred  to  the  charge  of 
Wheaton  Station,  being  at  the  time  the  oldest 
'  agent  in  point  of  service  on  the  Northwestern 
line  west  of  Boone.  Mr.  Smith  was  determined 
to  improve  his  opportunities,  and  soon  after  locat- 
ing at  Wheaton,  he  opened  a  real-estate  and  in- 
surance office,  in  which  he  transacted  a  large 
amount  of  business.  He  is  one  of  those  who  are 
responsible  for  the  incorporation  of  the  city,  and 


for  the  modern  improvements  which  make  it  a 
desirable  place  of  residence.  He  served  foui 
years  as  City  Clerk,  but  has  never  been  a  seeker 
after  political  preferment.  He  is  keenly  alive  to 
business  opportunities,  and  is  quite  content  to  let 
others  handle  the  reins  of  government.  He  is  a 
stockholder  in  the  company  which  supplies  the 
city  with  electric  light,  and  during  the  Columbian 
Exposition  was  Vice- President  of  the  Epworth 
Hotel  Restaurant  Company,  an  organization  which 
built  and  operated  a  successful  hotel  near  the 
Fair  grounds. 

In  1890  Mr.  Smith  was  appointed  Assistant 
Claim  Agent  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railway  Company,  a  position  that  he  has  accept- 
ably filled  since.  With  no  influence  to  push  him, 
save  his  own  energy  and  ability,  he  has  attained 
a  responsible  position  with  an  extensive  corpora- 
tion at  an  age  when  many  are  still  apprentices. 
Mr.  Smith  is  an  active  and  enthusiastic  Republi- 
can, and  carries  an  influence  in  local  political  af- 
fairs. He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  of  several  fraternal  orders. 

On  the  3oth  of  December,  1875,  Mr.  Smith 
was  married  to  his  childhood's  playmate  and 
schoolmate,  Laura  Elizabeth,  youngest  daughter 
of  Jude  P.  Gary,  a  pioneer  of  DuPage  County. 
Mrs.  Smith  was  born  in  Wiufield  Township,  and 


588 


J.  R.  WHEELER. 


is  a  valuable  member  of  Wheaton  society.  To 
the  aged  parents  of  Mr.  Smith  she  is  like  one 
born  to  them,  and  in  every  relation  of  life  is  the 
worthy  helpmate  of  a  popular  citizen.  Mrs. 
Smith  has  been  throughout  her  adult  life  one  of 
the  most  faithful  and  efficient  members  of  the 
Methodist  .Episcopal  Church,  and  has  been  for 
many  years  the  leading  soprano  singer  in  the 


choir  of  the  Wheaton  Church.  Two  children 
have  been  given  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith,  namely, 
Laura  Eoleen  and  Winifred  Alice. 

In  1892  Mr.  Smith  built  the  fine  residence 
which  he  occupies  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
West  Street  and  Washington  Avenue.  It  is  the 
seat  of  quiet  elegance  and  refined  hospitality. 


JOHN  R.  WHEELER, 


(TOHN  R.  WHEELER,  for  many  y ears  promi- 
I  nent  in  the  business,  social  and  religious  life 
O  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  East  Greene,  Che- 
nango  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  3ist  of  Decem- 
ber, 1827.  His  grandfather,  Samuel  Wheeler, 
came  with  his  family  from  England  and  settled  in 
East  Greene  in  1792.  At  that  time  the  town  of 
East  Greene  had  not  been  created.  It  was  taken 
from  the  town  of  Union,  Tioga  (now  Broome) 
County,  in  1798,  and  was  named  for  Gen.  Na- 
thaniel Greene,  of  Revolutionary  fame.  A  set- 
tlement of  French  refugees  was  made  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river  at  Greene  in  1792,  and  a  few 
families  of  these  remained  to  form  a  part  of  the 
permanent  settlement,  though  most  of  them 
moved  away  in  a  short  time.  Samuel  Wheeler 
was  among  the  settlers  of  the  northern  part  of  the 
town,  where  he  engaged  in  farming.  Both  he 
and  his  wife  died  in  1808. 

Capt.  Samuel  Wheeler,  son  of  Samuel,  was  a 
soldier  in  the  War  of  1812.  The  subject  of  this 
biography  was  the  seventh  in  a  family  of  nine 
children  born  to  him  and  his  wife,  Tainar  Barnes. 
Their  names  in  order  are:  William,  Melissa,  Har- 
riet, George,  Sarah  Ann,  Charles  H.,  John  R., 
Mary  and  Margaret. 
John  R.  Wheeler  passed  his  minority  upon  his 


father's  farm,  completing  his  school  days  at  the 
academy  in  Greene.  In  early  life  he  taught 
school  at  East  Greene  and  Oxford,  and  for  five 
years  engaged  in  farming  near  Oxford,  after  which 
he  kept  a  general  store  twelve  years  at  Oxford, 
N.  Y.  He  served  several  terms  in  Oxford  as 
Town  Supervisor  and  County  School  Commis- 
sioner. Having  been  moderately  successful,  the 
result  of  persistent  attention  to  business,  he  re- 
solved to  seek  a  new  field  of  operations  in  the 
great  West,  and  removed  to  Chicago  in  March, 
1869.  Here  he  invested  his  capital  in  real  estate, 
and  with  such  good  judgment  did  he  handle  his 
holdings  that  he  was  made  independent.  He 
always  took  an  intelligent  interest  in  questions 
affecting  the  general  welfare,  and  was  soon  called 
upon  to  serve  his  fellows  in  various  official  capac- 
ities. For  a  time  he  served  as  Superintendent  of 
the  Western  Railway  Weighing  Association.  Be- 
lieving in  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  he  gave  his  earnest  support  to  the 
cause  of  that  organization.  In  1884  he  was  a 
delegate  from  the  Third  Illinois  District  to  the 
National  Republican  Convention,  and  was  in- 
tensely devoted  to  Mr.  Elaine.  The  next  year 
he  presided  over  the  Cook  County  Republican 
Convention,  and  the  following  spring  was  elected 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


DR.  LEONARD   PRATT 


LEONARD  PRATT 


589 


Alderman  from  the  then  Ninth  Ward.  He  was  the 
Republican  Presidential  Elector  from  the  Third 
District  in  1888,  and  was  appointed  a  member  of 
the  State  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commission 
the  next  year,  being  made  Chairman  of  the  Board. 
He  was  re-appointed  in  1891,  and  acted  until 
about  a  month  before  his  death,  which  sad  event 
occurred  February  19,  1893.  His  demise,  soon 
after  the  completion  of  his  sixty-fifth  year,  was 
supposed  to  be  the  result  of  a  severe  attack  of 
la  grippe  in  the  spring  of  1892. 

Mr.  Wheeler  was  for  eighteen  years  a  Deacon 
in  the  Second  Baptist  Church  of  Chicago.  In 
every  relation  of  life,  he  strove  to  do  his  whole 
duty,  and  entered  into  every  undertaking  with 
his  full  strength.  During  the  Civil  War  he  at- 
tempted to  give  his  services  in  defense  of  the 
Union,  but  was  rejected  on  account  of  an  injury 
which  he  sustained  in  earlier  years.  By  precept 
and  example,  he  sought  to  lead  others  in  the  way 
of  duty  and  right. 

In  July,  1849,  Mr.  Wheeler  took  for  a  help- 
mate Miss  Eliza  Ann  Tremaine,  who  was  born 
in  East  Greene,  and  was  three  months  and  eleven 


days  his  junior.    She  is  the  fifth  of  the  eight  chil- 
dren of  Erastus  and  Lucretia  Tremaine,  the  lat 
ter's  maiden  name  having  been  Race.    Her  grand- 
father, Daniel  Tremaine,  was  among  the  pioneers 
of  East  Greene,    and  was  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church  organized  there  in  1795.     It  is  prob 
able   that   he  was   a   descendant  of  a  Huguenot 
refugee  in  America,  as  the  name  is  of  undoubted 
French  origin.     Daniel  Tremaine  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  army,  and  was  present  at  the  sur 
render   of  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga  in  1777.     He 
reached  the   ripe   old  age  of  ninety-four  years, 
passing  his  latter  years  with  his  son  Erastus,  the 
father  of  Mrs.  Wheeler,  near  East  Greene. 

Three  children  were  given  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wheeler,  namely:  George  A.,  Luella  and  Ida. 
The  daughters  were  married  on  the  same  day,  in 
October,  1873,  the  elder  becoming  the  wife  o< 
John  W.  Midgley,  Chairman  of  the  Western 
Freight  Association,  and  the  other  wedding  En- 
field  D.  Moore,  Manager  of  the  Chicago  Car 
Service  Association.  Mrs.  Midgley  is  the  mother 
of  four  children,  Stanley,  Arthur,  Ethel  and 
Edith. 


DR.  LEONARD  PRATT. 


0R.  LEONARD  PRATT,  for  many  years  a 
leading  physician  of  Wheaton,  and  now  a 
resident  of  San  Jose,  Cal.,  is  a  native  of 
Towanda,  Pa.  His  parents,  Russell  and  Olive 
(Towner)  Pratt,  whose  names  indicate  English 
ancestry,  passed  their  lives  in  that  place,  where 
Russell  Pratt  carried  on  a  cooperage  business. 
Leonard  Pratt  was  born  December  23,  1819,  and 
is  therefore  now  in  his  seventy-fourth  year,  but  is 
still  vigorous  in  mind  and  bod}'  and  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  re- 
ceived his  primary  education  in  the  Pennsylvania 
common  schools,  and  his  medical  training  at 


Jefferson  and  Hahnemann  Medical  Colleges  in 
Philadelphia.  For  more  than  fifty  years  his  time 
has  been  employed  in  the  healing  art,  the  first 
years  of  his  practice  being  passed  in  his  native 
town.  In  1852  he  removed  to  Carroll  County, 
111. ,  settling  on  a  farm  in  Rock  Creek  Township, 
one  of  the  finest  farms  in  that  county.  He  re- 
moved in  1865  to  Wheaton,  111.,  for  the  purpose 
of  educating  his  son,  a  biography  of  whom  will  be 
found  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  He  built  a  fine 
brick  mansion  on  Main  Street  (now  occupied  by 
Dr.  E.  C.  Guild) ,  where  his  home  remained  until 
1889,  when  he  removed  to  his  present  residence. 


590 


F.  D.  COSSITT,  JR. 


Dr.  Pratt  is  a  member  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute of  Homeopathy  and  of  the  Illinois  and  Cali- 
fornia State  Associations  of  that  school,  and  is  a 
man  of  fine  attainments  and  progressive  ideas. 
He  has  always  given  his  political  allegiance  to  the 
Republican  party  since  its  organization.  His 
religious  faith  is  represented  by  the  New  Church, 
commonly  known  as  the  Swedenborgian.  His  time 
has  been  given  to  the  demands  of  a  large  medical 
practice,  and  he  has  been  able  to  devote  but  little 
personal  attention  to  public  affairs,  although  he 
always  took  a  deep  interest  in  any  effort  to  pro- 
mote and  secure  good  government.  The  original 
charter  of  the  town  of  Wheaton,  which  has  since 
become  a  city,  was  the  work  of  his  mind  and  pen. 

Dr.  Pratt  was  for  seven  ~^ars  a  member  of  the 
faculty  of  Hahnemann  Me  .iical  College,  of  Chi- 
cago, filling  the  chair  of  Special  Pathology  and 
Diagnosis,  and  was  an  extensive  contributor  to 


medical  literature,  being  the  first  Western  physi- 
cian to  call  the  attention  of  the  profession  to  the 
clinical  thermometer.  At  the  same  time  he  was 
constantly  employed  in  attending  patients  in  and 
about  Wheaton  and  Chicago. 

Dr.  Pratt's  wife,  Betsy,  is  a  daughter  of  Lemuel 
Belding,  of  LeRaysville,  Bradford  County,  Pa., 
a  widely  known  Swedenborgiaii  clergyman  and 
physician,  who  was  eminently  successful  in  both 
capacities.  He  was  a  calm,  logical  speaker,  and 
achieved  considerable  reputation  as  an  orator. 
The  Belding  family  is  of  English  lineage.  Two 
sons  and  two  daughters  were  born  to  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Pratt,  one  son  dying  in  infancy,  and  a 
daughter,  Hattie,  at  the  age  of  thirteen  yeais, 
the  latter  being  carried  off  by  the  first  case  ol 
diphtheria  known  in  Rock  Creek,  Carroll  County, 
111.  One  daughter,  Nettie  L,.,  is  a  successful 
teacher  of  music  at  San  Jose,  Cal. 


FRANKLIN  DWIGHT  COSSITT,  JR. 


|~~RANKLIN  DWIGHT  COSSITT,  JR.,  only 
r3  surviving  son  of  F.  D.  and  Martha  I,. 
(Moore)  Cosjsitt,  was  born  in  La  Grange, 
Tenn.,  December  4.,  1861,  and  during  his  infancy 
was  taken  by  his  parents  to  Chicago.  About  a 
year  later  his  mother  died,  and  he  was  taken  back 
by  her  sister  to  Tennessee,  where  he  continued 
to  make  his  home  until  1869.  In  his  eighth  year 
he  returned  to  Chicago,  and  attended  its  public 
schools  and  pursued  a  course  in  one  of  its  busi- 
ness colleges.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  opened 
a  general  store  in  La  Grange,  whicli  he  conducted 
for  three  years.  At  the  end  of  this  period  he 
sold  out,  and  again  took  up  study  at  a  business 
college.  He  next  became  associated  with  his  fa- 
ther in  the  real-estate  business,  a  connection  which 
has  continued  until  the  present  time. 

On  the  loth  of  February,  1886,  Mr.  Cossitt 
married  Miss  Margaret  A. ,  daughter  of  Dr.  George 
M.  Fox,  a  prominent  citizen  of  La  Grange,  whose 


biography  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work.  Foui 
children  have  been  born  to  them,  namely:  Frank- 
lin D.,  named  for  his  paternal  grandfather;  George 
M.,  named  for  his  maternal  grandfather;  Jean, 
who  bears  the  name  of  her  maternal  grandmother: 
and  Margaret,  her  mother's  namesake. 

In  1889  Mr.  Cossitt  was  elected  Trustee  of  the 
village  of  La  Grange,  and  has  twice  been  re- 
lected,  now  serving  his  third  term.  In  1892  he 
was  elected  Highway  Commissioner  of  Lyons 
Township,  and  is  now  Treasurer  of  that  town- 
ship. In  political  sentiment,  he  is  a  Democrat, 
and  is  now  serving  his  second  term  as  a  membei 
of  the  County  Democratic  Central  Committee. 
The  prominent  part  which  he  has  taken  in  public 
affairs,  and  especially  in  the  upbuilding  of  this 
community,  entitles  him  to  representation  among 
the  public-spirited  and  progressive  citizens  ol 
Cook  County. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

8NIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


JACOB  HUBER 


JACOB  HUBER. 


59i 


JACOB  HUBER. 


(JACOB  HUBER,  who  is  now  living  retired  in 
I  his  pleasant  home  at  No.  271  Racine  Avenue, 
Q)  has  been  a  resident  of  Chicago  since  March, 
1854.  He  was  born  in  May,  1820,  near  Zurich, 
Switzerland,  and  is  a  son  of  Kasper  and  Regula 
(Huerlimann)  Huber.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm, 
assisting  his  father  in  its  cultivation,  and  received 
but  a  limited  education.  In  the  seventeenth  year 
of  his  age  he  entered  the  employ  of  a  neighboring 
farmer,  and  served  him  two  years.  On  the 
expiration  of  this  term  he  returned  home  and 
worked  for  his  father  until  he  was  nearly  twenty 
years  old.  Then  he  went  to  the  city  of  Zurich, 
where  he  found  employment  with  a  man  for 
whom  he  worked  ten  years. 

In  compliance  with  the  custom  of  his  native 
country,  he  entered  the  army  at  the  age  of 
twenty  years,  and  took  part  in  the  Revolutionary 
wars  of  1844-45  and  1847.  He  was  several  times 
promoted,  and  finally  attained  the  rank  of 
Quartermaster.  This  distinction  was  practically 
a  reward  of  merit,  as  it  was  won  by  him  in  conse- 
quence of  his  passing  the  annual  examinations  so 
creditably.  In  1849  he  was  honorably  discharged 
from  the  army  on  account  of  having  lost  the 
middle  finger  of  his  left  hand.  The  same  fidelity 
to  duty  that  caused  his  promotion  in  the  army 
was  always  observed  in  his  business  pursuits  and 
secured  his  advancement  in  the  employment 
spoken  of  above.  He  began  as  a  teamster  and 
gradually  worked  himself  up  to  the  second  highest 
position  in  the  largest  soap  factory  in  Switzerland. 
In  1841  Mr.  Huber  married  Miss  Mary  Verena 
Schnabel,  who  was  born  and  educated  in  Zurich. 
On  the  first  day  of  January,  1854,  Mr.  Huber, 
accompanied  by  his  wife  and  children  and  a  party 


of  friends,  sailed  from  Havre,  France,  bound  for 
the  United  States.  The  party  consisted  of  thirty- 
five  members,  and  after  a  voyage  of  seven  weeks 
landed  in  New  York,  and  reached  Chicago  March 
13.  Their  objective  'point  was  Wisconsin,  but 
as  Mr.  Huber  had  only  twenty -five  dollars  on 
reaching  Chicago,  he  decided  to  remain  in  the 
city,  and  the  other  members  of  the  part}'  continued 
their  journey  to  the  Badger  State. 

The  next  day  after  ^his  arrival  Mr.  Huber 
found  employment  in  a  soap  factory,  his  compen- 
sation to  be  seventy-five  cents  per  day  of  twelve 
hours.  Not  being  able  to  support  his  family 
with  this  meager  salary,  he  obtained  a  situation 
on  South  Water  Street,  which  he  retained  three 
summers,  working  winters  in  packing  houses. 
August  2,  1854,  his  wife  died,  leaving  him  with 
the  entire  care  of  three  children. 

February  2,  1855,  he  married  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Catherine  Mangold,  who  had  a  son  by  her  former 
marriage,  and  with  mingled  pride  and  pleasure 
Mr.  Huber  relates  that  their  wedding  expenses 
were  thirty-five  cents,  spent  for  cake  to  give  the 
four  children  a  feast.  Soon  after  their  marriage, 
with  their  combined  capital,  he  bought  a  quarter 
of  an  acre  of  land  on  Larrabee  Street,  where  they 
lived  the  succeeding  ten  years.  Both  were  in- 
dustrious and  energetic,  and  hopeful  for  the 
future.  Mr.  Huber  continued  to  work  in  the 
city,  and  for  eleven  successive  winters  was  in  the 
employ  of  Reynolds  &  Hay  wood.  He  practiced 
the  closest  economy,  and  was  able  to  save  a  part 
of  his  salary,  besides  paying  all  his  obligations. 
His  good  wife  cultivated  their  garden,  growing 
vegetables  for  the  city  market.  On  the  first 
basketful  of  vegetables  sold  she  realized  twenty- 


592 


J.'K.  EDS  ALL. 


eight  cents,  with  which  she  bought  coffee.  As 
their  means  increased  they  bought  a  few  cows 
and  engaged  in  selling  milk. 

While  residing  on  Larrabee  Street  Mr.  Huber 
bought  several  lots,  which  were  used  for  garden- 
ing purposes.  In  1864  he  bought  eight  acres  of 
land  on  Racine  Avenue,  a  part  of  which  he  now 
occupies.  After  locating  on  this  land  he  carried 
on  market  gardening  extensively,  and  was  very 
prosperous.  For  the  eight  acres  of  land  he  paid 
nine  hundred  dollars  an  acre,  and  in  1895  s°ld 
five  acres  of  this  for  seventy  thousand  dollars,  to 
the  Alexian  Brothers.  He  also  bought  other  lots, 
and  at  one  time  owned  sixteen  acres  of  land  in 
Chicago.  His  different  investments  proved 
profitable  and  by  indefatigable  industry,  strict 
integrity  in  all  his  dealings,  and  keen  business 
foresight,  he  achieved  success.  At  the  age  of 
seventy  years  he  retired  from  active  business, 
with  a  handsome  competence,  and  has  since  en- 
joyed a  well-earned  rest. 


In  his  domestic  relations  Mr.  Huber  was 
always  happy.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  seven 
children,  only  three  of  whom  are  now  living, 
namely:  Conrad,  who  resides  in  Lake  View; 
Elizabeth,  widow  of  Mr.  Schwackert,  of  South- 
port  Avenue;  and  Jacob,  who  lives  at  No.  255 
Racine  Avenue.  Mr.  Huber  and  his  second  wife 
were  the  parents  of  the  following  children,  Ru- 
dolph, who  died  of  scarlet  fever  at  the  age  of 
three  and  a-half  years,  and  Wilhelmina,  wife  of 
William  George  Reichwald.  The  mother  of 
these  died  in  April,  1879. 

Mr.  Huber  supports  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party.  He  has  been  for  a  number  of 
years  one  of  the  directors  of  an  orphan  asylum, 
and  is  also  a  director  of  the  German  hospital,  and 
identified  with  Saint  Paul's  Lutheran  Church. 
He  is  a  highty  respected  and  valuable  citizen, 
and  evinces  a  creditable  interest  in  the  affairs  of 
the  country  of  his  adoption,  and  of  the  city  in 
which  he  resides. 


JAMES  K.  EDSALL. 


(JAMES  KIRTLAND  EDSALL  was  born  at 
I  Windham,  Greene  County,  New  York,  May 
O  10,  1831,  and  was  the  son  of  Joseph  Edsall 
and  Nancy  Kirtland  Edsall.  His  grandfather, 
John  Edsall,  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  was  with  General  Washington  at  the  crossing 
of  the  Delaware.  He  belonged  to  a  family  that 
settled  with  the  early  colonists  in  New  Jersey. 

Samuel  Edsall,  the  first  of  the  name  in  this 
country,  came  from  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire, 
England,  in  1644.  By  marriage  this  English  an- 
cestry was  mingled  with  the  sturdy  qualities  of 
the  Knickerbocker  Dutch. 

Joseph  Edsall,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  a  man  possessed  of  unusual  natural 
ability  and  extensive  general  information,  and 


ever  manifested  a  determination  to  secure  for  his 
children  the  best  educational  advantages  that  lay 
within  his  reach.  His  wife,  Nancy  Edsall,  was 
born  in  Connecticut,  but  removed  with  her 
parents,  Richard  and  Lydia  (Lord)  Kirtland,  to 
Durham,  New  York,  whence  the  family  subse- 
quently moved  to  Windham.  She  was  a  woman 
of  superior  education,  and  an  exemplary  Christian, 
who  left  upon  her  children  the  impress  of  her 
character. 

James  K.  Edsall  received  his  education  in  the 
common  schools,  and  later  pursued  a  course  of 
study  comprising  modern  science,  mathematics, 
languages,  and  classics,  in  the  academy  at  Pratts- 
ville,  New  York.  He  paid  his  expenses  at  the 
latter  place  by  teaching  and  working  upon  the 


J.  K.  EDSALL. 


593 


home  farm.  His  father  selected  him  as  the  lawyer 
of  the  family,  and  at  the  age  of  twelve  years  his 
brothers  and  sisters  conferred  upon  him  the  title 
of  ' '  The  Counsellor. ' '  His  brother  Henry  was  in 
like  manner  selected  for  a  physician .  The  suc- 
cess which  attended  each  one  in  his  life  work, 
shows  the  correctness  of  their  father's  judgment. 

James  left  the  academy  in  1851,  and  began  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Herman  Winans  of 
Prattsville,  and  taught  school  during  the  follow- 
ing winter.  In  the  spring  of  1852,  he  took  a 
clerkship  in  the  office  of  Alexander  H.  Bailey,  of 
Catskill,  New  York,  where  he  could  pay  his  ex- 
penses and  at  the  same  time  pursue  his  studies. 
In  the  following  September,  he  passed  an  exami- 
nation for  the  bar,  before  the  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  at  Albany,  New  York. 

In  December,  1853,  he  moved  to  Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin,  and  the  following  summer  to  Fond  du 
Lac,  in  the  same  State.  From  there  he  went  to 
Saint  Paul,  Minnesota,  and  in  the  fall  of  1854,  he 
settled  at  Leavenworth,  Kansas.  There  he  was 
made  a  candidate  on  the  Free  State  ticket  for  rep- 
resentative in  the  first  Territorial  Legislature; 
and  though  he  received  a  majority  of  the  local 
votes,  armed  bodies  of  men  came  over  from  Mis- 
souri, and  by  fraudulent  means,  elected  a  Slave 
State  candidate.  In  1855,  he  was  elected  to  the 
Legislature  which  was  organized  under  the  "  To- 
peka  Constitution."  He  participated  in  the  de- 
liberations of  that  body  and  was  a  member  of  the 
committee  to  draft  a  code  of  laws  for  Kansas.  He 
was  present  as  a  member  of  the  Topeka  Legisla- 
ture, when,  on  July  4,  1856,  it  was  broken  up  by 
United  States  troops,  by  order  of  President  Pierce. 

July  24,  1856,  Mr.  Edsall  married  Caroline 
Florella  Moore,  at  Florence,  Michigan,  whence 
her  family  had  moved  from  Delhi,  New  York. 
Three  children  were  born  to  them  as  follows: 
James  Star,  Samuel  Cook  and  Emily  Farrington. 
The  only  one  living  is  Samuel  Cook,  who,  after 
several  years  spent  with  his  father  in  the  study 
and  practice  of  the  law,  entered  the  ministry  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  and  is  now  Rector  of  St. 
Peter's  Church,  Chicago. 

James  K.  Edsall  became,  in  his  early  manhood, 
and  continued  through  life,  an  ardent  adherent  of 


the  Episcopal  Church,  giving  liberally  of  his 
means  to  its  support  and  regularly  attending  its 
services.  For  several  years  before  his  death,  he 
was  a  vestryman  in  his  son's  parish.  In  August, 
1856,  he  moved  to  Dixon,  Illinois,  and  there  con- 
tinued in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  Though 
then  only  twenty-five  years  old,  he  soon  attained 
a  leading  position  at  the  bar  of  northern  Illinois, 
and  built  up  an  extensive  practice.  His  name 
frequently  appears  as  counsel  in  the  reports  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  rarely  upon  the  losing  side. 
In  1863,  he  was  elected  Mayor  of  Dixon,  and  in 
1870  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  Twenty- 
seventh  General  Assembly  of  Illinois,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  two  years.  This  body  con- 
tained several  of  the  ablest  lawyers  of  the  State, 
and  of  these  Mr.  Edsall  was  accorded  a  place 
among  the  first. 

The  adoption  of  the  new  Constitution  of  1870, 
rendered  it  necessary  to  frame  general  laws  to 
take  the  place  of  the  incongruous  mass  of  special 
legislation  which  had  previously  been  in  vogue, 
and  by  common  consent  it  seems  to  have  been 
thought  expedient  to  confide  that  duty  to  the 
most  competent  hands.  The  present  general  law 
for  the  incorporation  of  cities  and  villages  was 
framed  in  the  Senate  Committee  on  Municipalities, 
of  which  Mr.  Edsall  was  then  chairman,  and  most 
of  its  provisions  bear  the  impress  of  his  study  and 
thought.  The  sections  of  the  Conveyance  Act, 
which  prescribed  short  forms  of  deeds  and  mort- 
gages, so  brief  that  they  contain  but  few  more 
words  than  an  ordinary  promissory  note,  aside 
from  names  of  parties  and  necessary  descriptions, 
and  yet  so  complete  that  the  single  word  ' '  war- 
rant ' '  expresses  full  covenant  for  title  written  out 
in  the  most  exact  legal  phraseology,  were  drafted 
by  him. 

The  public  and  the  bar  are  more  indebted  to 
him  than  to  anyone  else  for  the  incorporation  into 
the  Practice  Act  of  1872,  of  those  liberal  provi- 
sions which  did  much  to  rescue  the  common  law 
system  of  pleading  and  practice,  in  use  in  this 
State,  from  the  reproach  which  rested  upon  it. 
His  clear  thought,  sound  judgment  and  legal  ac- 
quirements, were  such  as  to  distinguish  between 
the  real  merits  of  the  system  based  upon  the  com- 


594 


J.  K.  EDS  ALL. 


mon  law  and  the  mass  of  outgrown  technicalities 
by  which  it  was  overlaid.  He  took  a  leading 
part  in  the  discussion  of  the  important  subjects 
which  came  before  the  Senate  and  prepared  the 
report  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  in  support  of 
the  right  of  the  State  to  impose  and  collect  reason- 
able tolls  for  the  use  of  the  improvements  which 
it  had  made  in  the  navigation  of  the  Illinois  River. 
He  made  an  argument  of  great  power  in  support 
of  the  constitutionality  of  Governmental  control 
of  railroads  and  warehouses.  At  the  close  of  his 
speech,  he  predicted  that  this  power  would  ulti- 
mately be  sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court,  a  pre- 
diction which  was  subsequently  verified  by  the 
decision  of  that  court  in  "  Munn  versus  the  State 
of  Illinois, ' '  a  cause  argued  by  him  as  Attorney- 
General.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  opinion  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  in  that  case,  Chief 
Justice  Waite  said,  "  In  passing  upon  this  case, 
we  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  vast  impor- 
tance of  the  question  involved.  This  and  cases  of 
a  kindred  character  were  argued  before  us  more 
than  a  year  ago  by  most  eminent  counsel,  and  in  a 
manner  worthy  of  their  well-earned  reputations. ' ' 
Mr.  Edsall's  work  in  the  State  Senate  made 
such  an  impression  upon  his  fellow-members  of 
the  Legislature,  that  many  of  them  insisted  he 
was  the  man  needed  by  the  State  for  its  Attorney- 
General.  His  nomination  by  the  Republican 
Convention  followed,  and  in  1872  he  was  elected 
Attorney -General  of  the  State,  and  was  re-elected 
to  the  same  office  in  1876.  The  manner  in  which 
he  discharged  the  duties  of  that  office  earned  for 
him  the  admiration  of  his  professional  brethren, 
and  the  gratitude  of  the  people.  The  case  of 
Munn  versus  the  State  had  been  argued  a  year 
prior  to  his  election,  and,  upon  the  authority  of 
members  since  retired  from  the  bench,  is  said  to 
have  been  decided  against  the  State,  when  con- 
sidered in  conference,  but  the  opinion  had  not  been 
announced.  A  re  argument  of  the  case  was 
ordered  by  the  Court  after  the  election  of  two 
new  judges,  who  filled  vacancies.  Mr.  Edsall 
availed  himself  of  this  opportunity,  and  as  Attor- 
ney-General, filed  an  argument  in  behalf  of  the 
State,  which  became  the  basis  of  the  opinion  of 
the  Court,  sustaining  the  power  of  the  State  to 


pass  laws  prescribing  the  maximum  charges  by 
public  warehouses  for  the  storage  of  grain.  The 
eight  years  which  he  held  the  office  of  Attorney- 
General  formed  an  epoch  in  the  legal  and  consti- 
tutional history  of  the  State.  The  revenue  cases 
which  he  successfully  carried  through  the  courts 
of  the  State  and  the  United  States,  involving 
taxes  to  the  amount  of  millions  of  dollars,  speak 
for  themselves  as  to  the  value  of  his  services,  and 
the  untiring  labor  and  legal  talent  displayed  in 
their  management. 

In  all  his  varied  career  as  student,  lawyer,  legis- 
lator, senator  and  attorney-general,  Mr.  Edsall 
showed  himself  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  im- 
portant trusts  imposed  upon  him.  Prompt  in  all 
his  actions,  decided  in  his  opinion  and  independ- 
ent of  thought,  he  never  deviated  from  the  course 
which  duty  had  marked  out,  and  always  acted 
without  regard  to  popular  favor.  A  lover  of  free- 
dom and  equality,  his  sympathies  were  ever  en- 
listed in  the  cause  of  the  oppressed,  and  he  firmly 
maintained  the  rights  of  the  people.  In  the  dis- 
charge of  his  official  duties  he  showed  himself  the 
possessor  of  a  sound  judgment,  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  constitutional  law  and  the  principles  of 
government,  and  that  he  was  profoundly  versed 
in  jurisprudence.  He  was  one  of  those  rare 
lawyers  capable  of  arguing  from  first  principles, 
and  able  to  strike  out  in  original  paths.  During 
his  incumbency  of  the  office  of  Attorney-  General 
his  official  opinions  were  constantly  sought  and 
relied  upon  by  the  Governor  and  other  executive 
officers  of  the  state,  upon  all  questions  of  legal  or 
constitutional  difficulty,  and  he  invariably  met 
the  demands  of  the  occasion  in  such  manner  as  to 
solve  the  problem  presented  and  make  plain  the 
path  of  official  duty.  Gifted  with  a  high  order  of 
talent,  patience,  perseverance  and  most  estimable 
social  qualities,  few  men  stood  higher  in  the  ap- 
preciation of  the  public  than  did  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  James  K.  Edsall. 

The  reputation  he  made,  and  the  position  he 
achieved  before  the  public,  were  such  that  it  was 
quite  generally  assumed  that  he  would  be  a  can- 
didate for  Governor  of  the  State  at  the  election  of 
1880.  But  mere  official  positions  not  within  the 
line  of  his  profession,  appeared  to  have  no  attrac- 


JOSEPH  MEISNER. 


595 


tion  for  him.  He  did  not  even  entertain  the  propo- 
sition to  become  a  candidate  for  Governor,  and 
more  than  a  year  prior  to  the  expiration  of  his 
term  gave  notice  to  all  aspirants  to  the  office  of 
Attorney- General,  that  he  designed  to  retire  to 
private  practice  and  would  not  be  a  candidate  for 
that  office.  In  pursuance  of  this  resolution,  he 
moved  to  the  City  of  Chicago  in  September,  1879, 
and  there  opened  an  office  for  the  practice  of  law. 
After  Mr.  Edsall's  retirement  to  private  prac- 
tice he  was  several  times  retained  as  private  coun- 
sel for  the  State,  when  it  became  necessary  to 
defend  the  constitutionality  of  important  laws; 
notably  in  the  cases  of  the  Illinois  Central  and 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroads  in  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  in  which  it  had 
been  asserted  that  the  charters  of  these  companies 
exempted  them  from  State  control.  During  the 
years  of  his  private  practice  in  Chicago,  Mr. 
Edsall's  services  were  frequently  sought  in  cases 
of  a  public  character,  involving  the  application  of 
great  skill  in  constitutional  law,  and,  as  was  to  be 
expected,  his  role  was  nearly  always  that  of  an 
advocate  for  the  people.  Among  the  more  promi- 
nent cases  with  which  his  name  thus  became  as- 
sociated, and  in  which  he  materially  contributed 
to  the  final  victories  achieved,  were  the  Lake 
Front  case  and  the  Gas  Trust  case.  It  was  a 


marked  characteristic  of  his  legal  career  that  he 
always  won  the  respect  and  admiration  of  his 
legal  opponents.  Able  lawyers  who  had  met  de- 
feat at  his  hands  repeatedly  sought  his  aid  as 
counsel  in  their  own  difficult  cases.  In  his  later 
years  a  large  proportion  of  his  practice  was  of  this 
character,  and  this  still  further  developed  his  re- 
markable power  of  concentration,  and  those  quali- 
ties of  keen  perception  which  enabled  him  to 
speedily  get  at  the  root  of  things  and  unravel 
difficult  snarls. 

But  while  it  was  as  a  lawyer  that  James  K. 
Edsall  deserves  to  be  classed  as  a  really  great 
man,  it  was  in  his  domestic  and  social  life  that 
the  amiability  and  kindness  of  the  man  shone 
most  brightly  forth.  He  was  never  so  happy  as 
with  his  grandchildren  on  his  knee.  Those  who 
knew  him  intimately  loved  him  best.  He  was 
one  of  those  men  who  are  a  tower  of  moral 
strength  in  the  circle  in  which  they  live;  and 
when,  on  June  19,  1892,  he  died,  after  an  illness 
of  four  months  succeeding  a  stroke  of  paralysis, 
brought  on  by  overwork,  he  was  mourned  by 
many  who  had  experienced  his  ever  kind  gener- 
osity. His  body  was  laid  away  in  the  cemetery 
at  his  old  home  in  Dixon;  where,  after  an  interval 
of  some  two  years,  his  beloved  life  partner  came 
to  rest  by  his  side. 


JOSEPH   MEISNER. 


(70SEPH  MEISNER,  who  was  for  several 
I  years  an  expressman  of  Chicago,  was  born 
\*S  December  24,  1809,  in  Hirshberg,  Austria. 
He  was  educated  in  his  native  country,  and  there 
fell  in  love  with  a  young  girl  named  Anna  Froech- 
lich,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Theresa  (Schluka) 
Froechlich.  They  were  married  in  Jung  Buns- 
lau,  Austria,  in  1850,  though  the  bride  was  then 
only  seventeen  years  old.  Two  years  later  they 


came  to  America  and  settled  in  Chicago,  where  Mr. 
Meisner  obtained  employment.  They  resided  at 
No.  175  Jackson  Street,  their  home  having  been 
bought  by  Mrs.  Meisner.  Mr.  Meisner  died  in 
Chicago,  September  24,  1883. 

After  the  death  of  her  husband  Mrs.  Meisner 
bought  the  property  at  No.  8n  Fairfield  Avenue, 
where  she  now  resides.  She  has  been  a  success- 
ful business  woman  and  a  good  wife  and  helpmate 


596 


A.  J.  NOWLEN. 


to  her  husband.  She  has  been  able  to  accumu- 
late a  comfortable  fortune,  which  she  manages  to 
the  best  advantage,  being  possessed  of  good  judg- 
ment; She  is  the  mother  of  six  children,  name- 
ly: Anna,  Amalia,  August,  Matilda,  Peter  and 
Mary.  Anna  first  married  Henry  Thage,  who 
died,  and  now  she  is  the  wife  of  William  Molzen; 
Amalia  married  John  Stepens;  Matilda  is  the 
wife  of  William  Rohe;  and  Mary  was  married  to 
Henry  Busche. 

Mrs.  Meisner  always  practiced  frugality  and  in- 


dustry, and  so  able  was  she  in  the  management  of 
her  affairs  that  she  laid  the  foundation  of  a  small 
fortune,  which  will  benefit  her  posterity  for  many 
generations.  She  is  a  kind  mother  and  was  a 
dutiful  and  affectionate  wife,  combining  those 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart  which  win  for  a  wo- 
man the  respect  of  all.  She  is  an  example  of  what 
may  be  accomplished  by  a  woman  left  with  no 
protector,  if  ambitious  and  willing  to  do  her  best. 
She  is  well  known  in  her  community,  and  has 
the  respect  and  esteem  of  all. 


ADDISON  J.  NOWLEN. 


Gl  DDISON  JOSHUA  NOWLEN,  a  prominent 
J  1  citizen  and  well-known  business  man  of  Irv- 
/ I  ing  Park,  was  born  March  28,  1828,  at 
Conesville,  Schoharie  County,  New  York.  He 
is  a  grandson  of  Joshua  Nowlen ,  who  was  born 
in  Connecticut  of  Irish  descent,  and  who  moved  to 
New  York.  He  served  his  country  as  a  soldier 
in  the  War  of  1812.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion, and  married  Miss  Rhoda  Scoville.  Their 
son,  Ira  Nowlen, 'the  father  of  AddisonJ.  Nowlen, 
was  born  in  Conesville,  which  was  his  home  most 
of  his  life.  He  was  a  prominent  citizen  and 
served  as  Captain  in  the  State  Militia  several 
years.  When  quite  a  young  man,  he  married 
Sophia  Toles,  who  was  of  Welsh  descent,  but  was 
a  relative  of  the  Tinkham  family,  which  is  of 
Pilgrim  origin  in  this  country.  Subsequently  he 
removed  to  Ben  ton  Harbor,  Michigan,  where  he 
and  his  wife  both  died  in  1871.  Of  their  five 
children,  the  following  is  the  account:  Almira  is 
the  wife  of  Rev.  A.  M.  Shaw,  of  Whitney's  Point, 
New  York;  Albert  is  a  farmer,  fruit  grower,  and 
business  man  of  Benton  Harbor,  Michigan;  Louisa 
died  in  Nemaha  County,  Kansas;  Victorine  is  the 
wife  of  John  McCoy,  who  lives  in  Nemaha  County, 
Kansas;  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 


Addison  J.  Nowlen  spent  his  early  youth  on 
the  farm  of  his  father,  and  after  completing  the 
course  of  the  district  school,  he  continued  his 
education  at  the  Delaware  Literary  Institute  of 
Delaware  County,  New  York,  in  which  he  pur- 
sued a  course  for  four  years.  With  this  good 
foundation,  he  took  a  legal  course  at  Hamilton 
College,  and  later  studied  in  a  law  office  at 
Oneonta.  At  the  latter  place  he  had  access  to 
the  law  books  from  the  library  of  the  famous 
novelist,  James  Fenimore  Cooper,  for  whom  the 
town  was  named. 

In  1853,  having  been  admitted  to  the  bar,  Mr. 
Nowlen  practiced  law  in  the  courts  of  New  York 
for  the  next  twelve  years,  making  a  specialty  of 
criminal  cases.  He  soon  became  prominent  in 
this  line  and  was  retained  on  some  of  the  most 
noted  cases  that  have  ever  been  tried  in  the  courts 
of  that  State.  In  1856,  his  health  had  become  so 
seriously  impaired  by  his  diligent  application  to 
his  profession,  that  he  found  it  necessary  to  seek 
some  employment  which  would  give  him  exercise 
in  the  open  air,  and  at  the  solicitation  of  his 
brother,  he  removed  to  Benton  Harbor,  where, 
when  his  health  permitted,  he  assisted  the  county 
surveyor.  So  proficient  did  he  become  in  this 


A.  D.  KENNEDY. 


597 


line  of  work,  that  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of 
county  surveyor. 

Immediately  after  the  great  fire,  he  came  to 
Chicago  and  took  up  the  business  of  examining 
titles  and  similar  work  connected  with  real  estate. 
This  venture  has  proved  so  successful  that  he  has 
continued  it  ever  since.  Soon  after  locating  in 
Chicago,  he  built  a  fine  residence  in  Irving  Park, 
which  is  surrounded  by  pleasant  grounds.  He 
also  has  other  interests  in  that  suburb,  with  whose 
social  and  business  welfare  he  is  in  sympathy. 

September  4,  1850,  Mr.  Nowleti  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Clarinda  Niles,  who  was  born  at 
Sydney  Center,  Delaware  County,  New  York, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Sally  (Barstow) 
Niles.  They  have  no  children  of  their  own,  but 
have  adopted  one  daughter.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nowlen 
attend  the  Reformed  Church  of  Irving  Park,  but 
they  still  hold  membership  in  the  Congregational 


Church  at  Benton  Harbor,  Michigan.  In  the 
latter  Church  Mr.  Nowlen  was  a  most  valued  and 
influential  member,  and  it  was  by  his  energy  and 
perseverance  that  the  funds  were  raised  to  build 
the  first  church  edifice.  He  has  always  been 
active  in  movements  for  political  reform,  and  is  at 
present  president  of  the  Civic  Federation  of  the 
twenty-seventh  ward.  While  he  favors  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Prohibition  party,  his  support  has 
usually  been  in  the  interests  of  the  Republican 
party  since  its  organization,  having  "  stumped  " 
the  State  of  New  York,  in  1856,  for  John  C.  Fre- 
mont. 

Throughout  his  life  Mr.  Nowlen  has  found  his 
main  enjoyment  in  music  and  art.  He  was  for- 
merly a  member  of  the  Mozart  Society  and  has 
been  the  leader  of  many  choirs,  being  still  en- 
gaged in  that  kind  of  work.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Art  Institute. 


ALEXANDER  D.  KENNEDY. 


GlLEXANDER  DALTON  KENNEDY,  one 
I  I  of  the  best -known  underwriters  of  Chicago, 
/  I  was  born  in  Kendall  County,  Illinois,  March 
24,  1842,  and  is  the  son  of  John  M.  Kennedy,  of 
whom  extended  notice  is  given  elsewhere  in  this 
volume.  His  parents  moved  to  Chicago  when 
he  was  seven  years  of  age,  and  he  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  of  this  city.  One  of  his  first 
business  ventures  was  in  the  capacity  of  sutler  of 
the  Eighth  Illinois  Cavalry,  which  position  he 
filled  from  October,  1861,  till  April,  1862. 

In  May,  1862,  he  entered  the  employ  of  James 
K.  Murphy,  one  of  the  pioneer  underwriters  of 
Chicago,  and  has  since  been  almost  exclusively 
engaged  in  that  line  of  business.  Beginning  as 
office  boy  he  worked  his  way  by  degrees  to  the 
position  of  cashier  and  manager,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1866  succeeded  Mr.  Murphy  as  agent 


of  the  Peoria  Marine  &  Fire  Insurance  Company, 
the  firm  name  changing  to  Kennedy  &  Williams. 
Mr.  Kennedy  was  a  member  of  this  firm  until 
1868,  when  he  received  an  appointment  in  the 
grain  inspecting  department  of  Illinois. 

In  1871  he  became  policy  clerk  and  manager 
of  the  underwriting  department  of  E.  E.  Ryan  & 
Company,  and  in  1876  he  was  given  an  interest 
in  the  business.  When  Mr.  Ryan  died,  in  1882, 
the  firm  became  Kennedy  &  De  Roode,  and  in 
1886  was  changed  to  A.  D.  Kennedy  &  Company 
and  so  it  has  since  remained.  In  the  twenty-two 
years  following  the  year  1871,  the  firms  with 
which  Mr.  Kennedy  was  connected  wrote  insur- 
ance policies  in  twenty-eight  different  companies, 
on  which  the  premiums  amounted  to  nearly  two 
million  dollars.  The  present  firm  occupies  com- 
modious offices  in  the  Woman's  Temple,  and  is 


H.  I.  ROWLAND. 


recognized  as  one  of  the  most  reliable    concerns 
doing  business  in  its  line  in  the  city. 

Mr.  Kennedy  was  married  in  November,  1869, 
to  Miss  Lizzie  Elliott,  daughter  of  H.  J.  Elliott, 
an  early  resident  of  Chicago,  who  died  when  Mrs. 
Kennedy  was  a  young  child.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kennedy  became  the  parents  of  six  children, 
namely:  Alexander  D. ,  Junior,  a  professional 
athlete,  who  has  won  considerable  renown  in 
that  line;  Harry  J.,  manager  of  a  department  in 
the  store  of  the  Monarch  Bicycle  Company  in 
this  city;  Mattie,  wife  of  Joseph  Burton,  a  receiv- 
ing teller  in  the  American  Exchange  National 
Bank,  in  Chicago;  Lallah  Rooke,  wife  of  R.  W. 


Kinsely,  manufacturer  of  cornice  and  metal 
roofing,  of  Chicago;  Memay,  a  student  of  Notre 
Dame  College,  South  Bend,  Indiana.  One  son 
died  in  childhood. 

Mr.  Kennedy  has  always  been  a  Democrat  in 
political  principles,  but  takes  little  interest  in 
practical  politics.  He  was  one  of  the  first  judges 
of  election  under  the  Australian  ballot  system, 
in  his  precinct,  and  has  since  been  several  times 
appointed  in  the  same  capacity.  In  the  campaign 
of  1896,  believing  that  the  business  interests  of 
the  nation  could  be  best  promoted  by  that  course, 
he  supported  Major  McKinlejr  for  the  office  of 
President. 


HIRAM  I.  HOWLAND. 


HIRAM  ISBUN  HOWLAND,  a  retired  citi- 
zen of  Chicago,  who  has  borne   no   incon- 
siderable part  in  promoting  the  growth  and 
development  of  that  great  western  metropolis,  is  a 
native  of  Erie  County,  New  York,  born  February 
3,  1818.     He  is  a  descendant  of  an  old  New  Eng- 
land family,  being   a   son   of  Isbun   and   Sylvia 
(Smith)  Howland.     His  mother  was  a  native  of 
the  same  state  as  himself,  and  the  father  was  born 
in  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts. 

The  Howland  family  was  founded  in  America 
by  John  Howland,  one  of  the  little  band  who  left 
their  native  land  in  the  quest  of  religious  freedom, 
and  came  on  the  good  ship  Mayflower,  to  Ply- 
mouth, Massachusetts,  in  1620.  Isbun  Howland 
was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812.  He  had  three 
sons  and  four  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  now  de- 
ceased except  Hiram  I.  and  James  Howland.  In 
1845,  the  family  removed  from  New  York  to  Ing- 
ham  County,  Michigan,  where  all  but  the  two 
sons  above  named  passed  away. 

Hiram  I.  Howland  was  educated  in  the  com- 


mon schools  of  Erie  County,  New  York,  and 
passed  the  intervals  of  his  youth,  when  not  in 
school,  upon  his  father's  farm.  He  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Illinois  in  1845,  and  located  on  a  farm 
near  Wheaton,  Du  Page  County.  He  remained 
there  but  a  short  time  and  was  employed  for  two 
years  in  a  distillery  at  Batavia,  Kane  County. 
Thence  he  went  to  Elgin  and  continued  in  the 
same  business. 

In  1850  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  was  twelve 
years  employed  by  Crosby  &  Company,  distillers. 
In  1862  he  established  a  distillery  business  of  his 
own  on  Indiana  Street,  where  for  nine  years  he 
conducted  a  prosperous  business.  This  was  ter- 
minated by  the  great  fire  of  1871,  which  swept 
away  nearly  his  entire  possessions.  He  was  en- 
abled to  collect  from  the  Aetna  Insurance  Com- 
pany the  sum  of  twelve  hundred  dollars,  which 
was  all  that  he  saved  from  total  loss.  He  now  en- 
tered the  service  of  George  Burrows  &  Company, 
who  conducted  a  distiller}-,  and  for  ten  years  was 
numbered  among  their  faithful  and  efficient  assist- 


T.  A.  FOLEY. 


599 


ants.  For  the  past  fifteen  years  he  has  been  re- 
tired, and  enjoj's  in  quiet  contentment  the  savings 
accumulated  by  many  years  of  industry  and  pru- 
dent management. 

In  1850  he  was  married  to  Miss  Diana  M. 
Levens,  who  bore  him  two  children,  who,  with 
the  mother,  are  now  deceased.  Mr.  Howland 
was  identified  with  the  Whig  party  in  early  life, 


and  joined  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party 
when  that  organization  was  first  formed,  and  of 
which  he  has  ever  since  been  .a  faithful  adherent. 
He  was  made  a  Mason  in  Lincoln  Park  Lodge 
No.  611,  many  years  ago,  and  has  endeavored  to 
practice  the  benevolent  principles  inculcated  by 
that  order  in  all  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow- 
men. 


THOMAS  A.  FOLEY. 


'HOMAS  AMBROSE  FOLEY,  police  jus- 
tice at  the  Seventh  District  Police  Court, 
South  Chicago,  was  born  May  2,  1857,  near 
Maple  Grove,  Wisconsin,  and  is  a  son  of  Thomas 
and  Bridget  (Keeley)  Foley.  His  grandfather, 
Dennis  Foley,  was  a  farmer  in  Ireland,  and  was 
the  father  of  eight  children,  only  one  of  whom, 
Thomas,  emigrated  to  America. 

Thomas  Foley  was  born  in  Tipperary  County, 
Ireland,  and  reared  in  County  Clare,  and  emi- 
grated to  America  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years. 
While  in  Ireland  he  was  employed  at  farm  labor, 
and  when  he  came  to  America  he  first  located  in 
Philadelphia,  where  he  found  employment  in  a 
grocery  store.  Later  he  lived  in  Morristown, 
and  in  1855  removed  to  Wisconsin  and  took 
up  land  in  Brown  County,  for  which  he  paid  the 
Government  fifty  cents  per  acre.  This  land  was 
in  Morrison  township,  where  he  was  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers.  After  a  few  years  he  engaged 
in  buying  and  selling  live  stock.  He  removed 
to  Chicago  in  1889,  and  has  remained  here  since, 
now  living  with  his  son.  He  is  now  (1897)  eighty 
years  old.  His  wife  was  born  in  County  Clare, 
Ireland,  and  emigrated  in  the  same  year  as  her 
husband.  She  died  in  1883,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
eight  years.  They  were  the  parents  of  the  fol- 
lowing-named children:  Dennis,  Thomas  A. 
(subject  of  this  article),  John,  Michael,  Martin  and 
Margaret. 

Thomas   Ambrose   Foley    attended    school   in 


Wisconsin  until  he  was  twelve  years  old,  and 
then  left  home  to  become  a  porter  on  the  steamer 
Muskegon,  of  the  Goodrich  line.  He  came  to 
Chicago  soon  after,  where  he  was  for  a  time 
engaged  in  cleaning  brick  on  the  marine  hospital. 
He  then  returned  to  Wisconsin,  where  he  worked 
at  farm  labor  in  the  summer  time,  and  at  lumber- 
ing in  the  winter.  In  1879  he  returned  to  Chicago 
and  found  employment  in  shoveling  grain.  In  1880 
he  began  work  for  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad 
Company,  where  he  spent  a  short  time  as  a  repair 
man,  and  then  became  inspector  in  the  stock 
yards.  In  September,  1880,  he  took  the  position 
of  foreman  of  car  repairs  at  Kensington,  for  the 
Michigan  Central  Railroad  Company,  which 
position  he  held  ten  years. 

In  1 88 1,  realizing  the  advantages  he  would 
have  if  he  possessed  a  more  liberal  education,  he 
attended  night  school  at  Pullman.  He  continued 
this  three  years,  and  took,  among  other  studies, 
lessons  in  elocution  and  oratory.  In  this  he  was 
encouraged  and  assisted  by  his  wife  and  by  Mr. 
J.  H.  Snyder,  now  Superintendent  of  the  Western 
Division  of  the  Michigan  Central.  His  tastes 
had  always  inclined  toward  law,  and  while  in 
Chapin's  book-store  one  day,  he  met  Judge 
Bailey,  who  was  about  to  establish  the  Chicago 
School  of  Law.  As  a  result  of  this  meeting,  he 
entered  the  school  in  1889  and  in  1891  received 
the  certificate  which  admitted  him  to  the  bar. 

At  the  time  of  his  graduation  he  was  made 


6oo 


T.  A.  TURNER. 


Justice  of  the  Peace,  with  an  office  at  Kensington. 
He  took  a  post-graduate  course  at  the  Chicago 
College  of  Law,  and  in  June,  1895,  received  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Law.  He  practiced  at  Ken- 
sington until  February,  1894,  and  then  removed 
to  South  Chicago  where  he  continued  as  a  justice, 
and  had  an  office  in  the  Commercial  Block. 

In  June,  1895,  Mr.  Foley,  in  companj'  with 
Frank  Foster,  began  a  partnership  under  the 
firm  name  of  Foley  &  Foster,  with  offices  at 
No.  9249  South  Chicago  Avenue.  On  the  fol- 
lowing June  this  partnership  was  dissolved,  and 
Mr.  Foley  has  continued  to  practice  under  his 
own  name  since,  with  offices  as  before. 

Mr.  Foley  was  formerly  a  supporter  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  his  first  presidential  vote  was 
cast  for  James  A.  Garfield.  His  political  views  and 
career  were  changed  by  a  series  of  articles  which 
appeared  in  the  Chicago  Times,  advocating  free 
trade  and  attacking  protection.  Since  that  time 
he  has  agreed  with  the  views  held  by  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  He  gave  his  support  to  Carter 
Harrison,  Senior,  when  he  was  candidate  for 


Mayor,  and  has  been  quite  active  in  political 
campaigns,  and  began  "stumping"  for  his  party 
in  1890.  He  was  requested  by  the  State  com- 
mittee to  make  a  tour  of  the  State,  but  he  declined 
the  invitation.  He  has  never  received  any  com- 
pensation for  political  work,  and  during  the  hard- 
fought  campaign  of  1896  he  made  nearly  as 
many  speeches  as  Mr.  Bryan.  He  was  given  his 
present  position  April  27,  1897. 

In  November,  1884,  Mr.  Foley  married  Miss 
Julia  Sullivan,  daughter  of  Owen  Sullivan,  of 
Kensington,  formerly  of  Kankakee,  and  now  in 
the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foley  have  four  children, 
namely:  Anna,  Mary,  Lenore,  and  Zoe.  Mr. 
Foley  is  a  member  of  Tribe  No.  102,  Improved 
Order  of  Red  Men.  The  tribe  has  lapsed,  but 
Mr.  Foley  is  still  in  good  standing.  He  belongs 
to  Division  No.  9,  Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians; 
to  the  Catholic  Mutual  Benefit  Association,  to 
the  Catholic  Order  of  Foresters,  and  is  connected 
with  Council  No.  335,  National  Union.  He  is  a 
man  of  social  habits  and  has  many  firm  friends. 


THOMAS  A.  TURNER. 


'HOMAS  ANDREW  TURNER,  the  third 
son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Patterson)  Turner, 
was  born  September  23,  1853,  in  Chicago. 
His  early  education  was  received  in  the  public 
schools  of  Chicago,  and  he  remained  at  home 
until  he  had  attained  his  majority,  assisting 
his  father  in  the  duties  attending  his  business 
from  the  time  when  he  was  old  enough.  In  1876 
and  1877  he  was  employed  in  the  office  of  the 
Chicago  Gas  Light  and  Coke  Company  as  a  clerk. 
Mr.  Turner  decided  to  try  his  fortune  in  the 
West,  and  in  1883  removed  to  South  Dakota  and 
took  a  Government  claim  of  one  hundred  sixty 


acres  of  land,  to  which  he  added  by  purchase  a 
second  quarter-section.  He  engaged  in  farming, 
which  he  continued  six  years,  with  good  success. 
November  18,  1883,  Mr.  Turner  married  Fannie 
Bell,  daughter  of  John  L.  and  Frances  B.  (Ken- 
dall) Wilkins,  of  Chicago.  This  marriage  cere- 
mony was  the  first  ever  performed  in  Edmonds 
County,  South  Dakota,  taking  place  at  Ipswich. 
The  parents  of  Mrs.  Turner  were  natives  of  Pike 
County,  New  York,  and  their  families  were  early 
settlers  of  Waukegan,  Lake  County,  Illinois, 
where  Mrs.  Turner  was  born.  Her  maternal 
grandfather  built  the  first  farmhouse  in  that 


NICHOLAS  OLSON. 


60 1 


county,  and  kept  the  first  hotel.  She  had  been 
formerly  married  to  Mr.  D.  H.  Hard,  and  has 
one  son  named  Merril  Wilkins  Hard.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Turner  are  the  parents  of  two  sons,  namely : 
William  Patterson,  and  Chester  Kendall. 

In  1889  the  family  returned  from  Dakota,  and 
located  in  Ravenswood,  where,  in  1894,  Mr. 
Turner  built  a  beautiful  residence  at  No.  518  Ad- 
dison  Street,  which  they  have  occupied  since  that 


time.  Since  his  return  from  Dakota,  Mr.  Turner 
has  served  three  years  as  a  member  of  the  Chicago 
Fire  Department.  He  now  enjoys  a  life  of  re- 
tirement from  business  cares  and  worries.  The 
family  is  connected  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  which  Mrs.  Turner  is  a  member.  In 
politics  Mr.  Turner  is  a  Republican,  and  though 
he  has  never  held  any  public  office,  he  is  a  stanch 
supporter  of  the  principles  of  his  party. 


NICHOLAS  OLSON. 


PjJICHOLAS  OLSON,  whose  life  abounds  in 
Y/  adventure  by  sea,  is  now  a  resident  of  South 
I  IS  Chicago  and  is  held  in  the  highest  respect 
and  esteem  by  the  residents  of  that  former  sub- 
urb. He  was  born  October  30,  1843,  on  the 
Island  of  Oroust,  Sweden,  and  is  a  son  of  Olof 
and  Johanna  (Nelson)  Johnson.  His  parents 
lived  out  their  days  in  Sweden,  the  mother  dying 
in  1876  and  the  father  in  1883.  One  of  their  sons 
and  three  daughters  live  in  Sweden,  and  three  sons 
came  to  America.  One  of  these,  Martin  Olson, 
arrived  in  December,  1869,  and  died  in  Chicago 
in  September,  1872.  Adolph  Olson  came  here  in 
April,  1871,  and  now  resides  on  Wallace  Street. 
Nicholas  Olson  began  the  life  of  a  sailor  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  years,  going  before  the  mast  on 
the  Swedish  schooner  "William,"  which  sailed 
between  Guttenberg  and  England.  He  followed 
the  ocean  many  years,  visiting  various  parts  of 
the  globe,  and  sailing  on  many  ships.  Among 
these  and  their  voyages  may  be  mentioned:  The 
brig  "Brilliant,"  which  sailed  between  England 
and  Sweden ;  a  Scotch  schooner  which  sailed  from 
Hamburg  to  Dantzig,  Prussia,  and  to  Hull,  Eng- 
land; an  American  ship  to  Shields,  England;  the 
Norweigan  ship  "Brederne,"  which  went  to 
Genoa,  Italy,  and  to  Sicily,  where  it  took  on  a 


cargo  of  salt  for  Stavanger,  Norway;  a  Swedish 
schooner,  in  which  he  reached  London ,  England ; 
here  he  shipped  on  an  American  vessel,  on  which 
he  sailed  to  Melbourne,  Australia,  and  Callao, 
Peru,  and  back  to  London,  whence  he  went  by 
rail  to  Cardiff,  Wales,  and  shipped  on  an  English 
ship  which  visited  Barcelona,  Spain,  and  Con- 
stantinople, Turkey;  next  he  took  service  on  a 
steamer  which  carried  him  back  to  London,  then 
to  Malta,  and  Alexandria,  Egypt,  and  again  to 
London;  thence  he  sailed  to  Guttenberg,  Sweden, 
and  paid  a  visit  of  three  months  to  his  parents  at 
Oroust;  he  then  went  with  a  Norwegian  brig  to 
Antwerp,  Belgium,  from  there  to  Sundvald, 
Sweden,  and  once  more  to  London. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  December,  1868,  Mr. 
Olson  set  out  from  London  for  America,  on  a  sail- 
ing-vessel, and  this  voyage  ended  his  career  on 
the  ocean.  It  was  a  long  one,  and  the  supply  of 
water  and  provisions  became  so  low  before  it  was 
ended  as  to  cause  severe  suffering  to  passengers 
and  crew.  Arriving  in  Philadelphia  March  24, 
1869,  Mr.  Olson  reached  Chicago  May  3,  of  the 
same  year.  He  was  still  fond  of  a  life  on  the 
water,  and  spent  the  sailing  seasons  of  that  year 
and  the  next  on  the  schooner  "Mary  Ann,"  ply- 
ing between  Chicago,  Cleveland  and  Detroit. 


602 


TIMOTHY  COUGHLIN. 


In  1871  he  was  engaged  as  night  watchman  at 
the  planing-mill  of  Palmer  &  Fuller,  where  he 
remained  three  and  one-half  years.  His  love  of 
a  sailor's  life  led  him  to  resign  this  position  and 
again  go  on  the  lakes,  but  he  retired  permanently 
from  the  water  in  1882.  His  record  for  faithfulness 
and  attention  to  every  detail  of  his  work  is  of  the 
best,  and  the  citizens  of  Chicago  are  proud  to 
reckon  among  their  number  one  who  has  served 
so  long  and  faithfully,  and  traversed  the  paths  of 
the  sea  around  the  world .  His  presence  on  a 
vessel  always  seemed  an  omen  of  good  luck,  as 
no  life  was  ever  lost  on  any  ship  with  which  he 
was  at  the  time  connected.  Accidents  often  hap- 
pened just  before  or  just  after  his  association  with 
a  vessel,  but  never  while  he  was  a  member  of  its 
crew. 

In  1882  Mr.  Olson  began  contracting  for  hand- 
ling lumber  cargoes  in  Chicago,  and  was  thus  en- 
gaged two  years.  April  18,  1884,  he  settled  in 
South  Chicago,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  organ- 
ize a  union  of  lumber  unloaders,  by  which  he  was 
authorized  to  make  contracts.  He  subsequently 
entered  the  service  of  the  Hedstrom  Coal  Com- 
pany, and  has  acted  as  its  foreman  during  the 
last  two  years. 

Mr.  Olson  resides  at  No.  9650  Avenue  L,  and 
has  been  twenty-four  years  an  agent  for  the  sale 


of  steamship  and  railroad  tickets.  He  is  prepared 
to  furnish  transportation  to  Europe  to  any  one 
who  may  desire,  and  conducts  an  honorable  and 
straightforward  business.  The  esteem  in  which 
he  is  held  is  shown  by  the  following  testimonial 
from  the  management  of  the  International  Navi- 
gation Company  which  operates  the  "Red  Star 
Line"  of  steamers  on  the  Atlantic: 
"To  whom  it  may  concern: — 

"This  is  to  certify  that  Mr.  Nick  Olson,  of 
South  Chicago,  has  acted  as  agent  for  the  sale  of 
steamship  tickets  for  us  during  the  past  twenty- 
four  years,  and  that  we  have  always  known  him 
to  be  straightforward,  honest,  and  an  upright  man, 
and  cheerfully  recommend  him  to  whoever  de- 
sires to  employ  him. ' ' 

May  29,  1878,  Mr.  Olson  was  married  to  Miss 
Wilhelmina  Johnson,  a  native  of  Sweden.  They 
have  the  following  children  living:  Oscar  Albert, 
Gustav,  Maurits  Leonard,  Johanna,  Laura  Eliza- 
beth, Herbert  Jonas  and  David  Emanuel.  One 
child,  Albert  Emanuel,  died  in  1884,  when  only 
three  weeks  old.  Mr.  Olson  has  been  four  years 
a  deacon  in  the  Swedish  Lutheran  Bethesda 
Church,  of  South  Chicago,  with  which  his 
family  is  identified.  In  politics  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican, and  has  served  two  terms  as  judge  of  elec- 
tion. 


TIMOTHY  COUGHLIN. 


'IMOTHY  COUGHLIN  was  born  August 
15,  1834,  in  County  Cork,  Ireland,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  and  Hannah  (Burke)  Coughlin, 
natives  of  that  country.  John  Coughlin  and  his 
wife  were  parents  of  the  following  children: 
Michael,  John,  Timothy  (the  subject  of  this  no- 
tice), Cornelius  and  Jeremiah.  All  save  Timothy 
and  Cornelius  are  now  deceased.  John  Coughlin 
died  in  1847,  and  his  widow,  with  five  children, 
emigrated  to  America.  They  landed  in  Montreal, 


where  they  spent  three  weeks,  and  then  removed 
to  Burlington,  Vermont,  where  they  remained 
five  months,  going  thence  to  Boston.  Cornelius 
Coughlin  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War,  and  is 
now  an  inmate  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  at  Washing- 
ton. 

Timothy  Coughlin  remained  in  Boston  until 
1858,  being  engaged  in  general  labor.  In  that 
year  he  went  to  Valparaiso,  Indiana,  and  entered 
the  service  of  the  Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne  & 


MARTHA  A.  BOWERMAN. 


603 


Chicago  Railroad  Company,  being  part  of  the 
time  foreman  of  a  section.  July  15,  1872,  he- 
came  to  South  Chicago,  and  in  1874  entered  the 
employ  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  Com- 
pany, taking  charge  of  the  transportation  as 
watchman.  He  has  been  in  this  service  since 
that  time,  being  employed  in  various  depart- 
ments. Mr.  Coughlin  bought  land  at  No.  8839 
Superior  Avenue,  and  built  a  residence  there, 
which  he  has  occupied  since.  He  also  owns  a 
lot  adjoining  this. 


In  1852  Mr.  Coughlin  married  Miss  Hannah 
Donahoe,  and  they  had  seven  children,  namely: 
Hannah,  Mamie,  Julia,  Nellie,  Maggie,  John 
and  Elizabeth.  The  second,  third  and  fourth  are 
deceased,  and  Mrs.  Coughlin  died  in  1889.  Mr. 
Coughlin  is  a  man  of  great  ability  in  his  line  of 
work,  and  has  always  given  his  employers  good 
satisfaction.  He  won  his  way  in  a  strange  coun- 
try, and  did  this  by  his  own  efforts  and  persever- 
ance. He  is  recognized  as  a  man  of  good  habits 
and  a  valuable  citizen. 


DR.  MARTHA  A.  BOWERMAN. 


0R.  MARTHA  ALMINA  BOWERMAN 
was  born  March  27,  1841,  in  Bergen,  Gen- 
esee  County,  New  York.  Her  parents, 
Porter  and  Sarah  Ann  (Knapp)  Brink,  removed 
to  Churchville,  New  York,  when  she  was  an  in- 
fant, and  resided  there  a  number  of  years.  When 
she  was  six  years  old  they  removed  to  Wisconsin, 
settling  first  in  Lake  Mills,  where  they  lived  a 
few  years;  then  located  in  Neenah,  where  they 
spent  three  years,  and  subsequently  made  their 
home  in  Ripon,  Wisconsin.  Porter  Brink  was 
named  after  Commodore  Porter,  famous  in  the 
War  of  1812,  and  he  was  an  active  and  enter- 
prising citizen.  His  ability  as  a  builder  was  rec- 
ognized by  the  Government  during  the  war,  and 
he  was  put  in  charge  of  General  Sherman's  Con- 
struction Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  in 
which  position  he  rendered  valuable  services.  He 
stood  beside  General  Sherman,  when  the  latter 
gave  the  command  to  burn  Atlanta,  before  his 
famous  March  to  the  Sea.  He  built  many  build- 
ings in  Ripon,  Wisconsin,  the  college  buildings 
being  among  them.  Mr.  Brink  died  December 
20,  1876,  in  Los  Angeles,  California,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-two  years.  His  widow,  now  in  her 
eightieth  year,  is  living  with  her  only  remain- 


ing daughter,  Mrs.  Sarah  D.  Oaks,  on  North 
Horseman  Street,  Rockford,  Illinois. 

Martha  A.  Brink  received  most  of  her  education 
in  the  schools  of  Ripon,  and  attended  the  college, 
then  known  as  the  Brockway  College.  She  was 
the  oldest  of  five  children,  and  much  of  the  care 
of  the  younger  ones  fell  to  her  lot.  She  was  a 
bright  student  and  made  rapid  progress  in  her 
studies  at  Ripon  College,  and  would  have  gradu- 
ated in  1861  had  not  the  war  closed  the  school. 
In  the  spring  of  1861  she  became  the  wife  of 
Nelson  Bowerman,  editor  of  the  Ripon  Times, 
now  Commonwealth.  Four  years  after  their  mar- 
riage Mr,  Bowerman  made  his  residence  at  Madi- 
son, Wisconsin,  where  for  a  period  of  twelve 
years  he  was  connected  with  the  Wisconsin  State 
Journal. 

In  the  fall  of  1878  Mrs.  Bowerman  determined 
to  carry  out  a  long-cherished  ambition,  and  re- 
moved to  Chicago.  Upon  her  arrival  she  began 
at  once  the  study  of  medicine.  Since  her  girl- 
hood she  had  wished  to  do  this,  and  had  secretly 
resolved  to  carry  her  plan  into  execution  some 
day.  Though  she  had  but  limited  means  at  her 
command,  she  entered  into  her  work  with  great 
energy  under  the  preceptorship  of  President  A . 


604 


I.  D.   KINNE. 


E.  Small,  and  three  years  later  she  graduated  in 
the  class  of  1882  from  Hahnemann  Homeopathic 
Medical  College.  After  receiving  her  diploma, 
she  began  to  practice  her  profession,  on  Oak  wood 
Boulevard,  in  which  she  won  the  admiration, 
trust  and  affection  of  her  patients  and  fellow- 
practitioners.  She  became  identified  with  the 
American  Institute  of  Homeopathy,  the  Illinois 
Homeopathic  Medical  Association,  the  Woman's 
Homeopathic  Medical  Society, of  Chicago,  and  the 
Clinical  Society  of  Hahnemann  Hospital.  She 
said,  "Whatever  success  I  have  attained  has  been 
achieved  by  a  stubbornly  contested  fight  against 
adverse  circumstances."  July  31,  1897,  srie 
passed  away  at  her  home,  3948  Cottage  Grove 
Avenue,  and  her  remains  repose  in  a  beautiful  lot 
in  Oakwood  Cemetery. 

Nelson  Bowerman  was  born  June  12,  1838,  in 
Bloomfield,  Prince  Edward  County,  Ontario,  and 
is  a  son  of  Josiah  and  Sarah  (Brewer)  Bowerman, 
the  former  a  native  of  Massachusetts  and  the 
latter  of  the  State  of  New  York.  The  family  can 
trace  its  ancestry  back  to  the  early  Massachusetts 
colonies  shortly  after  the  coming  of  the  Pilgrims 
in  1620.  The  Brewer  family  is  of  Holland  origin. 
Nelson  Bowerman  was  educated  in  the  schools  of 
Canada,  and  later  at  Brockway  College,  Ripon, 
Wisconsin.  In  1860  he  entered  the  field  of  liter- 
ature, by  securing  an  interest  in  the  Ripon  Times, 
of  which  he  became  publisher  and  editor.  He 
lived  in  that  city  until  May,  1864,  when  he  en- 


tered the  army  as  First  Sergeant  of  Company  B, 
Forty-first  Wisconsin  Volunteers,  Army  of  the 
Tennessee. 

Mr.  Bowerman  remained  with  the  army  until 
his  regiment  was  mustered  out,  in  October,  1864. 
He  returned  to  Wisconsin  after  the  war,  and 
served  one  year  on  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  after 
which  he  was  employed  on  the  Madison  Stale  Jour- 
nal twelve  years.  He  has  shown  great  ability 
in  his  work,  and  for  nearly  twenty  years  has  been 
employed  on  the  Chicago  Tribune.  He  is  an  ar- 
dent supporter  of  the  Republican  party,  his  first 
presidential  vote  having  been  cast  for  Abraham 
Lincoln,  in  1860. 

Mr.  Bowerman  has  always  been  a  popular  man 
socially,  and  is  a  member  of  many  societies.  He 
was  made  a  Master  Mason  in  1873,  in  Madison 
Lodge  No.  5,  Madison,  Wisconsin,  and  is  now  a 
member  of  Landmark  Lodge  No.  422,  Ancient 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons.  He  belonged  to 
Hope  Lodge  No.  17,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  and  was  an  active  worker  in  Capital 
Lodge  No.  i ,  Independent  Order  of  Good  Tem- 
plars. He  is  a  comrade  of  U.  S.  Grant  Post  No. 
28,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic;  is  a  member  of 
Press  Council  No.  71,  National  Union,  and  an  ac- 
tive member  of  No.  16,  Chicago  Typographical 
Union.  He  has  a  genial  manner,  and  is  a  good 
conversationalist,  a  man  whom  it  is  a  pleasure  to 
know,  and  his  acquaintance  and  friendship  are 
highly  valued  by  those  who  know  him. 


ISAAC  D.  KINNE. 


CVSAAC  DUDLEY  KINNE  was  born  August 

10,  1820,  in  Hannibal,  Oswego  County,  New 

A  York,  and  is  a  son  of  Isaac  and  Lydia  (Dud-. 

ley)  Kinne,  the  former  from  Dutchess  County, 

New  York,  and  the  latter  a  native  of  Shaftsbury, 


Vermont.  The  Kinne  family  was  founded  in 
Rhode  Island  some  time  during  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  is  of  Scoth-Irish  origin.  Elijah 
Kinne,  the  great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  article,  served  in  the  War  for  Independence, 


I.  D.  KINNE. 


605 


as  did  also  his  son,  Elijah,  who  crossed  the  Dela- 
ware River  with  General  Washington,  at  Trenton. 
A  pair  of  moccasins  which  he  wore  on  that 
memorable  occasion  is  still  carefully  preserved  by 
the  family.  Elijah  Kinne  was  a  captain,  and  he 
died  in  Ovid,  Seneca  County,  New  York,  about 
1830. 

Isaac  Kinne  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812. 
He  was  married  twice,  his  first  wife  being  Lois 
Seely,  who  bore  him  one  daughter,  Orpha,  who 
died  in  1850.  For  his  second  wife  he  married 
Lydia  Dudley,  of  English  origin,  and  a  member 
of  one  of  the  oldest  New  England  families.  She 
was  a  descendant  of  Lord  Dudley  and  a 
daughter  of  John  Dudley,  her  mother's  maiden 
name  being  Miner.  She  was  one  of  a  large 
family  of  children,  all  of  whom  lived  to  old  age. 
Isaac  Kinne  and  his  second  wife  became  the 
parents  of  five  daughters  and  two  sons. 

In  1832,  with  his  family,  he  removed  from 
New  York  to  Ohio,  settling  in  Lucas  County, 
where  they  spent  two  years  on  a  farm,  and  then 
came  farther  west  and  settled  at  what  was  then 
known  as  Meecham's  Grove,  in  Cook  County. 
After  the  division  of  the  county  it  became  a  part 
of  Du  Page  County,  and  is  now  situated  in  Addi- 
son  Township.  On  his  arrival  Mr.  Kinne  took  a 
claim  of  one  hundred  acres,  which  he  bought 
from  the  Government  when  it  was  placed  upon 
the  market,  and  he  continued  the  cultivation  of 
this  farm  until  his  death,  in  1849.  His  wife  died 
in  1876,  at  the  venerable  age  of  nearly  ninety-six 
years.  Their  children  were:  Elijah,  who  con- 
ducted the  farm  at  Bloomingdale,  Du  Page  County, 
several  years,  and  now  resides  at  Kansas  City, 
Missouri;  Lois,  who  married  Alanson  Watson, 
and  lives  in  Kansas  with  her  daughter;  Lydia, 
who  married  James  Vint,  and  died  in  Iowa; 
Clarissa,  who  is  dead;  Mariette,  deceased;  Isaac 
Dudley,  whose  name  heads  this  biography;  and 
Miranda,  the  widow  of  James  Shaw,  who  resides 
at  No.  1449  Fulton  Street,  Chicago. 

Isaac  Dudley  Kiune  was  reared  on  the  frontier 
and  had  but  a  limited  chance  for  education,  hav- 
ing attended  the  public  school  only  three  months 
after  coming  to  Cook  County,  and  while  in  New 
York  he  was  able  to  attend  school  only  a  few 


days.  He  is  almost  entirely  self-educated,  and 
has  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities.  In  his 
boyhood  he  studied  reading  and  writing  at  home 
in  the  evening,  by  the  light  of  a  hickory  baik 
fire.  He  formed  habits  of  reading,  which  he  has 
cultivated  until  he  is  a  well-informed  man  on  all 
subjects  of  general  interest.  He  was  reared  to 
farming  and  stock  raising  and  has  made  this  his 
life-work.  Since  the  age  of  fifteen  years  he  has 
been  self-supporting.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
made  a  claim  to  one  hundred  sixty  acres  of 
prairie  land  in  Addison  Township,  which  he 
afterward  bought.  He  improved  it  and  for  many 
years  cultivated  it.  He  also  bought  twenty-two 
acres  of  timber. 

In  1855  he  removed  to  Wheaton,  and  there 
spent  six  years,  conducting  a  hotel,  until  he  was 
burned  out  in  1861,  losing  a  valuable  property 
which  cost  him  five  thousand  dollars,  and  he  also 
lost  five  hundred  dollars  in  money.  He  then  re- 
turned to  the  farm.  In  1876  he  moved  into  Chi- 
cago, for  the  purpose  of  affording  his  children 
greater  educational  advantages.  Three  years 
later  he  sold  his  farm  and  invested  in  city  real 
estate.  He  has  a  farm  of  one  hundred  twenty 
acres  in  White  County,  Indiana,  and  eleven  lots 
on  St.  Louis  Avenue,  between  Van  Buren  Street 
and  Colorado  Avenue,  in  Chicago. 

June  10,  1845,  Mr.  Kinne  married  Miss  Eveline 
A.  Kinney,  born  March  31,  1827,  in  the  town  of 
Ira,  Oswego  County,  New  York,  a  daughter  of 
Asa  and  Betsy  (Miller)  Kinney,  of  Scotch-Irish 
descent.  They  had  ten  children,  seven  of  whom 
are  living,  namely:  Asa  Winfield,  of  Blooming- 
ton,  Illinois;  Leland  D.,  who  resides  at  the  corner 
of  Park  and  Fortieth  Avenues,  Chicago;  Morris 
B.,  who  lives  at  No.  896  West  Harrison  Street, 
Chicago;  Humphrey  H.,  who  lives  on  St.  Louis 
Avenue;  Minnie,  wife  of  William  Barret,  of  No. 
448  Colorado  Avenue;  Isaac  B.,  of  No.  52  Shake- 
speare Avenue;  and  Mina. 

In  early  life  Mr.  Kinne  was  a  Whig,  and  since 
the  organization  of  the  Republican  party  he  has 
been  one  of  its  firm  supporters,  though  he  has 
not  been  bound  by  its  action  at  all  times.  When 
he  was  about  twenty- one  years  of  age,  he  was 
elected  constable,  and  served  seven  years.  He  is 


6o6 


A.   D.  RICKEY. 


a  member  of  the  Masonic  Order,  of  the  Independ- 
ent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  of  the  Tippecanoe 
Club.  He  now  lives  in  ease  and  retirement  at 


No.  254  St.  Louis  Avenue,  Chicago.  He  has 
earned  and  enjoys  the  respect  and  esteem  of  many 
friends  and  acquaintances.  ' 


ALFRED.  D.  RICHEY. 


GJLFRED  DAY  RICHEY  was  born  De- 
|  I  cember  13,  1866,  in  Marseilles,  LaSalle 
/  I  County,  Illinois,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry 
Chapin  and  Susan  Adelia  (Day)  Richey.  Henry 
C.  Richey  is  a  son  of  William  Welch  Richey  who 
is  still  living  in  Ontario,  Washington,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-three  years.  William  W.  Richey  for- 
merly lived  in  Noblesville,  Indiana,  where  he  had 
a  home  for  many  years.  He  was  married  four 
times  and  was  the  father  of  three  children,  Henry 
C.  being  one  of  the  two  children  of  his  third 
marriage.  He  was  for  many  years  a  merchant, 
and  later  was  engaged  in  agriculture. 

Henry  C.  Richey  has  lived  in  the  State  of 
Illinois  most  of  his  life.  He  was  a  member  of 
Company  C,  Seventy-second  Illinois  Volunteer 
Infantry,  during  the  Civil  War,  and  was  at  one 
time  taken  a  prisoner  and  exchanged.  He  was 
in  early  life  a  bridge  builder,  later  a  merchant 
and  then  a  coal  miner.  For  ten  years  he  has  been 
engaged  in  agriculture.  His  wife  died  in  1867, 
leaving  three  children,  namely:  Friedel  Lincoln, 
who  is  a  credit  man  in  the  wholesale  house  of 
Marshall  Field  &  Company;  Gertrude  Adelia, 
now  Mrs.  Henry  T.  Reed,  a  resident  of  Roseland, 
Louisiana;  and  Alfred  D.,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Alfred  Day  Richey  lived  in  Marseilles,  Illinois, 
until  he  was  six  years  old,  and  then  spent  five 
years  in  Braceville,  Peoria  and  Henry,  Illinois. 
In  1877  he  went  to  Archer,  Alachua  County, 
Florida,  where  he  remained  two  years  and  then 
returned  to  Braceville  and  resided  in  that  place 
nine  years.  He  attended  school  until  he  was 
twelve  years  of  age  and  was  employed  in  the 
office  of  the  Braceville  Coal  Company  eight 


years,  beginning  as  office  boy  and  rising  to 
a  better  position.  He  then  went  to  Iowa  with 
his  father  to  assist  him  in  conducting  a  farm, 
and  remained  there  one  year,  after  which  he  re- 
moved to  Chicago. 

In  1887  he  was  employed  by  the  Fidelity  and 
Casualty  Accident  Insurance  Company,  and  re- 
mained with  it  six  months,  soliciting  through 
the  central  part  of  Illinois.  He  was  next  em- 
ployed in  the  Freight  Claim  department  of  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad. 

April  7,  1897,  he  married  Mrs.  Carrie  N.  Miller, 
of  Aurora,  Illinois.  She  is  a  daughter  of  James 
and  Anna  Eliza  (Graves)  Freeman,  the  former  a 
boot  and  shoe  dealer  in  Aurora  for  forty  years. 
He  died  in  1896  and  his  widow  still  resides  there. 
He  was  a  native  of  Nantigo,  England,  and  his 
wife  is  a  native  of  New  York,  daughter  of  Daniel 
T.  Graves,  who  was  a  pioneer  Baptist  minister 
of  Aurora.  Mr.  Freeman  was  ten  years  old  when 
he  came  with  his  parents  to  Aurora,  which  was 
then  only  a  small  village. 

Mrs.  Richey  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church 
of  Irving  Park.  Mr.  Richey  is  connected 
with  the  Royal  Arcanum,  being  a  member  of 
Irving  Park  Council  No.  891 .  He  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Irving  Park  Club,  of  which  he  was 
secretary  in  1895  and  1896.  In  politics  he  sup- 
ports the  Republican  party.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Irving  Park  Cycling  Club,  of  which  he  was 
president  during  the  first  three  years  of  its  exist- 
ence. He  has  been  a  collector  for  four  years. 
He  is  a  public-spirited  and  progressive  citizen, 
and  is  connected  with  many  movements  of  reform. 
He  is  an  intelligent  and  well-read  man,  and  is  in- 
terested in  the  affairs  of  the  day. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


MICHAEL  WINANDY 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


MICHAEL  WINANDY. 


607 


MICHAEL  WINANDY. 


I ICHAEL  WINANDY,  contractor,  builder 
and  gardener,  living  in  what  was  formerly 
known  as  West  Ridge,  is  one  of  the  most 
prominent  business  men  of  that  community.  He 
was  born  December  16,  1849,  in  Merscheid,  and 
was  reared  from  the  age  of  three  years  at  Esch- 
dorf,  Luxemburg,  Germany.  He  is  a  son  of 
Valentine  and  Elizabeth  Winandy,  both  of  whom 
died  in  that  country,  and  where  their  sons  were 
reared  to  farm  life. 

In  May,  1869,  the  subject  of  this  notice  set  out 
for  America,  in  company  with  his  brother,  John. 
About  two  years  later,  two  more  of  the  brothers, 
Jean  and  Joseph,  came  to  join  them,  but  the  last- 
named  returned  to  his  native  country  and  did 
not  become  a  citizen  of  this.  John  is  a  resident 
of  Rosehill,  and  Jean  lives  near  by. 

Michael  Winandy  acquired  the  trade  of  cabinet- 
maker before  coming  to  this  country,  and  took 
employment  in  this  line  as  soon  as  he  arrived  in 
Chicago,  whither  he  came  direct  from  Europe. 
He  continued  this  through  the  summer,  and  in  the 
mean  time  attended  a  night  school,  by  which 
means  he  was  considerably  benefited.  He  had 
received  a  fair  education  in  his  native  language 
and  needed  only  to  gain  some  knowledge  of  the 
English  tongue  to  fit  him  for  an  active  business 
life  here. 

In  1870  he  joined  his  brother  in  renting  land 
in  Lake  View,  then  a  suburb  of  Chicago,  and  be- 
gan market-gardening.  Immediately  after  the 
Great  Chicago  Fire  of  1871,  he  began  taking 


building  contracts  in  the  city,  in  which  he  con- 
tinued two  years.  He  then  resumed  gardening, 
and  at  the  same  time  continued  building  opera- 
tions. He  erected  most  of  the  greenhouses  in 
Lake  View,  a  region  thickly  dotted  with  that 
class  of  structures.  His  industry  and  good 
management  have  been  rewarded  with  success, 
and  he  now  tills  about  eight  acres  of  land,  nearly 
half  of  which  is  under  glass,  and  is  a  very  ex- 
tensive producer  of  vegetables  for  the  market. 
He  has  one  boiler  which  supplies  steam  for  heat- 
ing about  an  acre  of  space. 

In  1877  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Borst, 
who  was  born  in  Port  Washington,  Wisconsin. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Weis) 
Borst,  natives  of  Germany.  Of  the  eight  chil- 
dren born  to  this  union,  six  are  living,  namely: 
Mary,  Regina,  Susie,  Frederick,  Michael  and 
Peter,  all  residing  with  their  parents.  Valentine 
died  when  four  months  old,  and  Albert  at  the  age 
of  eight  years.  The  family  is  associated  with 
Saint  Henry's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  con- 
tributes its  share  to  the  social  enjoyment  of  the 
community.  Mr.  Winandy  is  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  Order  of  Foresters  and  takes  a  com- 
mendable interest  in  the  general  welfare  of  the 
community,  and  the  country  generally.  He  acts 
with  the  Democratic  party,  which  represents  his 
political  principles.  During  all  the  years  in 
which  the  incorporated  village  of  West  Ridge 
existed  as  a  separate  municipality,  he  acted  as  its 
treasurer. 


6o8 


CAPT.  C.  VON  LUKOWITZ. 


CAPT.  CHARLES  VON  LUKOWITZ. 


EAPT.  CHARLES  VON  LUKOWITZ,  a 
distinguished  officer  of  both  the  German 
and  American  armies,  is  now  a  retired  resi- 
dent of  Chicago,  with  which  city's  commercial 
interests  he  was  honorably  connected  for  seven- 
teen years.  He  was  born  August  20,  1826,  in 
Koenigsberg,  East  Prussia,  and,  as  the  name 
shows,  is  descended  from  noble  ancestry.  At  the 
time  of  his  birth  his  father,  Peter  Paul  Aloisyus 
Von  Lukowitz,  was  a  colonel,  commanding  the 
First  Regiment  of  German  Infantry,  which  is 
the  oldest  regiment  in  the  German  army,  having 
been  organized  in  1619,  before  the  landing  of  the 
Puritan  Pilgrims  on  the  shores  of  Massachusetts. 
His  mother  was  Antoinette  Paulina,  nee  Thiel. 

Ernest  Adolph  Hugo  Charles  Von  Lukowitz, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  attended  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  land  from  his  fifth  to  his 
twelfth  year,  and  then  entered  the  military 
academy,  where  he  continued  until  his  seven- 
teenth year.  After  a  successful  examination  he 
was  commissioned,  August  20,  1843,  a  second 
lieutenant  in  the  Fourth  Regiment  of  German 
Lancers. 

February  u,  1847,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Johanna  Borchert,  a  daughter  of  Christian  and 
Caroline  (Stande)  Borchert,  of  Koenigsberg,  in 
East  Prussia.  Mrs.  Von  Lukowitz  was  born 
September  8,  1828,  in  Koenigsberg,  in  East 
Prussia.  On  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  their 
wedding,  Captain  and  Mrs.  Von  Lukowitz  cele- 
brated the  happy  occasion  in  the  parlors  of  the 
Chicago  Avenue  Church,  in  the  presence  of  their 
three  children  and  sixteen  grandchildren  (nine 


boys  and  seven  girls)  and  a  concourse  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  friends.  One  great-grandchild,  too 
young  to  appreciate  the  festivities,  will  here- 
after read  this  record  with  pride  and  gratification. 

Appreciating  the  fact  that  the  old  world  offered 
few  opportunities  for  advancement,  Lieutenant 
Von  Lukowitz  resigned  his  commission  in  the 
army  in  1850  and  set  out  for  America,  accom- 
panied by  his  bride.  They  crossed  the  ocean  in 
a  sailing-vessel  from  Liverpool  to  New  York, 
called  the  "Rebecca,"  and  landed  in  New  York 
in  the  early  part  of  June  of  that  year.  After  re- 
maining about  five  years  in  New  York  City,  Mr. 
Von  Lukowitz  went  to  Pottsville,  Schuylkill 
County, Pennsylvania, where  Mrs.Constantine,  his 
youngest  daughter,  was  born,  and  where  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Civil  War  found  him.  He  at  once 
offered  his  services  to  his  adopted  country,  and 
became  a  member  of  Company  F,  Sixth  Pennsyl- 
vania Volunteer  Infantry,  a  three-months  regi- 
ment. This  company  was  one  of  the  first  five  to 
reach  Washington,  and  was  attacked  by  rioters  in 
Baltimore.  Mr.  Von  Lukowitz  re-enlisted  at  the 
close  of  his  first  term,  for  three  years  or  during 
the  war,  and  became  a  member  of  Company  B, 
Seventy-second  Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Infantry, 
under  Colonel  Baxter.  The  term  of  this  or- 
ganization expired  soon  after  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg, and  the  subject  of  this  biography  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  One  Hundred  and  Eighty-third 
Regiment,  known  as  the  Fourth  Union  League 
Regiment,  both  this  and  the  Seventy-second  hav- 
ing been  recruited  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

Captain  Von  Lukowitz  was  one  of  those  who 


NICHOLAS  BRITZ. 


609 


fought  at  Appomattox,  and  saw  Gen.  Robert  E. 
Lee's  flag  of  truce  come  into  General  Grant's 
headquarters.  He  was  mustered  out  as  a  second 
lieutenant,  having  been  promoted  by  Governor 
Curtin,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  bravery  in  the  field. 
He  assisted  in  planting  the  colors  of  his  regiment 
on  the  South  Side  railroad,  the  last  one  in  the 
possession  of  the  rebels.  In  all,  Lieutenant  Von 
Lukowitz  took  part  in  seventeen  engagements. 

After  the  war  he  returned  to  Pottsville,  and 
about  a  week  before  the  4th  of  March,  1869, 
wrote  a  personal  letter  to  General  Grant,  asking 
for  a  position  in  the  regular  army.  This  letter 
was  answered  in  the  same  manner,  and  he  called 
upon  the  President  March  8,  in  response  thereto. 
About  April  10,  he  was  given  the  executive  ap- 
pointment of  first-class  clerk  in  the  Second 
Auditor's  office  of  the  Treasury  Department,  and 
continued  twelve  years  in  this  service,  after  pass- 
ing successfully  through  three  competitive  ex- 
aminations, attaining  the  rank  of  fourth-class 
clerk,  with  a  salary  of  eighteen  hundred  dollars 
per  year,  serving  two  terms  under  President 
Grant  and  one  under  Rutherford  B.  Hayes. 

In  1880  he  resigned  his  position  and  came  to 
Chicago,  and  September  10  of  that  year  entered 


the  credit  department  of  Marshall  Field  &  Com- 
pany. He  served  this  employer  seventeen  years, 
and  was  honorably  discharged  with  a  pension  of 
two-thirds  of  his  salary,  January  8,  1897.  He  is 
the  only  living  pensioner  of  this  firm,  and  the 
only  office  man  who  was  ever  pensioned  by  it. 
He  is  also  a  pensioner  of  the  general  Government, 
receiving  twelve  dollars  per  month  in  recognition 
of  his  long  and  faithful  services  in  the  army. 

Captain  Von  Lukowitz  is  a  Lutheran  in  re- 
ligious faith,  and  has  sustained  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party  since  becoming  a  citizen  of 
thie  United  States.  He  is  a  member  of  Lyon 
Post  No.  9,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  of 
Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  and  a  gentle- 
man honored  and  respected  in  civil  life,  as  he  is 
in  military  circles  of  Europe  and  America.  His 
children  are:  Annie,  now  the  widow  of  James 
Thompson,  the  mother  of  four  children,  of  whom 
two  are  married;  Eli,  the  father  of  seven  living 
children;  and  Antoinette,  Mrs.  A.  W.  Constantine, 
mother  of  five  children.  Eight  grandchildren  of 
Captain  and  Mrs.  Von  Lukowitz  are  deceased, 
and  a  great-granddaughter  and  great-grandson 
make  proud  and  glad  the  ancestors  of  whom  this 
record  is  written. 


NICHOLAS  BRITZ. 


KJNlCHOLAS  BRITZ,  a  retired  farmer  resid- 
r7  ing  at  No.  815  Dover  Avenue,  has  spent 
I  Is  most  of  his  time  in  Cook  County,  the  family 
having  located  here  in  1852.  He  was  born  Oc- 
tober 20,  1842,  in  Luxemburg,  Germany,  and 
came  to  this  country  when  ten  years  old,  with 
his  parents,  Henry  and  Katherine  Britz.  Their 
passage  across  the  ocean  was  attended  with  some 
thrilling  experiences.  The  ship  on  which  they 
sailed  was  wrecked  in  a  violent  storm,  and  a  num- 


ber of  lives  were  lost.  Mr.  Britz  and  family  lost 
all  their  effects,  except  the  clothing  they  wore. 
Their  lives  were  saved,  with  some  others,  by  an 
English  sailing-vessel,  which  took  them  back  to 
Europe.  The  ship  that  brought  them  on  the 
second  trip  encountered  severe  storms,  but  finally 
reached  harbor  in  safety.  Their  hardships  did 
not  end  with  the  sea  voyage,  for  they  saw  hard 
times  after  their  arrival  in  Cook  County. 

They  located  at  Rosehill,  and  were  obliged  to 


6io 


JACOB  SICKINGER. 


accept  any  employment  that  offered,  as  they  were 
left,  by  their  misfortunes,  in  poor  circumstances. 
Wages  were  low,  and  on  account  of  their  lack  of 
knowledge  of  the  language  of  the  country,  they 
were  at  a  disadvantage.  But  they  persevered, 
and  at  the  end  of  three  years,  Mr.  Britz  pur- 
chased fourteen  acres  of  land,  where  the  son, 
Nicholas,  now  lives,  and  engaged  in  gardening 
for  several  years.  He  is  still  living,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-four  years,  in  good  health  and  spirits. 
His  faithful  wife  died  October  10,1884.  Nicholas, 
whose  name  heads  this  article,  is  the  eldest  of 
their  children  and  the  only  son.  All  were  born  in 
Germany  except  the  youngest.  Anna,  the  eldest 
daughter,  is  the  wife  of  Nicholas  Treff,  residing 
at  South  Evanston.  Maggie  married  William 
Bergemeir,  of  Ashland;  and  Katherine  is  Mrs. 
Christian  Muno  (see  sketch  in  this  volume),  of 
Ridge  Avenue,  Evanston. 

Nicholas  Britz  received  little  education  in  the 
schools  of  this  country,  as  he  was  early  obliged 
to  assist  in  the  support  of  the  family,  but  he  is 


possessed  of  native  intelligence  and  is  able  to 
transact  business  in  a  creditable  and  able  manner. 
He  assisted  in  the  cultivation  of  the  farm  from  the 
time  of  its  purchase,  and  has  been  many  years 
its  sole  manager. 

October  12,  1869,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Welter,  a  native  of  Germany.  They 
have  four  sons  and  one  daughter,  namely;  Peter, 
Nicholas,  Katherine,  Henry  and  Edward,  and  all 
are  enjoying  good  educational  advantages.  All 
are  connected  with  Saint  Henry's  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Britz  followed  gardening 
with  satisfactory  results,  but  the  rapid  advance- 
ment in  value  of  the  land  for  building  purposes 
caused  him  to  sell  much  of  it  at  a  handsome  price. 
He  is  now  living  a  retired  life  in  his  pleasant 
home,  enjoying  the  fruits  of  his  former  industry. 
He  is  a  quiet,  unassuming  man,  who  has  never 
sought  notoriety,  and  enjoys  the  respect  and  con- 
fidence of  the  community  in  which  he  makes  his 
home. 


JACOB  SICKINGER. 


(JACOB    SICKINGER,    who  resides    at    No. 

I  902  Devon  Avenue,  is  a  native  of  Chicago 
(~)  and  a  member  of  a  pioneer  family.  He  was 
born  February  27,  1846,  in  the  then  suburb  of 
Ravenswood,  now  a  part  of  the  city  of  Chicago. 
His  parents  were  Sebastian  and  Mary  Sickinger, 
natives  of  Germany,  who  emigrated  to  the  United 
States  in  1843  and  settled  in  Cook  County  at 
once. 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  Sebastian  Sickinger 
bought  thirty  acres  of  timber  land,  near  the 
present  site  of  Summerdale,  and  began  to  clear 
and  improve  it.  On  this  ground  he  reared  his 
family  and  carried  on  farming  operations  until  his 
death.  He  subsequent!}'  purchased  ten  acres  a 


few  miles  farther  west.  At  the  beginning  his 
means  were  limited,  and  this  part  of  the  country 
was  mostly  in  a  primitive  condition.  As  a  con- 
sequence of  these  circumstances,  the  family  en- 
dured the  numerous  trials  and  hardships  incident 
to  pioneer  life.  There  were  six  children,  all, 
save  the  eldest,  born  in  Cook  County.  Their 
names  are  as  follows:  Katherine,  born  in  Ger- 
many, now  the  widow  of  John  Simler,  residing  at 
Washington  Heights;  John,  who  lives  on  the  old 
homestead  in  Summerdale;  Jacob,  whose  name 
heads  this  notice;  the  fourth  died,  unnamed,  in 
infancy;  Lawrence,  a  resident  of  Niles  Center;  and 
Maggie,  wife  of  Michael  Barthlme.  Mary  Sick- 
inger, mother  of  this  family,  was  accidentally 


SEBASTIAN  KEIL. 


611 


drowned  in  a  well  in  1855,  and  the  father  died 
May  7,  1887.  They  were  frugal,  industrious 
people,  and  faithful  members  of  Saint  Henry's 
Roman  Catholic  Church. 

Jacob  Sickinger  secured  a  limited  education  in 
the  early  schools  of  the  county,  and  was  reared  to 
fanning  and  gardening,  which  have  been  his  life 
work.  By  industry  and  the  assistance  of  his  frugal 
wife,  he  has  won  success  in  it.  October  7,  1870, 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  Eager,  who  was 
born  in  Germany  December  9,  1849,  a  daughter 
of  Albert  and  Josephine  Eager.  Both  her  parents 
died  in  Germany,  when  Mrs.  Sickinger  was  only 
sixteen  years  old,  and  she  left  her  native  land  and 
came  direct  to  Cook  County,  where  she  had  rel- 
atives living.  She  supported  herself  by  her  own 
labor  until  her  marriage.  Her  first  two  children 
are  now  deceased,  the  second  passing  away  in  in- 
fancy. The  others  still  reside  with  their  parents, 


and  the  names  of  all  in  order  of  birth  are:  Casper, 
Emma,  Joseph,  Augustine  and  Anna  Sickinger. 
The  family  is  in  communion  with  Saint  Henry's 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  the  son  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Catholic  Order  of  Foresters. 

Mr.  Sickinger  is  still  occupied  with  gardening, 
cultivating  about  four  acres  of  land,  growing 
vegetables  for  the  city  market.  He  remembers 
well  when  most  of  the  land  upon  which  Summer- 
dale,  Ravenswood  and  Rosehill  are  built  was 
almost  entirely  covered  with  timber  or  stumps  of 
trees,  and  the  few  dwellings  occupied  by  the  set- 
tlers were  built  of  logs.  He  has  not  only  wit- 
nessed the  marvelous  growth  of  this  part  of  the 
city,  but  has  contributed  his  share  to  its  develop- 
ment and  upbuilding.  He  is  a  Republican  in 
politics,  but  not  an  office-seeker;  is  public-spirited 
and  ever  ready  to  encourage  any  undertaking  cal- 
culated to  serve  the  general  welfare. 


SEBASTIAN  KEIL 


(7)  KBASTIAN  KEIL  was  an  early  settler  of 
?\  Chicago,  where  he  located  in  1857.  He  was 
VlJ/  born  in  the  Rhine  Province  of  Prussia,  Ger- 
many, near  the  city  of  Trier,  in  1824,  and  was  ed- 
ucated in  his  native  land.  For  several  years  he 
was  the  superintendent  of  an  asylum  in  Trier, 
and  his  wife  also  occupied  a  position  in  the  same 
institution.  They  were  there  married,  the  bride 
being  Miss  Elizabeth  Laux,  also  a  native  of  the 
same  locality. 

The  family,  consisting  of  the  parents  and  three 
children,  came  to  the  United  States  in  1856,  and 
remained  the  first  winter  with  friends  in  Windsor, 
Connecticut.  The  following  spring  they  came 
to  Chicago  and  took  up  quarters  on  Indiana  Ave- 
nue, at  the  corner  of  Twenty-sixth  Street,  and 
lived  there  until  1863,  when  Mr.  Keil  was  elected 
superintendent  of  Saint  Boniface  Cemetery.  He 


removed  to  the  locality  of  the  cemetery  and  as- 
sumed the  duties  of  that  office,  which  he  held 
nearly  twenty- four  years.  He  then  retired  from 
active  business,  and  on  the  gth  of  August,  1893, 
he  passed  from  earthly  scenes.  His  wife  is  still 
living  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 

John  Keil,  their  eldest  son,  died  April  1 1,  1887, 
leaving  a  wife  and  two  children.  Katharine,  the 
second  child,  is  the  wife  of  Peter  Williams,  resid- 
ing at  No.  254  North  Clark  Street,  Chicago. 
Mr.  Keil  was  a  life-long  Democrat  in  political 
principles  and  associations,  and  was  a  faithful 
member  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

Jacob,  the  youngest  child  of  Sebastian  Keil, 
was  born  July  29,  1854,  and  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Chicago.  After  attaining  his 
majority  he  secured  employment  in  a  meat  market 
at  Rogers  Park,  and  within  a  few  years  succeeded 


6l2 


F.  J.  WENDT. 


his  father  in  charge  of  Saint  Boniface  Cemetery, 
where  he  continued  twelve  years.  .He  then  built 
the  restaurant  now  occupied  by  August  Biewers, 
on  North  Clark  Street,  which  he  conducted  eight 
years.  He  is  now  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
a  compound  for  cleaning  steam  boilers. 

April  29,  1879,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Mann,  daughter  of  Nicholas  Mann,  an  early  resi- 
dent of  the  locality.  Six  of  their  seven  children 
are  living,  the  third,  named  Elizabeth,  being  now 


deceased.     The  others  are:   Nicholas,  Sebastian, 
Katharine,  Mathias,  Molly  and  Peter. 

Mr.  Keil  is  independent  in  politics,  but  his 
worth  and  integrity  have  been  recognized  by  his 
appointment  as  building  inspector  for  the  Twen- 
ty-fifth and  Twenty-sixth  Wards,  which  position 
he  filled  two  years.  He  is  an  active  and 
efficient  member  of  Saint  Matthew's  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  of  the  Catholic  Order  of 
Foresters. 


FREDERICK  J.  WENDT. 


f~  REDERICK  JOHN  WENDT,  of  Ravens- 
1M  wood,  is  a  well-known  early  resident  of  that 
|  *  part  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Wendt  is  a  native  of 
North  Germany,  where  he  was  born  September 
21,  1841.  His  father,  William  Wendt,  was  a 
shepherd  by  occupation,  and  Frederick  in  early 
life  followed  the  same  business.  The  father  died 
when  his  son  was  but  nine  years  of  age,  leaving 
the  mother  with  four  children,  of  whom  Freder- 
ick was  the  eldest.  One  of  the  younger  brothers 
survived  the  father  but  a  short  time.  The  only 
daughter  of  the  family  is  still  a  resident  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  only  surviving  brother  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  is  Charles  Wendt,  a  resident  of 
Summerdale,  in  this  city.  The  mother,  who  has 
now  attained  an  advanced  age,  lives  with  her  son 
in  Ravenswood. 

In  1868  Mr.  Wendt  emigrated  to  America. 
His  first  year  in  this  country  was  spent  in  Ozau- 
kee  County,  Wisconsin.  There  he  was  engaged 
with  a  man  named  Membler,  a  prominent  con- 
tractor and  builder.  In  April,  1869,  he  came  to 
what  is  now  Ravenswood,  and  engaged  in  work 
for  the  Ravenswood  Land  Company. 

In  November  of  the  same  year  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Minnie  Nave,  a  native  of  Holstein,  Ger- 
many, and  the  following  winter  was  passed  in 


Chicago.  Ravenswood  was  not  identified  with 
the  city  until  a  number  of  years  later.  In  the 
spring  of  1870  Mr.  Wendt  returned  and  continued 
in  the  service  of  the  company  above  mentioned 
for  about  two  years,  when  he  was  engaged  by  Mr. 
Daniel  Downing,  of  the  Sunny  Side  Hotel,  with 
whom  he  continued  until  1875.  While  in  the 
service  of  Mr.  Downing  he  assisted  in  laying  out 
and  beautifying  Sunny  Side  Park,  and  with  his 
own  hands  planted  many  of  the  trees  with  which 
that  elegant  park  abounds.  It  is  an  interesting 
fact  that  when  the  site  of  the  park  was  purchased 
by  Mr.  Downing  not  a  tree  was  growing  upon  it. 
Many  of  the  larger  ones  had  attained  a  large 
growth  when  set  out,  and  one  thousand  dollars, 
or  one  hundred  dollars  each,  were  paid  by  Mr. 
Downing  for  ten  of  the  largest  trees  and  the  trans- 
planting of  the  same. 

Mr.  Downing  erected  for  Mr.  Wendt  his  first 
residence,  which  is  still  standing,  and  is  one  of  the 
landmarks  of  Ravenswood,  and  there  the  three 
oldest  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wendt  were  born. 
In  1875  Mr.  Wendt  was  engaged  as  janitor  of  the 
Ravenswood  school  building,  and  on  July  23d  of 
that  year  removed  his  family  into  the  building, 
the  lower  part  of  which  he  has  occupied  as  a  resi- 
dence to  the  present  time — having  served  contin- 


A.  P.  GLINES. 


613 


uously  as  janitor  for  the  long  period  of  twenty- 
two  years.  Here  the  youngest  child  of  the  family, 
Rosa,  was  born.  The  children  in  the  order  of 
their  birth  are:  Anna,  who  is  now  the  wife  of 
Clarence  Gilberg,  Gustave,  William  and  Rosa. 

When  Mr.  Wendt  first  became  a  resident  of 
what  is  now  known  as  Ravenswood,  much  of  the 
land  was  devoted  to  the  nursery  industry,  and  the 
many  acres  of  nursery  and  evergreen  trees  pre- 
sented a  most  beautiful  appearance.  These  have 
now  given  place  to  elegant  homes  with  beautiful 
lawns,  paved  streets  and  stately  business  blocks — 
a  transformation  so  complete  that  no  evidence  re- 
mains that  Ravenswood  was  a  rural  district  but  a 


few  short  years  ago.  The  many  years  that  Mr. 
Wendt  has  occupied  his  present  position  attest  the 
faithfulness  with  which  he  has  performed  its  du- 
ties. He  also  has  charge  of  the  Masonic  build- 
ings at  Ravenswood. 

He  is  connected  with  many  societies,  is  a  prom- 
inent Mason,  having  passed  the  Royal  Arch 
degrees,  is  a  member  of  the  Order  of  the  Eastern 
Star,  National  Union,  Royal  League,  Royal  Ar- 
canum, Columbian  Knights  and  the  Engineers 
and  Janitors'  Association  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Wendt  is  well  known  socially,  and  has  ever 
possessed  the  respect,  confidence  and  esteem  of 
his  fellow-citizens. 


ANDREW  P.  GLINES. 


G\  NDREW  PERRY  GLINES,  a  retired  gar- 
LJ  dener  living  on  Bowmanville  Road,  is  one  of 
/  I  the  pioneers  of  this  part  of  the  city  (formerly 
Lake  View).  He  was  born  in  Grafton  County, 
New  Hampshire,  January  31,  1822,  and  is  the  son 
of  Isaac  and  Hannah  (Kimball)  Glines,  both  of 
whom  were  natives  of  that  State. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  such  edu- 
cational training  as  the  public  schools  of  the  time 
and  region  afforded,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years  began  learning  the  stone-cutter's  trade.  He 
served  a  regular  apprenticeship,  and  worked  as  a 
journeyman  several  years  at  Quincy,  Massachu- 
setts. About  1846  he  went  to  Jackson,  Vinton 
Count}1,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  three  years, 
working  at  his  trade,  and  subsequently  spent  a 
like  period  in  Missouri,  in  the  employ  of  the  Iron 
Mountain  Railroad,  as  stone-cutter. 

In  1852  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  has  been  a 
resident  of  Cook  County  ever  since,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  two  years  spent  in  Louisiana,  before  the 
war.  In  1863  he  enlisted  in  the  service  of  the 
Union,  as  a  carpenter,  and  served  six  months. 


For  four  months,  in  1861,  he  worked  at  his  trade 
at  Rosehill,  and,  with  the  above  exceptions,  has 
followed  market-gardening  up  to  the  time  of  his 
retirement.  At  first  he  tilled  leased  land,  and 
later  came  into  possession  of  land  which  he  cared 
for  until  1890,  and  then  retired  from  active  busi- 
ness. His  success  is  due  to  the  patient  exercise 
of  diligence,  coupled  with  prudent  management. 

August  18,  1865,  Mr.  Glines  was  married  to 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Moore,  widow  of  John  Moore. 
She  is  the  daughter  of  Robert  and  Maria  Dixon, 
both  of  whom  were  born  in  England  and  died  in 
Ireland.  Mrs.  Glines  was  born  March  14,  1832, 
in  the  North  of  Ireland,  and  came  to  Canada  when 
about  ten  years  old.  She  lived  in  Montreal  until 
1854,  and  then  came  to  Cook  County,  where,  in 
1859,  she  married  Mr.  Moore.  The  latter  died  in 
1862,  leaving  two  children,  both  of  whom  are  now 
deceased.  Mr.  Moore  was  possessed  of  the  prop- 
erty where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Glines  reside,  and 
here  Mr.  Glines  resumed  gardening  immediately 
after  marriage.  Six  children  have  been  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Glines,  of  whom  four  are  now  liv- 


614 


PETER  MUNO. 


ing,  namely:  Minnie,  wife  of  Louis  Magrath; 
Ellsworth,  of  Lake  View;  Beatrice  (Mrs.  Louis 
Higgins),  and  Walter,  at  home. 

Mr.  Glines  acted  with  the  Democratic  party  in 
early  life,  but  is  now  independent  of  party  affilia- 
tions, being  unwilling  to  endorse  wholly  the 
policy  of  any  party.  Though  not  a  communicant 


of  anj'  church,  Mrs.  Glines  is  a  firm  adherent  of 
the  faith  of  the  Congregational  Church,  and  her 
influence  over  her  family  has  always  been  elevat- 
ing and  progressive.  All  the  children  have  been 
given  excellent  educational  advantages,  and  the 
family  occupies  a  good  position  in  the  society 
with  which  it  mingles. 


PETER  MUNO. 


r*\ETER  MUNO,  a  retired  farmer  and  early 
L^  settler  of  Cook  County,  was  born  in  Damflos, 
}3  near  Trier,  Prussia,  September  16,  1816, 
and  is  a  son  of  Christian  and  Elizabeth  Katharine 
(Detample)  Muno,  further  mention  of  whom  is 
made  in  the  sketch  of  Henry  Muno, in  this  volume. 
Peter  Muno  was  educated  in  his  native  land, 
and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years  went  to  learn  the 
trade  of  shoe-nail-making,  which  he  followed  un- 
til he  emigrated  to  America.  In  February,  1842, 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  Pink,  who  was  born 
and  reared  in  the  same  locality  as  himself. 

In  1857,  in  company  with  his  wife  and  four 
children,  his  brother,  Henry,  and  sister,  Mary, 
he  came  to  America.  The  year  after  his  arrival 
he  and  his  brother  bought  land  about  thirty 
miles  south  of  Chicago,  near  the  Indiana  line, 
which  they  ultimately  lost.  After  remaining 
there  a  few  years,  he  removed  to  High  Ridge, 
Cook  County,  and  for  the  first  five  years  rented 
land  from  Michael  Weber,  and  engaged  in  market- 
gardening,  meeting  with  good  success.  He  then 
purchased  forty  acres  of  land  on  section  24, 
Evanston  Township,  where  he  now  resides.  This 
land  was  in  its  raw  state,  but  he  cleared  and 
developed  a  farm,  engaged  in  its  cultivation,  and 
carried  on  farming  and  gardening  until  about 
1886,  when  he  retired. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Muno  had  born  to  them  ten  chil- 


dren, but  one  of  these,  Henry,  died  in  the  old 
country  when  a  child.  Nine  are  now  living, 
namely:  Mary,  wife  of  Adolph  Arndt,  a  gardener 
at  Evanston;  John,  of  No.  194  North  Avenue, 
Chicago;  Carl,  of  Rogers  Park,  a  gardener  on 
Touhy  Avenue;  Maggie,  wife  of  Peter  Kloss,  a 
•coal  merchant  of  Fullerton  Avenue;  Barbara, 
wife  of  Lorenz  Bugner;  Katharine,  now  Mrs.  Au- 
gust Richard,  of  Indiana;  Lena,  Mrs.  Lawrence 
Marthaler,  of  Chicago  Heights;  Caroline,  wife  of 
Michael  Wiltgen;  and  Mary,  wife  of  Christian 
Michials,  of  No.  735  Larrabee  Street,  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Muno  died  January  28,  1897,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-six  years  and  nine  months,  after  a 
married  life  of  fifty-four  years.  Mr.  Muno  is  a 
member  of  Saint  Nicholas*  Roman  Catholic 
Church  of  South  Evanston,  and  acts  with  the 
Democratic  party  in  political  matters. 

Michael  Wiltgen  was  born  in  Luxemburg, 
Germany,  December  14,  1862,  and  is  a  son  of 
Mathias  and  Anna  Wiltgen ,  who  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1873,  settling  in  Evanston.  The  wife  died 
in  1889,  and  Mr.  Wiltgen  in  1895,  leaving  four 
sons,  Michael  being  the  eldest;  the  others  are, 
Martin,  Felix  and  Eugene.  Michael  married 
Caroline  Muno  November  17,  1886.  They  have 
two  children,  Anna  and  Joseph.  Mr.  Wiltgen 
supports  the  Democratic  party,  and  is  a  member 
of  Saint  Nicholas'  Church. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


HERMAN  A.  SCHMEDTGEN 


MRS.  H.  A.  SCHMEDTGEN 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


H.  A.  SCHMEDTGEN. 


615 


HERMAN  A.  SCHMEDTGEN. 


HERMAN  AUGUST  SCHMEDTGEN,  for 
many  years  one  of  the  most  enterprising  citi- 
zens of  Chicago,  who  is  now  retired  from 
active  labor,  occupying  a  pleasant  home  on  North 
Western  Avenue,  Chicago,  is  a  native  of  Butt- 
staedt,  Saxe-Weimar,  Germany,  born  August 
26,  1834.  Both  his  parents,  Frederick  and 
Sophia  (Werner)  Schmedtgen,  were  born  in  the 
same  locality.  They  followed  the  son  to  Amer- 
ica, coming  two  years  after  him,  and  died  soon 
after — the  father  at  Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin,  in 
1856,  and  the  mother  in  Buffalo,  New  York,  in 

1859- 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  learned  the  trade  of 
shoemaker  in  his  native  land,  and  there  received 
the  excellent  common-school  education  for  which 
Germany  is  famous.  He  is  of  ingenious  mind, 
and  could  readily  take  up  almost  any  kind  of 
mechanical  work.  In  1852  he  came  to  this  coun- 
try, and  worked  for  nine  months  after  arrival  at 
his  trade  in  Buffalo,  New  York.  He  then  took 
up  cabinet-work  and  painting,  and  was  found  to 
be  a  hand}'  man  with  tools  of  any  kind.  He  re- 
mained in  Buffalo  three  years,  and  then  went  to 
Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin,  where  for  three  years 
he  was  engaged  in  cabinet-making. 

In  April,  1858,  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  for  two 
years  was  employed  in  a  daity,  and  a  like  period 
in  a  wholesale  grocery  house  on  South  Water 
Street.  His  next  undertaking  was  an  independ- 
ent one.  Having  saved  his  earnings,  he  pur- 
chased a  horse  and  wagon  and  for  two  years  did 
an  express  business.  He  then  secured  a  con- 
tract for  sprinkling  streets  on  the  North  Side, 


and,  beginning  with  one  wagon,  soon  increased 
the  number  to  six.  For  about  twenty-two  years 
he  continued  this  occupation.  At  the  time  of  the 
Great  Fire  of  1871,  he  was  able  to  haul  away  a 
portion  of  his  furniture  and  saved  his  teams  and 
wagons,  but  his  home  and  stables  were  left  smok- 
ing ruins.  He  still  had  the  lot,  however,  and 
possessed  the  confidence  of  the  business  men,  so 
that  he  could  readily  borrow  money  with  which 
to  resume  business  and  replace  his  buildings. 

In  1885  he  purchased  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  land  where  he  now  lives,  and  carried  on 
agriculture  four  years.  He  planted  all  the  beau- 
tiful shade  trees  which  surround  his  home,  and 
otherwise  improved  and  beautified  his  property. 
The  next  year  after  his  purchase  he  built  the  sub- 
stantial brick  mansion  in  which  he  lives,  and  also 
large  farm  buildings.  He  has  sold  twenty-five 
acres  of  his  land,  and  has  retired  from  active 
business. 

Mr.  Schmedtgen  has  always  supported  the  Re- 
publican ticket  in  political  contests,  though  he  is 
independent  of  party  lines  in  selecting  local  of- 
ficials. He  entertains  liberal  religious  views,  and 
has,  for  that  reason,  refrained  from  associating 
himself  with  any  sect.  His  upright  character 
and  straightforward  manners  have  won  and  held 
the  esteem  and  respect  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and 
he  is  considered  a  valuable  member  of  society. 

October  31,  1856,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Bertie  BischofF,  who  was  born  in  the  same  place 
in  Germany  as  her  husband,  and  came  to  Chi- 
cago in  1848.  They  had  six  children,  namely: 
Anna,  wife  of  Frederick  Capel,  a  butcher  of  Chi- 


6i6 


J.  A.  GORGES. 


cago;  William,  an  artist  in  the  employ  of  the  Chi- 
cago Record;  Bertha,  Mrs.  Henry  Capitain,  resid- 
ing in  Chicago;  Herman,  also  of  Chicago,  and 
Emma  and  Matilda,  at  home.  Mrs.  Schmedtgen 
died  March  21,  1894,  in  San  Diego,  California, 
while  visiting  that  country. 

Mr.  Schmedtgen  is  a  progressive  and  enterpris- 


success  in  life.  When  he  arrived  in  the  United 
States  he  was  in  debt  for  his  passage,  and  is  now 
in  affluent  circumstances.  This  is  due  to  his 
energy  and  unflagging  diligence,  and  the  prac- 
tice of  economy  and  good  judgment  in  business. 
His  habits  have  always  been  regular  and 
exemplary,  and  he  is  now  enjoying  the  fruit  of 


ing  citizen,  and  is  entitled  to  great  credit  for  his     his  industry  and  upright  life. 


JOHN  A.  GORGES. 


(JOHN  ADAM  GORGES,  who  is  now  retired 
I  from  active  business  and  liyes  in  a  pleasant 
Q)  home  at  No.  4645  North  Western  Avenue 
(Rogers  Park),  Chicago,  is  one  of  the  honored 
pioneers  of  this  locality.  He  is  a  native  of 
Prussia,  Germany,  born  about  eighteen  miles 
from  Trier,  September  8,  1820.  He  came  to 
America  in  1845,  landing  in  New  York  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year.  He  went  to  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania,  and  remained  in  that  State  until 
the  following  spring,  when  he  came  to  Cook 
County.  In  his  native  land  he  was  reared  to 
farming,  and  received  the  usual  liberal  education 
provided  to  every  subject  of  the  German  Em- 
peror. 

For  the  first  three  years  after  his  arrival  here 
he  worked  by  the  month,  to  earn  means  with 
which  to  begin  life  for  himself.  He  then  en- 
gaged in  farming,  and  continued  until  he  retired 
in  1886.  When  he  came  to  this  part  of  the  coun- 
ty it  was  sparsely  settled,  and  he  has  borne  no  in- 
considerable part  in  developing  and  improving 
the  land,  and  in  promoting  the  moral  and  ma- 
terial welfare  of  the  community. 

In  the  early  years  of  his  citizenship  Mr.  Gorges 
supported  the  Democratic  party,  but  he  could 
not  agree  with  its  policy  in  regard  to  slavery, 
and  when  the  Republican  party  was  organized 
he  gave  it  his  allegiance  and  has  ever  since  sup- 


ported its  men  and  measures,  but  never  sought 
any  official  position  for  himself.  He  is  a  faith- 
ful member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  zealous  in  every  good  work.  He  is  still  in 
hale  and  hearty  enjoyment  of  the  blessings  of  life, 
and  has  accumulated  a  competence  by  the  prac- 
tice of  diligence,  and  upright  dealings. 

November  19,  1849,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Susan  Rohrer,  who  was  born  near  Indianapolis, 
in  Marion  County,  Indiana,  in  1832,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  Rohrer,  a  native  of  Mary- 
land. Further  mention  of  Mr.  Rohrer  will  be 
found  on  another  page  of  this  article.  One 
daughter,  Susie  Birdie,  completes  the  family  of 
Mr.  Gorges. 

Samuel  Rohrer,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Gorges, 
came  of  an  old  Maryland  family,  of  German  de- 
scent. He  came  to  Cook  County  in  1835  and 
bought  a  large  tract  of  Government  land  in  what 
was  afterwards  called  Ridgeville  (now  in  the 
town  of  Evanston).  He  was  the  first  actual  set- 
tler in  this  immediate  vicinity,  at  a  time  when 
Chicago  contained  but  a  few  small  shanties. 
He  followed  farming  here  for  several  years  and 
then  moved  to  Niles  Center,  where  he  continued 
in  the  same  pursuit  until  about  1860.  At  this 
time  he  removed  to  Blackhawk  County,  Iowa, 
settling  on  a  farm  at  what  is  now  Hudson,  where 
he  remained  until  his  death,  nearly  twenty  years 


OTTO  RISTOW. 


617 


later.  He  was  three  times  married.  By  the  first 
wife  he  had  seven  children,  three  of  whom  are 
living,  namely:  Rebecca;  Jacob,  a  resident  of 
Chilton,  Wisconsin;  and  Samuel,  now  in  Hud- 
son, Iowa.  His  second  marriage  resulted  in 
nine  children,  Mrs.  Gorges  being  the  eldest  of 
these.  Two  others  are  now  living:  Jane,  wife  of 
Chester  Cory,  of  Hudson,  Iowa;  and  Sarah,  Mrs. 
Charles  Currier,  residing  in  Omaha,  Nebraska. 
The  mother  of  these  children  died  at  Niles  Center, 
Illinois. 

Mrs.  Gorges  established,  in  1879,  a  retreat  for 


the  protection  of  unfortunate  women  at  her  home 
near  Rogers  Park,  and  has  done  a  noble  and  im- 
portant work.  The  large  mansion  and  adjacent 
cottages  afford  accommodations  for  a  large  num- 
ber of  patients,  and  hundreds  have  been  treated 
here.  In  all  these,  not  a  patient  has  been  lost,  a 
phenomenal  record,  and  many  children  have  been 
provided  with  good  homes.  Mrs.  Gorges  is  by  na- 
ture designed  for  a  nurse.  She  is  exceptionally 
kind  and  sympathetic,  a  true  Christian  woman, 
with  an  acute  sense  of  her  responsibility  to  her 
God  and  society. 


OTTO   RISTOW. 


ITTO  RISTOW,  who  is  a  successful  florist  of 
Chicago,  with  greenhouses  on  North  Western 
Avenue,  was  born  July  22,  1850,  in  Ger- 
many. His  parents,  Erdman  and  Katherine 
Ristow,  were  born  in  the  same  locality,  where 
they  resided  most  of  their  lives.  They  passed 
away  in  Chicago,  whither  they  had  followed  their 
children  after  their  own  retirement  from  active 
life. 

Otto  Ristow  received  the  excellent  education 
provided  in  German  laws  for  all  the  natives  of 
that  happy  Empire,  and  was  reared  to  the  busi- 
ness of  a  florist,  so  that  he  was  prepared  to  enter 
at  once  upon  a  successful  career  upon  his  arrival 
in  this  country.  He  left  his  native  home  at  the 
early  age  of  seventeen  years,  and  came  to  the 
United  States,  being  the  first  of  his  family  to  be- 
come a  citizen  of  this  country.  The  next  year 
he  was  followed  by  his  brother,  Julius,  and  two 
years  later  the  parents  and  three  sisters  came. 
All  the  sisters  are  now  residents  of  Chicago.  After 
landing  at  New  York,  young  Ristow  proceeded 
to  Milwaukee  and  continued  two  years  in  Wis- 
consin, where  he  was  employed  as  a  farm  hand 
and  gardener. 


He  came  to  Cook  County  in  1870,  and  has  ever 
since  continued  to  reside  here.  For  a  year  or 
two  he  worked  in  the  service  of  other  florists,  and 
about  1872  he  and  his  brother  began  business  for 
themselves,  as  florists.  They  leased  land  and 
conducted  business  under  the  title  of  Ristow 
Brothers,  and  this  connection  continued  several 
years.  The  partnership  was  dissolved  by  mutual 
consent  and  each  purchased  a  small  tract  of 
ground  where  they  now  live.  Owing  to  his  lim- 
ited means,  Mr.  Ristow  was  compelled  to  begin 
business  on  a  small  scale,  first  building  two  green- 
houses. As  he  was  prospered  he  built  additional 
roofs  of  glass,  and  now  has  about  an  acre  of  space 
thus  covered.  At  this  time  he  produces  nothing 
but  roses  for  the  cut-flower  trade,  and  markets 
them  through  a  commission  house  in  the  city. 

The  example  of  Mr.  Ristow  is  commended  to 
all  ambitious  youths,  who  may,  if  they  will,  learn 
from  it  the  secret  of  success.  By  diligent  attention 
to  one  line  of  labor,  he  was  enabled  to  earn  some 
money,  and  his  careful  habits  made  it  possible  to 
save  some  of  the  money  earned.  An  investment 
of  this  money  gave  him  land  on  which  to  produce 
that  which  found  ready  sale,  and  the  same  indus- 


6i8 


J.  C.  SCHIESSWOHt. 


try  and  prudent  management  which  has  charac- 
terized all  his  life  extended  his  operations,  until 
now  he  owns  and  operates  ten  large  greenhouses. 
Although  he  is  now  in  an  independent  position, 
he  continues  his  careful  attention  to  business,  and 
thus  preserves  the  accumulations  of  industry  and 
prudence.  He  is  a  good  citizen,  and  does  his 
part  in  the  support  of  all  worthy  public  enter- 
prises. He  is  independent  in  political  action, 
using  his  best  efforts  to  ensure  the  selection  of 
competent  and  faithful  men  for  the  administration 
of  public  trusts.  He  is  a  faithful  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  as  are  his  wife  and  children, 
and  is  among  the  most  liberal  contributors  to  its 
support. 


Mr.  Ristow  has  been  twice  married.  In  1871 
Miss  Fredericka  Haas  became  his  wife.  She  was 
born  in  Germany  and  came  to  this  country  in 
1867.  She  bore  her  husband  eleven  children,  of 
whom  seven  are  now  living,  namely:  Krnest, 
William,  Louis,  Lena,  Lily,  Arthur  and  Frede- 
rick. The  eldest  married  Miss  Tina  Haker  Sep- 
tember 24,  1896,  and  is  established  in  business  as 
a  florist,  while  the  others  still  reside  with  their 
father.  The  mother  of  this  family  died  in  March, 
1892,  and  September  29  of  that  year  Mr.  Ristow 
married  Miss  Louise  Konka,  who  was  born  in 
Chicago,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Johanna 
Konka,  both  of  whom  were  born  in  Germany  and 
are  now  residents  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 


JACOB  C.  SCHIESSWOHL. 


flACOB  CHRISTOPHER  SCHIESSWOHL, 
I  who  is  living  in  retirement  at  his  beautiful 
Qj  home,  No.  3957  Ridge  Avenue,  Chicago,  has 
been  actively  identified  with  the  business  inter- 
ests of  Chicago  and  Cook  County  forty-four  years. 
He  is  a  native  of  Wurtemburg,  Germany,  born 
November  29,  1835,  a  son  of  John  and  Christina 
(Ried)  Schiesswohl,  both  of  whom  were  born  in 
the  same  locality. 

In  his  native  land,  Jacob  C.  Schiesswohl  en- 
joyed the  advantages  of  the  splendid  school  sys- 
tem in  vogue  there,  and  at  an  early  ajje  became 
proficient  in  the  elementary  branches,  in  the 
mean  time  having  learned  the  butcher's  trade. 
In  1852,  when  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age, 
with  his  parents  and  only  sister,  Albertina,  he 
set  out  for  the  United  States.  At  Havre,  France, 
the  port  from  which  they  were  to  embark,  they 
found  immediate  passage  could  not  be  obtained, 
owing  to  the  vast  throng  of  emigrants  from  the 
continental  countries  of  Europe  who  were  crowd- 


ing to  the  guards  every  outgoing  vessel.  After 
waiting  three  weeks,  they  joined  a  party  of  two 
hundred  people,  mostly  Germans,  who  chartered 
the  sailing  brig  '  'Excelsior, ' '  commanded  by  Capt. 
George  Smith.  During  the  voyage,  a  long  and 
tedious  one,  young  Jacob  was  selected  to  appor- 
tion the  ship's  supply  of  water  to  the  passengers, 
each  receiving  a  certain  daily  allowance.  As 
supplementary  to  this  duty,  he  was  charged  with 
the  duty  of  looking  after  the  sanitary  condition 
of  the  vessel,  by  the  enforcement  of  its  rules. 

After  disembarking  at  Castle  Garden,  New 
York,  the  family  started  for  the  West,  traveling 
by  rail  to  Buffalo,  thence  to  Detroit  by  boat,  and 
to  Chicago  by  rail.  The  father  was  possessed  of 
but  limited  means,  and  he  and  Jacob  worked  at 
any  employment  offered,  the  first  work  of  the 
latter  being  in  unloading  lumber  from  lake  ves- 
sels. Both  were  industrious,  and  by  frugal  liv- 
ing, they  were  enabled  to  save  something.  In 
1856  the}'  established  themselves  in  a  meat  market 


J.  C.  SCHIESSWOHL. 


619 


on  Fifth  Avenue,  between  Harrison  and  Polk 
Streets.  Shortly  afterward  Jacob  left  the  busi- 
ness to  the  sole  care  of  the  father  and  accepted 
employment  in  a  packing  house. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  in  1861,  the 
elder  Mr.  Schiesswohl  laid  aside  his  business  and 
enrolled  himself  as  a  member  of  Company  E, 
Eighteenth  Kansas  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  nobly 
did  his  duty,  and  for  three  years  and  four  months 
he  maintained  the  proud  record  of  his  country- 
men as  being  among  the  best  soldiers  in  the 
world.  He  participated  in  many  of  the  hottest 
engagements  of  the  war,  and  marched  with  Gen- 
eral Banks  in  the  famous  Red  River  Expedition 
and  other  exploits  somewhat  similar,  in  Arkansas. 
The  war  over,  he  received  an  honorable  discharge 
and  returned  to  his  home  in  Chicago  and  resumed 
business.  This  he  continued  until  1872,  in 
which  year  both  he  and  his  good  wife  expired, 
their  deaths  occurring  within  two  weeks.  Sub- 
sequent to  his  death,  the  colonel  of  his  regiment 
in  the  army,  without  consulting  the  son,  ordered 
a  headstone  to  be  erected  at  his  grave.  His  gal- 
lant conduct  in  the  ranks  had  endeared  him  to 
his  commanding  officer,  and  this  graceful  act  was 
a  tribute  of  remembrance  of  a  soldier's  duty  well 
done. 

Jacob  C.  Schiesswohl  began  business  on  his 
own  responsibility  in  1860,  when  he  opened  a 
small  meat  market  at  Ohio  and  North  Clark 
Streets,  which  he  conducted  successfully  three 
years.  He  then  entered  into  a  co-partnership 
and  acquired  an  interest  in  a  pleasure  garden 
known  as  Huck's  Garden,  and  in  a  brewery. 
Six  years  later  he  disposed  of  these  interests  and 
purchased  property  on  the  corner  of  Sheffield  and 
Fletcher  Avenues,  and  engaged  in  general  team- 
ing. This  property,  which  has  greatly  enhanced 
in  value,  he  still  owns.  Two  years  later  he  re- 
sumed the  butcher  business,  which  he  conducted 
in  different  places,  uninterruptedly,  for  nineteen 
consecutive  years,  and  with  profit  to  himself  and 
satisfaction  to  his  patrons. 

By  judicious  investments  of  his  savings  in  real 
property,  he  accumulated  a  valuable  estate.  He 
bought  lots  41  and  43,  on  Evanston  Avenue, 
while  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Schiesswohl  & 


Peterson,  and  in  1873  he  acquired  land  at  the 
corner  of  Lincoln  and  Wrightwood  Avenues,  op- 
posite the  car  barns,  which  proved  a  profitable 
venture.  He  also  owns  other  valuable  properties, 
among  which  are  eleven  stores.  In  all  his  various 
enterprises  he  has  been  ably  assisted  by  his  de- 
voted wife,  who  has  done  much  to  make  his 
career  successful.  They  builded  sure  at  the  bot- 
tom, and  as  their  business  expanded,  it  took  on 
healthful  growth  under  their  joint  management, 
and  developed  into  a  handsome  fortune. 

At  his  twenty-first  birthday  he  was  a  qualified 
voter,  and  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Gen. 
John  C.  Fremont,  since  which  time  he  has  con- 
tinuously voted  with  the  Republican  party,  hav- 
ing always  taken  an  active  interest  and  leading 
part  in  public  affairs.  In  1863  he  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Lake  View,  and  in  1866  he  was  elected 
police  justice  for  four  years,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  term  was  re-elected,  creditably  serving  in  this 
capacity  eight  years.  Before  the  expiration  of 
the  second  term  he  was  elected  to  a  place  on  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  Lake  View,  in  which  he 
acted  three  years,  and  upon  the  incorporation  of 
Lake  View  as  a  city  he  was  honored  with  a  seat  in 
the  Council  as  alderman,  and  re-elected  the  follow- 
ing year  without  opposition.  So  acceptably  did 
he  discharge  the  duties  incumbent  upon  him,  that 
at  the  beginning  of  the  second  term  as  alderman 
he  was  petitioned  by  a  large  number  of  leading 
citizens,  irrespective  of  party,  to  allow  his  name 
to  be  presented  as  a  citizens'  candidate  forMayor, 
which  honor,  however,  he  declined. 

He  is  an  acceptable  member  of  the  Turner's 
Society,  which  he  joined  soon  after  arriving  in 
Chicago,  and  he  is  now  one  of  the  oldest  living 
who  belonged  to  it  at  that  time.  He  is  a  charter 
member  of  Mythra  Lodge  No.  410,  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons,  and  was  as  well  a  charter 
member  of  Wright's  Grove  Lodge  No.  779,  of 
the  same  order,  and  a  charter  member  of  Lincoln 
Park  Chapter,  Royal  Arch  Masons. 

Mr.  Schiesswohl  was  united  in  marriage  No- 
vember 27,  1860,  with  Miss  Maria  Phillip,  daugh- 
ter of  Jacob  and  Katharine  Phillip,  early  settlers 
in  Rogers  Park.  Eight  children  have  blessed  the 
union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schiesswohl,  as  follows: 


62O 


HENRY  KEMPER. 


Anna,  who  died  in  her  eighteenth  year;  Philip, 
a  butcher  and  grocer  of  Chicago;  Elizabeth,  the 
wife  of  Albert  U.  Peterson;  John  A.,  grocer  and 
meat  dealer  at  Argyle  Park;  Albertina,  residing 
with  her  parents;  Jacob,  who  carries  on  a  fruit 
ranch  in  Colorado;  Ottillie  and  May,  at  home. 
While  not  members  of  any  church,  both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Schiesswohl  are  Christians  in  their  lives  and 
character,  and  take  an  active  interest  in  and  sup- 
port all  enterprises  that  subserve  the  public  good. 
Mr.  Schiesswohl  retired  from  active  business 
March  i,  1889,  at  which  time  he  turned  the  busi- 
ness over  to  his  son  and  daughter.  Since  then 


he  has  lived  in  the  quiet  retirement  of  his  well- 
appointed  home.  When  he  arrived  in  Chicago, 
the  city's  population  scarcely  exceeded  fifty  thou- 
sand souls.  Boundless  prairies  extended  to  the 
south  and  west,  while  on  the  north,  adjacent  to 
the  lake  shore,  was  a  dense  growth  of  dwarfish 
timber.  During  the  forty-four  years  he  has  resided 
here,  the  wonderful  transformation  has  been  ac- 
complished, by  which  the  prairies  and  chaparral 
have  disappeared — covered  now  by  mammoth 
business  blocks  and  stately  mansions  of  brick  and 
stone,  and  the  population  has  been  increased 
more  than  thirty-fold. 


HENRY  KEMPER. 


HENRY   KEMPER,  of  the  firm  of  Kemper 
Brothers,  dealers  in  flour  and  feed  at  Nos. 
663  and  665  North  Halsted  Street,  is  a  rep- 
resentative of  the  progressive  element  of  Chicago. 
He  was  born  February  17,  1845,   in  Westphalia, 
Prussia,  a  son  of  Frank  and   Elizabeth  Kemper, 
both  natives  of  that  place. 

Frank  Kemper  was  a  laborer,  who  saw  little 
hope  of  bettering  his  condition  in  his  native  land, 
and,  when  his  family  included  three  children,  he 
determined  to  seek  a  home  in  America.  Bidding 
a  sad  farewell  to  wife  and  children,  he  set  out, 
strong  in  hope  and  faithful  resolve  to  carve  out 
his  fortune  in  an  unknown  land,  whose  language 
was  as  strange  to  him  as  its  people.  Arriving  in 
New  York,  he  shortly  found  employment  in  the 
city,  but  soon  removed  to  Woodstown,  New 
Jersey.  In  the  course  of  a  year  he  saved  up 
enough  to  send  for  his  wife,  and  with  her  aid  he 
was  able,  within  the  next  year,  to  send  for  two  of 
the  children.  Henry,  whose  name  heads  this 
article,  was  the  last  to  come,  arriving  in  January, 
1860.  Another  child,  Christina,  was  born  to  the 


parents  after  their  arrival  in  this  country,  but  she 
is  now  deceased.  The  others  are,  beside  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch:  William,  his  partner  in  busi- 
ness; and  Anna,  wife  of  Albert  Westphal,  of  No. 
66 1  North  Halsted  Street.  The  family  remained 
in  New  Jersey  until  1868,  when  they  removed  to 
Chicago.  Soon  after  his  arrival  Mr.  Kemper 
bought  forty  acres  of  land  on  the  present  site  of 
Grogan,  then  called  Whiskey  Point,  half  a  mile 
south  of  Fullerton  Avenue,  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing for  a  few  years.  He  then  sold  his  land  and 
moved  into  the  city.  At  the  time  of  the  Great 
Fire  he  lost  nearly  all  he  possessed,  but  he  ulti- 
mately recovered  his  fortune,  and  is  now  living 
in  honored  retirement.  Mrs.  Kemper  died  in 
1890,  aged  seventy-two  years. 

Henry  Kemper  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  place,  and  was  employed  in 
practical  pursuits  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  in 
this  country.  He  remained  with  his  parents  and 
assisted  in  the  labors  of  the  farm  until  he  was  of 
age.  In  1872  he  began  the  business  in  which  he 
is  now  engaged,  and  located  in  his  present  store 


FREDERICK  BRISTLE. 


621 


about  ten  years  since.  Although  he  began  life 
with  few  advantages,  he  has  steadily  advanced  to 
a  position  of  affluence  and  importance  in  the  com- 
munity. In  1891  he  built  the  handsome  and 
commodious  residence  in  which  he  has  since 
dwelt,  at  No.  3749  North  Paulina  Street,  Chi- 
cago. 

In  1868  Mr.  Kemper  was  married  to  Miss  Anna 
Stilling,  a  native  of  Westphalia.  Three  of  the 
children  born  of  this  union  are  now  living,  name- 
ly, William,  Albert  and  Clara.  Death  robbed  the 
children  of  their  mother  in  July,  1887.  In  the 
spring  of  1888  Mr.  Kemper  married  Miss  Kath- 
erine  Altenhofeu,  who  was  born  in  Prussia,  across 
the  river  opposite  Lunenburg,  Germany.  By  this 


marriage  there  are  five  children:    Lena,   Frank, 
Hubert,  Matthias  and  Carrie. 

Mr.  Kemper  is  a  public-spirited  citizen,  and  a 
thorough  American  in  ideas  and  principle,  be- 
lieving this  to  be  the  best  country  in  the  world.- 
In  State  and  National  elections  he  supports  the 
candidates  of  the  Republican  party,  but  in  local 
affairs,  the  man  he  deems  best  fitted  to  administer 
affairs  receives  his  vote.  Both  he  and  his  family 
are  faithful  communicants  of  Saint  Henry's  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church,  and  he  enjoys  the  confi- 
dence and  esteem  of  the  entire  community  in 
which  he  lives.  His  example  of  energy,  industry 
and  fair  dealing  is  commended  to  the  youth  of  the 
land  as  worthy  of  emulation. 


FREDERICK  BRISTLE. 


P~  REDBRICK  BRISTLE  (deceased)  was  a 
r3  native  of  Chicago,  born  in  that  portion  of 
I  ^  the  city  then  called  Lake  View,  August  21, 
1857.  Extended  mention  of  his  parents,  Chris- 
tian and  Katharine  Bristle,  is  made  in  this  vol- 
ume, in  connection  with  the  biography  of  Conrad 
Bristle. 

The  boyhood  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
spent  beneath  the  parental  roof  and  he  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools.  During  his  early 
youth  he  was  taught  the  rudimental  branches  of 
learning.  His  school  days,  however,  were  of 
brief  duration.  When  he  became  large  enough  it 
was  necessary  for  him  to  perform  his  part  of  the 
manual  labor  required  for  the  support  of  the 
family.  It  was  early  in  life  that  he  learned  the 
all- important  lesson  of  depending  upon  his  own 
efforts,  and  as  well  did  he  recognize  and  respect 
the  rights  of  dependence  upon  himself  of  those 
who  had  just  claim  upon  his  strength. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  began  life  on  his 
own  account,  as  a  market-gardener.  The  frugal 


and  industrious  boy  soon  developed  into  a  shrewd 
and  energetic  man  of  business.  He  exercised 
good  judgment  in  the  investment  of  his  surplus 
capital  in  real  estate,  and  its  rise  in  value  in  a 
short  time  made  him  comfortably  well  off. 

He  was  married  June  27,  1883,  to  Miss  Mary 
E.  Johnston,  who  was  born  July  30,  1861,  in  Chi- 
cago, and  is  a  daughter  of  John  and  Jane  (Keys) 
Johnston,  natives  of  County  Tyrone,  Ireland, 
where  they  were  married.  Immediately  after,  in 
1860,  they  came  to  the  United  States,  and  resided 
in  Pike  County,  Illinois,  nearly  a  year  before 
coming  to  Chicago.  The  father  was  first  em- 
ployed in  the  old  Chicago  Cemetery,  and  about 
1867  he  bought  five  acres  of  land  in  Lake  View 
Township  and  engaged  in  gardening,  at  which  he 
was  very  successful.  He  departed  this  life  in 
1889,  at  fifty- five  years  of  age,  surviving  his  wife 
a  period  of  eighteen  years.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  three  of  whom  died  in 
infancy.  Those  living  are:  Mary  E.  (Mrs.  F. 
Bristle) ;  Arthur,  residing  on  Ridge  Avenue,  Chi- 


622 


REV.  OTTO  GRCENEBAUM. 


cago;  Jane,  wife  of  John  B.  Sanderson,  of  the 
same  city;  and  William,  of  Downer's  Grove,  Illi- 
nois. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnston  were  adherents  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  and  lived  in  strict  con- 
formity to  the  requirements  of  their  creed  and 
religious  convictions. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bristle  were  born  three  chil- 
dren: Frederick  John,  Joseph  Henry  and  Jennie 
Katharine.  Mr.  Bristle's  death  was  untimely  and 
unexpected.  His  career  was  full  of  promise,  and 
his  early  achievements  predicted  for  him  assured 
success,  had  his  life  been  spared.  He  passed 
away  August  21,  1887.  His  early  religious 


training  was  in  the  Lutheran  faith,  but  in  man- 
hood he  became  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  of  which  he  was  a  liberal  supporter.  His 
devoted  wife  survives  him,  and  has  proven  her- 
self equal  to  the  emergencies  incumbent  upon 
widowhood,  and  has  managed  the  unfinished  life- 
work  of  her  husband,  as  contemplated  by  him, 
with  an  adroitness  that  has  crowned  her  efforts 
with  success.  She  combines  with  her  business 
acumen  all  the  graces  of  true  womanhood,  and 
her.  mind  and  heart  are  in  her  home,  where  her 
domesticity  is  apparent  to  her  large  circle  of 
friends  and  acquaintances. 


REV,  OTTO  GRCENEBAUM. 


REV.  OTTO  GRCENEBAUM.  Among  the 
highly  esteemed  and  respected  citizens  of 
South  Evanston,  none  are  more  worthy  than 
Rev.  Otto  Graenebaum,  who  is  now  pastor  of 
Saint  Nicholas'  Roman  Catholic  Church.  He 
was  born  in  the  Province  of  Westphalia,  Ger- 
many, August  28,  1837.  His  parents  were  Frank 
and  Ludovika  Grcenebaum,  natives  of  that  place. 
In  the  parochial  schools  of  his  native  place  he  re- 
ceived his  rudimentary  education.  When  a  young 
man  he  entered  the  gymnasium  of  Warendorf, 
from  which  he  graduated  in  1859,  after  which  he 
spent  four  years  at  the  University  of  Minister,  in 
the  Province  of  Westphalia,  completing  his  philo- 
sophical and  theological  education. 

In  May,  1864,  he  came  to  America,  locating  in 
Wisconsin,  and  for  over  two  years  was  a  teacher 
in  different  academies  in  Milwaukee.  In  the  fall 
of  1866  he  resumed  his  studies  for  the  priesthood, 
and  was  ordained  February  15,  1867,  at  Milwau- 
kee. Subsequently  he  assumed  charge  of  a  church 
in  Omaha,  Nebraska,  where  for  fourteen  years  he 
labored  faithfully  and  efficiently.  In  1881  he 
came  to  Illinois,  and  for  several  years  he  had 


charge  of  different  congregations.  In  1887  he  or- 
ganized Saint  Nicholas'  Church  in  South  Evans- 
ton,  with  sixty-three  families.  In  that  year  he 
purchased  the  ground  and  built  the  church  and 
residence,  at  an  expense  of  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  church  is  a  plain,  but  substantial 
structure,  the  upper  part  being  used  for  the  church 
and  the  lower  or  ground  floor  for  a  school  room 
and  dwelling  for  the  Sisters. 

Under  the  careful  and  able  management  of 
Father  Groenebaum  the  church  has  prospered  and 
grown,  until  the  congregation  numbers  about  one 
hundred  seventy  families.  His  own  excellent 
education  eminently  fitted  him  to  look  after  the 
welfare  of  the  school,  and  at  present  it  has  an  av- 
erage attendance  of  about  one  hundred  fifty 
scholars.  Father  Grrenebaum  is  loved  by  all  his 
flock,  for  his  careful  watch  over  them  and  his 
kindness  to  the  poor.  Not  only  is  the  church  out 
of  debt,  but  it  has  a  handsome  surplus  in  its 
treasury.  Father  Grcenebaum  is  a  ripe  scholar, 
a  kind,  genial  gentleman,  and  deservedly  popular, 
not  only  with  the  members  of  his  large  congrega- 
tion, but  also  with  the  community. 


LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


GEORGE   A.  PHILBRICK 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


G.  A.  PHILBRICK. 


623 


GEORGE  A.  PHILBRICK. 


(2JEORGE  ALBERT  PHILBRICK,  who  has 
l_  been  connected  with  public  affairs  in  the 
\^4  town  of  Cicero  for  over  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  oldest  New 
England  families.  The  Philbricks  have  always 
belonged  to  the  great  middle  class,  which  is  the 
mainstay  of  our  modern  civilization.  While  re- 
ceiving their  share  of  public  offices,  they  have  never 
been  willing  to  sacrifice  their  independence  to  se- 
cure any  position,  either  political  or  commercial. 
Thomas  Philbrick  was  a  sea  captain,  and  man}' 
of  his  descendants  have  followed  the  sea,  or  made 
their  homes  near  the  ocean  or  some  other  body  of 
water.  They  have  usually  been  fairly  prosper- 
ous men,  none  of  them  being  either  very  rich  or 
very  poor. 

The  first  of  the  family  in  America  was  Thomas 
Philbrick,  who  emigrated  from  Lincolnshire, 
England,  to  Watertown,  Massachusetts,  about 
1630.  He  was  a  shipmaster,  and,  about  1650, 
removed  to  Hampton,  New  Hampshire,  where 
two  of  his  sons  had  preceded  him.  He  died  in 
1667,  surviving  his  wife,  Elizabeth,  who  passed 
away  in  1663.  The  names  of  the  parents  in 
direct  line  from  Thomas  to  George  A.  Philbrick, 
are  as  follows:  James  (eldest  son  of  Thomas)  and 
Ann  Roberts  (daughter  of  Thomas  Roberts); 
Capt.  James  and  Hannah  (Perkins);  Deacon 
Joseph  and  Elizabeth  (Perkins) ;  James  and 
Tabitha  (Dow);  David  and  Jane  (Marston);  and 
Simon  and  Louisa  (Young).  The  family  has 
been  known  in  England  for  many  centuries;  one 
member  (then  called  De  Philbrique)  was  one  of  the 
followers  of  William  the  Conqueror, in  his  conquest 
of  that  country.  In  England  the  name  is  gen- 
erally spelled  Philbrick,  though  by  some  it  is 
still  called  Philbrique. 


Simon  Philbrick  was  born  in  Ossipee,  New 
Hampshire,  and  there  learned  the  trade  of  car- 
penter. After  his  marriage  he  removed  to 
Corinna,  Maine,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  and 
lived  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  a  man 
universally  loved  and  respected,  being  noted  for 
his  strict  honesty  and  integrity.  He  was  a  sin- 
cere member  of  the  Free  Will  Baptist  Church, 
and  his  house  was  the  meeting  place  for  all  the 
clergy,  who  always  found  a  warm  welcome.  He 
died  June  19,  1878,  aged  seventy-five  years. 
Mrs.  Louisa  Philbrick  was  of  Scotch  descent. 
She  passed  away  in  1888^  aged  eighty-two  years. 
They  were  the  parents  of  three  sons,  as  follows: 
Jacob,  a  farmer  in  Corinna,  Maine;  George,  the 
subject  of  this  notice;  and  John  W.,  who  died  in 
Corinna  in  1873.  The  latter,  who  was  a  most 
estimable  young  man,  contracted  the  small-pox 
of  a  woman  for  whom  he  did  a  service  on  a  rail- 
way train,  which  caused  his  death. 

George  A.  Philbrick  remained  on  the  home 
farm  until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty  years,  at- 
tending the  country  schools  and  the  academy  at 
Corinna  and  Fox  Croft.  He  then  taught  school  two 
years  in  the  country  schools  of  his  native  State, 
and  the  same  length  of  time  in  Delaware  and 
Maryland.  In  1857  he  removed  to  Illinois,  where 
he  taught  one  year  in  Adams  Count}-,  and  then 
served  six  years  as  principal  at  Hamilton.  In 
1864  he  entered  the  employ  of  Gafford  &  Com- 
pany, pork  packers  in  Iowa,  as  bookkeeper,  and 
in  May,  1865,  he  came  to  Chicago.  In  the  school 
year  of  1868-69  he  taught  in  a  part  of  Cicero, 
which  is  now  included  in  the  city,  and  in  the 
meantime  was  elected  town  clerk,  also  receiving 
at  this  time  the  office  of  secretary  of  the, Union 
Park  Lodge  of  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 


624 


JOHN  BARTELS. 


Masons.  He  held  the  office  of  town  clerk  four 
and  one-half  years,  and  April  24,  1874,  was  ap- 
pointed treasurer  of  the  school  trustees  of  Cicero. 
The  latter  position  he  has  ever  since  retained,  his 
term  expiring  in  1898,  and  making  twenty-four 
years  of  continuous  service.  During  that  time 
the  town  of  Cicero  has  had  remarkable  develop- 
ment, and  though  of  much  smaller  area  than  for- 
merly, its  population  is  made  up  largely  of 
wealthy  and  intelligent  men,  who  take  great  pride 
in  their  schools,  and  insist  upon  having  the  best 
in  the  State.  The  amount  expended  through 
Mr.  Philbrick,  as  shown  by  his  report  for  the  year 
from  April,  1896,  to  April,  1897,  was  $235, 593. 72. 
On  the  organization  of  the  Cicero  Building  and 
Loan  Association,  in  1886,  Mr.  Philbrick  became 
a  director  and  was  four  years  treasurer,  and  since 
1891  he  has  been  secretary.  At  the  time  of  the 
Great  Fire  of  1 87 1  he  was  in  charge  of  the  books 
of  the  township  treasurer  of  Cicero  and  many 
corporations,  and  so  thoroughly  familiar  was  he 
with  their  financial  affairs,  that,  though  the 
books  were  destroyed,  including  many  notes,  he 
was  able  to  supply  substitutes  for  all  the  missing 
papers  and  the  names  of  all  the  debtors  of  the 
town  in  school  matters.  It  is  doubtful  if  there  is 
another  record  of  such  powers  of  concentration 
and  memory  in  America  or  elsewhere.  At  this 
time  he  filled  the  following  offices  and  kept  their 


accounts:  secretary  of  Union  Park  Lodge;  town 
clerk  of  the  town  of  Cicero;  ex-officio  secretary 
of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  town  of  Cicero; 
secretary  of  the  Chicago  Asphalt  Company  and 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Chicago  and  Joliet 
Gravel  Company,  also  secretary  of  the  town 
treasurer  and  supervisor.  Over  one  and  a-half 
million  accounts  were  destroyed  and  not  a  dollar 
was  lost  track  of,  owing  to  his  remarkable  memory. 
October  25,  1855,  Mr.  Philbrick  married  Mary 
Hinds  Stevens,  who  was  born  in  Dover,  Maine, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel  M.  and  Betsy 
(Hinds)  Stevens.  One  daughter  was  born  of 
this  union,  Mary  A.,  now  the  wife  of  Oliver  W. 
Marble,  an  architect  of  Chicago.  Mrs.  Philbrick 
is  an  enthusiastic  disciple  of  Christian  science, 
devoting  much  of  her  time  to  that  study.  She  is 
one  of  three  ladies  that  prevented  saloons  from 
being  established  in  Austin.  Her  husband  also 
takes  great  interest  in  this  subject,  feeling  that 
he  has  had  practical  demonstration  of  the  truth  of 
this  science.  Mr.  Philbrick  was  initiated  into 
Masonry  in  Penobscot  Lodge,  Dexter,  Maine,  in 
1855.  He  was  subsequently  connected  for  ten 
years  with  Union  Park  Lodge,  of  Chicago.  He 
is  now  a  member  of  Cicero  Chapter,  No.  180, 
Royal  Arch  Masons,  at  Austin,  and  has  been  its 
treasurer  since  1878.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
Siloam  Comtnandery. 


JOHN   BARTELS. 


QOHN  BARTELS  was  born  December  4,  1828, 
I  in  Luderditmarshen,  Holstein,  Germany,  of 
Q)  honored  German  ancestry.  He  came  to 
America  when  he  was  twenty-four  years  of  age, 
being  an  ambitious  youth,  and  attracted  thither 
by  the  great  opportunities  offered  to  men  of  en- 
terprise. He  settled  in  Chicago,  and  being  a 
frugal  and  industrious  man,  worked  and  saved 


until  he  was  able  to  engage  in  business  for  him- 
self, and  gradually  gained  prosperity.  In  1880 
he  started  a  flour  and  feed  store  on  the  corner  of 
Milwaukee  Avenue  and  Pratt  Street,  and  two 
years  later  he  was  able  to  buy  a  lot  on  the  corner 
of  Milwaukee  Avenue  and  Carpenter  Street,  where 
he  built  a  store.  This  was  about  the  time  of  the 
assassination  of  President  Lincoln.  Mr.  Bartels 


W.  L.  WILCOX. 


625 


continued  business  there  until   his  death.     For 
many  years  John  Baumgartner  was  his  partner. 

January  7,  1871,  Mr.  Bartels'  death  occurred, 
resulting  from  an  injury  done  by  a  wagon.  His 
wife  continued  the  business  many  years,  with 
commendable  commercial  tact  and  enterprise. 
She  finally  sold  out  and  began  improving  the 
real  estate  she  owned,  and  in  this  she  was  also 
successful.  John  Bartels  was  well  and  favorably 
known  by  the  community,  and  especially  by  the 
German  element.  He  was  a  shrewd  business 
man  and  had  a  remarkably  large  acquaintance. 


He  was  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  ol 
Odd  Fellows,  the  Schleswig-Holstein  Verein  and 
the  German  Lutheran  Church. 

January  9,  1872,  Mrs.  Bartels  married  Jacob 
Bartels,  a  brother  of  her  first  husband.  She  was 
married  the  first  time  on  June  14,  1857,  and  by 
this  union  had  two  children,  Robert  Herman  and 
Lewis.  She  and  her  second  husband  became  the 
parents  of  two  children,  Alvina  A.  and  Alfred  J. 
The  family  is  connected  with  the  Lutheran 
Evangelical  Church,  and  its  members  are  honored 
and  respected  by  all  who  know  them. 


WILLIAM  L    WILCOX. 


LE  ROY  WILCOX  was  born, 
November  13,  1859,  in  Allegany  County, 
New  York.  He  was  the  son  of  William 
and  Elizabeth  (Van  Velzor)  Wilcox,  of  Allegany 
County,  near  the  town  of  Friendship.  The  fam- 
ily moved  in  1871  to  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan, 
where,  a  few  years  later,  his  mother  died,  leaving 
the  other  children  in  his  care.  Notwithstanding 
this  heavy  responsibility,  he  was  able  to  enter 
the  Michigan  Agricultural  College  at  Lansing  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  years,  teaching  school  during 
vacations  and  pursuing  the  study  of  medicine 
without  a  preceptor,  when  not  engaged  at  his 
regular  duties. 

In  1 88 1  he  moved  to  Chicago  and  entered  Ben- 
nett Medical  College,  where  a  number  of  prizes 
for  scholarship  marked  his  devotion  to  his  work. 
Upon  his  graduation,  in  1883,  he  began  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  at  Irving  Park,  near  Chi- 
cago, at  the  same  time  occupying  successively  the 
chairs  of  Demonstrator  of  Chemistry  and  Assist- 
ant Professor  of  Surgery  in  his  alma  mater.  In 
time  his  increasing  practice  compelled  a  relin- 
quishinent  of  these  positions.  He  graduated 


from  Rush  Medical  College  in  1889,  and  was 
health  inspector  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Ward  until 
his  trip  to  Europe  in  1891.  He  took  his  family 
with  him  and  spent  a  year  abroad,  most  of  it  in 
the  London  hospitals  and  Heidelberg  University, 
Germany. 

December  18,  1883,  Dr.  Wilcox  married  Miss 
Mary  Elma  Adams,  daughter  of  James  W.  and 
Lee  (Bowman)  Adams — the  former  of  Scotch 
descent  and  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  the  latter  a 
native  of  Canada.  Four  children  blessed  their 
union,  namely:  Hazel  Lee,  Leon  Bowman,  Albyn 
Adams  and  Mary  Eula. 

Dr.  Wilcox  was  always  true  to  the  trust  left 
him  by  his  mother,  and  never  forgot  the  welfare 
of  his  brothers  and  sisters.  He  was  the  architect 
of  his  own  fortunes  and  made  a  success  in  life, 
under  circumstances  that  would  have  appalled 
most  men.  In  his  noble  life-work  he  was  ably 
assisted  by  his  wife,  who  survives  him  and  who 
was  a  worthy  companion  of  such  a  man.  She  was 
ever  ready  to  aid  and  support  him  in  all  his  un- 
dertakings, with  her  encouragement  and  faith  in 
him.  Both  were  active  members  of  the  American 


626 


ARCHIBALD  CLYBOURN. 


Reformed  Church  of  Irving  Park.  At  the  time 
of  Dr.  Wilcox'  death  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Illinois  State  Medical  Society  and  Chicago  Medi- 
cal Society.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic 


order,  being  a  Master  Mason;  a  member  of  Irving 
Park  Chapter  and  Saint  Elmo  Commandery.  He 
died  from  an  accident,  September  22,  1895,  and 
was  buried  with  Masonic  honors. 


ARCHIBALD  CLYBOURN. 


RCHIBALD  CLYBOURN,  the  second  civil- 
I  1  ian  settler  of  Chicago,  might  with  much 
/  I  truth  be  called  the  first.  Though  he  was 
preceded  by  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  the  latter  came 
here  to  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  it  is  an  open 
question  whether  he  intended  at  the  time  to  make 
a  permanent  location.  Mr.  Clybourn  left  his  Vir- 
ginia home  with  the  intention  of  settling  here,  be- 
cause he  had  heard  glowing  accounts  of  the  beauty 
and  fertility  of  the  country.  In  his  day  he  saw 
the  wilderness  grow  to  be  a  city,  having  a  popu- 
lation of  many  hundreds  of  thousands. 

He  was  born  in  the  second  year  of  the  present 
century,  on  the  28th  day  of  August,  at  Pearis- 
burgh,  Giles  County,  Virginia,  and  was  a  son  of 
Jonas  and  Elizabeth  (Mackenzie)  Clybourn. 
His  mother,  with  a  sister,  was  stolen  from  their 
home  near  Pearisburgh,  by  the  Indians  in  child- 
hood, but  was  afterward  restored  to  her  friends. 
While  in  captivity  she  married  a  trader  named 
Clark;  and  her  sister  married  John  Kinzie,  of 
whom  extended  mention  appears  elsewhere. 

Archibald  Clybourn  lived  on  a  Virginia  farm 
until  he  attained  his  majority,  enjoying  the 
limited  advantages  of  that  period  and  region. 
On  the  24th  day  of  August,  1823,  he  arrived  in 
Chicago,  and  soon  afterward  took  a  position  in  the 
store  of  John  A.  Kinzie  at  that  point.  In  1826 
he  was  located  on  the  Fox  River,  engaged  in 
trade  with  the  Indians.  The  next  year,  in  com- 
pany with  his  brother,  Henly  Clybourn,  he  en- 
tered into  a  contract  with  the  United  States 
Government  to  furnish  beef  to  its  soldiers  in  this 
section,  and  for  several  years  traveled  over  the 


State  and  Northwest,  buying  up  and  driving  in 
cattle  with  which  to  carry  out  this  agreement. 
On  one  occasion,  the  Rev.  Peter  Cartwright, 
afterward  celebrated  as  a  pioneer  preacher,  was 
assisting  him  to  drive  in  some  cattle  which  Cly- 
bourn had  purchased  from  Cartwright;  and  being 
provoked  at  the  clergyman's  clumsiness  in  hand- 
ling cattle,  the  frontiersman,  with  characteristic 
bluntness,  assured  the  preacher  that  he  would 
have  to  be  a  better  herder  of  sinners  than  of  cattle 
or  he  would  never  make  his  salt  in  the  business. 
During  the  Black  Hawk  War,  when  thousands  of 
settlers  flocked  to  Fort  Dearborn  for  protection, 
Mr.  Clybourn  drew  heavily  on  his  large  flocks 
for  the  sustenance  of  the  refugees,  for  which  he 
never  received  any  appreciable  remuneration,  and 
this  liberality  was  all  that  avoided  a  famine  in 
the  little  hamlet  of  Chicago. 

After  a  short  time  Mr.  Clybourn  bought  out 
his  brother's  interest  in  the  beef  contracts,  which 
he  continued  to  fulfill  until  the  removal  of  the 
garrison  from  Chicago  to  Green  Bay.  He  con- 
tinued extensively  in  the  meat  business  at  Chi- 
cago until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the 
2jd  of  August,  1872. 

In  the  course  of  his  life  Mr.  Clybourn  dealt  con- 
siderably in  real  estate,  and  one  of  the  principal 
North  Side  avenues  is  named  in  his  honor.  For 
a  short  period,  at  the  time  of  the  first  settlements 
at  Milwaukee,  he  was  interested  with  Byron  Kil- 
bourn  in  the  site  of  that  town,  and  one  of  its 
thoroughfares  now  bears  his  name,  but  he  soon 
returned  to  Chicago.  Mr.  Clybourn  took  an 
active  interest  in  the  affairs  of  this  city  during  its 


ARCHIBALD  CLYBOURN. 


627 


formative  period,  and  was  called  upon  to  bear  his 
share  in  the  conduct  of  local  affairs.  He  served 
several  years  as  a  justice  of  the  peace,  being 
appointed  in  1831  the  first  in  Chicago,  and  was 
the  first  treasurer  of  Cook  County.  While  Chi- 
cago was  yet  a  precinct  of  Peoria  County,  he  was 
made  its  constable,  and  later  served  as  trustee  of 
the  school  section.  In  early  life  he  was  in  polit- 
ical sentiment  what  was  known  as  a  Henry  Clay 
Whig,  was  an  ardent  Abolitionist  and  was  among 
the  founders  of  the  Republican  party,  which  he 
lived  to  see  in  possession  of  all  the  departments  of 
the  National  Government;  and  was  able  to  rejoice 
with  many  others  in  the  emancipation  of  the 
American  slave.  In  religious  faith  he  was  a  Uni- 
versalist,  and  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  Saint 
Paul's  Church  of  that  denomination  in  Chicago. 
He  helped  to  build  Baptist  and  Methodist 
churches,  and  in  every  way  sustained  his  part  in 
developing  the  moral,  as  well  as  the  material,  wel- 
fare of  his  home  city.  In  the  memory  of  the 
pioneers  of  Chicago  he  has  ever  been  cherished  as 
one  of  her  most  upright  and  worthy  citizens. 

Jonas  Clybourn  was  descended  from  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  American  Nation,  Capt.  Will- 
iam Clayborne,  a  member  of  the  council  and 
secretary  of  the  colony  of  Virginia.  Captain 
Clayborne  was  the  first  to  settle  on  lands  now 
within  the  State  of  Maryland,  and  contested  the 
possession  of  Kent  Island,  in  Chesapeake  Bay, 
with  Lord  Baltimore.  From  him  are  descended 
all  bearing  the  name,  which  has  undergone  sev- 
eral changes  in  spelling,  being  oft  en  written  Clai- 
borne,  as  well  as  Clybourn,  in  America.  The 
Magazine  of  Western  History  says:  "Coming  of 
this  stock  on  his  father's  side,  Archibald  Clybourn 
inherited  in  addition,  from  his  mother,  a  love  of  the 
broad,  grassy  plains,  the  hills  and  dales,  the  riv- 
ers and  lakes,  of  the  far  West  with  which  she  had 
become  acquainted  in  childhood  and  young  wo- 
manhood. The  acquaintance  was  not  made 
under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  it  is  true, 
but  the  natural  beauty  of  the  country  had  ap- 
pealed to  her  in  the  midst  of  her  savage  surround- 
ings."  After  eighteen  years  of  captivity — 1777  to 
1795 — she  was  restored  by  the  treaty  of  Wayne 
to  her  parents  and  friends,  and  was  married  in 


her  native  Virginia  to  Jonas  Clybourn.  At  the 
time  of  her  capture  by  predatory  Shawnees,  her 
mother,  brother  and  older  sister  and  a  baby  were 
killed.  The  father  and  a  brother  were  at  the 
time  at  a  fort  in  quest  of  protection  for  the 
settlers. 

Archibald  Clybourn  was  one  of  the  three  origi- 
nal white  settlers  of  Chicago.  The  first  was  John 
Kinzie,  who  married  Cly bourn's  aunt  while 
she  was  in  Indian  captivity,  and  who  came  to 
Chicago  in  1804.  Following  him  was  GurdonS. 
Hubbard,  who  arrived  in  1818  and  engaged  in 
trade  with  the  Indians.  The  story  of  Clybourn's 
journey  to  Chicago  is  thus  interestingly  told  by 
the  same  writer  quoted  above — Mr.  Howard 
Louis  Conard:  "Accepting  from  his  father  a  pres- 
ent of  one  hundred  dollars  in  money  and  a 
horse,  he  left  his  Virginia  home  on  the  23d  day 
of  May,  1823.  He  had  determined  to  make  the 
trip  to  Fort  Dearborn  on  horseback,  and  the 
journey  which  commenced  when  he  turned  his 
back  on  the  place  of  his  birth  was  a  long  and 
tedious  one.  After  leaving  Chillicothe,  Ohio, 
his  course  lay  through  an  almost  unbroken  wil- 
derness until  he  reached  the  open,  prairie  coun- 
try. There  were  no  roads  and  in  many  places  no 
well-defined  trails  to  be  followed,  and  his  progress 
was  necessarily  slow.  For  hundreds  of  miles  he 
traveled  through  a  country — almost  as  thickly 
settled  now  as  New  England — in  which  there  was 
not  to  be  found  so  much  as  a  settler's  cabin. 
When  he  laid  down  at  night  it  was  with  no  other 
shelter  than  the  starry  canopy  overhead,  while 
for  protection  against  wild  animals  and  savages 
alike  he  could  only  rely  upon  the  rifle,  which  was 
always  at  his  side.  The  same  trusty  rifle  fur- 
nished him  the  means  of  subsistence,  which  con- 
sisted of  the  game  shot  from  day  to  day  and 
cooked  in  the  most  primitive  fashion  over  a  camp 
fire. ' '  Two  years  later  he  induced  his  parents  to 
come  to  Chicago,  with  the  entire  family.  "Jonas 
Clybourn,  the  father,  was  a  sturdy  old  Virginian, 
who  had  served  his  country  in  the  War  of  1812, 
fought  Indians  in  his  boyhood  and  early  man- 
hood, and  felt  quite  at  home  among  the  natives 
of  the  prairie  region.  *  *  Mrs.  Clybourn  found 
herself  in  a  familiar  locality.  Twent3'-five  years 


628 


JOHN  KAY. 


earlier  she  had  traversed  the  country  with  the 
Indian  tribe  by  which  she  had  been  brought  up, 
and  the  changes  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  had  not 
materially  altered  the  appearance." 

Mr.  Cly bourn's  business  experience  was  not 
unlike  that  of  many  early  residents  of  Chicago, 
who  supposed  themselves  able  to  retire  on  a  com- 
fortable competence  before  the  Great  Fire  of  1871. 
He  was  a  diligent  worker  and  shrewd  investor, 
and  by  the  time  he  had  been  a  dozen  years  in  Illi- 
nois he  was  considered  immensely  wealthy.  He 
owned  large  tracts  of  land  in  Wisconsin  and 
Michigan,  besides  his  extensive  holdings  in  the 
embryo  city  of  Chicago.  The  financial  troubles 
of  1837  found  his  interests  widely  diversified, 
and  he  endeavored  by  the  sale  of  his  lands  out- 
side the  city  of  Chicago  to  retain  his  business 
standing  and  credit.  He  succeeded  in  selling  the 
lands,  but  before  he  could  get  to  Chicago  with 
the  "carpet  sack  full  of  money"  which  they 
brought  him,  the  money  had  become  almost 
valueless  and  his  sacrifice  was  largely  in  vain. 
However,  he  had  in  large  measure  recovered  his 
fortune  when  the  Great  Fire  again  robbed  him  of 
most  of  his  accumulations.  He  was  now  almost 
seventy  years  of  age,  and  it  was  too  late  to  begin 
life  anew.  He  never  lost  his  cheerfulness,  and 
his  closing  years  were  passed  in  the  peaceful  con- 


templation of  the  city 's  rapid  growth  and  in  happy 
social  intercourse  with  his  contemporaries.  His 
handsome  brick  dwelling,  which  stood  on  a  slight 
eminence  near  the  North  Branch  of  the  Chicago 
River,  on  what  is  now  known  as  Elston  Avenue, 
was  the  first  of  that  material  in  or  near  Chicago, 
and  was  known  as  the  Clybourn  mansion. 

In  1829  Mr.  Clybourn  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  Galloway,  who  was  born  in  Conneaut, 
Erie  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  I2th  of  Aug- 
ust, 1812,  and  who  still  survives,  in  a  vigorous 
and  peaceful  old  age.  She  is  a  daughter  of  James 
Galloway,  of  whom  extended  mention  will  be 
found  in  the  biography  of  Joel  Ellis.  Of  the  ten 
children  of  Archibald  and  Mary  Clybourn,  Sarah, 
Mrs.  Vincent  Barney,  resides  at  Morley,  Illinois. 
Margaret,  now  deceased,  was  the  wife  of  Richard 
Holden,  who  resides  in  Chicago;  James  is  the 
successor  of  his  father  in  business,  being  proprie- 
tor of  a  fine  meat  market  in  Chicago.  John  died 
here,  as  the  effect  of  his  service  in  the  Union 
army;  he  went  out  as  a  captain,  and  returned  as 
major  of  the  Twelfth  Illinois  Volunteers.  Will- 
iam and  Henry  C.  reside  in  Chicago,  where 
Charles  died,  leaving  five  children.  Mary  is  Mrs. 
John  C.  Parks,  of  Chicago;  Frank  is  a  commis- 
sion dealer  at  the  Stock  Yards  in  Chicago,  in 
which  city  Martha  also  resides. 


JOHN   KAY. 


(lOHN  KAY  was  born  April  14,  1842,  in 
Yorkshire,  England,  at  Borrow  Bridge.  He 
is  a  son  of  Abel  Archdale  and  Elizabeth 
(Marshall)  Kay,  both  of  whom  were  born  in  the 
same  locality,  which  was  the  home  of  their  fam- 
ilies. Abel  A.  Kay  was  a  poor  man,  and  his 
wife  was  the  daughter  of  a  wealthy  landowner. 
They  came  to  America  with  their  eight  children 
in  1843,  and  went  direct  to  the  hotel  of  Charles 


McDonald,  on  the  corner  of  Market  and  Randolph 
Streets,  Chicago,  which  was  the  rallying  place 
for  all  English  emigrants  who  came  to  Cook 
County.  Mr.  Kay  bought  over  one  hundred 
acres  of  land,  on  which  Captain  Johnson  had  filed 
a  claim  and  built  a  very  comfortable  house,  and 
in  this  Mr.  Kay  lived  until  his  death.  He  died 
in  1848,  and  for  several  years  his  wife  conducted 
the  farm,  and  then  rented  it  until  her  son  John 


LUDWIG  HAMMERSTROM. 


629 


was  old  enough  to  cultivate  it.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kay  had  the  following  children:  Ann,  who  mar- 
ried Mr.  McClanathan  and  is  now  dead;  Abel, 
who  died  in  1891;  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Thomas 
Burkill,  of  Jefferson  Township),  now  deceased; 
Frances,  Mrs.  McClanathan;'Jane,  who  married 
Edward  Gray,  and  is  deceased;  Emma,  Mrs. 
William  Myers,  who  lived  on  the  old  homestead, 
and  is  now  deceased;  Marshall,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  seventeen;  John,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
and  Joseph  Archdale,  who  was  born  in  Jefferson 
Township,  and  still  lives  on  part  of  the  old  farm. 
John  Kay  enjoyed  a  very  limited  opportunity 
for  an  education.  His  father  and  a  neighbor  built  a 
log  schoolhouse,  and  his  father's  house  was 
usually  the  home  of  the  teacher.  When  he  was 


sixteen  years  of  age,  he  began  the  care  of  the 
farm,  and  he  was  engaged  at  this  until  1869,  when 
it  was  divided.  Mrs.  Kay  died  in  December, 
1889,  aged  eighty-four  years,  and  thus  ended  the 
life  of  one  who  had  been  of  good  influence  in  the 
community,  and  who  had  lived  a  long  and  useful 
life.  She  was  reared  in  the  Church  of  England 
and  joined  the  Congregational  Church  in  later 
life,  and  her  children  were  reared  in  the  Baptist 
faith. 

John  Kay  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  Saint 
George.  In  politics  he  thinks  for  himself,  and 
does  not  follow  the  dictates  of  any  party,  but  sup- 
ports the  man  he  regards  as  most  fitted  for  office. 
He  is  a  good,  reliable  citizen  and  enjoys  uni- 
versal respect. 


LUDWIG  HAMMERSTROM. 


I  UDWIG  HAMMERSTROM,  an  old  citizen 
It  of  Cook  County,  was  born  January  17, 
l_2r  1829,  in  Tueckhude,  Kreis  Demmin,  Pom- 
mern,  Germany.  He  received  a  limited  educa- 
tion in  his  native  country  and  then  learned  the 
trade  of  mason.  Being  eager  for  an  opportunity 
to  rise  in  position,  and  hoping  to  find  this  in 
America,  he  decided  to  emigrate. 

With  his  wife  and  one  child  he  set  sail  from 
Hamburg  in  the  summer  of  1856,  and  arrived  in 
Chicago  October  15  of  the  same  year.  Since 
that  time  Mr.  Hammerstrom  has  been  a  resident 
of  Cook  County,  taking  great  interest  in  the 
growth  of  the  great  metropolis.  He  followed 
his  trade  until  the  fire  of  1871,  when  his  home 
on  Tomey  Street  and  his  household  furniture 
were  destroyed.  He  owned  two  houses  on  Sedg- 
wick  Street,  from  which  he  received  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  dollars  in  insurance,  on  a  claim 


of  thirty-five  hundred  dollars.  Shortly  after  the 
fire  he  built  a  comfortable  residence  on  Sedg- 
wick  Street,  and  in  1872  he  established  a  saloon 
and  liquor  store  at  the  corner  of  Willow  and  Hal- 
sted  Streets,  which  he  conducted  for  five  years. 

About  1877  Mr.  Hammerstrom  bought  land 
near  Niles  Center,  where  he  resided  two  years, 
engaged  in  farming,  and  then  removed  to  the 
northwest  corner  of  Halsted  and  Willow  Streets. 
Five  years  later  he  sold  his  business  interests, 
and  now  lives  in  retirement  and  ease.  In  1883 
he  built  the  handsome  brick  structure  on  that 
corner,  in  which  he  has  his  residence. 

Mr.  Hammerstrom  is  a  supporter  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  but  has  never  held  any  public 
office.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Workingmen's 
Society.  He  and  his  family  are  connected  with 
the  Lutheran  Church,  and  are  respected  as  in- 
telligent and  refined  members  of  society. 


630 


FRANK  KILCRAN. 


In  1855  Mr.  Hammerstrom  was  married  to 
Miss  Caroline  Gutyahr,  who  was  born  in  1834 
in  the  same  place  as  her  husband.  They  have 
four  children,  namely.  William,  who  is  a  coal 


dealer  at  Cly bourn  Avenue  and  Garfield  Street; 
Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  Jacob  Sherrer,  of  Niles 
Center;  Louis,  who  resides  on  Halsted  Street; 
and  Anna,  the  wife  of  Henry  Richter,  of  Chicago. 


FRANK  KILCRAN. 


[""RANK  KILCRAN,  who  was  one  of  the  old- 
rft  est  settlers  of  South  Chicago,  was  born  in 
|  ^  County  Leitrim,  Ireland,  and  was  a  son  of 
Patrick  and  Bridget  Kilcran,  natives  of  that 
country.  He  received  his  education  in  his  native 
land,  and  in  1847  emigrated  to  America,  settling 
on  the  South  Side  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  For  a 
number  of  years  Mr.  Kilcran  was  in  the  employ 
of  Richmond  &  Company,  vessel  owners  and 
grain  shippers,  and  later  he  was  engaged  by  Gage 
&  Haynes,  with  whom  he  remained  until  their 
business  closed  out. 

He  went  on  the  Board  of  Trade  as  a  represent- 
ative of  his  last  employers,  buying  and  selling  for 
them,  and  later  entered  the  commission  business 
with  Michael  Kerwin.  Mr.  Kilcran  became  an 
expert  grain  inspector,  and  as  such  found  employ- 
ment on  the  Board  of  Trade,  this  position  then 
being  an  important  one.  He  was  thus  employed 
when  there  were  only  ten  members  on  the  Board, 
and  was  the  most  expert  inspector,  all  matters  of 
dispute  being  settled  by  him,  and  his  opinions 
were  unquestioningly  received. 

In  1875  he  retired  from  active  business  and 
removed  to  South  Chicago,  where  he  resided  un- 
til his  death.  He  bought  land  on  Superior  Av- 
enue, between  Eighty-eighth  and  Eighty-ninth 
Streets,  where  he  remained  five  years,  and  then 
bought  property  at  No.  9056  Ontario  Avenue, 
where  he  built  and  occupied  a  comfortable  resi- 
dence and  hotel. 


February  4,  1855,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Hannah  Cagney,  daughter  of  Cornelius  and  Mary 
(Connel)  Cagney,  born  in  Limerick,  Ireland,  in 
1834.  She  emigrated  to  America  in  1849,  and 
has  lived  here  since.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kilcran  had 
six  children,  as  follows:  Mary,  who  married  Peter 
Jackson,  a  biography  of  whom  appears  on  another 
page  of  this  volume;  Frank,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  fourteen  years;  William,  who  died  when  twen- 
ty-five years  of  age;  Annie,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  seven  months;  another  Annie,  who  died  when 
four  months  old;  and  James  T. ,  who  has  a  posi- 
tion in  the  county  recorder's  office,  and  who 
married  Nellie  A.  Reilly,  and  has  two  children, 
Frank  and  James. 

Mr.  Kilcran  was  a  communicant  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  He  died  June  23,  1891,  at  his 
residence,  and  in  his  death  Chicago  lost  a  valu- 
able and  useful  citizen.  He  always  had  a  kind 
look  and  word  for  all  who  had  dealings  with  him, 
and  was  beloved  by  old  and  young  alike.  He  was 
genial  and  witty,  and  liked  to  detail  his  early  ex- 
perience in  the  city  when  it  was  in  its  infancy. 
He  was  sick  only  ten  days  before  his  death,  from 
dropsy,  which  followed  an  attack  of  la  grippe. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Old  Settlers'  Associa- 
tion, and  had  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  resi- 
dents of  South  Chicago.  In  politics  he  was  a 
supporter  of  the  Republican  party.  In  all  his 
business  dealings  he  was  honest  and  fair,  and  al- 
ways inspired  confidence  in  others. 


LIBRARY 

OF   fHE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


LOUIS  F.  J.  M.  KURZ 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


L.  F.  J.  M.  KURZ. 


631 


LOUIS  F.  J.  M.  KURZ. 


I  GUIS  FERDINAND  JOSEPH  MAXIMIL- 

I 1  LIAN  KURZ  was  born  November  23,  1835, 
l  J  at  Salzburg,   Austria,   which  place  is  well 
known  all  over  the  continent  for  its  picturesque 
scenery,  the  magnificent  Alps  forming  the  back- 
ground,   and    the  grand    old    castle    of    Hohen 
Salzburg  seeming  to  stand  as  the  pinnacle  of  a 
high  rocky  mound,  round  which  the  town  is  built. 
The  salt  mines,  from  which  this  city  received  its 
name,  are  also  far-famed. 

The  father  of  Mr.  Kurz  was  an  officer  in  the 
Austrian  army  and  was  appointed  to  the  office  of 
controller,  an  important  one  on  account  of  col- 
lecting the  revenue  of  the  country.  However, 
Mr.  Joseph  Aegid  Kurz  thought  a  better  field 
opened  for  him  in  America,  and  in  1846  he  ar- 
rived in  New  York  City,  where  he  remained  two 
mouths.  Not  being  satisfied  with  his  opportu- 
nities in  this  city,  he  followed  the  advice  of  Hor- 
ace Greely  to  "Go  West,  young  man,"  and 
reached  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  Here  he  formed 
a  musical  society,  celebrated  for  its  encourage- 
ment of  high-grade  music.  He  also  frequently 
visited  Chicago,  and  formed  in  that  city  and  in 
Milwaukee  the  first  German  theatre.  His  meth- 
ods were  conducive  of  culture  and  refinement, 
and  Mr.  Kurz  had  the  respect  and  admiration  of 
all  who  knew  him.  In  1855  the  worlds  of  music 
and  drama  were  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of 
this  benefactor. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  his  first 
education  in  the  Normal  school  of  his  native 
town,  Salzburg,  and  subsequently  attended  a 
military  school,  where  he  devoted  most  of  his 


time  to  the  study  of  drawing  and  painting.  His 
first  work,  which  drew  attention  to  his  art,  was  a 
pitcure  of  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  Mexico, 
which  was  brought  before  the  public  in  1848. 
He  has  also  made  many  paintings  of  churches  in 
America,  and  many  scenes  in  the  theatres  of  Mil- 
waukee and  Chicago  and  other  cities  are  the 
work  of  his  hand. 

Mr.  Kurz  spent  his  •  time  in  both  Milwaukee 
and  Chicago.  Going  to  Chicago  in  1848,  he  re- 
mained two  months,  then  returned  to  Milwaukee, 
where  he  remained  until  1852,  and  after  the  burn- 
ing of  his  father's  theater  in  1854  he  again  went 
to  Milwaukee.  In  1863  he  located  in  Chicago  and 
formed  a  partnership  with  William  Floto  and  Ed- 
ward Carqueville,  the  company  then  being  known 
as  the  Chicago  Lithographic  Company.  This 
firm  was  burned  out  in  the  Great  Fire  of  1871, 
when  Mr.  Kurz  removed  to  Milwaukee  and  re- 
mained until  1878.  He  then  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  Alexander  Allison,  and  they  still  con- 
tinue business  at  art  publishers  at  Nos.  267  and 
269  Wabash  Avenue.  He  always  retained  his 
interest  in  affairs  of  art,  and  was  of  immense  serv- 
ice to  the  people  of  Chicago  by  founding  what 
was  then  known  as  the  Academy  of  Design,  now 
called  the  Art  Institute. 

In  the  year  1857  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary 
Erker  in  Jefferson,  Wisconsin.  She  was  born  in 
Truebau,  Moravia,  Austria,  and  came  with  her 
parents  to  the  United  States  when  very  young. 
For  several  years  Mrs.  Kurz'  parents  made  their 
home  in  New  York  City,  and  when  the}'  came 
West  located  in  Jefferson,  where  Mr.  Erker  was  a 


632 


H.  W.  MARTIN. 


cabinet-maker.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kurz  have  ten 
children  living.  The  eldest  daughter,  Laura, 
was  born  in  1858,  Louis  Otto  in  1860,  Frank 
Siegel  in  1861,  Martha  in  1863,  Ida  in  1865, 
George  Maximillian  in  1867,  John  Hans  in  1869, 
Anna  in  1872,  Henry  in  1874,  and  Mollie  in 
1876. 

During  the  Civil  War  Mr.  Kurz  was  employed 
in  making  topographical  sketches  of  the  southern 
forts.  When  he  sailed  from  Bremen  in  the  old- 
fashioned  side- wheel  steamer  "Washington,"  the 
voyage  was  scarcely  begun  when  it  was  necessary 
to  put  into  Southampton  for  repairs  to  the  ma- 
chinery, which  again  gave  out  in  mid-ocean,  so 


that  the  voyage  to  New  York  occupied  thirty 
days.  This  he  describes  as  being  more  of  a  hard- 
ship than  he  experienced  while  in  service  during 
the  war.  He  came  up  the  -Hudson  to  Troy  in  the 
old  "Isaac  Newton,"  from  there  went  by  canal 
to  Buffalo,  and  thence  to  Milwaukee  by  the 
steamer  "Niagara." 

It  is  such  highly  educated  people  as  Mr.  Kurz 
that  realize  the  needs  of  America,  give  a  tone 
of  refinement  to  our  society,  and  make  us  ad- 
vance in  the  arts  and  sciences  as  a  nation. 
America  has  always  a  warm  and  heart}'  welcome 
for  such  men  and  feels  proud  of  being  able  to 
record  them  among  her  citizens. 


HARRY  W.  MARTIN. 


HARRY    WESTLUN    MARTIN    was    born 
October  15,  1837,  in  a  United  States  Arsenal 
at  Bridesburg,  now  in  Philadelphia,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  is  a  son  of  John  Thomas  and  Eliza 
Ann  (Westlun)  Martin. 

His  maternal  great-grandfather  was  a  Scotch 
Highlander,  who  took  part  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  his  son,  Charles  Westlun,  the  father  of 
Eliza  A.  Westlun,  was  born  in  New  Jersey.  He 
was  a  shoe  manufacturer  of  Philadelphia,  and 
took  part  in  the  War  of  1812.  His  wife,  Char- 
lotte Jones,  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  and  they 
were  the  parents  of  the  following  children:  Elmer, 
Alvey,  Mary,  Eliza  Ann  (mother  of  Harry  W. 
Martin),  Charles  and  Annie. 

John  Thomas  Martin  was  born  in  the  northern 
part  of  Ireland,  and  emigrated  to  America  with 
his  parents  when  six  years  old.  He  was  a  cedar 
cooper,  and  was  working  in  the  arsenal  at  Brides- 
burg  when  his  son  Harry  was  born.  He  died 
in  1858,  at  the  age  of  forty  years,  and  his  wife 
died  March  8,  1869,  at  the  age  of  fifty-one  years. 


Harry  Westlun  Martin  received  his  education 
in  the  common  schools  of  Philadelphia,  and  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years  began  learning  the  trade  of 
paper-making,  which  he  followed  three  years,  and 
was  subsequently  engaged  three  and  one-half 
years  at  the  trade  of  machinist  and  engineer.  He 
remained  in  Philadelphia  until  1859,  and  then  re- 
moved to  Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  where  he 
was  living  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War. 

He  enlisted  at  Wheeling  in  May,  1861,  in 
Company  I,  First  West  Virginia  Regiment.  He 
served  for  three  months,  and  then  went  into  the 
United  States  Navy,  as  a  fireman  on  the  gun-boat 
' '  Massachusetts. ' '  He  served  eight  months,  and 
was  then  made  third  assistant  engineer  and  served 
as  such  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  took  part 
in  the  engagements  at  Fort  Fisher  and  Mobile, 
and  the  vessel  on  which  he  was  employed  co- 
operated with  General  Sherman  on  his  famous 
March  to  the  Sea.  Mr.  Martin  was  taken  prisoner 
at  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  and  spent  four 
months  in  a  prison  at  Belle  Isle  before  he  was  ex- 


W.  H.  SPIKINGS. 


633 


changed.  Me  was  discharged  in  New  York, 
July  2,  1865,  from  the  gun-boat  "State  of 
Georgia." 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Martin  removed 
to  Decatur,  Illinois,  and  was  employed  by  his 
uncle,  John  K.  Cole,  who  owned  a  paper  mill, 
where  he  remained  two  years,  and  then  went  to 
Moline,  Illinois,  where  he  worked  at  the  same 
trade.  Later  he  started  a  mill  for  the  New  York 
&  Fred ericksburg  Fiber  Company,  in  Fredericks- 
burgh,  Virginia,  and  conducted  it  three  years. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  he  removed  to  Elmwood, 
New  Jersey,  and  was  engaged  as  a  machinist  in 
a  mill,  in  the  employ  of  Nelson  Gavit,  of  Phila- 
delphia. He  erected  works  at  Pittston,  Pennsyl- 
vania, went  to  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  and 
later  to  Newark,  Ohio,  and  this  was  the  close  of 
his  career  in  paper  mills. 


In  February,  1882,  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  en- 
tered the  service  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Rail- 
road as  engineer  and  engine  dispatcher.  He  re- 
mained in  this  employ  for  three  years  and  then 
went  into  the  service  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Com- 
pany, then  known  as  the  North  Chicago  Rolling 
Mill  Company,  as  stationary  engineer,  and  he 
has  since  continued  this  work,  having  won  the 
trust  of  his  employers  by  his  attention  to  duty. 

He  was  married  October  15,  1861,  to  Lydia  Ann 
Weese,  a  daughter  of  Absalom  and  Eunice 
(Marstellar)  Weese,  of  Randolph,  West  Virginia. 
They  have  three  children,  namely:  Clifford  Henry, 
Emlin  Albert  and  Ell  wood  Preston.  Mr.  Martin 
and  his  family  are  connected  with  the  Baptist 
Church.  He  takes  an  active  interest  in  politics, 
and  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party. 


WILLIAM   H.  SPIKINGS. 


IILLIAM    HARDING  SPIKINGS,  a 

well-known  contractor  and  public-spirited 
citizen  of  northwest  Chicago,  was  born 
May  3,  1848,  within  a  few  rods  of  his  present 
residence.  He  is  the  oldest  son  of  Richard  Y. 
and  Cornelia  A.  (Harding)  Spikings,  of  whom 
extended  notice  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this 
volume. 

William  H.  Spikings  spent  his  early  years  on 
the  old  homestead,  which  was  near  the  North 
Branch  of  the  Chicago  River.  He  attended  the 
common  schools  of  the  district,  then  a  part  of 
the  town  of  Jefferson,  and  later  he  completed  his 
education  at  the  Newberry,  Franklin,  Ogden  and 
Mosely  schools  of  this  city,  graduating  from  the 
latter  in  1866.  On  leaving  school,  he  chose  the 
trade  of  wire-working,  in  which  he  became  quite 


proficient,  but  in  order  to  take  up  work  more  in 
keeping  with  his  vigorous  nature,  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Northwestern  Bill-Posting  Com- 
pany. This  enterprise  was  quite  successful, 
though  at  that  time  this  method  of  advertising 
was  still  a  novelty.  In  1867  Mr.  Spikings 
opened  a  brick  yard  on  the  old  farm,  where  he 
manufactured  brick  about  seven  years.  Much  of 
the  product  of  this  yard  is  still  in  use,  being  seen 
in  many  of  the  finest  houses  of  Irving  Park  and 
vicinity. 

Having  acquired  a  considerable  knowledge  of 
building,  he  began  taking  contracts  for  the  erec- 
tion and  moving  of  houses  and  other  structures. 
In  this  line  of  work  he  has  since  continued  with 
marked  success,  making  a  specialty  of  raising 
and  moving  various  kinds  of  buildings.  As  an 


634 


ROBERT  HASTINGS. 


evidence  of  his  versatility,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
he  manufactured  bricks  for  the  fine  residence  he 
now  occupies,  and  that  he  built  the  same  through- 
out, having  the  assistance  of  only  one  man.  On 
his  own  estate  he  has  built  several  houses,  which 
are  good  evidences  of  his  skill  as  a  mechanic. 

January  i ,  1874,  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Spikings  and  Miss  Minnie  Steele,  who  was 
born  in  Stockholm,  Sweden,  at  which  place  her 
parents  are  buried.  This  union  was  blessed  with 
five  children,  as  follows:  Alice  Cornelia,  Florence 
Matilda,  William  Robinson,  Frank  and  Richard 
Young.  The  three  eldest  children  are  graduates 
of  the  Jefferson  High  School.  The  second  is  the 
wife  of  Dr.  F.  I.  Brown,  of  Irving  Park,  and  the 
third  is  in  the  collecting  department  of  the  mer- 
cantile establishment  of  Marshall  Field  &  Com- 


pany. The  family  is  connected  with  the  Re- 
formed Church  of  Irving  Park.  Mr.  Spikings 
contributed  a  lot  for  the  benefit  of  the  branch  of 
the  church  in  his  vicinity. 

Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  Jefferson  Lodge, 
No.  103,  Independent  Order  of  Mutual  Aid,  and 
Court  Irving,  No.  45,  Independent  Order  of 
Foresters.  Since  attaining  his  majority,  he  has 
been  an  adherent  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
has  been  judge  of  election  in  his  ward  for  manj- 
years.  He  is  a  warm  supporter  of  the  free  edu- 
cational system,  and  for  about  thirteen  years 
previous  to  the  annexation  of  Jefferson  to  the 
city,  acted  as  school  director.  Though  modest 
and  unassuming  in  manner, he  is,  moreover,  genial 
and  companionable,  and  has  many  warm  friends 
among  all  classes. 


ROBERT   HASTINGS. 


ROBERT  HASTINGS,  who  is  now  an  hon- 
ored citizen  of  Jefferson  Park,  was  born 
July  2,  1822,  in  Kirkliston,  Linlithgow- 
shire,  Scotland,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Jane 
(Dunlop)  Hastings,  both  of  whom  were  born  in 
that  locality,  where  they  spent  their  lives — dying 
on  the  same  day,  about  1858  or  1859.  John 
Hastings  was  a  farmer,  and  to  this  occupation  his 
son  was  reared.  Robert  Hastings  received  his 
education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  country, 
and  when  he  became  a  man  he  resolved  to 
emigrate  to  America,  of  whose  opportunities  he 
had  heard  so  much. 

He  came  in  1855,  directing  his  steps  to  Chi- 
cago. The  country  in  Jefferson  Park  pleased 
him  so  much  that  he  bought  land  there,  of  which 
he  still  owns  forty  acres.  He  was  occupied  in 
general  farming  until  1891,  when  he  sold  two 
hundred  acres,  and  since  that  time  the  remainder 
has  been  mostly  rented  to  gardeners.  Mr. 


Hastings  has  a  very  pleasant  home,  which  is  lo- 
cated on  a  slight  elevation  of  ground.  In  1846 
he  married  Mary  Duncan,  a  native  of  Kinrosshire, 
Scotland,  and  she  came  to  the  United  States  with 
him,  dying  here  in  1876. 

Mr.  Hastings  has  learned  to  love  the  country 
of  his  adoption,  and  takes  an  active  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  the  nation.  He  is  a  naturalized 
citizen,  and  since  he  gained  the  opportunity  to 
vote  has  been  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  candidates  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  is  active  in  religious  matters  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Jefferson  Park  Congregational 
Church.  For  more  than  thirty  years  he  has  been 
connected  with  Saint  Andrew's  Society,  of  Chi- 
cago. His  success  in  life  is  due  to  his  industry, 
integrity  and  to  his  frugality.  Mr.  Hastings  has 
always  shown  very  good  judgment  in  the  manage- 
ment of  all  his  affairs,  and  has  won  the  respect 
and  friendship  of  all  who  know  him. 


LIBRARY 

OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


FRANK   DIESEL 


(From  Photo,  by  \V.  J.  ROOTI 


FRANK  DIESEL. 


635 


FRANK  DIESEL. 


|"~  RANK  DIESEL,  president  and  treasurer  of 
to  the  Frank  Diesel  Can  Company,  is  a  fine 
|  type  of  the  progressive  and  successful  Ger- 
man-American citizens,  among  those  who  have 
contributed  an  important  portion  of  Chicago's 
population.  He  was  born  April  9,  1838,  in 
Rhenish  Bavaria,  being  the  second  in  a  family  of 
five  children  born  to  Michael  and  Theresa  (  Deris) 
Diesel.  The  parents  were  natives  of  Buechel- 
berg,  on  the  border  of  Alsace.  They  came  to 
America  in  1842  and  settled  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Michael  Diesel  was  a  poor  man,  and  came  to 
the  United  States  in  the  hope  of  bettering  his 
financial  condition  and  to  rear  his  family  where 
they  could  have  greater  opportunities  for  ad- 
vancement and  broader  fields  of  usefulness.  On 
his  arrival  in  Cincinnati  his  cash  capital  consisted 
of  three  five-franc  pieces.  He  bought  an  axe 
and  spent  the  first  winter  in  chopping  wood,  after 
which  he  worked  for  a  time  in  a  packing  house. 
Two  years  later  he  engaged  in  digging  wells, 
and  soon  began  taking  contracts  for  this  line  of 
work  on  his  own  account,  meeting  with  gratify- 
ing success.  This  avocation  he  industriously  pur- 
sued until  his  death,  in  1854.  The  following  year 
his  widow  sold  her  effects  and  brought  her  fam- 
ily to  Chicago,  where  she  had  relatives.  The 
first  two  children,  Frank  and  Peter,  were  born  in 
Germany,  and  the  latter  died  in  Cincinnati  about 
1867.  Charles,  the  third,  was  born  upon  the 
ocean  and  died  at  the  age  of  ten  years.  Eliza- 
beth and  Mary,  who  were  born  in  Cincinnati,  are 
deceased.  The  mother  survived  her  husband 


many  years,  and  died  in  Chicago,  at  the  home  of 
her  son  Frank,  in  April,  1895,  in  the  eighty- 
second  year  of  her  age. 

Frank  Diesel,  the  only  surviving  member  of 
the  family,  was  instructed  in  the  common  branches 
of  learning  in  Saint  John's  Parish  School  at  Cin- 
cinnati, in  addition  to  which  he  attended  night 
school  one  winter.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he 
was  bound  out  for  a  period  of  five  years  to  learn 
the  barber's  trade,  but  he  was  not  satisfied  with 
the  business,  nor  contented  to  remain  away  from 
home,  and  was  soon  released.  He  was  then  em- 
ployed in  a  tin  and  hardware  store  for  a  year. 
At  the  age  of  fourteen  years  he  began  learning 
the  tinsmith's  trade,  and  by  working  in  different 
places  he  followed  the  trade  nearly  three  years  in 
Cincinnati. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Chicago  he  entered 
the  employ  of  Michael  Greenebaum,  as  a  journey- 
man, and  remained  with  him  until  1860.  He 
was  then  induced  by  a  friend  to  go  to  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  and  he  remained  in  that  city  about 
six  months.  He  was  urged  to  enlist  in  the  Con- 
federate service  after  the-  Civil  War  began,  but 
this  was  not  to  his  liking.  On  the  26th  of  April, 
1 86 1,  he  took  passage  for  Cincinnati  on  the  last 
passenger  steamer  which  came  north  before  the 
realities  of  war  were  inaugurated.  He  arrived  in 
Cincinnati  on  the  first  day  of  May,  and  spent  a 
few  days  there  in  visiting  his  old  home  and  re- 
newing the  acquaintances  of  his  youthful  days. 
He  found  that  most  of  his  old  associates  had 
joined  the  Union  army,  and  he  immediately  came 


636 


FRANK  DIESEL. 


to  Chicago  and  again  entered  the  employ  of  Mr 
Greenebaum. 

August  26,  1862,  he  enlisted  for  three  years  in 
the  Union  army,  and  became  a  member  of  Com- 
pany K,  Eighty-ninth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, entering  at  once  upon  active  duty.  On  the 
last  day  of  that  year  he  was  wounded  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Stone  River,  near  Murfreesboro,  Tennessee, 
and  was  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Nashville,  go- 
ing from  there  to  Louisville,  and  thence  to 
Quincy,  Illinois.  He  was  discharged  at  the  last- 
named  point  on  account  of  disability,  April  10, 
1863.  He  now  returned  to  Chicago,  and  was 
soon  established  with  his  old  employer,  with 
whom  he  continued  until  June  i,  1864.  He  then 
accepted  a  position  with  Cross  &  Dane,  manu- 
facturers of  tinware,  at  No.  50  State  Street,  and 
for  some  time  was  employed  in  cutting  out  piece 
work  for  their  men.  He  was  promoted  to  fore- 
man in  the  pressing  and  stamping  department, 
and  remained  with  this  establishment  during 
various  changes  of  ownership.  He  became  su- 
perintendent for  the  Dane,  Westlake  &  Covert 
Company,  under  Mr.  Westlake,  who  was  general 
manager.  After  the  Great  Fire  this  concern  was 
consolidated  with  Crerar  &  Adams,  and  Adams 
&  Westlake  Manufacturing  Company  was  estab- 
lished, with  whom  Mr.  Diesel  continued  to  fill 
the  position  of  superintendent  until  March,  1877. 

About  this  time  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
Conrad  Folz,  who  was  at  that  time  county  jailer, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Diesel  &  Folz,  and  in  a 
small  way  they  began  business  at  No.  425  Larra- 
bee  Street.  Most  of  their  capital  was  borrowed, 
but  they  did  a  successful  business,  and  this  con- 
nection lasted  six  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
Mr.  Diesel  bought  out  his  partner's  interest  and 
continued  the  business  alone.  In  1885  he  bought 
two  lots  on  North  Halsted  Street,  on  which  he 
built  a  large  factory,  which  he  later  enlarged  to 
meet  the  growing  demands  of  his  trade.  In  1887 
he  bought  additional  ground  and  erected  his 
present  commodious  residence,  at  No.  701  North 
Halsted  Street.  Under  Mr.  Diesel's  able  manage- 
ment the  business  continued  to  grow,  and  as- 
sumed such  proportions  that  the  capacity  of  the 
plant  had  to  be  enlarged,  and  in  order  to  enjoy 


.better  shipping  facilities,  in  1894,  at  a  cost  of 
twenty-four  thousand  dollars,  Mr.  Diesel  pur- 
chased lots  on  the  corner  of  Stewart  Avenue  and 
Fortieth  Street,  on  which  he  erected  the  present 
large  factory,  and  it  was  occupied  in  October  of 
that  year.  In  the  previous  year  the  present  cor- 
poration, known  as  the  Frank  Diesel  Can  Com- 
pany, was  formed,  the  stock  being  held  by  Mr. 
Diesel  and  his  sons.  They  bought  out  the  can  de- 
partment of  the  Chicago  Stamping  Company, 
which  was  added  to  their  already  large  plant. 
This  is  the  most  important  industry  of  its  kind 
in  the  West,  if  not  in  the  United  States.  In  it  is 
carried  on  the  manufacture  of  fruit,  meat  and 
oyster  cans,  sheet-metal  specialties  and  dec- 
orative ware.  In  connection  is  maintained  a 
lithographing  department.  An  average  of  forty 
people  are  employed,  and  the  goods  are  marketed 
in  various  parts  of  the  United  States,  the  annual 
output  amounting  to  nearly  one  million  dollars. 

Mr.  Diesel  is  an  earnest  supporter  of  Repub- 
lican principles  in  politics,  but  has  no  time  for 
office  seeking,  and  has  declined  the  urgent  request 
of  friends  to  become  a  candidate  for  alderman  in 
his  ward.  He  is  a  member  of  American  Post, 
No.  708,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

In  1864  he  was  married  to  Miss  Barbara  Roos, 
a  native  of  Rhenish  Bavaria,  and  daughter  of 
Louis  Roos,  who  came  to  Chicago  in  1851.  His 
family  includes  five  sons  and  two  daughters, 
namely:  Louis,  Conrad,  John  A.,  Lambert,  Rosa, 
Charles  and  Lena.  Two  daughters  and  one  son 
beside  these  died  in  childhood.  All  are  com- 
municants of  Saint  Michael's  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 

Mr.  Diesel  is  essentially  a  self-made  man. 
Without  wealth  or  influential  friends  to  start  him 
in  life,  by  his  own  industry  and  the  care  of  his 
earnings  he  was  enabled  to  begin  business  in  a 
small  way.  He  did  not  relinquish  his  industry 
and  thrift,  but  continued  to  give  close  attention 
to  his  business  and  was  thus  enabled  to  enlarge 
and  extend  it  until  it  became  one  of  the  greatest 
industries  of  Chicago.  To  such  men  the  city 
owes  its  commercial  supremacy,  and  the  example 
afforded  by  the  story  of  his  life  is  earnestly  com- 
mended to  the  emulation  of  our  youth. 


J.  P.   CHAPIN. 


637 


JOHN  P.  CHAPIN. 


(JOHN  PUTNAM  CHAPIN,  one  of  the 
I  worthy  pioneers  and  early  mayors  of  Chi- 
C/  cago,  was  descended  from  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  of  Massachusetts.  Deacon  Samuel  Cha- 
pin  came  from  England  in  1642,  and  settled  at 
Springfield,  Massachusetts,  where  he  died  No- 
vember n,  1675.  His  son,  Jacob  Chapin,  born 
in  1642,  died  February  20,  1712.  He  married 
Aberlenah  Cooley,  and  they  had  ten  children. 
The  third  son,  Thomas,  born  May  10,  1671,  died 
August  27,  1755.  He  had  eleven  children,  and 
his  eldest  son,  Thomas,  born  January  2,  1694, 
reached  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-seven  years, 
dying  in  1781. 

Luther,  youngest  of  the  five  children  of  Thomas 
Chapin,  junior,  had  six  children.  His  third  son, 
Eber,  died  in  1839.  The  last-named  married 
Sarah  Putnam,  of  Bradford,  Vermont,  who  was 
a  daughter  of  Adjutant  John  Putnam,  an  officer 
of  General  Washington's  staff,  and  a  cousin  of 
the  famous  Gen.  Israel  Putnam.  Eber  and 
Sarah  (Putnam)  Chapin  had  four  sons,  Eber, 
William,  Pascal  and  John  Putnam,  the  last- 
named  being  the  subject  of  this  biography.  The 
second  Eber  Putnam  above  mentioned  was  a 
prominent  lumber  merchant  of  Chicago  in  the 
early  years  of  the  city's  history. 

John  Putnam  Chapin  was  born  in  the  year 
1808,  in  Haverhill,  Vermont,  and  received  his 
education  in  his  native  State.  He  began  his  mer- 
cantile career  as  an  employe  of  a  general  store  in 
his  native  place,  where  he  grew  to  manhood. 
He  first  visited  Chicago  in  1833,  and  invested  the 
small  amount  which  he  had  been  able  to  save 
from  his  earnings  in  real  estate.  After  a  resi- 
dence of  two  years  here,  he  went  to  Morris,  Ill- 
inois, where  he  bought  a  farm,  a  portion  of  which 
now  forms  a  park  adjoining  the  town  of  Morris. 
He  did  not  find  agriculture  a  congenial  pursuit 


and  was  anxious  to  mingle  in  the  commercial  life 
which  was  already  springing  into  activity  at  Chi- 
cago. 

Returning  to  this  city  he  established  the  first 
line  of  boats  on  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal. 
He  speedily  became  interested  in  the  grain  trade, 
to  which  he  devoted  the  most  of  his  business  life. 
He  was  very  industrious,  had  the  fullest  faith  in 
the  future  development  of  the  city,  and  was  ever 
ready  •  to  establish  new  enterprises  calculated 
to  develop  the  resources  of  the  surrounding  coun- 
try and  extend  the  commercial  influence  of  his 
home  city.  He  predicted  that  the  time  would 
come  when  a  waterway  would  be  opened  between 
Lake  Michigan  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  for  which 
he  was  ridiculed  at  the  time.  His  long  foresight 
is  proven  by  the  fact  that  this  prediction  is  on  the 
speedy  road  to  realization,  through  the  move- 
ments of  the  Chicago  Drainage  District  and  the 
national  Government.  For  many  years  Mr. 
Chapin  was  identified  with  the  grain  forwarding 
firm  of  Wadsworth,  Dyer  &  Chapin,  and  he  was 
at  one  time  in  partnership  with  Nat.  Laughlin 
and  Ebeu  Doore,  of  Buffalo,  and  owned  the  wharf 
property  on  the  south  side  of  the  Chicago  River 
from  its  mouth  up  to  Clark  Street. 

In  May,  1842,  at  Lancaster,  New  Hampshire, 
Mr.  Chapin  was  married  to  Miss  Harriette  Louise 
White,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (Freeman) 
White.  For  a  time  after  bringing  his  bride  to 
Chicago  Mr.  Chapin  resided  at  the  old  Lake 
House,  a  landmark  of  pioneer  days  on  the  North 
Side,  which  was  destroyed  by  the  Great  Fire  of 
1871.  He  built  a  substantial  residence  at  No. 
7  Randolph  Street,  and  this  was  for  many  years 
conspicuous  in  what  was  at  the  time  of  its  erec- 
tion a  suburban  district.  It  was  constructed  in 
the  colonial  style,  finished  by  workmen  from  New 
York  City,  and  was  for  many  years  one  of  the 


638 


G.  W.  GIVEN. 


handsomest  residences  in  Chicago.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Chapin  were  very  hospitable,  and  the  pleasant 
gatherings  at  this  home  are  still  fondly  cherished 
in  the  memories  of  the  few  of  their  contemporaries 
now  living.  Six  children  came  to  bless  this  hap- 
py home,  namely:  William,  Henry  Clay,  John 
Putnam,  junior,  Louise  W.,  Ella  Dana  and  Fan- 
nie. The  eldest  daughter  is  now  the  wife  of  J. 
H.  Norton,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Chicago 
Board  of  Trade. 

During  the  Civil  War  Mr.  Chapin  dealt  quite 
extensively  in  cotton,  a  commodity  which  offered 
tempting  profits  to  the  shrewd  dealer  at  that  time. 
In  the  midst  of  a  busy  career,  and  in  the  prime  of 
his  social  and  political  usefulness,  he  died,  after 
an  illness  of  only  three  days,  in  this  city,  June  27, 
1864.  His  wife  survived  him  until  June  3,  1895, 
reaching  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years. 

Mr.  Chapin  was  a  great  reader  and  possessed  a 


wonderful  memory.  Time  spent  upon  his  Morris 
farm  was  not  lost,  for  he  continued  at  all  times 
to  be  a  student,  and  did  not  permit  himself  to 
grow  dull.  He  was  in  early  life  a  vigorous  sup- 
porter of  the  public  policy  of  the  Whig  party, 
and  was  one  of  the  most  faithful  adherents  of  its 
successor,  the  Republican  party.  He  was  not, 
however,  a  spoilsman,  and  when  he  was  elected 
mayor  of  the  city,  in  1846,  he  accepted  the  trust 
because  he  was  the  spontaneous  choice  of  a  large 
majority  of  his  fellow-citizens.  Had  he  been 
more  selfish  and  labored  more  exclusively  for  his 
own  interests,  and  less  for  those  of  the  city,  he 
would  to-day  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  mill- 
ionaires for  which  Chicago  is  noted.  But  his  aim 
in  life  was  higher,  purer  and  nobler  than  that  of 
many  in  commercial  life.  His  monument  is  in 
the  grateful  remembrance  of  those  who  knew  him 
best  and  esteemed  him  for  his  good  qualities. 


GEORGE  W.  GIVEN. 


WALLACE    GIVEN,    an     iron- 

b  worker,  whose  residence  is  in  South  Chicago, 
was  born  September  8,  1855,  nl  Lewiston, 
Maine,  and  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  L.  and  Sarah 
(MacFarland)  Given.  His  father  and  grand- 
father were  born  in  the  same  town,  the  family 
being  thus  an  old  one  in  the  place.  The  great- 
grandfather of  George  W.  Given  was  a  merchant 
in  Liverpool,  and  later  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
serving  through  the  war.  Benjamin  L.  Given 
was  an  engineer  by  trade,  and  he  served  as  a 
Union  soldier  through  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 
In  1868  he  removed  to  Chicago,  settling  on  Ash- 
land Avenue,  where  his  wife  still  resides. 

George  W.  Given  learned  the  machinist's 
trade,  helping  his  father,  who  had  charge  of  an 
engine  in  the  tanneries,  and  later  working  in  a 


machine  shop.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  left 
home,  and  began  the  serious  business  of  life  on 
his  own  account,  finding  employment  in  a  ma- 
chine shop  for  a  period  of  three  years.  In  1882 
he  came  to  Chicago,  and  was  engaged  by  the 
Illinois  Steel  Company  for  spiegel  work,  and  he 
has  continued  at  this  occupation  until  recently. 
During  the  last  year  he  has  been  employed  at 
Whiting,  Indiana. 

June  i,  1881,  Mr.  Given  married  Miss  Lottie 
Lyman,  of  Chicago,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and 
Catherine  (Earle)  Lyman.  They  became  the 
parents  of  five  sons,  only  one  of  whom,  Earle 
Lawrence,  is  still  living.  Mr.  Given  is  connected 
with  the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen. 
He  worked  his  way  to  the  position  he  recently 
occupied  by  his  faithfulness  and  attention  to  duty. 


LIBRARY 

OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


MARTIN  WIORA 


(From  Photo.  l>y  W.  J   ROOT) 


MARTIN  WIORA. 


639 


MARTIN  WIORA. 


[ARTIN  WIORA,  an  influential  citizen  of 
South  Chicago,  was  born  November  n, 
1857,  near  the  corner  of  Larrabee  and  Oak 
Streets,  Chicago,  and  is  a  son  of  Frank  and  Ed- 
wiga  Wiora.  Frank  Wiora  was  born  in  Poland, 
and  came  to  America  in  1848,  settling  in  Chicago, 
on  the  North  Side.  He  was  a  workingman,  and 
in  1860  he  removed  to  Black  Oak,  in  the  Town 
of  Worth,  Cook  Count}-,  and  engaged  in  farming. 
In  1872  he  bought  a  farm  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  in  Jefferson  County,  Illinois,  and  in 
1877  he  moved  to  it,  and  was  occupied  in  its  cul- 
tivation until  1881,  when  he  retired,  and  lived  a 
life  of  quiet  until  his  death,  May  14,  1888,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-eight  years.  Mrs.  Edwiga  Wiora 
was  born  in  1814,  in  Poland,  and  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Mr.  Wiora  a  short  time  before 
they  emigrated  to  America.  She  died  July  26, 
1877.  They  had  the  following  children:  Law- 
rence, who  resides  in  Stevens  Point,  Wisconsin, 
and  is  engaged  in  agriculture;  John,  who  died  in 
1880,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four  years;  Martin, 
whose  name  heads  this  article;  and  Lora,  who 
married  Frank  Hiduck,  an  undertaker,  and  resides 
at  Exchange  Avenue  and  Eighty-eighth  Street, 
Chicago. 

Martin  Wiora's  opportunities  for  obtaining  an 
education  were  limited.  He  attended  public 
school  about  three  months  in  a  year  until  he 
was  thirteen  years  old,  and  after  that  time  his 
education  was  acquired  by  his  independent  read- 
ing and  study.  He  was  a  boy  who  cared  enough 
about  learning  to  gain  a  very  fair  amount  of  in- 
formation. He  learned  the  trade  of  carpenter,  and 


when  he  was  twenty  years  old  he  went  with  his 
parents  to  the  farm  in  Jefferson  County,  where 
he  had  the  greater  part  of  the  management  of  its 
cultivation.  Later  he  returned  to  Chicago  and 
followed  his  trade,  locating  at  Sixteenth  and 
Paulina  Streets. 

In  1883  he  began  the  business  of  a  contractor, 
on  his  own  responsibility,  and  he  has  continued 
at  this  occupation  many  years,  his  location  hav- 
ing been  in  South  Chicago  since  the  beginning  of 
the  enterprise.  In  1887  he  bought  property  at 
No.  8754  Exchange  Avenue,  and  built  a  house. 
In  1896  he  moved  his  house  to  its  present  loca- 
tion, No.  8753  Escanaba  Avenue.  His  work 
has  been  chiefly  in  South  Chicago,  though  he 
has  erected  buildings  in  other  cities.  He  built 
the  Polish  Catholic  Church  in  Hammond,  Indi- 
ana, and  has  built  many  handsome  residences 
north  of  Ninety-first  Street,  in  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago. 

August  2,  1 88 1,  Mr.  Wiora  married  Mary 
Zedroseki,  a  native  of  Poland,  who  came  to 
America  in  1880.  They  had  the  following  chil- 
dren: Joseph,  deceased;  Frances,  Agnes,  John, 
Peter,  Mary  (deceased),  Thomas  and  Joseph. 
Mr.  Wiora  is  connected  with  Saint  Michael's 
Church  of  the  Conception,  and  is  a  member  of 
the  six  church  societies,  being  always  active  in 
church  affairs. 

Mr.  Wiora  was  always  actively  interested 
in  political  movements.  His  first  participa- 
tion was  in  the  Garfield-Hancock  campaign. 
In  the  spring  of  1896  he  was  a  candidate  for 
supervisor,  but  was  defeated.  While  living  on 


640 


A.  A.  KAY. 


his  father's  farm  he  was  elected  street  supervisor 
and  served  one  year.  In  1897  h£  was  nominated 
for  alderman,  and  was  elected  by  the  largest  ma- 
jority ever  given  a  candidate  in  the  Thirty-third 
Ward.  He  has  a  place  on  the  following  commit- 
tees in  the  council:  fire  department,  health 


department,  streets  and  alleys  south,  and  city 
markets.  He  is  a  self-made  man  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  term,  holding  the  respect  of  the  en- 
tire community  which  sends  him  to  the  city 
council,  and  the  friendship  of  a  great  number  of 
people. 


ABEL  A.  KAY. 


Gil  BEL  A.  KAY  was  born  January  i,  1801,  in 
LJ  Yorkshire,  England,  and  was  reared  in  his 
/  I  native  land,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of 
shoemaker.  He  was  married  in  England  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Marshall,  and  in  1843  they  came 
with  their  family,  comprising  eight  children 
(and  a  daughter-in-law),  to  America.  They 
came  in  the  sailing-vessel  "Shakespeare,"  the 
voyage  taking  six  weeks  and  two  days,  and  the 
passage  being  very  rough.  From  New  .York 
they  traveled  to  Albany,  thence  by  way  of  the 
Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  and  from  there  to  Chicago 
through  the  Great  Lakes,  the  last  voyage  occupy- 
ing two  weeks,  thus  making  the  entire  time  in 
coming  from  England  to  Chicago  nearly  three 
months. 

Mr.  Kay  bought  a  farm  of  ninety-three  and 
one-third  acres  of  fertile  soil,  in  Jefferson  Town- 
ship, for  five  hundred  dollars.  It  was  an  im- 
proved farm  with  a  large  house  and  barn,  fenced, 
and  partly  in  cultivation,  being  located  one  mile 
north  of  the  Jefferson  depot.  He  also  bought  ten 
acres  of  timber  land,  and  continued  to  live  on  his 
farm  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1847. 
His  wife  survived  him  forty  years,  expiring  in 
1887,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years,  having 
been  born  in  1803. 

Mr.  Kay  was  a  Methodist  in  his  religious  be- 
lief, and  was  a  true  Christian,  giving  his  sym- 
pathy to  members  of  all  denominations.  He 
took  an  active  part  in  religious  matters,  and  for 


many  years  his  house  was  a  meeting  place  for  all 
denominations,  and  many  services  were  held 
there.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kay  had  the  following 
children:  Ann,  who  married  Loren  McClanathan, 
and  died  in  March,  1847,  soon  after  her  marriage; 
Abel,  who  died  June  16,  1889,  leaving  one  son, 
who  is  now  dead,  and  a  daughter,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Thomas  Wheldon,  of  Cook  County; 
Elizabeth,  who  married  Thomas  Burkill  and  died 
in  August,  1896,  leaving  a  large  family  of  chil- 
dren (Almira,  wife  of  James  Carpenter,  a  resident 
of  Cook  County;  Thomas  A.,  a  resident  of  Jeffer- 
son; Sydney,  who  dropped  dead  on  the  day  follow- 
ing the  death  of  his  mother;  Althea  Moisley,  who 
lives  in  Mayfair;  Stella,  who  married  William 
Ditcher,  and  lives  in  Jefferson;  Alice,  now  Mrs. 
Klink,  of  Mayfair;  Scott,  a  resident  of  Jefferson); 
Frances,  who  married  Loren  McClanathan,  Sep- 
tember 16,  1849;  Jane,  who  married  Edward 
Gray,  and  died,  leaving  two  children,  Lida  and 
Emma;  Emma,  who  married  William  Myers, 
and  died,  leaving  seven  children  (Eliza  Young; 
Anna,  wife  of  Charles  Low,  of  Norwood  Park; 
William;  Ella,  now  Mrs.  Stockbridge,  who  lives 
in  Jefferson;  Clarence,  who  resides  in  Jefferson; 
Ida,  of  Dakota;  and  Frank,  a  resident  of  Jeffer- 
son); John  and  Joseph  Kay,  who  still  live  on  the 
old  homestead. 

Loren  McClanathan  was  born  January  24,  1818, 
in  Madison  County,  New  York.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  schools  of  New  York,  and  after  he 


CARL  WENZLAFF. 


641 


became  of  age  he  went  to  the  Southern  States, 
teaching  at  one  time  in  Kentucky.  In  1843  he 
came  to  Chicago,  and  here  he  married  his  first 
wife  soon  after.  He  was  a  currier  by  trade  and 
was  for  a  short  time  foreman  in  a  currier  shop. 
In  1855  Mr.  McClanathan  taught  school  in  Jef- 
ferson Township.  In  1856  he  entered  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company 
as  a  conductor,  and  remained  with  it  until  a  short 
time  previous  to  his  departure  for  the  South,  to 
engage  in  the  defense  of  his  country. 

In  August,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  the  Union 
army,  and  was  one  of  General  McClellan's  body 
guard,  in  which  capacity  he  served  a  year  and  a- 
half,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  Twelfth 
Illinois  Cavalry,  Company  I,  and  was  discharged 
March  18,  1864,  on  account  of  disability.  He 
took  part  as  a  private  in  the  battles  fought  in 


front  of  Richmond,  while  McClellan  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  army.  After  the  war  he  returned  to 
Chicago,  where  he  was  made  yardmaster  of  the 
Great  Eastern  Yards,  having  charge  of  passenger 
trains. 

September  16,  1849,  he  married  Miss  Frances 
Kay,  and  when  he  died,  January  20,  1895,  he  left 
two  children,  as  follows:  Loren  B.,  who  re- 
sides in  Boston;  and  Harriet  A.,  wife  of  Henry 
Elkins,  of  Chicago.  One  child,  Lucien  L.,  died  in 
1893,  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine  years. 

Mr.  McClanathan  was  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  being  connected  with 
Winfield  Scott  Post,  No.  445,  of  Chicago.  He 
took  an  active  interest  in  the  questions  of  the  day, 
and  was  a  Republican  in  political  opinion.  He 
was  a  well-informed  man,  and  a  public-spirited 
and  Valuable  citizen. 


CARL  WENZLAFF. 


EARL  WENZLAFF  was  born  December  27, 
1835,  in  Grosjanewitz,  Kreis  Lauenburg, 
Pommern,  Germany.  He  lived  in  his  na- 
tive land  until  he  was  thirty-five  years  old,  and 
then  came  to  America  with  his  wife  and  three 
children.  He  came  to  Chicago  and  located  at 
Blue  Island,  where  he  found  employment  as  a 
laborer.  In  1872  he  went  to  South  Chicago  and 
leased  land  from  the  Calumet  &  Chicago  Canal 
&  Dock  Company,  where  he  built  a  small  house 
for  his  family.  This  is  the  location  at  which  he 
still  lives.  In  1882  he  bought  the  land,  and  im- 
proved the  house  as  he  was  able,  by  building  ad- 
ditions. In  1893  the  house  was  destroyed,  with 
others,  by  a  large  fire.  He  then  built  the  house 
which  he  still  occupies,  and  which  is  situated  at 
No.  9041  Mackinaw  Avenue. 


Ever  since  coming  to  South  Chicago,  Mr. 
Wenzlaff  has  been  employed  in  lumber  yards, 
having  served  several  different  firms.  He  first 
worked  for  the  firm  of  Cook  &  Powell  five  years, 
then  five  years  for  Blanchard  &  Giddy,  and  then 
he  was  engaged  by  A.  R.  Beck,  with  whom 
he  remained  until  he  was  unable  to  work  longer, 
on  account  of  age  and  failing  strength.  The 
length  of  time  he  remained  with  each  establish- 
ment named  attests  his  faithfulness  and  honesty. 
He  was  always  industrious  and  prudent,  and  so 
was  able  to  buy  his  own  home,  besides  property 
on  Green  Bay  Avenue,  which  he  has  improved. 
In  1896  he  retired  from  active  labor,  and  now 
lives  a  life  of  ease. 

Mr.  Wenzlaff  was  married  in  Germany,  in 
November,  1859,  to  Miss  Henrietta  Behnke,  who 


642 


FRANKLIN   STEWART. 


was  born  Decembers,  1841,  in  Pommern,  Ger- 
many. They  had  twelve  children,  four  of  whom 
were  born  in  Germany,  and  five  of  whom  are 
dead.  Charles,  William,  Albert,  Lisette,  Emil, 
Martha  and  Johann  are  living,  and  Johanna, 
Wilhehnina,  Emma,  Frederick  and  Hermina  are 


deceased.  Mr.  Wenzlaff  is  a  good  citizen  and  an 
honest  and  industrious  resident  of  South  Chicago. 
He  and  his  whole  family  are  members  of  the 
German  Lutheran  Church.  In  politics  he  be- 
lieves in  and  supports  the  principles  of  the  Repub- 
lican party. 


FRANKLIN  STEWART. 


r"RANKLIN  STEWART  was  born  May  8, 
r^  1844,  in  Huntingdon  County,  Pennsylvania, 
|  ^  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Sarah  D.  (Warfel) 
Stewart.  His  grandfather,  James  Stewart,  was 
born  in  Scotland,  and  when  a  young  man  emi- 
grated to  America.  He  was  a  teamster,  and 
carried  freight  between  Philadelphia  and  Pitts- 
burg.  He  was  successful  in  this  business,  and 
was  enabled  to  buy  a  farm  of  about  two  hundred 
acres  in  Huntingdon,  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
located  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He 
married  Miss  Gray,  and  their  children  were: 
William,  John,  Thomas,  Andrew,  Matthew, 
Robert,  Alexander,  James,.  Jane,  Eliza,  Mary, 
Margaret,  and  a  girl  who  died  when  very  young, 
thus  making  thirteen.  Mary  married  Henry  C. 
Warfel,  and  lived  at  Ashkum,  Iroquois  County, 
Illinois.  Robert  and  Alexander  made  their  home 
in  Pleasant  Valle\-,  near  Columbus,  Ohio.  An- 
drew lived  in  Fairfield  County,  Ohio,  and  the 
other  children  resided  in  Huntingdon  County, 
Pennsylvania.  James  Stewart  died  on  his  farm, 
which  has  now  been  divided  and  is  not  owned  by 
the  family. 

John  Stewart  was  born  March  23,  1813,  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  died  February  22,  1883,  at 
Cummings,  Cook  County,  Illinois.  He  was  a 
carpenter  and  cooper,  and  spent  most  of  his  time 
in  Huntingdon  County,  in  his  native  state.  In 
1857  ne  moved  to  Franklin  County,  Missouri, 
where  he  remained  a  year.  He  enlisted  at  the 


outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  but  was  discharged 
at  Camp  Chase,  Ohio,  because  of  poor  health. 
In  1862  he  removed  to  Buffalo  County,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  remained  a  year.  He  then  worked  at 
his  trade  wherever  he  found  employment,  and  in 
this  way  traveled  over  a  great  deal  of  territory. 
In  1882  he  located  in  Cook  County,  where  his 
death  occurred  the  next  year. 

He  married  Sarah  D.  Warfel,  who  was  born 
January  12,  1828,  in  Huntingdon  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  was  a  daughter  of  Adam  Warfel. 
The  latter  was  probably  born  in  Germany,  and 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  married  Asenith 
Clark,  who  was  of  English  descent,  and  their 
children  were  Elizabeth,  Sarah  D.,  Arietta  and 
Henry  C.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Stewart  had  the 
following  children:  Franklin,  whose  name  heads 
this  article;  Elizabeth  Jane,  who  was  born  Sep- 
tember 2,  1845,  and  died  March  18,  1847;  Laura 
Etta,  who  was  born  January  10,  1848,  married 
Hugh  W.  Brandle,  and  resides  in  South  Chicago; 
Millard  Fillmore,  born  June  30,  1850,  was  hurt 
by  a  boiler  explosion  in  a  pump-house,  where  he 
was  employed  as  engineer,  and  died  ten  days  later 
from  his  injuries,  September  29,  1886;  and 
Asenith  Bilda,  born  December  26,  1869,  married 
John  Long,  and  lived  in  Hammond,  Indiana, 
where  she  died  March  15,  1897. 

Franklin  Stewart  attended  school  until  the 
beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  at  which  time  he 
was  in  Buffalo  County,  Wisconsin,  and  enlisted 


JOHN  WINSTON. 


643 


August  12,  1862,  in  Company  G,  Twenty-fifth 
Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  for  three  years,  or 
until  the  end  of  the  war.  He  remained  with 
this  company  until  January  24,  1863,  and  then, 
under  an  order  from  the  war  department,  giving 
all  volunteers  the  privilege,  he  went  into  the  reg- 
ular army  in  Company  C,  Eighth  United  States 
Infantry,  enlisting  for  five  years.  While  with 
the  first-named  company  he  was  sent  to  Minne- 
sota to  help  subdue  the  Indians.  He  remained 
with  the  Eighth  United  States  Infantry  five 
years,  and  during  that  time  was  never  wounded 
or  taken  prisoner.  He  was  at  the  great  City 
Point  explosion,  where  fifty-two  were  sent  to  the 
hospital,  and  though  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
explosion,  he  alone  of  the  number  escaped  in- 
jury. Only  fourteen  were  able  to  join  the  regi- 
ment after  this  calamity,  the  others  either  being 
killed  or  sent  to  the  hospital.  Mr.  Stewart  was 
discharged  from  the  sendee  January  24,  1868, 
at  Columbia,  South  Carolina. 

At  the  close  of  his  service  he  visited  home, 
and  then  spent  some  time  in  traveling,  stopping 
wherever  he  found  employment.  He  spent  four 
years  in  Kansas,  and  then  returned  home,  after 


which  he  spent  two  years  at  a  blast  furnace  at 
Moselle,  Missouri.  He  came  to  Cummings  (now 
the  city  of  Chicago)  in  August,  1883,  and  found 
employment  in  mills,  part  of  the  time  as  engineer. 
He  then  worked  in  the  shops  of  the  Nickel  Plate 
Railroad.  In  1890  he  found  employment  in  the 
Morden  Frog  Works,  South  Chicago,  as  machin- 
ist, and  two  years  later  was  installed  as  engineer, 
and  since  that  time  has  filled  that  position  without 
losing  a  single  day's  time,  except  one  week  on 
account  of  illness.  His  industry  and  integrity 
are  recognized  by  all  who  know  him,  and  he  is 
regarded  as  a  patriotic  and  valuable  citizen.  He 
is  connected  with  A.  E.  Burnside  Post,  No.  109, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  is  held  in  high 
esteem  by  the  members  of  this  organization.  He 
gives  his  political  support  to  the  Republican 
party.  The  family  attends  the  Methodist  Church. 
November  30,  1875,  Mr.  Stewart  married 
Susan  Frances  Witt,  daughter  of  William  Witt, 
of  Missouri.  They  became  the  parents  of  the  fol- 
lowing children:  Arthur  Wesley,  Frank  Elmer, 
Annie  L,oretta,  Jessie,  Adda  May  and  Claude 
Henry.  Mrs.  Stewart  died  January  29,  1890,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-one  years. 


JOHN  WINSTON. 


(TOHN  WINSTON,  a  citizen  of  South  Chi- 
I  cago,  was  born  January  13,  1841,  in  Brecken- 
G)  shire,  England,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Elizabeth  (Harris)  Winston.  His  education 
was  very  limited,  as  he  was  able  to  attend  school 
only  until  he  reached  the  age  of  fourteen  years. 
He  was  then  employed  as  a  stone  cutter,  and 
for  twenty-two  years  he  followed  this  occupation. 
He  remained  in  his  native  country  until  he  was 
forty  years  of  age,  and  then  determined  to  emi- 
grate to  the  United  States.  He  sailed  to  New 
York  in  1883,  reaching  that  city  in  April,  and 


came  direct  to  Chicago.  He  spent  ten  and  one-half 
years  at  caging  in  a  furnace  of  the  Illinois  Steel 
Company,  and  then  became  a  fireman  in  the  boiler 
house  of  the  same  establishment.  At  present  he 
is  employed  in  the  same  department,  where  crude 
petroleum  is  used  for  fuel,  his  duties  involving 
the  care  of  the  boiler  flues. 

In  1886  he  bought  a  lot  at  No.  8924  Superior 
Avenue,  and  has  since  built  himself  a  comfort- 
able residence  there,  which  is  now  occupied  by 
the  family. 

March   10,    1874,    he  married   Mrs.   Elizabeth 


644 


C.  H.  SAUER. 


Jones,  widow  of  John  Jones,  and  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Elizabeth  (Hardwick)  Williams.  She 
was  born  in  Herefordshire,  South  England,  Jan- 
uary 28,  1835.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Winston  have  the 
following-named  children:  Alfred  John  and 
Ronwyn  Elizabeth  (twins),  Breeza  Annie  and 
William.  Mrs.  Winston  has  two  sons  and  a 
daughter  by  her  first  marriage.  George  Jones, 
the  eldest  of  these,  is  assistant  superintendent  of 
the  furnace  department  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Com- 


pany. Evan,  the  second,  resides  on  Eighty-ninth 
Street;  and  Sarah  is  the  wife  of  Walter  Ander- 
son, also  a  resident  of  South  Chicago.  Mr. 
Winston  is  an  energetic  and  progressive  citizen, 
and  enjoys  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  many 
friends  and  acquaintances.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Sons  of  St.  George.  He  began  life  in  a  hum- 
ble position,  but  has  steadily  improved  his  oppor- 
tunities, and  has  used  every  means  of  progress 
open  to  him. 


GLAUS  H.  SAUER. 


ELAUS  HENRY  SAUER  was  born  on 
the  2oth  of  October,  1842,  in  Winkeldorf, 
Hanover,  Germany,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  Adam  and  Mary  (Detels)  Sauer,  natives  of 
that  country.  John  A.  Sauer  was  married  twice. 
He  and  his  first  wife  had  four  children,  namely: 
Peter,  John,  Jacob  and  John  Henry.  He  had 
six  children  by  his  second  marriage,  namely: 
Katrina,  Herman,  Gersche,  Glaus  Henry  (the 
subject  of  this  sketch),  Heinrich  and  Frederich 
Wilhelm.  Peter  and  Jacob  were  the  first  of  the 
family  to  emigrate  to  the  new  world.  They 
landed  in  New  York,  living  there  for  a  time,  and 
then  Peter  removed  to  Wabasha  County,  Min- 
nesota, where  he  still  lives,  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  Jacob  lives  at  Reed's  Landing,  in  the 
same  county.  John  came  next,  and  is  now 
living  in  the  State  of  Washington.  John  Henry 
also  came  to  this  country,  and  is  residing  in 
Minnesota.  Katrina  is  a  resident  of  Hamburg; 
Herman  is  in  New  Zealand,  and  Heinrich  is  now 
postmaster  in  Gibbon,  Minnesota. 

Claus   Henry  Sauer  came  to  America  a  year 
after  his  brother  Heinrich.     He  removed  first  to 


London,  England,  where  he  met  Heinrich, 
and  both  found  employment  in  sugar  factories, 
gas  houses,  and  at  the  trade  of  blacksmith,  which 
Claus  had  learned  in  his  native  country.  They 
next  came  to  Canada,  reaching  Quebec  in  May, 
1870.  Claus  proceeded  to  Chicago,  and  located 
first  on  Huron  Street,  where  he  lived  a  year  and 
a-half.  He  lived  next  on  Chicago  Avenue,  and 
later  on  Milwaukee  Avenue.  Mr.  Sauer  was 
engaged  in  working  at  his  trade  on  his  arrival  in 
Chicago,  following  it  most  of  the  time  since. 

In  May,  1875,  Mr.  Sauer  moved  to  South  Chi- 
cago, which  has  been  his  place  of  residence  till 
the  present  time.  In  the  fall  of  1883  he  bought 
a  lot  at  No.  8804  Buffalo  Avenue,  and  built  a 
house  the  following  spring,  which  he  now  occu- 
pies. For  seven  years  he  was  engaged  at  his 
trade  in  a  mill,  and  then  he  worked  for  black- 
smiths. At  present  he  is  in  the  employ  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  at  his  trade,  in  Whiting, 
Indiana. 

February  14,  1872,  Mr.  Sauer  married  Miss 
Susanna  Haab,  daughter  of  William  and  Susanna 
(Baer)  Haab.  She  was  born  September  20, 


W.  G.  WRIGHT. 


645 


1842,  in  Zurich,  Switzerland,  and  emigrated  to 
America  in  1866  with  her  brother  Wilhelm,  who 
is  living  in  New  York  City.  Her  brother 
Henry  came  to  the  United  States  later,  and  he, 
too,  resides  in  New  York.  Mrs.  Sauer  removed 
to  Racine,  Wisconsin,  where  she  lived  until  her 
marriage,  coming  to  Chicago  on  her  wedding 
day.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sauer  had  five  children, 


namely:  William,  George,  Frederick  (deceased), 
Clara  and  Lydia. 

Mr.  Sauer  is  a  deacon  in  the  First  German 
Baptist  Church  of  South  Chicago,  with  which 
the  family  is  connected.  In  politics  he  supports 
the  Republican  party  and  its  principles.  He  is 
an  intelligent  and  useful  citizen,  and  is  an  upright 
and  highly  respected  member  of  society. 


WILLIAM   G.  WRIGHT. 


GEORGE  WRIGHT  was  born 
June  23,  1839,  in  Melton  Mowbray, 
Leicestershire,  England,  and  is  a  son  of 
George  and  Mary  (Barsley)  Wright.  His  great- 
grandfather was  Francis  Wright,  whose  son, 
William  Wright,  married  Elizabeth  Benson,  and 
became  the  father  of  one  child,  George.  William 
Wright  was  a  captain  on  a  canal  boat  for  many 
years,  and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years. 

George  Wright,  father  of  William  G.  Wright, 
was  born  in  1818,  in  Ratcliffe,  England,  and  was 
employed  on  a  canal  boat.  He  lived  in  his  native 
country  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1891. 
He  married  Mary  Barsley,  and  their  children, 
besides  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  were:  Anne 
Elizabeth,  who  married  Robert  Wood,  and  is 
deceased;  Mary,  who  married  John  Davidson,  and 
is  deceased;  and  John,  who  resides  in  Columbus, 
Ohio.  Mary  Barsley's  father  was  a  native  of 
England,  where  the  members  of  his  family  were 
cottagers.  He  had  the  following  children:  Will- 
iam, Frank,  Samuel,  Richard,  John,  Jane  and 
Mary.  The  Wright  family  has  always  been  con- 
nected with  the  Methodist  Church. 

William  G.  Wright  received  a  very  limited 
education,  being  obliged  to  leave  his  studies  and 
engage  in  the  business  of  life  at  a  very  early  age. 
When  he  was  three  years  old  his  parents  re- 
moved to  Grantham,  England,  where  he  remained 


until  he  reached  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  He 
served  as  an  apprentice  to  a  blacksmith  until 
1857,  and  continued  to  work  as  a  journeyman  at 
his  trade  until  1888.  On  leaving  Grantham  he 
spent  two  years  in  Boston,  England,  returned  to 
Grantham  and  spent  a  short  time,  and  then  emi- 
grated to  America  in  1871. 

He  spent  a  short  time  in  Belvidere,  Illinois, 
and  removed  thence  to  Berlin,  Minnesota,  and 
remained  a  short  time.  He  was  engaged  at  his 
trade  during  this  time,  and  after  spending  a  year 
in  Winona,  Minnesota,  a  short  time  in  Cleveland 
and  Delaware,  Ohio,  and  a  year  at  Columbus,  in 
the  same  state,  he  removed  to  South  Chicago, 
which  has  been  his  place  of  residence  ever  since 
that  time.  He  reached  this  city  in  1874  and  for 
six  years  was  employed  in  the  service  of  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  Company  at  its 
shops. 

In  1880  he  moved  to  Saline  County,  Nebraska, 
where  he  conducted  a  farm  two  years,  and  then 
returned  to  South  Chicago.  He  found  employ- 
ment with  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  remaining 
in  its  service  until  1885,  and  for  three  and  one- 
half  years  did  blacksmith  work  for  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  Company.  He  has  been  faith- 
ful and  earnest  in  his  work,  and  has  always 
proved  a  useful  and  reliable  employe.  After 
leaving  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 


646 


J.    H.  WRIGHT. 


road  Company  he  spent  three  and  one-half  years 
in  the  service  of  the  New  York,  Chicago  &  St. 
Louis  Railroad  Company. 

Mr.  Wright  is  a  firm  supporter  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  He  served  as  sewer  inspector 
two  years  when  Mr.  Washburne  was  mayor,  and 
held  the  same  position  two  years  during  the 
administration  of  Mayor  Swift. 

May  29,  1859,  he  married  Martha  Robinson, 
and  they  have  the  following  children:  Robinson 
William,  John  Henry,  Mary  Elizabeth,  George 
Francis,  Martha  Ann,  Frederich  Harris  and 
Nettie  Pearl.  One  daughter,  Rebecca,  died  when 
four  and  one-half  years  old,  and  another,  Delia 


Agnes,  when  eleven  months  old.  Mr.  Wright  is 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  order,  being  connected 
with  Harbor  Lodge,  No.  731,  and  Sinai  Chapter, 
No.  185.  He  joined  Calumet  Commandery,  No. 
62,  and  was  knighted  in  1892.  He  was  one  of 
the  charter  members,  and  is  now  a  standard 
bearer,  and  expects  to  become  a  member  of  the 
Shrine,  and  take  the  Scottish  rite  degrees.  He  is 
connected  with  the  First  Congregational  Church, 
and  is  a  trustee  of  same.  He  has  improved  his 
opportunities  for  gaining  knowledge,  and  is  well 
informed  on  matters  of  public  interest,  and  has  a 
social  disposition,  and  his  many  friends  recognize 
his  ability  and  good  judgment. 


JOHN  H.  WRIGHT. 


HOHN  HENRY  WRIGHT  was  born  March 
15,  1862,  in  Grantham,  Lincolnshire, 
G)  England,  and  is  a  son  of  William  George  and 
Martha  (Robinson)  Wright  (see  biography  else- 
where). He  emigrated  to  the  United  States  at 
the  age  of  nine  years,  and  received  the  greater 
part  of  his  education  here.  He  attended  school 
until  he  was  fourteen  years  old,  and  then  entered 
the  employ  of  Willard  Sons  &  Bell  Company, 
where  he  was  first  engaged  as  a  hammer  boy,  and 
then  spent  two  and  one-half  years  learning  and 
working  at  shingling.  He  subsequently  removed 
to  Fort  Kearney,  Nebraska,  and  became  a  cattle- 
drover.  After  remaining  two  years  he  entered 
the  service  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
Railroad  Company,  working  seven  months  in  its 
blacksmith  shop  in  Plattsmouth,  Nebraska. 

In  1883,  being  attracted  by  the  active  business 
methods  of  Chicago,  he  removed  to  this  city,  and 
in  May  began  to  work  for  the  Illinois  Steel  Com- 
pany, remaining  in  the  blacksmith  shops  one 
year.  He  was  for  six  months  fireman  on  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  and  for  one  year, 


beginning  April  i,  1884,  was  rail  inspector  in  the 
mill  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Company.  For.  the 
same  period  of  time  he  was  steel  charger,  for 
three  years  he  operated  a  buggy,  and  subse- 
quently became  the  day  foreman  of  the  rail  mill, 
where  he  remained  until  1895.  In  that  year  he 
became  the  night  superintendent,  and  retained 
this  position  until  August  i,  1897.  He  has 
steadily  advanced  in  position  since  entering  the 
employ  of  this  company,  and  has  done  this 
through  his  energetic  and  systematic  exercise  of 
ability  and  skill. 

Mr.  Wright  was  united  in  matrimony  October 
1 6,  1884,  to  Miss  Harriet  Eliza  Wilder,  daughter 
of  Ebenezer  and  Mary  Elizabeth  (French) 
Wilder,  of  English  extraction.  Her  father  was 
born  July  21,  1813,  in  Middleboro,  Massachusetts, 
and  died  November  7,  1890,  in  Chicago.  He  re- 
ceived his  education  in  Middleboro,  and  removed 
to  Baltimore,  Maryland,  when  a  young  man. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Red  River  Iron  Works 
Company,  and  was  a  builder  of  bridges.  He 
subsequently  lived  for  short  periods  in  Kentucky, 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


CARL  MKWKS 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


CARL  MEWES. 


647 


near  Lexington;  in  Dover,  Delaware;  and  in 
Newcastle,  Pennsylvania  (in  which  latter  place 
he  was  a  nailer) ;  and  removed  to  Chicago  in 
1868. 

He  located  in  Englewood,  bought  land  at 
Fifty-ninth  Street  and  Princeton  Avenue,  and 
built  a  house.  He  was  then  engaged  in  putting 
in  filter  wells  in  which  force  pumps  were  used, 
and  later  became  Brink's  City  Express  agent, 
locating  at  Wentworth  Avenue  and  Sixty-second 
Street.  Mrs.  Mary  Elizabeth  (French)  Wilder 
was  born  September  9,  1830,  in  Baltimore,  Mary- 
land, and  died  March  20,  1891,  in  Chicago.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Judge  John  French,  of  Mary- 
land. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilder  were  parents  of  the  fol- 
lowing children:  Sylvanus,  deceased;  John  F., 
deceased;  Anna  A.,  who  married  Dr.  O.  J.  Price, 
and  resides  at  No.  538  West  Adams  Street,  Chi- 
cago; Sylvanus,  who  lives  at  Seattle,  Washington; 
Carrie  L.,  deceased;  Mrs.  Wright,  wife  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Nettie  F.,  who  married 
L.  P.  Brown,  a  dealer  in  hardware,  and  lives  at 


Cheltenham  Place,  Chicago.  Mrs.  Wright's 
grandfather,  Eben  Wilder,  was  born  in  Middle- 
boro,  Massachusetts,  and  was  a  Methodist 
minister.  He  married  Mary  Bump,  sister  of  the 
father  of  Lavina  Stratton  Bump,  the  midget  who 
married  Tom  Thumb. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  H.  Wright  had  four  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Earl  Davis;  Athlene  Mary,  who 
died  when  four  years  old;  Bernice,  who  died  in 
infancy;  and  Elva  Eunice. 

Mr.  Wright  was  made  a  Master  Mason  in  1886, 
becoming  a  member  of  Englewood  Lodge,  No. 
690,  with  which  he  is  still  connected.  He  took 
the  degree  of  Royal  Arch  Mason  in  1887,  and  is 
connected  with  Englewood  Chapter,  No.  176. 
His  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Lady  Garfield  Chap- 
ter, No.  91,  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Royal  Arcanum  and  of  the 
Royal  League.  He  is  a  genial  and  sociable 
gentleman,  and  has  the  happy  faculty  of  making 
friends  and  also  of  retaining  them.  Those  who 
are  favored  with  his  friendship  give  him  their  full 
confidence,  and  regard  him  with  great  respect. 


CARL  MEWES. 


EARL  MEWES  was  born  Febuary  26,  1843, 
in  Pommern,  Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Marie  (Huthe)  Mewes.  His  paternal 
grandfather  was  a  carpenter  in  Germany,  and  his 
children,  beside  John,  consisted  of  three  daugh- 
ters, one  of  whom  married  Fred  Wilt.  She  died 
in  Germany  and  her  husband  removed  to  Amer- 
ica with  their  children.  John  Mewes  spent  his  life 
in  Germany.  One  of  his  daughters,  Marie,  was 
married  in  Germany  to  John  Flack,  and  emigrat- 
ed to  America  with  her  husband,  settling  in 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  they  and  their  four  chil- 
dren now  live. 

A  son  of  John  Mewes,  Henry,  was  the  first  of 


the  family  to  come  to  America.  He  arrived  in 
1868,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Syracuse, 
New  York,  where  he  remained  until  1872,  and 
then  removed  to  Chicago,  with  his  brother  Carl, 
the  subject  of  this  article.  In  1873  he  moved  to 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  was  employed  at  general 
labor  until  his  death,  in  1881.  The  maternal 
grandfather  of  Carl  Mewes,  Mr.  Huthe,  was  a 
native  of  Germany,  where  he  resided  and  fol- 
lowed the  trade  of  miller. 

Carl  Mewes  was  educated  in  Germany,  and 
learned  the  trade  of  stone  mason,  which  he  fol- 
lowed in  his  native  country  until  about  thirty 
years  of  age.  He  emigrated  to  America  in  1872, 


648 


PETER  RINGGENBERG. 


reaching  New  York  in  November.  He  came  to 
Chicago,  locating  on  the  North  Side,  and  found 
employment  at  his  trade.  He  entered  the  em- 
ploy of  J.  H.  Jones,  who  removed  his  business 
to  South  Chicago,  whither  Mr.  Mewes  went  to  re- 
tain his  position.  April  7,  1880,  he  was  engaged 
by  the  Illinois  Steel  Company  at  mason  work  on 
its  mill,  and  when  the  mills  were  completed  he 
did  general  mason  work. 

In  1882  Mr.  Mewes  bought  a  lot  at  No.  8835 
Commercial  Avenue,  and  immediately  built  a  res- 
idence, which  he  has  since  occupied.  He  was 
married  February  7,  1872,  to  Miss  Augusta 
Luedtke,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Louisa  (Keller- 
man)  Luedtke.  She  was  born  July  24,  1844,  in 
Pommern,  Germany,  and  in  emigrating  to  Amer- 
ica took  the  same  vessel  as  her  future  husband. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mewes  are  the  parents  of  the  fol- 
lowing children:  Charles  Frank  Louis,  Martha, 
Emma,  Albert,  Annie  Matilda,  Johannah,  Au- 
gust William,  Emil  and  Walter  Christopher  Louis. 
Charles  F.  Louis  is  a  hard-wood  painting  finisher, 
and  is  also  a  musician,  making  a  specialty  of  vio- 
lins and  mandolins.  He  is  a  pupil  of  Prof.  Will- 
iam Keuhner,  of  Chicago,  and  is  a  teacher  of 
music  himself.  Martha  died  when  fifteen  months 
old,  Emma  when  nine  months  old,  and  Albert  is 
also  deceased.  Johannah  is  employed  as  a  clerk 
by  Charles  Fink. 

Mr.  Mewes  is  a  thorough  master  of  his  trade, 
and  has  been  favored  with  prosperity.  He  is  a 
member  of  Zion  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church, 
and  is  a  friend  to  movements  of  public  reform 
tending  to  the  general  welfare. 


PETER  RINGGENBERG. 


PETER  RINGGENBERG,  a  fisherman  of 
South  Chicago,  was  born  August  12,  1845, 
J5  in  Canton  Berne,  Switzerland,  and  is  a  son 
of  Charles  and  Mary  (Ringgenberg)  Ringgen- 
•berg.  He  decided  to  come  to  America  when 
about  twenty  years  of  age,  and  accordingly  sailed 
for  New  York,  from  which  city  he  proceeded  di- 
rect to  Chicago,  reaching  the  latter  place  in  May, 
1866.  He  went  from  here  to  Quincy,  Illinois, 
and  after  remaining  two  months,  he  returned  to 
the  city  and  located  in  South  Chicago.  He  found 
employment  with  three  brothers,  Henry,  Theo- 
dore and  Alexander  Oehmich,  who  were  engaged 
in  fishing.  He  had  been  with  them  several 
years,  when  an  accident  occurred  which  will 
never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  escaped  with 
their  lives. 

At  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  April  8, 
1874,  nine  men  went  to  Whiting,  Indiana,  to 
drive  piles  for  fishing,  taking  a  scow  and  a  sail- 


boat with  them.  It  was  a  calm  day,  and  they 
worked  until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  driv- 
ing one  set  of  piles  in  that  time.  Suddenly  a 
storm  came  up,  which  Mr.  Ringgenberg  describes 
as  the  hardest  storm  and  the  quickest  to  gather 
of  any  he  has  witnessed  in  his  experience,  one 
which  has  been  quite  extensive.  At  the  time  he 
was  on  the  scow,  and  the  remaining  eight,  includ- 
ing the  three  brothers  who  owned  the  boats,  were 
on  the  sail-boat.  Each  man  tried  to  save  his  own 
life,  the  boat  being  turned  over  instantly.  Mr. 
Ringgenberg  held  to  the  scow,  and  was  drifted 
ashore  at  Whiting,  and  the  only  one  of  the  others 
saved  was  Alexander  Oehmich.  Mr.  Ringgenberg 
remained  in  the  employ  of  Alexander  Oehmich 
until  1875.  The  latter  died  in  1888. 

For  a  year  Mr.  Ringgenberg  was  engaged  at 
general  labor,  and  in  1876  he  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  John  Stengel  for  the  purpose  of  fishing. 
After  two  years  the  partnership  was  dissolved, 


CARSTEN  ANTHONISEN. 


649 


and  he  found  various  employments,  much  of  the 
time  doing  general  work  for  Hausler  &  Lutz. 
In  January,  1897,  he  resumed  his  partnership 
with  John  Stengel,  and  they  continue  to  carry  on 
a  fishing  business.  In  1874  Mr.  Ringgenberg 
bought  property  at  No.  9807  Avenue  M,  where 
he  now  makes  his  home,  having  improved  the 
house  and  added  to  it.  From  1884  to  1894,  he 
was  employed  on  bridges,  serving  successively  on 
those  at  Ninety-second,  Ninety-fifth  and  One 
Hundred  and  Sixth  Streets. 


He  was  married  December  21,  1873,  to  Matilda 
Hubner,  daughter  of  William  and  Henrietta 
(Post)  Hubner.  They  became  the  parents  often 
children,  three  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  The 
others  are:  Matilda,  Henry,  Edith,  Rudolph, 
Martha,  Frederick  and  William.  Mr.  Ringgen- 
berg is  connected  with  the  Order  of  Harugari, 
being  a  charter  member  of  Melomania  Lodge, 
No.  330,-  which  was  organized  in  1874.  He  is  a 
patriotic  and  law-abiding  citizen,  and  is  a  friend 
to  progress  and  improvement. 


CARSTEN  ANTHONISEN. 


EARSTEN  ANTHONISEN  was  born  July 
23>  '859,  in  Sueder  Luegem,  Schleswig, 
Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  Martin  and  Chris- 
tina Anthonisen.  Martin  Anthonisen  was  born 
January  28,  1812,  in  Germany,  where  he  spent 
his  entire  life.  He  was  superintendent  of  a  large 
farm,  and  held  this  position  for  a  term  of  fifty 
years.  His  children  were:  Nicholas,  Helena, 
Katrina,  Carsten,  Theodore  and  Mathias. 

Carsten  Anthonisen  and  his  sister  Helena  emi- 
grated to  America,  coming  to  Chicago  by  way  of 
Quebec,  and  arriving  here  June  30,  1882.  Carsten 
was  a  miller  in  German y,  but  he  never  worked 
at  his  trade  in  this  country.  He  located  in 
South  Chicago,  and  has  lived  there  ever  since, 
with  the  exception  of  about  two  months  spent  in 
Decatur,  Illinois.  He  worked  a  short  time  in  a 
stone  quarry,  and  then  found  employment  with 
the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  and  he  was  engaged 
seven  years  firing  in  the  boiler  house.  For  one 
and  one-half  years  he  was  selling  milk,  and  then 
he  obtained  the  position  he  now  holds,  as  roll- 
hand  in  a  mill.  In  1887  he  bought  land  at  No. 
8932  Buffalo  Avenue,  built  a  house  in  1888,  and 
has  made  his  residence  there  ever  since. 

Soon  after   he  came  to  this  country,    Mr.  An- 


thonisen had  an  experience  which  he  will  always 
remember  with  horror.  He  and  a  very  deai 
friend,  Christ  Johnson,  were  traveling  south  from 
Chicago,  and  looking  for  work.  They  tried  to 
obtain  a  ticket  for  a  ride  on  a  freight  train  which 
was  about  to  leave,  and  when  the  agent  refused 
to  sell  it  to  them  they  tried  to  get  on  the  train 
after  it  began  to  move.  Mr.  Johnson's  foot  was 
caught  between  a  brake  and  a  wheel,  and  he  was 
instantly  killed.  Thus  Mr.  Anthonisen  was  left 
alone  with  his  dead  friend,  and  was  unable  to  ex- 
plain the  circumstances,  because  he  could  not 
speak  English. 

His  brother,  Boyd  Theodore  Anthonisen,  fol- 
lowed him  to  America  a  few  months  after  he 
emigrated,  and  came  to  South  Chicago.  He 
learned  the  trade  of  blacksmith,  but  he  never 
worked  at  this  trade  in  the  United  States.  He 
found  employment  with  the  Illinois  Steel  Corn- 
pan}-,  as  a  straightener,  and  has  been  with  this 
company  ever  since.  He  resides  at  No.  167 
Ninety-third  Street,  between  Superior  and  On- 
tario Avenues.  October6,  1887,  Carsten  Anthoni- 
sen married  Miss  Bertha  Struebing,  daughter  of 
Peter  Struebing. 

Peter  Struebing  was  born  January  15,  1835,  in 


650 


T.  F.  DOYLE. 


Pommern,  Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  Peter  and 
Mary  (Westfall)  Struebing.  He  emigrated  to 
America  with  his  wife  and  five  children,  land- 
ing in  New  York,  and  reached  Chicago  May  30, 
1869.  He  located  in  South  Chicago  immediately, 
and  has  made  it  his  residence  ever  since.  He 
leased  land  from  the  Calumet  &  Chicago  Canal 
&  Dock  Company,  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
Ninety-second  Street  and  Buffalo  Avenue,  where 
he  built  a  small  house,  fourteen  by  twenty-two 
feet  in  dimension,  and  having  only  two  rooms  on 
the  ground  floor.  He  paid  for  it  with  German 
money,  which  he  brought  with  him,  and  it  cost 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The  house 
is  still  standing,  and  is  used  as  a  stable  by  Mrs. 
Clark.  He  lived  there  three  years,  and  then 
moved  to  his  present  place,  No.  9024  Green  Bay 
Avenue,  and  leased  land  from  the  same  company 
until  he  was  able  to  buy  it,  in  1875.  The  house 
he  first  lived  in  was  bought  from  a  Frenchman 
who  had  lived  at  this  place.  When  Mr.  Strueb- 
ing came  to  South  Chicago,  he  found  employment 
in  a  factory,  and  then  for  two  years  he  was  a 
fisherman.  Next  he  worked  in  a  lumber  yard, 
where  he  remained  until  1887,  since  which  time 
he  has  been  retired.  November  5,  1858,  Mr. 
Struebing  married  Albertina  Ulrech,  daughter  of 
William  and  Wilhelmina  (Krum)  Ulrech.  She 
studied  for  a  midwife  when  a  young  woman,  "and 


has  been  engaged  in  her  profession  in  South  Chi- 
cago. They  had  the  following  children:  Caro- 
lina; Minnie;  William;  Frederick,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  one  year;  Annie,  who  died  when  five 
years  old;  Herman,  who  died  at  the  age  of  three 
months;  Bertha,  now  Mrs.  Carsten  Anthonisen; 
Emma,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years; 
Louis,  who  died  when  eighteen  months  old;  and 
Matilda,  who  died  at  the  age  of  two  and  one-half 
years.  Mr.  Struebing  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Zion  German  Lutheran  Church,  Mr. 
Struebing  being  one  of  the  organizers  and  first 
members  of  the  church,  and  having  served  many 
years  as  a  trustee. 

Mrs  Bertha  Anthonisen  was  born  September 
10,  1867,  in  Charles  Hagen,  German}',  and  was 
eighteen  months  old  when  she  came  with  her 
parents  to  the  United  States. 

Mr. 'and  Mrs.  Carsten  Anthonisen  have  three 
children,  namely:  Martin  William,  Elmer  Peter 
and  Ruth  Jacobina.  The  family  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  German  Lutheran  Church  twelve 
years.  Mr.  Anthonisen  is  a  member  of  the 
Amalgamated  Association,  and  of  other  societies. 
He  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  church  and  also  of 
the  school  connected  with  it,  and  his  wife  is  a 
member  of  the  Ladies'  Society.  Mr.  Anthonisen 
takes  an  active  interest  in  the  progress  of  his 
adopted  country.  In  politics  he  is  independent. 


THOMAS  F.  DOYLE. 


'HOMAS  FRANKLIN  DOYLE,  a  promi- 
nent business  man  of  South  Chicago,  was 
born  February  22,  1850,  in  Westchester, 
New  York,  and  is  a  son  of  Michael  and  Cathe- 
rine (Cullen)  Doyle.  Michael  Doyle  was  born 
in  Wicklow,  Ireland,  and  emigrated  to  America 
in  1848,  settling  in  Westchester,  New  York. 
Thomas  F.  Doyle  received  his  early  education 


in  the  schools  of  Chicago,  and  this  has  been 
supplemented  by  reading  and  observation  through 
his  later  life.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  years  he  left 
his  studies,  and  found  employment  with  the 
Northwestern  Fertilizing  Company,  where  he 
held  the  position  of  shipping  clerk  four  years. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  he  engaged  in 
business  for  himself,  by  opening  a  store  on  Com- 


J.   H.  CUNNINGHAM. 


651 


mercial  Avenue,  south  of  the  railroad  tracks, 
where  he  dealt  in  groceries  and  liquors  about 
three  years.  In  1876  Mr.  Doyle  became  justice 
/  of  the  peace.  He  also  entered  the  real-estate 
business,  having  an  office  in  the  Commercial 
Building,  South  Chicago.  He  was  the  agent  of 
Colonel  Bowen,  locating  factories  and  selling 
land  for  him,  retaining  this  position  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Bowen,  and  then  continued  busi- 
ness on  his  own  responsibility. 

In  1883  Mr.  Doyle  removed  to  Omaha,  Neb- 
raska, where  he  was  for  three  years  interested  in 
the  real-estate  transfers  of  that  growing  town. 
In  1886  he  changed  his  location  to  Sioux  City, 


engaging  in  the  same  occupation,  and  in  1892 
returned  to  Chicago.  He  secured  an  office  at  No. 
80  Dearborn  Street,  which  he  retained  until  1896, 
and  then  moved  to  his  present  quarters  in  the 
Commercial  Block,  South  Chicago.  He  has  pros- 
pered in  his  ventures,  and  is  one  of  the  reliable 
business  men  of  the  community.  His  residence 
is  at  No.  8006  Bond  Avenue,  Chicago. 

July  12,  1884,  Mr.  Doyle  was  united  in  matri- 
mony with  Miss  Elizabeth  Quass,  of  Cedar  Rap- 
ids, Iowa.  He  is  a  most  public-spirited  and  pro- 
gressive citizen,  and  his  ideas  are  modern  and 
practical.  His  interest  in  political  affairs  never 
fails,  and  he  is  a  stanch  Democrat. 


JOSEPH   H.  CUNNINGHAM. 


(JOSEPH  HENRY  CUNNINGHAM,  an  en- 
I  ergetic  business  man  of  South  Chicago,  was 
Q)  born  August  12,  1840,  in  County  Armagh, 
Ireland,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Jane  (Brooks) 
Cunningham,  natives  of  that  country.  His 
grandfather,  William  Cunningham,  was  a  fann- 
er, and  members  of  his  family  were  extensive 
manufacturers  of  Irish  linen.  His  children  were 
John,  Leonard,  William,  Thomas,  Sarah  and 
Elizabeth.  Joseph  H.  Cunningham's  maternal 
grandfather,  John  Brooks,  was  engaged  in  agri- 
culture. His  children  were  James,  John,  Jane 
and  Ann. 

Joseph  Henry  Cunningham  was  educated  in 
his  native  county-,  where  he  spent  his  early  life. 
February  12,  1860,  he  emigrated  to  America,  and 
spent  a  few  years  in  Westchester  Count}',  New 
York,  where  he  found  employment  at  farm  labor. 
He  remained  a  year  in  New  Jersey,  six  years  in 
Zanesville,  Ohio,  and  one  year  in  Licking  County, 
Ohio,  during  all  of  which  time  he  followed  the 
occupation  of  fanner.  In  1878  he  removed  to 
Francisville,  Indiana,  where  he  spent  a  year  on  a 


farm,  and  then  moved  to  South  Chicago  and  en- 
gaged in  teaming  and  expressing.  He  met  with 
success  in  this  venture,  and  has  since  continued 
the  occupation.  He  is  now  associated  with  part- 
ners, under  the  title  of  Cunningham,  Son  &  Com- 
pany, and  their  offices  are  located  at  No.  306 
Ninety-second  Street. 

In  1863  Mr.  Cunningham  married  Miss  Lizzie, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Ferguson.  She  was  born  in 
County  Monaghan,  Ireland.  Their  children  are, 
Libbie  Jearette,  Amber  Zala  and  James  Pierce. 
The  first  married  Charles  G.  Bryon,  and  resides 
at  No.  9716  Exchange  Avenue.  The  second  be- 
came the  wife  of  George  Shortridge,  and  their 
home  is  at  No.  9131  Houston  Avenue.  The  son 
married  Elenore  Cutter,  daughter  of  Abijah  and 
Amanda  (Poole)  Cutter,  of  Cincinnati,  January 
14,  1891,  and  they  have  a  son  named  for  his  fa- 
ther. Their  first-born,  Blanche  Hazel,  died  when 
fourteen  months  old.  He  is  associated  with  his 
father  in  business,  and  is  one  of  the  most  active 
business  men  in  South  Chicago.  He  has  a  keen 
observation,  a  practical  knowledge  of  his  occupa- 


652 


I.  J.  REIS. 


tion,  and  the  ability  to  put  his  ideas  into  practice. 
The  firm  is  known  for  its  honest  and  fair 
dealings  with  customers,  and  prompt  attention  to 
their  wants. 

Mr.    Cunningham  is   a  member   of  the    First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  South  Chicago,  cherish- 


ing the  faith  of  his  parents,  and  is  connected  with 
Calumet  Lodge,  No.  44,  Independent  Order  of 
Foresters.  His  birthplace  is  near  that  of  the 
late  famous  New  York  merchant,  A.  T.  Stewart, 
with  whom  he  was  personally  acquainted  in 
earlv  life 


IGNACE  J.  REIS, 


CjTGNACE  J.  REIS  was  born  November  24, 
1864,  in  Kis  Palugya,  Hungary,  and  is  a  son 
Jt  of  Jonas  and  Julia  Reis,  both  of  whom  are 
living  at  his  birthplace.  Jonas  Reis  was  a  lieu- 
tenant in  the  army  of  Kossuth  and  fought  in  the 
Revolution  of  1848. 

The  subject  of  this  notice  received  his  early 
education  in  Buda  Pesth,  and  after  graduating 
from  the  gymnasium  there  he  took  up  the  study 
of  medicine,  which  was  his  mother's  choice  of 
profession  for  him.  He  continued  his  studies  in 
Vienna,  Austria,  and  later  studied  in  Berlin, 
Germany.  He  served  a  year  in  the  army,  and 
then  traveled  through  western  Europe. 

On  the  invitation  of  an  older  brother,  who 
lived  in  San  Francisco,  he  came  to  America. 
The  activity  of  the  American  people  appealed  to 
his  tastes  and  habits,  and  after  visiting  New 
York,  San  Francisco,  St.  Louis,  Milwaukee  and 
Chicago,  he  decided  upon  the  last-named  city  as 
a  place  of  residence,  and  in  1889  settled  in  the 
great  a'nd  growing  metropolis.  He  engaged  in 
his  profession  immediately,  but  his  inability  to 
speak  the  English  language  prevented  him  from 
establishing  himself  in  business  in  his  own  name, 
so  he  became  an  assistant  to  a  prominent  chirop- 
odist, until  he  was  able  to  master  our  language. 
His  employer  wondered  at  his  success  in  the 
treatment  of  corns,  bunions,  ingrowing  nails,  de- 


formed toes,  club  feet  and  all  foot  diseases,  and 
offered  him  a  very  good  income  if  he  would  re- 
main, but  Dr.  Reis  wished  to  be  independent, 
and  established  an  office  of  his  own.  He  soon 
had  a  large  practice,  and  in  six  months  his  suc- 
cess warranted  his  obtaining  a  large  and  com- 
modious office,  at  No.  125  State  Street, next  door  to 
Mandel  Brothers,  where  he  was  proclaimed  "the 
most  successful  surgeon-chiropodist  in  the  coun- 
try."  His  fame  has  reached  all  over  the  United 
States,  and  he  has  patients  from  the  'far  North, 
West,  South  and  East.  He  is  the  inventor  of 
the  bunion  shield,  which  has  been  of  great  bene- 
fit to  suffering  humanity. 

The  fame  and  success  of  Dr.  Reis  are  still  in- 
creasing, and  he  enjoys  the  confidence  and  friend- 
ship of  his  patients.  He  is  connected  with  many 
social  orders,  and  in  all  of  them  enjoys  the  re- 
spect and  esteem  of  its  members.  He  has  a  beau- 
tiful home  for  his  family,  which  consists  of  his 
wife  and  one  son.  He  was  united  in  matrimony, 
March  31,  1895,  with  Miss  Mamie  Ashenheim,  a 
well-known  author,  and  a  translator  of  English, 
German,  French,  and  other  languages. 

Dr.  Reis  has  a  reputation  for  great  integrity  in 
all  his  dealings.  His  affable  manners  and  ready 
flow  of  thought  in  conversation  make  him  an 
agreeable  companion,  and  he  is  soon  recognized  as 
a  man  of  superior  attainments  in  any  assemblage. 


H.   A.   FARNUM. 


653 


HENRY  A.  FARNUM. 


HENRY  ALBERT  FARNUM,  a  valued 
citizen  of  Norwood  Park,  was  born  Novem- 
ber 27,  1844,  in  Dublin,  near  Monadnock, 
New  Hampshire,  and  is  a  son  of  Rowland  and 
Mary  W.  (Brooks)  Farnum,  natives  of  New  Eng- 
land. Rowland  Farnum  was  a  son  of  Joshua  and 
Mary  W.  (Borden)  Farnum,  the  former  a  native 
of  Draycot,  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  soldier  in 
the  Revolutionary  Army,  having  run  away  from 
home  to  join  it.  After  the  war  he  settled  in 
Mount  Monadnock,  New  Hampshire,  and  there 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Family  tradition 
says  that  the  blood  of  the  red  men  ran  through 
his  veins,  though  there  is  no  satisfactory  proof  of 
it.  His  wife,  Mary  W.  Borden,  was  a  native  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  a  daughter  of  Jonas  and 
Mary  (Filton)  Borden.  Her  father  was  a  native 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  his  wife  of  Massachusetts, 
but  both  were  of  English  origin.  Rowland  Far- 
num and  his  wife  had  four  children,  of  whom  an 
account  is  given  below:  Henry  Albert  Farnum, 
of  whose  life  this  article  is  written,  and  John  M. 
were  the  sons.  The  latter  was  a  soldier  for  a 
short  time  during  the  Civil  War  and  later  a  whole- 
sale grocer  at  Keene,  New  Hampshire.  He  sub- 
sequently opened  a  retail  grocery  store  in  Nor- 
wood Park,  Illinois,  where  his  death  occurred 
July  17,  1896.  Sobrina,  wife  of  C.  P.  Grant, 
resides  on  West  Seventy-second  Street,  Chicago. 
Frances  is  the  widow  of  Stephen  A.  Randall. 
Rowland  Farnum  and  his  wife  died  at  Keene, 
New  Hampshire,  at  an  advanced  age. 

Henry  Albert  Farnum  remained  on  the  home 
farm  in  New  Hampshire  and  attended  the  com- 
mon schools,  where  he  received  his  early  educa- 
tion. At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  was 
attending  a  high  school,  but  he  left  his  studies 


and  enlisted,  September  20,  1861,  and  was  must- 
ered- into  service  and  assigned  to  Company  F, 
Sixth  New  Hampshire  Regiment  Volunteer  In- 
fantry. He  went  first  to  Maryland,  and  then  on 
Burnside's  expedition  to  Hatteras.  Of  the  nine 
transports  sent,  only  the  "Old  Louisiana"  was 
not  sunk.  Mr.  Farnum  spent  most  of  the  time 
during  the  war  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
being  in  battles  at  Roanoke,  Hatteras,  Chantilly, 
South  Mountain,  Antietam,  the  second  battle  of 
Fredericksburg,  at  Vicksburg,  Jackson,  and  other 
places,  being  under  General  Grant  at  Vicksburg 
and  Fredericksburg.  He  returned  to  the  Poto- 
mac under  General  Grant  and  fought  in  the  bat- 
tle of  the  Wilderness.  On  the  second  day,  May 
6,  1864,  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  sent  to  Rich- 
mond to  Libby  Prison  and  then  to  Danville, 
spending  a  few  days  in  each  place.  He  was  then 
sent  to  Andersonville,  where  he  was  confined 
eight  months.  Later  he  was  sent  to  Florence, 
South  Carolina,  and  while  in  the  prison  pen  was 
not  only  starved  nearly  to  death,  but  was  also  ex- 
posed to  extreme  cold  and  had  his  feet  so  badly 
frozen  that  part  of  the  flesh  fell  from  his  toes. 
From  Florence  he  was  taken  to  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  and  there  exchanged,  after  which 
he  spent  a  few  days  in  Grant's  general  hospital  at 
Willit's  Point,  New  York,  and  was  then  sent  to 
the  hospital  at  Manchester,  New  Hampshire. 
After  gaining  strength  and  partially  recovering 
his  health,  he  went  to  Concord  to  get  his  dis- 
charge, May  20,  1865.  Two  reports  of  his  death 
had  been  published  before  his  safety  became 
known  to  his  friends. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Farnum  learned  the 
trade  of  cabinet-maker,  and  worked  at  it  at  Keene, 
New  Hampshire,  and  also  Fitchburg,  Massachu- 


654 


F.  M.  WOJTALEWICZ. 


setts.  In  1876  Mr.  Farnum  came  to  Chicago 
and  worked  at  the  trade  of  making  sashes,  blinds 
and  doors,  and  later  found  employment  with  the 
Johnson  Furniture  Company.  He  chose  Nor- 
wood Park  as  a  home  and  still  resides  there,  oc- 
cupying a  comfortable  residence  at  No.  3585 
Clarendon  Street,  which  he  built  in  1897.  Since 
1890  he  has  taken  charge  of  the  Union  Ridge 
Cemetery,  as  superintendent. 

October  15,  1867,  Mr.  Farnum  married  Sarah 
E.  Wheeler,  and  they  had  two  children,  namely: 
Edward  Ellsworth,  now  residing  at  Athol, 
Massachusetts;  and  Isora  L. ,  wife  of  L,.  L.  Foster, 
of  the  same  place.  Mr.  Farnum  was  married 


June  24,  1893,  to  Eleanor  A.  Turner,  a  native  of 
Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  and  a  daughter  of 
Miles  S.  and  Clara  (Moore)  Turner.  The  former 
was  a  native  of  New  Jersey  and  fought  with  the 
Sixth  Regiment  New  Jersey  Volunteer  Infantry 
in  the  late  Civil  War.  He  was  also  a  member  of 
the  Thirty-sixth  Company,  Second  Battalion  Vet- 
eran Relief  Corps.  He  lived  in  Milwaukee,  and 
is  buried  in  Union  Ridge  Cemetery.  Mr.  Farnum 
is  a  member  of  B.  F.  Butler  Post,  No.  754,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  of  Irving  Park.  He  is  a 
Republican  in  his  political  views,  and  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  is  his 
wife. 


FRANCIS  M.  WOJTALEWICZ. 


|~~  RANCIS  MAXIMILIAN  WOJTALEWICZ 
r^  was  born  December  2,  1861,  in  Zalesie,  Po- 
|  *  land,  and  is  a  son  of  Maximilian  and  Lucy 
(Budzbanowska)  Wojtalewicz,  who  were  both 
natives  of  that  country.  His  maternal  grand- 
father, John  Budzbanowski,  was  the  superintend- 
ent of  an  estate  in  Poland,  and  his  father's  people 
were  farmers  in  that  country.  Maximilian 
Wojtalewicz  and  his  family  emigrated  to  America 
April  25,  1869,  and  settled  in  Chicago,  locating 
at  No.  31  Chapin  Street.  He  is  a  tailor  by  trade, 
and  still  lives  in  this  city,  where  he  has  bought 
ground  and  built  upon  it. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  attended  Saint 
Stanislaus'  School,  of  Chicago,  until  he  was 
thirteen  years  old,  and  was  then  employed  at 
gilding  picture  frames  in  a  factory  a  short  time. 
He  next  attended  public  school  until  he  was 
eighteen  years  of  age,  and  subsequently  entered 
Saint  Francis  Seminary,  Milwaukee,  where  he 
completed  a  classical  course.  He  next  attended 
school  at  Saint  Meinrad,  Indiana,  completing  the 
course  in  1889. 


December  21,  1889,  he  was  ordained  at  Holy 
Narne  Cathredal,  by  Arch-bishop  Feehan.  He 
was  then  appointed  assistant  to  Reverend  M. 
Pyplatz,  and  remained  with  him  one  year.  For 
nine  months  he  had  charge  of  Guardian  Angel 
Orphan  Asylum,  at  High  Ridge,  and  for  eight 
months  was  in  charge  of  a  mission  at  Downers 
Grove,  DuPage  County,  Illinois.  His  occupa- 
tion had  fitted  him  for  more  independent  efforts, 
and  he  next  engaged  his  energies  in  organizing 
a  mission  at  Sobieski,  Cook  County,  in  which  he 
was  very  successful,  and  he  remained  in  charge 
there  three  and  one-half  years. 

September  20,  1895,  Reverend  Wojtalewicz 
took  charge  of  the  Church  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  of  South  Chi- 
cago, and  he  has  since  been  engaged  in  promoting 
the  welfare  of  this  church.  He  is  the  friend  of 
the  poor,  the  comforter  of  the  sorrowful,  and 
sympathizes  with  the  joys  and  trials  of  all  his 
parishioners.  All  who  attend  the  services,  and 
are  connected  with  the  church,  give  him  their 
utmost  confidence  and  regard. 


LIBRARY 

OP  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


CitI<rm«I  &oij]<  L  £119  Co  Q 


C.  W.  WILLARD. 


655 


CHARLES  W.  WILLARD. 


EHARLES  WRIGHT  WILLARD  was  born 
January  31,  1826,  in  Deerfield,  Worcester 
County,  Massachusetts,  and  is  a  son  of  Hez- 
ekiah  and  Sultana  (Fisk)  Willard.  He  is  a  di- 
rect descendant  of  Maj.  Simon  Willard,  who  was 
born  at  Horsmonden,  England,  in  1605.  A  gen- 
ealogy of  the  Willard  family,  a  copy  of  which  is 
in  possession  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
compiled  by  Joseph  Willard  in  1858.  David  Wil- 
lard, grandfather  of  C.  W.  Willard,  married  Re- 
becca Pratt,  a  native  of  Winchester,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  had  the  following  children:  Hezekiah, 
Amos,  Rebecca,  Thirsa,  Seraph  and  Olive. 

Hezekiah  Willard,  father  of  Charles  W.  Wil- 
lard, was  born  September  30,  1803,  in  Winchester, 
New  Hampshire.  Sultana  Fisk,  his  wife,  was 
born  December  21,1 792 ,  in  South  Deerfield ,  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  was  of  Scotch  descent.  Their 
children  were:  Amos  Fisk,  Charles  Wright,  Hez- 
ekiah Oscar  and  John  Peters. 

The  business  life  of  Charles  W.  Willard  began 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  in  Alstead,  New 
Hampshire.  From  there  he  went  to  Nashua,  in 
the  same  State,  and  worked  as  a  blacksmith  two 
years.  Going  thence  to  Dorchester,  Massachu- 
setts, he  there  learned  the  trade  of  steam  forger, 
having  as  companion,  his  brother,  John  P.  Wil- 
lard. Together  they  went  to  Bridgewater,  Mas- 
sachusetts, where  they  worked  the  hammer  which 
turned  out  the  armor  for  the  first  monitor,  the 
old  Roanoke,  comprising  one  hundred  sixty  tons 
of  armor  plate.  They  subsequently  duplicated 
this  order  for  twenty-three  gunboats,  and  also 
filled  various  other  Government  orders. 

In  1862  they  came  to  Chicago  and  engaged  in 


business  with  the  firm  of  Pynchon,  Willard  & 
Company.  They  established  a  forge  at  Archer 
Avenue  and  Twenty-fourth  Street,  which  was 
known  as  the  Chicago  Steam  Forge  Works.  Mr. 
John  Pynchon  was  the  recognized  head  of  the 
concern,  and  had  its  financial  management  until 
he  was  bought  out  by  Charles  W.  Willard.  They 
started  with  one  hammer,  and  by  the  help  of  in- 
ventions perfected  by  the  Willard  brothers,  and 
which  are  protected  by  patents,  the  volume  of 
business  was  increased  until  it  employed  ten  ham- 
mers. The  first  of  these  patents  covered  an  im- 
proved valve-gear,  and  the  next  invention,  which 
proved  the  more  valuable  of  the  two,  was  an  iron- 
helve  hammer.  In  course  of  time,  Mr.  C.  W. 
Willard  bought  out  all  his  partners,  the  first  one 
to  sell  being  Mr.  James  W.  Maxwell,  who  left  the 
firm  in  1868,  the  next  being  Mr.  Willard's  broth- 
er, and  the  last  Mr.  Pynchon. 

In  1878  a  charter  covering  the  business  was  se- 
cured, with  the  title  of  Willard  Sons  &  Bell 
Company.  The  plant  was  moved  to  South  Chi- 
cago and  located  on  the  Calumet  River,  fronting 
on  Ninety-eighth  Street,  in  1882,  at  which  time 
its  capacity  was  quadrupled.  The  product  con- 
sists chiefly  of  car  and  locomotive  axles,  and  in- 
cludes all  kinds  of  forgings  for  railroad  work. 
Since  the  World's  Fair,  Mr.  Willard's  sons,  Frank 
and  Lemuel>  have  assumed  the  practical  manage- 
ment of  the  business,  thus  giving  the  father  a 
much-needed  rest  after  a  long  life  of  useful  activ- 
ity. The  two  brothers,  Charles  W.  and  John  P. 
Willard,  are  now  enjoying  a  competency,  which 
they  have  earned  by  a  life  of  hard  labor  and  hon- 
est endeavor. 


656 


C.  W.  WILLARD. 


September  28,  1846,  Charles  W.  Willard  was 
married  to  Miss  Martha  Ann  Babcock,  a  daughter 
of  Lemuel  E.  and  Sarah  Emmeline  (Buell)  Bab- 
cock.  Martha  A.  Babcock  was  born  October  22, 
1832,  in  Windsor,  Vermont,  and  died  September 
20,  1883,  at  South  Chicago.  She  was  the  mother 
of  eight  children.  The  eldest  of  these,  Charles 
Edward  Willard,  was  born  May  22,  1849,  at  Dor- 
chester, Massachusetts.  He  married  Ellen,  daugh- 
ter of  Charles  E.  Felton ,  of  Chicago,  and  has  one 
child,  named  George  Gale.  Martha  Emma  Wil- 
lard, born  April  12,  1851,  at  Dorchester,  Massa- 
chusetts, married  Kossuth  H.  Bell,  March  n, 
1879,  and  has  five  children. 

Frank  Eugene,  third  child  of  C.  W.  Willard, 
was  born  November  10,  1854,  in  East  Boston, 
Massachusetts.  In  March,  1885,  he  married 
Anna,  daughter  of  John  Moran,  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  Their  children  are:  Frank  Valentine, 
born  February  14,  1894;  Dorothy,  April  26,  1895; 
and  Gladys,  March  22,1896.  After  graduating 
from  the  Chicago  High  School  in  1870,  Mr.  Wil- 
lard was  employed  six  years  at  the  forge.  He 
then  went  into  the  offices  of  the  Chicago  Steam 
Forge  Works,  which  were  located  in  the  Holley 
Building,  in  1882.  Seven  years  later  they  were 
moved  to  the  Western  Union  Building,  and  in 
August,  1896,  to  the  Great  Northern  Building. 
Since  July  i,  1889,  Mr.  Frank  E.  Willard  has  had 
entire  charge  of  these  offices. 

Freddy  C.,  the  fourth  child  of  C.  W.  Willard, 
born  February  17,  1855,  in  Dorchester,  Massa- 
chusetts, died  July  30,  1857.  Harriet  Emmeline, 
next,  was  born  May  30,  1859,  in  Bridgewater, 
Massachusetts,  and  died  in  Chicago,  May  i, 
1877,  having  just  graduated  from  the  Chicago 
High  School. 

Lemuel  Clifton  Willard  was  born  October  17, 
1862,  in  Bridgewater,  Massachusetts.  December 
12,  1885,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Ellen,  daugh- 
ter of  Anton  Kahl,  of  Chicago.  Their  children 
are:  Ella  Martha,  born  May  2,  1887;  Harriet 
Emmeline,  December  12,  1893;  and  Wright 
Clifton,  September  6,  1896.  At  the  age  of  six- 
teen years,  he  left  school,  and  entered  his  fa- 
ther's employ.  In  1888  he  took  charge  of  the 
mechanical  portion  of  work  of  the  establishment, 


and  has  continued  in  this  position  ever  since. 
Mr.  Willard  is  connected  with  Court  South  Chi- 
cago, No.  171,  Independent  Order  of  Foresters. 
He  was  made  a  Mason  in  August,  1892,  in 
Triluminar  Lodge,  No.  767,  and  is  identified 
with  Sinai  Chapter,  No.  185,  and  Calumet  Com- 
mandery,  No.  62,  of  that  order. 

The  last  two  children  of  C.  W.  Willard  and 
wife  were  twins,  Willie  and  Winnie,  born  in 
Chicago,  October  10,  1865.  The  former  died  on 
the  following  day,  and  the  latter  September  30, 
1867. 

November  19,  1888,  Charles  W.  Willard  was 
married  the  second  time,  the  bride  being  a  sister 
of  his  first  wife,  and  the  widow  of  his  younger 
brother,  H.  O.  Willard.  Hezekiah  Oscar  Wil- 
lard was  born  February  13,  1827,  in  Winchester, 
New  Hampshire,  and  died  March  22,  1886,  at 
Alstead,  in  the  same  State.  January  28,  1846, 
he  was  married  to  Sarah  Emmeline  Babcock,  and 
they  became  the  parents  of  nine  children. 

Mr.  Charles  W.  Willard  was  made  a  Mason,  at 
Bridgewater,  Massachusetts,  in  1861,  becoming  a 
member  of  Bridgewater  Lodge  of  that  city.  He 
is  a  steadfast  Republican  in  political  principle, 
but  has  never  aspired  to  political  offices  or 
honors. 

Amos  Fisk  Willard,  eldest  son  of  Hezekiah 
Willard,  was  born  March  20,  1824,  and  died  in 
Winchendon,  Massachusetts,  May  15,  1894.  He 
was  married  December  31,  1846,  to  Amelia  M. 
Smith,  of  Langdon,  New  Hampshire,  and  became 
the  father  of  eight  children. 

John  Peters  Willard,  youngest  son  of  Hezekiah 
Willard,  was  born  November  24,  1830,  in  Al- 
stead, New  Hampshire.  The  history  of  his  early 
life  is  given  in  connection  with  that  of  his  elder 
brother,  Charles  W.  Willard,  whose  name  heads 
this  article.  In  1872  he  sold  out  his  interest  in 
the  firm  of  Pynchon,  Willard  &  Company,  and 
moved  to  De  Pere,  Wisconsin.  Here  he  estab- 
lished himself  in  business  under  the  title  of  the 
De  Pere  Steam  Forge  Works,  and  has  achieved  a 
most  gratifying  success.  He  became  connected 
with  the  Masonic  order  in  that  city  in  1876,  in  De 
Pere  Lodge.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 

He   married    Harriet   P.    Hurd,    daughter   of 


CHARLES  KRIEWITZ. 


657 


Collins  and  Sarah  (Way)  Kurd.  Their  children 
are  as  follows:  Cora  Sultana,  born  December  24, 
1855,  died  September  3,  1856,  in  Alstead,  New 
Hampshire;  Nellie  Asenath,  born  April  17,  1857, 
in  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  married  Paul 
Scheuring,  April  12,  1877,  and  had  eight  chil- 
dren; Myra  Hurd,  born  January  23,  1859,  in  Al- 


stead, New  Hampshire,  married  Harry  McRoy, 
of  Chicago,  June  16,  1880,  and  has  three  children; 
Freddie  Collins,  born  May  18,  1861,  in  Bridge- 
water,  Massachusetts,  died  February  9,  1862; 
Mabel  Emma,  born  September  16,  1866,  in  Chi- 
cago, died  July  20,  1895;  Clara  May,  born  April 
4,  1870,  in  Chicago,  died  April  17,  1874. 


CHARLES  KRIEWITZ. 


EHARLES  KRIEWITZ,  a  very  successful 
South  Chicago  grocer,  has  been  established 
in  his  present  location  some  thirteen  years, 
and  has  acquired  an  enviable  reputation  along 
Commercial  Avenue,  where  he  has  a  store  at  No. 
9700.  Mr.  Kriewitz  is  of  German  origin,  his 
parents,  Jacob  and  Fredrika  (Lubtke)  Kriewitz, 
residing  in  the  little  Pommeranian  town  of  Lassan 
at  the  time  of  his  birth,  September  2,  1844.  His 
father  was  a  fisherman,  and  died  at  the  early  age 
of  forty-three,  in  1864.  His  mother  kept  her  wid- 
owed state  many  years,  and  died  in  Chicago, 
when  past  seventy-five  years  of  age.  She  was 
the  mother  of  four  sons  and  one  daughter, 
who  are  living  in  this  country,  except  as  noted 
below.  She  crossed  the  ocean  in  1871  to  spend 
her  declining  days  with  her  children  in  their 
American  home,  and  her  only  daughter,  Minnie, 
bore  her  company.  Her  son  Frederick  was  the 
first  to  emigrate,  and  now  lives  atTolleston,  Indi- 
ana, where  he  cares  for  a  family  of  four  children. 
John,  the  only  son  who  persisted  in  clinging  to  the 
Fatherland,  still  lives  at  Kiel,  where  he  follows 
ship  carpentering.  He  is  the  father  of  four  chil- 
dren. Ernst  lives  in  South  Chicago;  and  Minnie 
is  Mrs.  Rudolph  Hargens,  and  has  her  home  at 
Clark  Station,  Indiana.  She  is  the  mother  of 
four  children. 

Mr.  Kriewitz  struck  out  for  himself  early  in  life, 
and  something  of  his  sturdy  character  may  be  at- 


tributed to  the  discipline  of  these  earlier  years. 
When  fourteen  he  left  home  and  became  a  sailor, 
serving  for  several  years  on  coast  trading  vessels. 
Before  he  was  twenty  he  took  an  able-bodied  sail- 
or's position  on  an  ocean-going  vessel,  and  was  on 
the  salt  water  for  ten  years.  He  served  in  the 
German  navy  for  upwards  of  two  years,  from  1864 
to  1866,  and  has  an  honorable  record  in  that  ca- 
pacity. In  1869  he  came  to  this  country  on 
board  the  barque  ''Lincoln,"  of  Bath,  Maine.  He 
landed  at  Philadelphia,  and  came  straight  on  to 
Chicago,  where  his  brother  Frederick  was  already 
established.  He  was  a  capable  and  trusty  sea- 
man and  at  once  found  remunerative  employment 
on  the  lakes.  He  left  the  water  in  the  autumn  of 
1872  to  engage  in  business  for  himself  as  propri- 
etor and  manager  of  a  saloon  and  grocery  at  Clark 
Station,  Indiana,  and  continued  in  this  business 
for  the  next  ten  years.  In  June,  1883,  he  came 
to  his  present  location,  put  up  a  convenient  store 
building,  and  has  built  up  one  of  the  most  com- 
plete grocery  establishments  on  the  street. 

January  17,  1873,  Mr.  Kriewitz  married  Miss 
Matilda  Ludewig,  whose  parents,  Henry  and  Eliza- 
beth Dorothea  (Kroekel)  Ludewig,  werenativesof 
Hanover,  Germany.  She  came  to  this  country  in 
1870,  in  company  with  her  three  brothers,  all  of 
whom  have  met  with  success  in  the  intervening 
years.  William  is  a  physician  at  Rock  Island; 
Fred  is  a  farmer  near  Woodstock ;  and  Adolph  is 


658 


ROBERT  COLLINS. 


seeking  restoration  of  health  under  Italian  skies. 
She  is  a  lady  of  many  musical  gifts,  and  is  es- 
pecially proficient  on  the  guitar.  Her  two  older 
sons,  Charles  Frederick,  born  September  12,  1874, 
and  Bernard  Otto,  February  17,  1876,  were  estab- 
lished by  Mr.  Kriewitz  in  the  meat  and  grocery 
business  at  No.  1010  Commercial  Avenue,  in  May, 
1895,  and  have  rapidly  risen  to  the  front  rank  in 
that  line.  They  do  a  large  business  with  freight 
boats  that  come  in  the  Calumet  River,  and  seek 
renewal  of  their  larder  before  returning  to  the 
lake.  A  daughter,  Freda,  August  4,  1877,  lived 
only  eleven  days.  Clara  Matilda,  born  August 
8,  1878,  inherits  her  mother's  musical  gift,  and 
is  a  graduate  of  the  Chicago  Musical  College,  and 
was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  F.  Ziegfeld.  She  is  now  at- 
tending the  Chicago  Female  College,  and  teaches 
a  class  in  musical  home.  Emmertina  Elsie,  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1883,  died  on  the  last  day  of  July  in 
the  year  of  her  birth.  John,  who  was  born  Janu- 
ary 10,  1884,  died  in  the  following  August.  Mil- 


ton Ludwig,  September  12,  1885,  was  drowned 
in  Lake  Michigan,  at  the  foot  of  Ninety-fifth 
Street,  August  4,  1896,  while  out  swimming. 
He  was  a  very  bright  lad,  and  had  become  a  fine 
violinist.  His  loss  is  deeply  mourned,  not  only 
by  his  own  immediate  family,  but  by  many  friends 
who  feel  that  a  promising  career  was  suddenly  cut 
short. 

Mr.  Kriewitz  is  a  member  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  has  his  name  on  the 
rolls  of  Earl  Lodge  No.  333,  Hubbard,  Indiana. 
He  takes  much  interest  in  the  order,  and  has  filled 
all  its  chairs.  He  also  belongs  to  the  Sons  of 
Hermann  No.  41,  South  Chicago.  In  religion  he 
affiliates  with  the  Congregational  Church,  and  in 
politics  acts  with  the  Republican  party.  He  was 
school  director  in  Lake  County,  Indiana,  for  six 
years,  and  served  a  short  term  as  postmaster  at 
Clark  Station.  He  is  an  active  and  capable  bus- 
iness man,  and  takes  much  interest  in  public  af- 
fairs. 


ROBERT  COLLINS. 


ROBERT  COLLINS.     Many  men  in  our  great 
metropolis   have  risen  to  positions  of  trust 
and  responsibility  through  their  own  efforts, 
unaided  by  money  or  the  influence  of  others,  and 
among   these  valuable   citizens  is  found  Robert 
Collins.     He    was   born  November  22,  1857,  m 
Conshohocken,  Pennsylvania,  and   is   the  son  of 
William    and    Lavinia    (Harvey)    Collins.      His 
genealogy  will  be  found  with  that  of  his  brother, 
W.  H.  Collins,  contained  in  this  work. 

William  Collins  was  foreman  of  a  blast  fur- 
nace, and  worked  at  the  following  places:  Youngs- 
town  and  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Knightsville,  Indi- 
ana; Grand  Tower,  Illinois;  and  Saint  Louis, 
Missouri.  When  Robert  Collins  was  a  lad  of  lit- 
tle more  than  nine  years,  he  thought  best  to  leave 


school  and  begin  the  battle  of  life.  From  that 
time  he  has  worked  all  his  life.  Until  he  was 
twenty-three  years  of  age  he  gave  his  earnings  to 
his  parents,  as  soon  as  received.  In  November, 
1882,  he  began  life  for  himself,  and  after  a  few 
years  of  traveling  about,  in  which  time  he  saw 
many  hardships,  he  was  able,  by  reason  of  his  skill 
as  a  mechanic,  to  secure  a  valuable  and  perma- 
nent position  with  a  reliable  establishment.  He 
first  began  as  a  common  laborer  for  the  Illinois 
Steel  Company  in  South  Chicago.  After  a  year 
and  one-half  of  this,  he  spent  a  year  as  runner- 
man;  then,  beginning  as  fourth  vesselman,  he  has 
advanced  to  the  position  of  second  vesselman, 
which  last  position  he  has  held  five  years,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  his  employers. 


RICHARD  SPARROW. 


659 


August  23,  1880,  Mr.  Collins  married  Miss. 
Eliza  Horner,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  three 
living  children,  Malissa,  Stella  and  Arthur. 
Joshua  died  in  infancy.  They  live  at  their  com- 
fortable home,  No.  9742  Avenue  M,  Chicago. 
Mr.  Collins  is  a  true  representative  of  the  substan- 
tial class  of  American  self-made  men.  He  has 


well  earned  the  respect  and  admiration  that  the 
community  accords  him,  and  deserves  the  many 
firm  friends  he  has,  and  whom  he  is  so  willing  to 
serve.  In  politics  Mr.  Collins  is  independent  in 
his  views,  believing  that  true  patriotism  looks 
rather  to  the  ability  than  the  party  affiliations  of 
a  candidate. 


RICHARD  SPARROW. 


RICHARD  SPARROW  was  born  August  i, 
1831,  in  Dudley,  Staffordshire,  England, 
and  is  a  son  of  James  and  Mary  (Turner) 
Sparrow.  His  mother  died  when  he  was  but  five 
years  of  age,  and  two  years  later  his  father  mar- 
ried again.  His  first  employment  was  with  a 
glass  house.  At  the  age  of  eight  and  one-half 
years  he  began  work  as  savator,  which  he  con- 
tinued two  years,  and  then  secured  employment  in 
iron  works,  which  business  he  continued  right 
along.  He  was  helper  to  a  puddler  until  nineteen 
years  of  age,  and  was  then  "boss"  of  a  furnace, 
and  continued  as  such  until  he  came  to  America. 

In  February,  1868,  he  reached  America  and 
came  direct  to  Chicago.  Mr.  Crossley  Law,  who 
married  the  sister  of  the  first  wife  of  Mr.  Sparrow, 
was  then  working  in  the  North  Chicago  Rolling 
Mills,  and  through  him  the  latter  secured  a  posi- 
tion as  puddler  in  this  mill.  He  then  took  charge 
of  the  furnace,  and  in  1879  was  made  nighf'boss" 
of  the  puddlers.  In  1881  he  went  to  South  Chi- 
cago and  was  put  in  charge  of  the  boiler  house. 
In  1887  he  left  the  mill,  and  has  lived  a  retired 
life  since  that  time. 

Mr.  Sparrow  was  married  in  1853  to  Miss 
Mary,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Brown.  She 
died  February  27,  1868,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six 
years,  leaving  one  child,  Arthur  James.  He  was 
born  August  20,  1856,  and  married  Sarah  Ann 
Cooper,  and  is  now  a  bookkeeper  in  San  Francisco, 


California.  His  children  are  named:  Mary  Ade- 
laide Cooper,  Harvey  Mark  Cooper  and  Howard 
Cooper.  Mr.  Sparrow  married  for  his  second 
wife  Dr.  Hannah  Steele,  whose  biography  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

James  Sparrow,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  located  in  New  York  City,  where 
he  married  a  second  wife,  and  his  descendants  are 
very  prominent  there.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  a 
son  and  daughter,  the  former  being  the  father  of 
Richard  Sparrow.  The  second  wife,  Miss 
Rhodes,  was  a  lady  of  wealth,  and  at  her  death 
she  left  her  property  to  James  Sparrow,  who  was, 
therefore,  at  one  time  a  man  of  very  comfortable 
means,  but  he  had  reverses  and  lost  so  much  of 
his  property  that  in  later  life  he  was  compelled  to 
work  for  his  living.  His  children  by  his  first 
marriage  were  seven  in  number,  namely:  James, 
now  deceased;  Elizabeth,  Mrs.  John  Bolton,  now 
deceased;  Mary,  wife  of  Joseph  Chance,  now  de- 
ceased; John,  deceased,  and  Richard.  Joseph 
resides  at  Seventy-ninth  Street  and  Coles  Avenue, 
Chicago. 

The  children  of  James  Sparrow  by  his  second 
marriage  were:  Martha,  who  died  at  twelve  years 
of  age;  William  and  Thomas,  both  of  whom  are 
in  England. 

Mr.  Sparrow  is  a  member  of  the  Order  of 
Foresters  of  Court  Briscoe,  No.  9,  and  is  a  Re- 
publican in  politics. 


66o 


W.  B.  MONTGOMERY. 


WILLIAM   B.  MONTGOMERY. 


BELL  MONTGOMERY,  who 

has  the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  first  per- 
sons  to  locate  a  home  in  Taylor's  First  Ad- 
dition, sometimes  known  as  the  East  Side  of  South 
Chicago,  was  born  March  8,  1836,  in  Mercer 
County,  Illinois,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Sarah 
(Vail)  Montgomery.  John  Montgomery  was  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  of  what  is  termed  by  some 
the  Old  School,  and  came  West  as  a  missionary 
to  the  Indians.  He  went  among  the  Osage  Indi- 
ans of  Missouri,  and  finally  settled  in  Mercer 
County,  Illinois,  where  he  entered  land,  engaged 
in  farming,  and  lived  until  his  death  in  1842.  His 
wife  was  born  in  Connecticut.  She  also  died  in 
the  same  year  and  place  as  her  husband.  Their 
children  now  living  are:  William  Bell  and  Asen- 
ath;  the  latter  married  Solomon  Gardner,  and  is 
now  a  widow,  living  in  Austin,  Illinois.  The 
names  of  the  deceased  children  are:  Joseph  V.,  a 
merchant,  and  Christiana,  wife  of  W.  I.  Moore, 
of  Austin,  Illinois. 

William  Bell  Montgomery  lost  both  parents  when 
he  was  only  eight  years  of  age,  and  his  guardian 
was  Thomas  Vail,  his  mother's  brother,  who  lived 
at  the  old  homestead.  William  lived  with  him 
until  he  was  fourteen  years  old,  and  then,  at 
his  own  expense,  attended  the  Geneseo  High 
School.  When  eighteen  years  old,  he  began 
learning  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner  in  Gen- 
eseo. In  1856  he  began  a  dry-goods  business  for 
himself,  in  Kewanee,  Henry  County,  Illinois, 
with  W.  I.  Moore  as  partner,  and  .they  continued 


two  years.  For  a  year  he  conducted  the  Empire 
House  in  that  city,  and  then  went  to  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  and  followed  his  trade.  He  stayed 
two  years,  and  in  1861  went  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
and  enlisted  in  General  Fremont's  mounted  body 
guard,  known  as  the  Kentucky  Company,  made 
up  of  picked  men.  He  remained  with  them  until 
General  Fremont  was  superseded,  and  is  one  of 
the  few  survivors  of  the  famous  Fremont's  Body 
Guard  charge,  October  24,  1861,  at  Springfield, 
Missouri. 

He  returned  to  Cincinnati  and  worked  at  his 
trade  until  1869,  when  he  went  to  Put-In-Bay  Is- 
land (Lake  Erie),  Ohio.  There  he  did  his  first 
contracting.  He  built  all  the  first-class  hotels  at 
this  summer  resort  during  his  three-years  stay, 
and  this  gave  him  a  start  in  life.  Next  he  went 
toSandusky,  Ohio,  where  he  spent  one  season  in 
contracting  and  building. 

In  the  spring  of  1873,  he  came  to  Chicago  and 
bought  some  property  at  what  is  now  No.  992 
Avenue  K.  He  was  one  of  the  first  investors  on 
the  East  Side  .after  the  town  was  located.  He 
came  under  a  contract  to  build  mills  for  the  Ness 
Silicon  Steel  Company,  from  Rome,  New  York. 
The  company  failed  later,  and  though  the  mills 
had  been  completed,  they  were  never  used  by  the 
builders. 

Mr.  Montgomery  remained  in  South  Chicago 
until  1878,  and  in  this  time  built  principally 
houses,  among  them  the  Taylor  and  the  Krimbill 
residences.  Some  of  the  work  done  by  him  in 


J.  O.  KNALL. 


66 1 


1875  was  the  building  of  the  first  draw-bridge 
across  the  Calumet  River  at  Ninety- fifth  Street. 
He  also  built  the  Chittenden  and  the  One  Hun- 
dred Sixth  Street  Bridges.  In  1878  he  removed 
to  Chicago,  living  on  the  West  Side,  although  he 
still  retained  his  property  in  South  Chicago.  He 
lived  on  the  West  Side  until  1890,  following  his 
trade  mean  time.  When  he  returned  to  South 
Chicago,  he  improved  his  property,  and  continued 
building  operations.  In  the  spring  of  1893,  he 
erected  the  present  building  on  his  property,  and 
opened  the  hotel,  Saint  Elmo,  the  following  July. 


Since  that  time  he  has  given  his  time  and  energy 
to  the  successful  and  satisfactory  conduct  of  this 
hotel. 

November  5,  1879,  Mr.  Montgomery  married 
Mrs.  Hattie  De  Wolf,  widow  of  Louis  De  Wolf. 
She  died  March  24,  1893.  In  politics  Mr.  Mont- 
gomery is  a  Republican,  but  he  has  never  held 
any  office.  The  friends  of  the  genial  landlord  of 
the  Saint  Elmo  Hotel  are  many,  and  he  is  re- 
spected by  all  who  know  him.  He  is  truly  a  ben- 
efactor of  his  city,  and  is  most  intimately  con- 
nected with  its  past  and  present  growth. 


JOHN  O.  KNALL. 


(JOHN  OSCAR  KNALL,  chief  engineer  of  the 
Illinois  Steel  Company,  was  born  February 
Q)  5,  1858,  in  Norkoping,  Sweden.  He  is  the 
son  of  August  and  Louise  (Johnson)  Knall. 
August  Knall  was  born  May  10,  1826,  in  Sweden, 
and  his  wife,  Louise  Johnson,  was  born  March 
25,  1824,  in  the  same  country.  The  former  was 
a  carpenter  by  trade,  but  served  thirty-two  years 
as  a  soldier  in  his  native  land.  He  and  his  wife 
came  to  South  Chicago,  by  the  request  of  their 
children,  who  were  already  there,  in  1883,  and 
they  have  ever  since  made  that  locality  their 
home. 

The  first  of  the  family  to  remove  to  America 
was  Matilda,  the  eldest  daughter.  In  1869  she 
came  to  Chicago,  and  lived  here  ten  years  before 
she  visited  Sweden.  After  remaining  at  home  a 
year,  she  returned  to  this  city,  and  has  lived  here 
ever  since  that  time.  She  has  never  married,  and 
now  resides  with  her  parents  in  South  Chicago. 
Her  brother  Charles  was  the  next  to  come  to  the 
United  States.  He  came  in  1860  to  Chicago,  and 
later  he  removed  to  Santa  Barbara  County,  Cali- 


fornia, where  he  has  lived  since,  and  is  engaged 
in  farming.  He  is  married  and  has  five  children. 
Annie  Knall,  another  daughter,  came  with  her 
eldest  sister  in  1881,  when  the  latter  returned 
from  Sweden.  Annie  Knall  married  Edward 
Reen,  and  has  two  children.  She  and  her  hus- 
band make  their  home  in  South  Chicago.  Ida  A. , 
the  youngest  daughter  of  August  Knall,  gradu- 
ated in  May,  1897,  from  the  University  in  Cali- 
fornia. She  is  a  student  of  ability  and  a  rare 
linguist,  owing  her  education  to  her  individual 
efforts. 

John  Oscar  Knall  reached  New  York  March  3, 
1880,  and  came  on  to  Chicago  immediately.  In 
Sweden  he  had  prepared  himself  for  the  work  of 
machinist,  having  served  an  apprenticeship  of 
seven  years.  He  first  began  work  in  the  city  in 
the  service  of  Crane  Brothers,  dealers  in  elevators, 
with  whom  he  remained  three  months.  He  then 
worked  six  months  at  the  Deering  Harvester 
Works  as  machinist.  July  5,  1881,  he  began 
working  for  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  and  he 
has  ever  since  been  one  of  its  most  valuable 


662 


L.  A.  FREY. 


employes.  He  worked  four  years  as  a  machinist, 
and  then  was  made  assistant  to  James  Penny,  the 
chief  engineer.  In  less  than  a  year  he  was  made 
chief  engineer,  and  he  has  since  retained  that 
responsible  position. 

Mr.  Knall  bought  some  property  on  Avenue  H 
in  1883,  and  in  1886  built  a  comfortable  home  on 
it,  in  which  he  has  since  made  his  home.  He 
also  owns  property  on  Exchange  Avenue,  between 
Eighty-ninth  and  Ninetieth  Streets. 

October  6.  1882,  Mr.  Knall  married  his  first 
wife,  Cbarlotta  Hulltner,  a  native  of  Sweden. 


She  died  January  9,  1884,  leaving  one  child, 
Frank,  who  still  lives  at  home.  June  9,  1888,  he 
married  Miss  Hedwig  Carolina  Hermann,  a  native 
of  Sweden.  They  have  three  children,  John,  David 
and  Jos(  ph.  Mr.  Knall  and  his  family  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Lutheran  Church.  On  national  ques- 
tions Mr.  Knall  favors  the  Republican  party.  He 
is  an  expert  at  his  trade,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  trusted  of  the  employes  of  the  corpora- 
tion which  he  serves.  He  is  progressive  in 
his  ideas  and  warmly  interested  in  all  public  im- 
provements. 


LOUIS  A/ FREY. 


I  OUIS  ALOIS  FREY  carries  on  an  extensive 
It  real-estate,  loan,  insurance  and  steamship- 
IH/  ticket  business  in  South  Chicago,  and  is  re- 
garded as  authority  on  anything  that  relates  to 
values  or  business  deals  in  this  part  of  the  city. 
He  was  born  in  New  York,  February  26,  1852, 
and  his  parents,  Lucas  and  Catharine  (Muller) 
Frey,  moved  to  Detroit  in  1853,  and  came  to  Chi- 
cago the  next  year.  Mr.  Frey  was  given  good 
educational  advantages,  both  in  the  parochial 
and  public  schools  and  in  Deyrenfurth  College. 
When  he  was  sixteen  years  old  he  left  school  to 
engage  in  business  under  his  father's  direction. 
His  father  owned  the  Lake  House,  then  located 
at  the  corner  of  Kinzie  and  Rush  Streets,  and 
young  Louis  took  charge  of  it  for  him. 

In  1873  he  went  into  the  real-estate  business 
with  Jacob  Bremer,  and  continued  until  1881. 
He  formed  a  partnership  that  year  with  Capt. 
R.  D.  Lender,  under  the  firm  name  of  Frey  & 
Lender,  which  continued  for  three  years;  and  then, 
Mr.  Frey  carried  on  business  alone  until  1889. 
At  this  time  he  went  into  the  firm  of  Frey  & 


Schlund,  and  the  partners  were  together  for  six 
years.  Since  that  time  Mr.  Frey  has  been  alone. 
He  has  served  as  president  of  the  Royal  Building 
and  Loan  Association,  an  institution  in  which 
he  takes  a  lively  interest. 

Mr.  Frey  united  his  matrimonial  destinies  with 
those  of  Anna  Katharine  Schwall,  May  3,  1881, 
and  from  this  union  have  come  the  following  chil- 
dren: Man'  Magdalene,  born  February  2,  1882; 
Anna  Maria,  October  i,  1884;  Elizabeth  Pauline, 
January  26,  1887;  Frances  Catharine,  December 
26,  1888;  Louis  Alois,  May  16,  1890  (dead); 
Frank  Alois,  twin  of  Louis  (dead);  John  Louis, 
July  18,  1891  (died  October  29,  1895);  and  Olive 
Euphrosine,  March  29,  1895.  Mrs.  Frey  was 
born  at  Wilmette,  Cook  County,  Illinois,  Decem- 
ber 21,  1862,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Ma- 
ria Schwall. 

Lucas  Frey  was  a  native  of  Baden,  Germany, 
born  in  1822,  and  died  June  4,  1871,  in  Chicago. 
He  left  Germany  when  he  was  twenty-four  years 
old,  and  came  to  New  York,  where  he  began  to 
manufacture  brushes  on  a  large  scale.  He  came 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


PETER  J.  RUBEY 


(From  Photo  by  W.  J.  ROOTI 


P.  J.  RUBEY. 


663 


to  Chicago  in  1853,  and  enlarged  his  business. 
He  was  also  interested  in  a  brewery,  which  he 
operated  in  connection  with  his  brush  factory  on 
State  Street,  between  Congress  and  Harrison 
Streets.  He  sold  his  brewery  interests  in  1862  to 
Mosler  Brothers,  and  two  years  later  started  a 
hotel  at  the  corner  of  Twelfth  Street  and  Fourth 
Avenue,  which  he  called  the  Chicago  House.  He 
disposed  of  it  in  1867,  and  the  next  year  opened 
the  Lake  House,at  the  corner  of  Rush  and  Kinzie 
Streets,  and  was  its  proprietor  when  he  died. 
His  wife,  Catharine  Muller,  who  survives  him, 
and  lives  at  Colehour,  is  an  Alsatian,  and  was 
born  at  Rohweiler,  France.  Her  father,  Michael 
Muller,  was  a  farmer,  who  never  left  the  land  of 


his  birth.  He  owned  the  land  he  tilled,  and  was 
the  sire  of  many  children.  Mrs.  Frey,  with  her 
brother,  sisters  and  uncle,  Anthony  Muller,  emi- 
grated to  America  in  1847,  and  was  married  to 
Mr.  Frey  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Louis  A.  Frey  is  a  man  of  social  instincts 
and  is  associated  with  several  fraternal  societies. 
He  is  a  member  of  Calumet  Council  No.  569, 
Royal  Arcanum, and  is  a  charter  member  of  Branch 
No.  317,  Catholic  Knights  of  America.  He  is 
one  of  the  leading  spirits  of  St.  Peter  and  Paul's 
Benevolent  Society,  of  South  Chicago,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Columbus  Club.  He  has  a  pleas- 
ant home  on  Exchange  Avenue,  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  charming  and  interesting  family. 


PETER  J.  RUBEY. 


QETER  JOSEPH  RUBEY  is  one  of  Chicago's 

LX  most  progressive  and  reliable  business  men. 
J5  He  is  one  of  the  largest  cigar  manufacturers 
in  South  Chicago,  and  does  both  a  wholesale 
and  retail  business  in  this  line,  thus  providing 
employment  for  many  men.  Among  these  are 
numerous  agents,  who  do  business  in  fields  out- 
side the  city,  as  well  as  in  it. 

Peter  J.  Rubey  was  born  March  31,  1856,  in 
Hostan,  Germany,  and  is  the  son  of  Joseph  and 
Katharine  (Thomas)  Rubey.  In  1869  his  par- 
ents came  to  America,  locating  in  Chicago  Sep- 
tember 19  of  that  year.  Here  Joseph  Rubey  died 
in  1885.  Peter  J.  Rubey  began  in  early  life  to 
work  in  the  tobacco  business,  being  employed  by 
Alfred  Singer,  at  No.  31 1  Larrabee  Street,  and  oth- 
ers, seven  years.  During  this  time  he  learned  the 
essential  features  and  methods  of  the  business,  as 
he  was  an  observing  youth,  and  with  the  typical 
German  ambition  and  thrift,  he  was  able  to  start 
in  business  for  himself  August  12,  1876.  He  be- 
gan at  No.  87  Cornell  Street,  manufacturing  only 


cigars  at  this  time.  He  remained  there  till  1882, 
when  he  removed  to  No.  217  Ninety-second 
Street,  where  he  bought  a  lot  and  where  his 
present  building  stands.  Mr.  Rubey  has  been 
very  successful  in  business  and  has,  ever  since 
moving  to  his  present  location,  not  only  manu- 
factured cigars,  but  also  employed  many  agents 
for  the  sale  of  these  goods,  both  at  wholesale  and 
retail. 

June  12,  1882,  Mr.  Rubey  married  Catherine 
Paul,  daughter  of  John  Paul,  of  Wisconsin.  They 
are  the  parents  of  the  following  children :  Cath- 
erine, Frances,  Annie,  Clara,  Joseph  and  Charles. 
Mr.  Rubey  is  a  member  of  Saints  Peter  and  Paul's 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  of  the  Catholic  Knights 
and  of  the  Benevolent  Society  of  Saints  Peter 
and  Paul's  Church.  In  politics  he  supports  the 
Democratic  party,  believing  its  principles  to  be 
best  for  the  interests  of  his  adopted  country.  Mr. 
Rubey  is  a  good  husband,  a  kind  father,  a  good 
neighbor,  and  is  a  respected  member  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  resides. 


664 


E.  A.  STARR. 


ELIZA  A.  STARR. 


IT  LIZA  ALLEN  STARR.  In  its  early  days 
Yy  Chicago  held  little  of  encouragement  for  the 
L_  artist  or  litterateur,  and  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  may  be  rightly  considered  the  pioneer  in 
turning  the  thoughts  of  the  citizens  of  Chicago 
toward  the  fine  arts.  Since  1856  she  has  labored 
with  brush  and  pen,  and  as  a  teacher,  and  the 
city  owes  much  to  her  refining  influence,  not 
only  as  an  artist,  but  in  the  purity  and  beauty 
of  her  personal  life  and  example. 

Miss  Starr  came  of  old  and  true  Puritan  stock. 
Her  first  ancestor  in  this  country  was  Dr.  Comfort 
Starr,  of  Ashford,  County  Kent,  England,  who 
came  to  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  in  1634.  His 
son,  the  Rev.  Comfort  Starr,  was  graduated  from 
Harvard  College  in  1647,  and  was  one  of  the  cor- 
porators of  the  college  in  1650.  Next  in  line  was 
Joseph  Starr,  whose  son,  William,  was  the  great- 
grandfather of  Eliza  Allen  Starr.  William  Starr 
was  a  merchant  engaged  in  the  West  India  trade, 
owning  his  vessels,  and  was  lost  at  sea.  William, 
son  of  the  last-named,  was  a  ship-carpenter,  and 
later  a  miller  at  Deerfield,  Massachusetts.  He 
entered  the  Revolutionary  Army  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, and  served  four  years.  Having  wintered 
at  Valley  Forge,  gone  through  the  battle  of  Mon- 
mouth,  and  seen  Lord  Cornwallis'  sword  given 
up  to  General  Washington,  he  returned  to  his 
home,  hatless,  coatless  and  shoeless.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1781,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Chloe  Crittenden,  and 
they  had  the  following  children :  Esther  S. ,  Will- 


iam, Elizabeth,  Samuel,  Seth,  Oliver.  Lucy, 
Elizabeth  and  Beverly.  Miss  Starr  still  preserves 
with  care  much  of  the  furniture  with  which  this 
couple,  her  grandparents,  began  their  house- 
keeping. 

Oliver  Starr  was  born  April  2,  1791,  in  Middle- 
town,  Connecticut,  and  was  two  years  old  when  his 
parents  removed  to  Deerfield,  Massachusetts.  He 
was  an  enthusiastic  student  of  chemistry,  and  be- 
came an  expert  in  the  science.  He  continued  to 
till  his  farm,  Meadow  Homestead,  until  the 
winter  of  1854-55,  when  he  determined  to  move 
West.  The  old  home  was  sold,  and  he  settled 
with  his  family  at  Laona,  Winnebago  County, 
Illinois,  where  he  died  April  26, 1870.  His  wife, 
Lovina,  was  a  daughter  of  Caleb  and  Judith 
(Hawks)  Allen.  "The  Aliens  of  the  Bars"  came 
from  Chelmsford,  Essex,  England,  and  their  de- 
scendants were  distinguished  in  the  Colonial  period 
of  Massachusetts,  being  identified  with  the  old 
town  of  Deerfield  from  the  time  of  King  Philip's 
War.  Samuel  Allen  was  killed  August  25,  1746, 
while  defending  his  family  against  the  Indians. 
His  daughter,  Eunice,  was  tomahawked,  but  sur- 
vived, and  his  son  Samuel  was  taken  captive,  but 
rescued  by  his  uncle,  Col.  John  Hawks.  Caleb, 
another  son,  became  the  father  of  Lovina  Allen 
Starr,  who  was  born  October  9,  1786.  She  died 
at  Laona  February  15,  1864.  Her  children  were: 
Caleb  Allen,  Eliza  Allen,  Eunice  Allen  and  Oliver 
Starr.  The  mother  was  a  remarkable  woman, 
and  bequeathed  to  her  children  many  of  her  lovely 


E.  A.  STARR. 


665 


traits  of  character,  among  which  were  a  marked 
ideality  and  love  of  family  traditions. 

Eliza  Allen  Starr  was  born  in  Deerfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, August  29,  1824,  and  was  educated  in 
the  famous  old  academy  of  that  historic  town.  She 
afterwards  studied  drawing  in  Boston,  under  Mrs. 
Caroline  Hildreth,  wife  of  the  well-known  histo- 
rian, Richard  Hildreth,  and  made  rapid  advance- 
ment, owing  to  her  natural  talents  and  faithful 
application.  She  taught  drawing  in  a  large 
boarding  school  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  and 
went  thence  to  Philadelphia,  where  she  taught 
drawing  and  the  French  language,  having  per- 
fected herself  in  the  latter  accomplishment  by 
diligent  study  while  pursuing  art  work.  In  1851 
she  accepted  a  position  as  teacher  in  the  family  of 
«  wealthy  planter  at  Natchez,  Mississippi,  where 
she  remained  two  years. 

During  all  this  time  she  labored  with  her  pen, 
as  well  as  with  the  pencil,  and  contributed  both 
prose  and  verse  to  different  magazines  and  papers. 
Subsequent  to  the  above-mentioned  year,  she 
opened  an  art  studio  in  Boston,  but  the  climate  of 
the  latter  city  began  to  tell  upon  her  health,  and 
she  removed  to  Chicago  in  1856. 

The  population  of  this  city  was  growing  stead- 
ily, and  many  of  its  citizens  who  came  from  East- 
ern centers  began  to  realize  the  need  of  art  schools 
and  teachers  in  the  community.  Miss  Starr's 
studio  was  immediately  crowded  with  pupils,  and 
her  time  was  happily  divided  between  literary  and 
art  work.  She  was  urged  by  friends  to  collect 
and  publish  her  poems,  and  in  1866  the  first  vol- 
ume was  issued.  In  1869  appeared  "Patron 
Saints;"  this  was  so  successful  that  large  editions 
followed  in  1880  and  1896.  In  1885  "Pilgrims 
and  Shrines,"  a  two- volume  work,  came  out,  and 
a  second  edition  followed  later.  This  work  was 
illustrated  from  designs  by  the  authoress,  who 
etched  the  pictures  as  well.  In  1887  Miss  Starr 
published  "Songs  of  a  Life-time,"  including  both 
her  early  and  late  poems,  which  have  been  im- 
mensely popular;  some  of  the  poems  have  been 
re-published  in  school  text  books.  In  1889  was 
published  "Isabella  of  Castile,  which  gained  for 
the  authoress  the  benediction  of  the  Pope  and  the 
thanks  of  all  scholars.  In  1890  and  1891  were 


issued  several  works,  entitled  "What  We  See," 
"Christian  Art  in  Our  Own  Age,"  and  "Christ- 
mas Tide. ' '  Several  of  her  later  works  have  been 
published  by  the  authoress.  The  twelve  illustra- 
tions in  "Patron  Saints"  were  drawn  on  wood  by 
her,  and  she  etched  twelve  similar  ones  on  steel 
plates  for  a  second  volume  under  the  same  title. 
Her  "Ode  to  Christopher  Columbus"  formed  a 
prominent  feature  of  the  celebration  of  the  four- 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  landing  of  that 
discoverer  at  New  York,  in  1892,  where  it  was 
sung  by  a  chorus  of  five  hundred  trained  voices, 
accompanied  by  an  orchestra  of  fifty  pieces. 

The  Great  Fire  of  1871  destroyed  many  of  her 
art  treasures,  which  can  never  be  replaced.  Her 
beautiful  home,  called  Saint  Joseph's  Cottage, 
was  swept  out  of  existence,  with  the  collections 
of  all  her  previous  years.  She  accepted  an  invita- 
tion to  make  her  home  at  Saint  Mary's  Academy, 
near  South  Bend,  Indiana,  until  her  own  home 
in  Chicago  could  be  re-established.  While  there, 
she  aided  the  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross,  in  charge 
of  the  academy,  in  establishing  an  art  depart- 
ment after  the  best  models  of  Europe  and  America. 
In  1875,  in  company  with  her  nephew,  William  W. 
Starr,  the  sculptor,  she  visited  Europe,  remaining 
several  months,  during  which  time  much  of  the 
material  for  "Pilgrims  and  Shrines"  was  gath- 
ered. Illness  prevented  the  consummation  of 
her  plan  to  visit  the  home  of  her  ancestor  at  Ash- 
ford,  England,  during  this  trip  abroad. 

In  1877  she  re-built  Saint  Joseph's  Cottage, 
which  has  accumulated  many  new  treasures,  and 
holds  a  valuable  collection  of  manuscripts  and 
works  of  art.  Miss  Starr  is  better  known  to  the 
public  as  an  authoress  than  as  an  artist,  though 
her  talents  and  work  in  the  latter  direction  are 
well  known  to  connoisseurs.  Since  1877  she  has 
given  annual  courses  of  lectures  to  the  ladies  of 
Chicago  on  the  "Literature  of  Christian  Art," 
beginning  with  the  Catacombs  and  ending  with 
the  artists  of  the  present  century.  She  possesses 
a  fine  voice  for  the  rostrum,  and  has  been  very 
successful  as  a  lecturer  throughout  the  United 
States.  In  1896  she  gave  a  course  before  the 
Winter  School  at  New  Orleans,  and  at  the  Sum- 
mer School  at  Madison,  Wisconsin.  In  her  home 


666 


W.  H.  MEYERS. 


is  an  auditorium  capable  of  seating  two  hundred 
persons,  and  here  she  gives  a  course  of  ten  lect- 
ures upon  art  and  literature  each  year.  She  was 
the  first  woman  to  receive  the  Laetare  Medal, 
which  was  conferred  upon  her  in  1885  by  the 
University  of  Notre  Dame,  South  Bend,  Indiana. 
This  is  a  medal  of  gold  annually  given  to  some 
one  distinguished  for  contributions  to  the  welfare 
of  mankind.  It  is  now  granted  to  a  woman  every 
third  year. 

On  her  arrival  in  Boston,  in  June,  1845,  Miss 
Starr  heard  a  sermon  by  the  famous  Dr.  Theodore 


Parker,  which  awakened  in  her  mind  doubts  as  to 
the  correctness  of  Puritan  teachings.  In  1848 
she  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  she  met  many  re- 
fined and  talented  Catholics,  among  them  Arch- 
bishop Kenrick.  After  nine  years  of  mental 
struggle,  she  adopted  the  faith  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  has  been  ever  since  one 
of  the  most  faithful  workers  and  teachers  of  that 
organization.  Many  of  her  writings  have  been 
inspired  by  her  enthusiastic  devotion  to  her  re- 
ligion, and  she  is  held  in  the  highest  regard  by 
both  the  priesthood  and  laity. 


WILLIAM  H.  MEYERS. 


HENRY  MEYERS,  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  W.  H.  Meyers  &  Company, 
leading  hardware  dealers  of  South  Chicago, 
was  born  October  10,  1854,  in  Westphalia,  Ger- 
many. He  is  the  son  of  Charles  and  Katharine 
(Heidenrich)  Meyers,  natives  of  Germany. 
His  parents  were  attracted  to  this  free  land, 
and  in  1865  the  family  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica, and  located  at  Burlington,  Iowa,  where 
Charles  Meyers  became  engaged  in  farming. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  lived  on  their  farm  near 
Burlington  until  their  death.  They  were  the 
parents  of  three  children:  Frederick,  who  lives  on 
the  old  home  farm;  Mrs  Mary  Fellows,  who  lives 
near  there;  and  William  H.,  the  subject  of  this 
notice. 

William  H.  Meyers  spent  his  youth,  from  the 
time  he  was  eleven  years  of  age  until  he  was 
twenty-four,  at  his  father's  farm.  In  1878  he 
left  home  and  began  for  himself,  by  going  to 
Kansas  City  and  working  as  clerk  for  the  Hall 
&  Willis  Hardware  Company.  Later  he  was 
employed  in  the  establishment  of  Richardson  & 


Conover,  of  the  same  city,  and  dealers  in  the 
same  goods. 

In  1885  he  came  to  Chicago  and  was  six 
months  a  conductor  on  a  street  car  line.  In 
March,  1886,  he  went  to  South  Chicago  and  be- 
gan working  for  C.  Carr  &  Sons,  at  No.  275 
Ninety-second  Street,  where  he  himself  is  now 
located.  In  the  fall  of  1892  he  opened  a  hard- 
ware store  for  himself  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
South  Chicago  and  Commercial  Avenues,  in  the 
Eigenman  Block.  Later  he  took  as  a  partner 
in  the  business  Mr.  S.  M.  Arnold,  and  the  firm 
for  the  term  of  one  year  was  Meyers  &  Arnold. 
In  1893  W.  J.  Lightburn  took  an  interest,  and 
the  next  year  Mr.  Meyers  bought  him  out  and 
took  in  his  present  partner,  Christian  Feldman, 
of  Burlington,  Iowa.  The  firm  then  became  W. 
H.  Meyers  &  Company,  which  it  has  ever  since 
remained.  Under  its  present  management  the 
business  has  prospered,  and  the  trade  at  present  is 
lucrative.  Mr.  Meyers  is  a  shrewd,  careful  and 
thrifty  business  man. 

In   February,  1886,  Mr.  Meyers  married  Miss 


C.  W.  PETRIE. 


667 


Katy,  daughter  of  Anthony  Oxford,  of  LaFayette, 
Indiana.  They  are  the  parents  of  one  daughter, 
Antoinette,  who  was  boni  January  24,  1890. 
Mr.  Meyers  is  a  sociable  man,  and  is  a  member 
of  South  Chicago  Lodge  No.  696,  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  in  which  he  is  chairman 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  He  is  connected  with 
the  Knights  of  Pythias,  being  identified  with 


Bowen  Lodge  No.  213.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
Calumet  Lodge  of  South  Chicago  Gesang- Verein . 
Mr.  Meyers'  parents  were  Lutherans  and  he  was 
reared  in  their  faith,  though  he  is  not  now  con- 
nected with  any  church.  In  political  opinion,  he 
is  a  stanch  Republican.  He  has  many  friends, 
and  is  popular  with  a  large  class  of  people,  being 
universally  respected. 


CHARLES  W.  PETRIE. 


OHARLES  WILLIAM  PETRIE  was  bom 

I  (  April  7,  1862,  in  Michigan  City,  Indiana,  and 
\J  is  the  son  of  Alexander  and  Elathyne  (Poor) 
Petrie.  Alexander  Petrie's  father  was  a  native  of 
Paris,  France.  He  moved  to  Canada  and  there 
married  a  Canadian  lady.  He  was  a  lumberman 
and  engaged  extensively  in  contracting.  His 
children  were:  William,  Susan,  James  (now  de- 
ceased) ,  and  Alexander.  The  last-named  is  a 
farmer  and  lives  with  his  wife  at  Watseka,  Illi- 
nois. He  was  born  October  19,  1822,  in  Canada, 
and  his  wife  was  born  in  New  Brunswick,  Nova 
Scotia.  She  is  seventy-three  years  of  age,  and  is 
the  daughter  of  David  Poor,  who  was  born  in 
Maine,  and  was  a  lumberman  in  very  comfortable 
circumstances,  owning  mills  and  other  property. 
He  lived  to  be  seventy-five  years  of  age.  His 
children  are:  Joshua  and  Elathyne  (now  Mrs. 
Petrie).  Joshua  Poor  lives  at  Walkerton,  Indi- 
ana, and  is  retired  from  active  business.  David 
Poor  was  descended  from  an  old  New  England 
family,  and  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812. 

Charles  W.  Petrie  went  to  Ontario,  Canada, 
with  his  parents  in  1866.  After  living  there  two 
years,  they  went  to  North  Liberty,  Indiana,  and 
in  the  latter  place  Charles  attended  school.  Then 
his  family  removed  to  Walkerton,  and  he  there 


attended  school  two  years,  which  finished  his  ed- 
ucation by  books.  In  March,  1879,  he  came  to 
Chicago  and  had  a  home  with  his  uncle,  H.  A. 
Lewis,  a  contractor  for  filter  and  artesian  wells, 
who  lived  on  Ninety-second  Street,  between  Com- 
mercial and  Houston  Avenues.  Young  Petrie 
worked  for  Wilder  &  Parker,  grocers,  located  on 
Ninety-second  Street,  near  Commercial  Avenue, 
for  about  three  years. 

Then  he  engaged  with  William  Farnsworth,  a 
grocer  at  Ninetieth  Street  and  Superior  Avenue, 
and  continued  with  him  as  a  clerk  five  years.  For 
eighteen  months  he  was  employed  in  the  rolling 
mills  as  tonnage  timekeeper  and  superintendent's 
clerk,  and  then  for  a  year  he  was  made  a  steel 
charger.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  a  crane 
man  on  tonnage,  and  has  been  continuously  with 
the  Illinois  Steel  Company  since  he  first  entered 
its  service. 

He  was  married  December  30,  1886,  to  Miss 
Minnie  Cameron,  a  native  of  Syracuse,  New  York, 
and  a  daughter  of  Hugh  and  Euretta  (McElroy) 
Cameron.  Her  father  has  been  dead  since  she 
was  two  years  of  age,  and  her  mother  subsequent- 
ly married  James  Maher.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Petrie 
have  no  children  of  their  own,  but  they  have  an 
adopted  son,  Harry  Cecil  Petrie. 


668 


C.  D.  L.  NEWTON. 


Mr.  Petrie  is  a  charter  member  of  Nonpareil 
Lodge  No.  361,  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  also  of 
the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron  and  Steel 
Workers.  In  politics  he  is  a  stanch  Republican, 
and  is  one  of  South  Chicago's  most  reliable  citi- 


zens. While  he  is  working  in  the  mill,  his  indus- 
trious wife  conducts  a  store  at  No.  9100  Superior 
Avenue,  which  is  a  profitable  venture.  Both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Petrie  are  useful  members  of  society , 
and  have  the  respect  of  the  whole  community. 


CHAUNCEY  D.  L.  NEWTON. 


fTjHAUNCEY  DE  LOS  NEWTON,  a  direct 
1 1  descendant  of  the  illustrious  Sir  Isaac  New. 
l^J  ton,  was  born  September  17,  1841,  in 
Genesee  County,  New  York.  He  is  the  son 
of  Alanson  and  Eunice  (Palmer)  Newton. 
Alanson  Newton  and  his  family  moved  to  Chi- 
cago in  1846,  and  after  staying  here  a  week, 
went  to  Beloit,  Wisconsin,  where  they  remained 
two  years.  In  1878  they  moved  to  Rockton, 
Illinois,  where  they  were  engaged  in  farming. 

Alanson  Newton  was  born  August  i,  1795,  at 
Windsor,  Vermont,  and  died  July  4,  1877.  His 
wife  was  born  August  10,  1807,  and  died  in  Rock- 
ton,  Illinois,  April  29,  1877.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  four  children,  three  of  whom  are  living, 
namely:  Charles  A.,  Hiram  P.  and  Chauncey  D. 
Newton;  the  latter  lived  at  home  and  worked  on 
his  father's  farm  until  he  was  thirty-five  years  of 
age.  He  was  an  expert  penman,  and  taught  the 
Spencerian  system  of  penmanship  successfully  for 
thirty-three  years,  from  1857  t°  1890;  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  in  twenty  states, 
two  territories,  and  also  in  Canada;  devoting  the 
winter  months  principally  to  this  occupation,  and 
then  came  to  Chicago,  arriving  May  5,  1890. 

In  1875  he  went  to  California,  followed  the  next 
year  by  his  family.  He  was  in  that  State  two 
years  and  was  very  successful  in  his  profession. 


In  the  spring  of  1877  he  returned  to  Rockton, 
Illinois,  being  induced  to  take  this  step  by  the  ill- 
health  of  his  parents.  He  remained  with  them 
till  their  death,  after  which  he  removed  to  Michi- 
gan, and  after  twelve  years  returned  to  Illinois 
and  located  in  South  Chicago. 

February  27,  1867,  Mr.  Newton  married  Miss 
Mary  Eliza,  daughter  of  Darius  Stephen  and 
Paulina  (Miller)  Towne.  Their  children  are: 
Hattie  Eunice,  who  married  William  Owen,  and 
is  living  in  the  city;  Jennie  Paulina  and  Lily  Lu- 
cindy.  Hubert  Harry,  the  second  child,  died 
when  an  infant. 

Mr.  Newton  is  a  member  of  Rockton  Lodge 
No.  74,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted  Masons.  He 
has  served  as  secretary  of  this  lodge,  and  in  May, 
1867,  he  was  made  Master  Mason.  In  1870  he 
was  made  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  at  Beloit,  Wiscon- 
sin, in  Beloit  Chapter  No.  9.  He  has  also  been 
an  active  member  for  nine  years  of  Belding  Lodge 
No.  32,  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen.  In 
political  opinions  Mr.  Newton  is  a  Republican, 
though  he  is  not  in  any  sense  an  office-seeker.  He 
is  an  honest,  hardworking  citizen,  and  a  social, 
genial  gentleman,  having  the  respect  and  regard 
of  his  associates.  For  the  last  two  years  he  has 
been  in  the  employ  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  at  the 
Hyde  Park  waterworks. 


CAPT.  j.  MCDONALD. 


669 


CAPT.  JAMES  MCDONALD. 


EAPT.  JAMES  MCDONALD  was  one  of  the 
first  lake  captains  to  sail  a  steamboat  out  of 
Chicago.  He  was  born  in  Waterford,  Ire- 
land, and  was  of  Scotch  descent,  and  was  reared 
in  the  Emerald  Isle,  and  there  learned  the  baker's 
trade.  He  was  a  wide  awake  youth,  and  came 
to  America  when  a  mere  lad.  He  came  direct  to 
Chicago  and  at  once  engaged  in  the  lake  marine 
service,  where  he  was  promoted  by  rapid  stages 
to  captain,  and  at  the  time  of  his  untimely  death 
owned  the  ill-fated  brig  "Welland,"  which  was 
lost  November  5,  1857,  during  a  terrible  storm. 
With  him  perished  fourteen  sailors  and  passen- 
gers, including  his  brother-in-law,  Capt.  William 
White,  whose  vessel  was  at  that  time  in  dry  dock. 

Captain  McDonald  was  one  of  the  forty-niners 
that  crossed  the  continent  in  search  of  gold.  He 
traveled  by  way  of  Saint  Louis  and  Saint  Joseph, 
and  after  a  successful  career  of  four  years  as  a 
miner,  returned  to  Chicago,  with  the  intention  of 
again  visiting  California.  His  wife  induced  him 
to  remain  in  Chicago,  and  he  bought  the  "Wel- 
land," in  which  he  found  his  grave. 

He  was  married  in  Chicago,  in  November,  1846, 
to  Miss  Mary  A.  Cummings,  daughter  of  Capt. 
M.  Cummings,  of  Picton,  Nova  Scotia,  British 
America,- who  came  to  Chicago  in  1844,  with  his 
wife  and  six  children,  of  whom  only  Mrs.  Mc- 
Donald survives.  Her  brother,  Hon.  Michael 
Cummings,  was  the  first  city  marshal  of  Saint 
Paul,  one  of  the  first  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Minnesota,  and  a  prominent  man  in  Saint 


Paul,  having  filled  almost  every  office  of  any  im- 
portance in  that  city.  Mrs.  McDonald  was  born 
December  28,  1825,  in  Picton,  Nova  Scotia.  She 
was  the  mother  of  four  children,  Mary,  Michael, 
James  P.  and  Alice  M.  All  are  now  deceased 
except  the  last,  who  resides  at  home.  Michael 
W.  attended  the  Ogden  School,  and  worked  for 
the  Illinois  Central  and  Chicago  &  Northwestern 
Railroads  as  check  clerk,  and  from  there  entered 
the  service  of  Franklin  MacVeagh,  wholesale 
grocer,  where  he  was  entry  clerk  fourteen  years. 
His  services  were  valued  by  the  latter  employer, 
and  he  earned  the  sobriquet  of  "Old  Reliable," 
through  his  punctuality  and  attention  to  busi- 
ness. He  had  a  great  political  influence  and  a 
wide  acquaintance.  He  died  October  19,  1893. 

James  P.  McDonald  was  also  educated  in  Chi- 
cago, where  he  is  remembered  by  pioneers  through 
all  his  life  of  boyhood  and  sturdy  manhood.  He 
was,  like  his  father,  charitable,  and  helped  many  a 
man  who  was  in  distress  and  trouble.  He  was  a 
fine  specimen  of  manhood,  being  nearly  six  feet  in 
height,  very  strong,  and  was  known  as  one  of  the 
best  horse-shoers  in  the  city,  and  had  a  host  of 
friends. 

He  was  a  dutiful  son,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  old 
enough  he  helped  support  the  family.  It  is  ow- 
ing to  the  efforts  of  himself  and  brother  that  the 
family  enjoys  its  present  easy  circumstances  and 
was  enabled  to  keep  the  property  left  by  the  father. 
The  children  were  born  in  a  little  frame,  one- 
story  white  cottage  at  No.  177  Dearborn  Avenue, 


6yo 


GUSTAVE  LUEDTKE. 


which  was  destroyed  by  the  Great  Fire  of  1871. 
This  was  replaced  by  a  two-story  frame  house, 
which  was  in  turn  succeeded  by  a  handsome  four- 
story  Bedford  stone  front  flat  building.  The 
family  worships  at  the  Cathedral  of  the  Holy 
Name. 

Much  credit  is  due  Mrs.  McDonald  for  her 
courage  and  perseverance  in  rearing  her  family 
amid  the  adversity  and  vicissitudes  she  had  to 
contend  with.  When  left  a  widxjw  her  youngest 


child  was  but  three  months  old,  but  she  never 
lost  courage,  doing  her  life-work  faithfully,  and, 
although  afflicted  by  the  loss  of  her  eyesight,  is 
kind,  cheerful,  and  a  worthy  example  to  others. 
Captain  McDonald  was  one  of  the  best  known  and 
most  highly  esteemed  lake  captains  in  the  early 
history  of  the  lake  marine  service.  He  was  pop- 
ular and  beloved  by  all  whose  pleasure  it  was  to 
know  him.  He  was  charitable  to  a  fault,  and 
loved  his  home  and  family. 


GUSTAVE  LUEDTKE. 


ftJUSTAVE  LUEDTKE  was  born  January  i, 
|__  1838,  in  Darsow,  Pommern,  Germany,  near 
^|  the  town  of  Lauenburg,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Caroline  (Drisius)  Luecltke.  He  received  a 
liberal  education  in  his  native  land  and  then 
worked  at  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  millwright 
until  he  came  to  America.  His  brother  Richard 
was  the  first  to  emigrate.  In  1864,  in  company 
with  his  sister,  Augusta,  and  her  husband,  Charles 
Bjeck,  he  came  through  to  Chicago.  The  father, 
mother  and  their  children,  Minnie,  Adolph  and 
Albert,  were  the  next  to  come  over,  arriving  in 
1868,  and  coming  direct  to  Chicago,  where  they 
made  their  home. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  landed  in  New  York 
the  last  of  April,  1872,  coming  thence  to  Chicago. 
He  secured  work  as  carpenter  and  millwright 
with  his  brother,  with  whom  he  remained  a  year 
and  a-half,  then  began  contracting,  which  busi- 
ness he  continued  until  1894.  When  unable  to 
secure  contracting  work,  he  was  employed  at 
piece  work.  He  built  many  private  residences  in 
different  parts  of  the  city,  also  erected  the  John  L. 
Marsh  school  building.  In  the  spring  of  1894  he 
opened  a  grocery  in  the  Misch  block,  Erie  Ave- 
nue, remaining  about  two  months,  when  he  came 
to  his  present  location,  No.  9112  Superior  Avenue. 


November  22,  1863,  he  was  married  to  Fred- 
ricka  Konetke,  daughter  of  Carl  and  Henrietta 
(Krift)  Konefke,  in  the  town  of  Carthaus,  Ger- 
many. Mrs.  Luedtke  was  born  June  25,  1838,  in 
Germany,  and  is  the  third  of  seven  children,  four 
of  whom  died.  The  other  two  came  to  America. 
The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Luedtke  are  as  fol- 
lows: Emil,  born  June  27,  1865,  in  the  town  of 
Carthaus,  Germany,  now  living  at  No.  948  Bel- 
mont  Avenue,  is  a  machinist  by  occupation; 
Reinhold  Hermann,  born  March  22,  1866,  was 
married  November  14,  1889,  to  Elvira  Heimke, 
daughter  of  August  and  Wilhelmina  (Behn) 
Heimke;  Gustav,  born  March  n,  1873;  Richard, 
March  17,  1875;  Agnes  Emily  Evelina,  March  17, 
1882. 

In  1890  Mr.  Luedtke  erected  a  three- story  frame 
building  at  No.  132  Ninety -first  Street,  which 
was  destroyed  by  fire  August  2,  1893.  This  loss 
financially  embarrassed  Mr.  Luedtke,  but  he  now 
owns  property  on  Superior  and  Ontario  Avenues. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Old  Settlers'  Society,  also 
a  member  of  the  German  Lutheran  Church,  being 
one  of  its  organizers.  He  is  a  Republican  in  prin- 
ciple, but  has  never  sought  any  part  in  the  man- 
agement of  party  affairs,  having  refused  all  honors 
that  might  have  been  conferred  upon  him. 


LIBRARY 

OF   THE 

UNIVERSI1V  OF  ILLINOIS 


/"trff 


trt/i 


NICHOLAS  KRANSZ. 


671 


NICHOLAS  KRANSZ. 


lOlCHOLAS  KRANSZ  (deceased),  of  whom 
|  /  it  is  a  pleasure  to  write,  was  for  many  years 
|  /9  an  important  factor  in  the  business  and 
social  affairs  of  Chicago  and  Cook  County.  He 
was  a  native  of  the  Fatherland,  born  in  Bus- 
chrodt,  Province  of  Luxemburg,  August  16,1816. 

His  boyhood  was  passed  under  the  parental 
roof  and  in  a  manner  common  to  German  lads  of 
that  period.  When  old  enough  he  was  sent  to 
school.  Being  of  a  studious  nature,  he  closely  ap- 
plied himself  to  study  and  soon  became  proficient 
in  the  elementary  branches  of  learning.  Upon 
leaving  school  he  accepted  a  position  in  a  dry- 
goods  manufacturing  establishment  in  his  native 
town,  where  he  remained  for  a  number  of  years, 
acquiring  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  business 
in  all  its  details.  Subsequently  he  engaged  in 
the  same  line  of  business  on  his  own  account  for 
several  years  and  was  successful. 

Early  in  life  he  realized  the  narrowness  of  op- 
portunities surrounding  him  in  his  native  land, 
and  longing  for  a  field  of  wider  environment,  he 
decided  to  seek  his  fortune  in  America.  Conse- 
quently he  set  sail,  in  1845,  and  after  an  unevent- 
ful, though  tedious,  voyage  on  a  sailing-vessel  he 
landed  in  New  York,  whence  he  came  direct  to 
Chicago.  At  that  time  the  city  had  a  population 
of  less  than  fifteen  thousand,  while  Cook  County 
could  boast  of  having  only  about  twenty  thousand. 
Upon  his  arrival  he  obtained  work  as  a  laborer 
for  one  year.  The  following  year  he  purchased 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  Lake 
View,  near  Rosehill,  where  his  family  now  reside. 
At  that  date  only  a  few  families  were  living  in 
that  part  of  Cook  County. 


Prairie  abounded  to  the  south,  west  and  north. 
The  surface  of  the  country  was  low,  wet,  and  in 
places  covered  with  a  scraggy  growth  of  timber. 
But  these  conditions,  hard  as  they  were,  did  not 
dismay  Mr.  Kransz.  He  resolutely  set  to  work 
to  put  his  land  in  condition  to  be  cultivated,  and 
ere  long,  under  his  intelligent  efforts,  his  raw  and 
apparently  non-productive  acres  soon  began  to 
pay  tribute  as  a  reward  to  labor  well  performed. 

Mr.  Kransz,  immediately  upon  settling  in 
Lake  View,  took  an  active  part  in  local  public 
affairs.  His  townsmen  soon  recognized  his  fit- 
ness for  office,  and  he  was  elected  to  all  the 
offices  of  the  township  excepting  that  of  supervis- 
or. He  possessed  good  executive  ability,  was  us- 
ually accurate  in  his  judgment,  and  candor  and 
absolute  fairness  characterized  every  move  of  his 
life.  He  was  public  spirited  too,  and  gave  liber- 
ally to  any  enterprise  which  in  his  judgment 
would  be  a  benefit  to  the  public.  His  success  in 
the  accumulation  of  means  was  steady  from  the 
beginning  of  his  business  career  in  America.  He 
became  interested  by  large  investment  in  the 
American  Insurance  Company,  to  the  affairs  of 
which  for  many  years  he  gave  his  personal  atten- 
tion, only  ceasing  his  efforts  when  the  demands  of 
advancing  years  demanded  a  laying  aside  of 
the  burdens  and  cares  of  business  which  he  had 
so  long  borne.  Mr.  Kransz  was  generous  and 
charitable.  December  i,  1886,  he  endowed  a 
school  in  his  native  village  with  one  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars,  for  the  education  of  poor 
children.  This  fund  was  so  invested  that  the  in- 
come from  it  supports  and  pays  tuition  for  one 
pupil  each  year. 


672 


WILLIAM  BOENING. 


He  was,  perhaps,  as  well  informed  upon  busi- 
ness and  economic  questions  as  any  other  man  in 
Cook  County.  He  was  a  close  student,  the  range 
of  his  reading  covering  nearly  the  whole  field  of 
literature,  and  his  deductions  were  invariably 
drawn  from  correct  premises,  which  made  him 
nearly  always  right  in  his  conclusions.  It  was 
while  sitting  in  his  favorite  chair,  reading  a  morn- 
ing paper,  that  he  suddenly  expired,  February 
12,  7896. 

He  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Margaret 
Faber,  February  7,  1849.  She  is  a  native  of 
Luxemburg,  Germany,  and  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Mary  Faber,  who  came  to  the  United  States 
in  1845.  John  Faber,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Kransz, 
was  twice  married,  first  to  Mary  Grent,  by  whom 
he  had  two  children,  Andrew  and  Katherine. 
After  the  death  of  his  first  wife  he  married  Mary 
Ockolau,  who  bore  him  three  children:  Margaret 


(Mrs.  Kransz),  Mary  Ann  and  John,  the  last 
now  deceased.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Faber  died 
in  Cook  County,  the  former  May  i,  1864,  and 
the  latter  in  1873. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kransz  were  born  nine  chil- 
dren, four  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  and  five  are 
living  at  this  date,  as  follows:  Nicholas  H.,  Peter 
P.,  both  well-known  and  successful  insurance 
men  of  Chicago;  Mary  A.,  wife  of  N.  J.  Schrup, 
of  Dubuque,  Iowa;  Henry  P.,  in  the  real-estate 
and  loan  business;  and  Anna  M.,  wife  of  B.  F. 
Weber,  of  Ravenswood,  whose  biography  appears 
in  this  work. 

Mr.  Kransz  was  a  Republican  from  the  organ- 
ization of  that  party,  and  at  the  polls  usually  sup- 
ported its  men  and  measures.  He  and  his  es- 
timable wife  were  communicants  of  Saint  Henry's 
Catholic  Church  and  were  among  its  most  liberal 
supporters. 


WILLIAM  BOENING. 


BOENING,  one  of  the  pioneers 
who  have  contributed  to  the  city's  growth 
and  development,  is  now  living  in  com- 
parative ease  and  retirement.  He  was  born  De- 
cember 5,  1837,  in  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany, 
and  is  a  son  of  George  and  Elizabeth  Boening, 
who  were  also  natives  of  that  place. 

George  Boening  followed  the  trade  of  mason 
and  brick-layer,  and  worked  at  it  until  fifteen 
years  before  his  death.  In  1852  he  emigrated 
with  his  family  to  Chicago,  where  he  spent  his 
remaining  days.  He  continued  at  his  trade  in 
this  city,  one  piece  of  work  done  by  him  being 
the  first  Kettle  Brewery  in  Chicago.  He  died  in 
1890,  about  ten  years  subsequent  to  the  demise 
of  his  wife.  They  had  two  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters, all  of  whom  are  living.  They  are:  Mary, 
now  the  wife  of  William  Nicolai,  of  Kensington; 


Eliza,  Mrs.  John  Schmidt,  of  Chicago;  William, 
whose  name  heads  this  article;  Katharine,  widow 
of  John  Hoop;  and  Herman,  who  resides  on  Cly- 
bourn  Avenue. 

William  Boening  received  his  early  education 
in  his  native  country,  and  continued  in  school 
after  coming  to  Chicago,  first  attending  the  old 
Franklin  School,  and  later  a  night  school.  He 
learned  his  father's  trade,  and  has  followed  it 
most  of  his  life.  Through  his  thrift  and  industry 
he  is  now  able  to  enjoy  a  competency.  For  two 
years  he  engaged  in  building  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility as  a  contractor. 

Mr.  Boening  supports  the  principles  and  candi- 
dates of  the  Republican  party.  His  first  presi- 
dential vote  was  cast  for  Abraham  Lincoln.  He 
has  never  been  an  office-seeker,  preferring  rather 
to  spend  his  time  and  energy  in  the  care  of  his 


JOHN  HUFMEYER. 


673 


private  interests.  In  the  fire  of  1871  he  lost  all 
his  property,  but  by  careful  management  he  soon 
recovered  from  the  loss. 

October  9,  1859,  Mr.  Boening  was  married  to 
Miss  Christina  Egenhafer,  who  was  born  in  Ger- 
many and  came  to  Chicago  in  1852.  They  have 


eight  children  living,  namely:  William,  Herman, 
George,  Elizabeth,  Henry,  Frances,  May  and 
Lena.  Mrs.  Boening  and  the  other  members  of  the 
family  are  communicants  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  They  are  people  of  high  intelligence, 
and  enjoy  the  esteem  of  all  who  know  them. 


JOHN  HUFMEYER. 


(lOHN  HUFMEYER,  of  the  real-estate  and 
I  general  brokerage  firm  of  Sickels  &  Huf- 
G/  meyer,  No.  695  Lincoln  Avenue,  Chicago,  is 
a  native  of  Cook  County,  and  a  member  of  a 
prominent  pioneer  family.  He  was  born  July  10, 
1845,  in  Niles  Township,  and  is  a  son  of  Adam 
and  Gertrude  (Gang)  Hufmeyer,  both  natives  of 
Hanover,  Germany.  This  couple  emigrated  to 
America  in  1834,  first  locating  at  Syracuse,  New 
York,  and  two  years  later  removing  to  Cook 
County,  Illinois,  where  they  settled  on  a  home- 
stead, in  what  afterward  became  Niles  Township. 
They  were  among  the  first  settlers  in  that  part  of 
the  county,  and  for  a  time  their  only  neighbors 
were  the  Indians.  They  cleared  the  farm  to  which 
they  had  laid  claim,  and  there  made  their  home 
until  1853,  when  they  removed  to  Chicago,  in 
order  to  give  their  children  better  educational 
advantages. 

Mr.  Adam  Hufmeyer  filled  many  public  offices, 
the  most  important  of  which  was  that  of  county 
commissioner.  He  was  an  excellent  example  of 
the  better  class  of  German  emigrants,  and  died 
August  7,  1854,  mourned  by  a  large  circle  of 
friends  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  county. 
His  wife  survived  until  1860.  Of  the  nine  chil- 
dren born  to  them,  two  died  in  Germany.  The 
others,  all  of  whom  reached  maturity,  were  as 


follows:  Eliza,  Mrs.  F.  Eiterman;  Augusta  C.  D., 
widow  of  John  Naper;  Mary,  Mrs.  Jonas  Huehn; 
William,  deceased;  Ellen,  Mrs.  Richard  Aspin- 
wall;  John  and  Theodore.  All  those  living  are 
residents  of  Chicago. 

John  Hufmeyer  received  his  elementary  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Chicago,  supple- 
menting his  training  with  a  course  in  a  commer- 
cial college.  As  a  further  preliminary  to  his 
business  career  he  spent  some  time  as  clerk  in  a 
mercantile  establishment.  When  but  twenty 
years  of  age  he  engaged  in  the  grocery  business 
on  his  own  account,  and  by  close  attention  to  de- 
tails, fair  dealing  and  the  courteous  treatment  of 
his  customers,  soon  established  a  profitable  trade. 

The  fire  of  1871  not  only  swept  away  his  entire 
property,  causing  a  loss  of  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars, but  also  left  him  somewhat  in  debt.  This, 
however,  did  not  discourage  him,  as  he  was  still 
full  of  pluck  and  energy,  and  had  an  abiding  faith 
in  the  future  of  Chicago.  He  did  not  seek  to 
compromise  with  his  creditors,  as  he  might  have 
done,  but  claiming  their  indulgence  for  a  few 
years,  promised  to  pay  each  in  full.  He  at  once 
opened  a  general  store  at  No.  701  Lincoln  Ave- 
nue, which  from  the  first  enjoyed  a  prosperous 
career,  and  in  a  comparatively  short  time  satis- 
fied every  claim  against  him  with  one  hundred 


674 


AUGUST  BUSSE. 


cents  on  the  dollar.  Mr.  Hufmeyer  possessed  a 
keen  business  foresight,  which,  combined  with 
industry  and  strict  integrity,  enabled  him  to 
acquire  a  competence  through  the  legitimate  chan- 
nels of  trade.  He  changed  from  his  former  bus- 
iness to  that  in  which  he  is  at  present  engaged 
in  1885. 

In  politics  Mr.  Hufmeyer  is  a  Republican  and 
takes  a  keen  interest  in  the  success  of  his  party. 
Though  not  an  office-seeker,  he  has  several  times 
accepted  positions  of  trust  from  his  fellow-citizens, 
and  was  at  one  time  a  member  of  the  town  board 
of  L,ake  View.  Fraternally  he  is  a  member  of  the 


Masonic   order,   in    which-  he   has   attained   the 
Royal  Arch  degree. 

In  1865  the  subject  of  this  notice  was  married 
to  Miss  Nellie  Gilette,  who  was  born  in  Belgium, 
being  a  daughter  of  William  Gilette.  Mrs.  Huf- 
meyer died  in  1878,  leaving  four  children:  John 
E. ,  Matilda,  Edward  and  Frederick,  who  is  now 
deceased.  In  1879  Mr.  Hufmeyer  married  Miss 
Katharine  Hoyt,  who  is  a  native  of  Wisconsin, 
and  a  daughter  of  Peter  Hoyt.  Three  children 
have  been  born  of  this  union,  as  follows:  Nellie, 
Gertrude  and  Laurina.  The  family  is  connected 
with  the  Lutheran  Church. 


AUGUST  BUSSE. 


(31  UGUST  BUSSE,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers 
|  I  of  South  Chicago,  was  born  January  14, 
I  I  1839,  in  Berlin,  Germany.  He  received  his 
early  education  in  his  native  country,  where  he 
also  learned  and  practiced  the  profession  of  veteri- 
nary surgeon.  He  was  a  lover  of  horses. 

In  1859  he  emigated  to  America,  locating  in 
Chicago,  where  he  joined  his  brother  Frederick, 
and  the  two  lived  on  the  corner  of  Chicago  Ave- 
nue and  Wells  Street,  where  the  latter  conducted 
a  saloon.  August  Busse  was  employed  in  the 
old  gas  works  as  an  engineer.  In  1862  he  re- 
moved to  Racine,  Wisconsin,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed as  engineer  in  the  tannery  of  Burbank  & 
Son,  and  remained  two  years. 

On  April  29,  1865,  he  removed  to  South  Chi- 
cago and  opened  a  general  merchandise  store, 
and  also  kept  a  hotel.  He  changed  his  location 
to  what  is  now  No.  9205  Commercial  Avenue, 
and  the  hotel  was  called  the  Ainsworth  Inn. 
He  conducted  the  first  store  in  Ainsworth,  after- 
ward called  South  Chicago.  He  entertained  dis- 


tinguished guests,  and  many  of  the  most  promi- 
nent men  in  Chicago  made  their  headquarters 
with  him  when  they  came  to  the  Calumet  region 
for  hunting.  The  house  which  he  first  built  is 
still  standing,  and  he  conducted  his  business 
until  his  death,  September  12,  1884. 

In  1864  Mr.  Busse  was  married  in  Racine, 
Wisconsin,  to  Miss  Caroline  Albert,  born  April 
n,  1829,  in  Kaup,  on  the  River  Rhine,  Germany. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  Reinhardt  and  Charlotte 
(Weichman)  Albert,  her  mother  having  been 
born  April  10,  1816.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Albert  were 
the  parents  of  the  following  children  besides  Mrs. 
Busse:  Charles  Daniel,  born  November  3,  1825; 
Hubert,  March  28,  1827;  Magdolin,  February 
18,  1830;  Nanchen,  September  n,  1834,  and 
William,  November  5,  1835. 

The  maternal  grandmother  of  Mrs.  Busse, 
Katharine  (Van  Baum)  Richard,  was  born  in 
Antwerp.  The  Albert  family  dwelt  in  the  forests 
of  Germany,  and  its  members  were  sometimes 
employed  in  the  service  of  the  king.  Mrs.  Albert 


MATHIAS  SCHMITZ. 


675 


died  when  Caroline  was  only  ten  years  of  age, 
and  the  latter  became  a  lady's  waiting  maid,  and 
resided  for  fifteen  years  with  an  old  English  lady 
named  Miss  Hicks.  She  emigrated  to  America, 
and  made  her  home  with  her  uncle,  C.  D.  Albert, 
who  then  lived  in  Racine,  Canada,  but  who  now 
resides  in  Racine,  Wisconsin. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Busse  have  the  following  chil- 
dren: Amelia  Dorothea,  Barbara  Ellen,  August 
Hubert  (an  account  of  whose  life  is  to  be  found  on 
another  page  of  this  volume),  and  Frederick 
William.  Amelia  Dorothea  married  Joseph  Bitz, 
and  they  are  the  parents  of  four  children.  Mr. 
Bitz  follows  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  resides  at 
Monroe,  Michigan.  Barbara  Ellen  makes  her 
home  with  her  brother  Frederick,  who  married 
Marie  Anna  Kleefisch,  daughter  of  Theodore  and 


Marie  Annie  (Lussem)  Kleefisch,  August  19, 
1896.  They  have  one  child,  George  Ira.  Mrs. 
Caroline  Busse  is  now  deceased. 

Mr.  Busse  was  connected  with  all  the  early 
growth  and  improvements  of  South  Chicago,  and 
was  always  a  most  public- spirited  citizen.  He 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  old  Volunteer 
Fire  Company,  No.  5,  of  South  Chicago.  He 
did  a  great  part  of  the  contracting  for,  and  build- 
ing of,  the  streets  of  South  Chicago.  He  was  a 
man  of  social  instincts,  and  had  many  warm 
friends,  whose  esteem  and  confidence  he  well 
merited.  He  was  a  member  of  the  German  Order 
of  Harugari.  He  was  reared  in  the  Protestant, 
and  his  wife  in  the  Catholic  faith.  Their  chil- 
dren were  taught  the  Catholic  doctrine,  of  which 
they  have  remained  adherents. 


MATHIAS  SCHMITZ. 


b  A  ATHIAS  SCHMITZ,  a  prominent  German- 
I  V  I  American  citizen  of  Chicago,  was  born  Oc- 
\(y\  tober  12,  1831,  in  Niederscheidweiler,  in  the 
Rhein  province  of  Trier,  Prussia.  His  parents, 
Jacob  and  Lena  (Schmitz)  Schmitz,  were  natives 
of  that  place,  where  they  spent  their  entire  lives. 
Jacob  Schmitz  was  a  gardener  by  occupation,  and 
died  when  Mathias  was  ten  years  old,  his  wife 
having  preceded  him  three  years.  Mathias  was 
thus  left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  as  was  also 
his  elder  brother,  Nicholas.  The  latter  died  in 
1888  in  the  Fatherland,  leaving  six  children,  all 
of  whom  Mathias  brought  to  America  at  his  own 
expense,  and  provided  for  until  they  were  able  to 
be  self-sustaining. 

Mathias  Schmitz  made  his  home  with  a  relative 
until  he  was  thirteen  years  old,  and  attended  a 
village  school.  He  then  began  learning  the 
tailor's  trade,  at  which  he  served  an  apprentice- 
ship of  two  years.  At  the  end  of  this  time  he 


began  life  as  a  journeyman  tailor,  which  he  con- 
tinued for  a  number  of  years  in  many  different 
localities. 

April  7,  1857,  he  sailed  from  Rotterdam  on  the 
steamer  "Mary  Bridgeport"  for  New  York  by 
way  of  London.  After  a  sailing  voyage  of  forty- 
five  days,  during  which  time  they  encountered 
many  storms,  the  good  ship  landed  in  New  York. 
From  here  Mr.  Schmitz  proceeded  to  Philadel- 
phia, and  subsequently  to  Chicago,  reaching  the 
end  of  the  journey  June  7,  1857.  He  arrived 
during  the  panic,  and  wages  at  any  trade  were 
very  small,  so  that  he  was  able  to  earn  only  four 
or  five  dollars  per  week  at  his  trade,  using  a  sew- 
ing machine. 

In  1868  he  established  himself  in  business  on 
the  corner  of  Mohawk  Street  and  North  Avenue 
as  a  merchant  tailor,  and  kept  a  small  stock  of 
ready-made  clothing.  In  July,  1870,  he  sold  his 
business,  and  after  the  Great  Fire  of  1871  he 


676 


JOSEPH  ROELLE. 


engaged  in  life  insurance  as  an  agent  for  the  Teu- 
tonic Life  Insurance  Company,  continuing  with 
it  until  1874,  at  which  time  he  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  Joseph  H.  Ernst,  in  their  present  line 
of  business,  at  No.  271  North  Avenue,  where 
they  deal  in  real  estate  and  loans. 

Mr.  Schmitz  has  been  identified  with  the  North 
Side  since  he  became  a  resident  of  the  city.  After 
his  marriage,  in  1861,  he  located  at  No.  278 
Blackhawk  Street.  In  the  fire  of  1871  he  was 
burned  out,  losing  four  houses,  valued  at  about 
seven  thousand  dollars,  on  which  he  recovered 
only  forty-five  dollars  insurance.  He  rebuilt 
after  the  fire  and  resided  there  until  1883,  when 
he  erected  his  present  beautiful  mansion,  at  No. 
545  Larrabee  Street,  where  he  has  since  resided, 
enjoying  all  the  comforts  and  many  of  the  lux- 
uries of  life.  Mr.  Schmitz  is  a  self-made  man  in 
the  truest  sense  of  the  term  and  is  the  architect 
of  his  own  fortunes. 

Since  1876  Mr.  Schmitz  has  been  president  of 
the  German  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  of 
North  Chicago.  He  supports  the  Democratic 
party,  but  was  never  an  aspirant  for  public  office 
of  any  kind.  Since  1858  he  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul  Society,  and  was  for 


a  number  of  years  its  president.  He  belongs  to 
Saint  Michael's  German  Catholic  Society,  with 
which  he  has  been  connected  since  1866,  and  has 
many  times  served  as  its  president.  The  two 
last-named  societies  are  composed  of  members  of 
St.  Michael's  Parish. 

January  13,  1861,  Mr.  Schmitz  married  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Eich.  By  her  first  marriage  she  had 
one  daughter,  now  Mrs.  John  Knappstein,  of 
Chicago.  The  parents  of  Mrs.  Schmitz,  Peter 
and  Marguerite  Lenz,  were  natives  of  Reil,  Rhein 
province  of  Kreis  Weitlich,  Germany,  where  they 
spent  their  last  days.  She  came  to  Chicago  No- 
vember 7,  1856.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schmitz  had  five 
daughters  and  one  son,  namely:  Louise,  wife  of 
Martin  Schmitzens,  ofOsgood  Street,  city;  Ger- 
trude, deceased;  Anna  M.;  Susanna,  now  Mrs. 
Henry  W.  Frische,  of  Chicago;  Nicholas  J.,  who 
is  associated  in  business  with  his  father;  and  Bar- 
bara, who  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  P.  Koeller,  of 
Chicago.  Nicholas  J.  Schmitz  married  Miss 
Cecilia  Jung,  October  24,  1894.  The  family  is 
connected  with  Saint  Michael's  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Its  members  are  people  of  refined  tastes 
and  in  the  community  where  they  reside  they 
are  regarded  with  universal  respect. 


JOSEPH  ROELLE. 


(lOSEPH  ROELLE,  who  was  for  many  years 
I  an  influential  business  man  of  Chicago,  was 
(*)  born  January  i,  1832,  in  Olpa,  Westphalia, 
Prussia.  While  Joseph  was  still  a  young  boy 
his  father  died,  but  he  enjoyed  the  splendid  edu- 
cational advantages  offered  by  the  school  system 
of  his  native  land,  and  learned  the  trade  of 
painter.  In  1846  he  emigrated  to  the  United 
States,  and  located  at  Burlington,  Wisconsin, 
where  he  worked  at  his  trade  a  year,  and  then  re- 
moved to  Chicago.  After  remaining  five  years 


in  America  he  returned  to  Germany  and  brought 
to  this  country  his  widowed  mother,  two  sisters 
and  a  brother. 

He  was  engaged  in  contracting  work  at  his 
trade  in  this  city,  and  had  sometimes  twenty  men 
in  his  employ,  thus  doing  a  profitable  business. 
About  1857  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Anton 
Junker,  and  they  opened  a  distillery  at  River- 
dale,  and  a  store  and  warehouse  on  Kinzie  Street, 
Chicago.  The  profits  of  this  industry  were  such 
that  Mr.  Roelle  was  soon  on  the  way  to  fortune. 


PHILIP  SCHUETZ. 


68 1 


Mobile,  whence  he  was  removed  to  Montgomery, 
Alabama,  and  later  to  Andersonville,  Georgia. 
Six  weeks  afterward  he  was  transferred  to  Ca- 
haba,  Alabama,  where  he  spent  nine  months. 
He  was  then  paroled  and  sent  to  Vicksburg  on 
the  ill-fated  steamer,  "Sultana,"  which  blew  up  in 
the  early  morning  of  April  25,  1865,  with  two 
thousand  persons  on  board,  mostly  Union  pris- 
oners. Of  this  number  only  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-six  were  rescued.  An  investigation  of  the 
catastrophe  showed  that  the  steamer's  capacity 
was  but  three  hundred  and  seventy-six. 

The  war  having  ended,  Mr.  Brachtendorf  re- 
turned to  Chicago,  and  for  a  time  was  employed 
in  the  establishment  of  the  crockery  firm  of  Bur- 
ley  &  Tyrrell.  About  1881  he  engaged  in  the 


livery  business  on  Larrabee  Street,  and  still  car- 
ries on  a  successful  establishment  in  that  line.  In 
1890  he  added  the  undertaking  department,  in 
which  he  has  a  large  patronage. 

Mr.  Brachtendorf  has  uniformly  supported  the 
Democratic  party,  and  though  he  has  been  averse 
to  holding  public  office,  was  induced  to  accept 
the  nomination  for  alderman  in  the  Twenty-first 
Ward,  to  which  place  he  was  elected  in  1893  and 
served  two  years.  Socially  and  fraternally  he  is 
active,  being  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
of  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters,  of  the 
Sharpshooters'  Club,  and  of  Hancock  Post,  No. 
560,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  September 
21,  1868,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Helene  DeWald, 
who  has  since  been  his  faithful  helpmate. 


PHILIP  SCHUETZ. 


SCHUETZ,  who  is  now  spending 
LX  his  days  in  ease  and  retirement  at  No.  540 
J«3  Larrabee  Street,  is  one  of  the  older  settlers 
of  Chicago.  He  was  born  June  17,  1839,  in  the 
Province  of  Trier,  Germany.  His  wife,  Margaret 
(Lock)  Schuetz,  was  born  in  the  same  country, 
December  i,  1836.  Her  parents  had  five  chil- 
dren, namely:  Philip,  Margaret,  Caroline,  Kath- 
arine and  Peter.  The  father,  John  Nicholas 
Lock,  died  when  Margaret  was  about  fourteen 
years  of  age. 

Mr.  Schuetz  and  Margaret  Lock  came  to  America 
in  the  same  ship,  sailing  from  Hamburg,  and  ar- 
riving in  Chicago  January  30,  1860.  In  April  of 
that  year  their  marriage  was  solemnized,  in  the 
old  Saint  Joseph's  Church.  They  were  the  pos- 
sessors of  only  a  small  amount  of  money,  but 
though  their  cash  capital  was  small,  both  were 
young  and  strong,  as  well  as  ambitious.  He 


soon  found  employment  and  she  did  washing  at 
twenty-five  cents  a  day  for  the  first  year.  In  1861 
Mr.  Schuetz  was  the  recipient  of  some  money 
from  the  estate  of  his  father.  With  this  they 
purchased  the  lot  on  Larrabee  Street  where  they 
still  make  their  home,  and  in  a  small  way  began 
gardening,  Mrs.  Schuetz  taking  charge  of  it,  and 
also  doing  the  marketing. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schuetz  were  very  prosperous 
until  the  Great  Fire  of  1871,  in  which  they  lost 
all  their  property  except  the  land,  but  they 
bravely  started  anew,  and  by  diligence  and  thrift 
regained  what  they  had  lost.  Since  1880  Mr. 
Schuetz  has  been  an  invalid,  but  his  faithful  and 
dutiful  wife  continued  to  carry  on  her  garden, 
and  she  has  some  customers  who  have  given  her 
their  patronage  for  a  great  many  years.  She 
supplied  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel  with  vegetables 
for  twenty-two  years,  the  Palmer  House  eighteen 


682 


ROBERT  LENARD. 


years,  the  Auditorium  since  its  establishment, 
and  the  Great  Northern,  Leland,  Sherman  and 
Tremont  for  some  time. 

Mr.  Schuetz  owns  eight  acres  of  land  on  West- 
ern Avenue,  near  Bowmanville,  also  five  lots  on 
Southport  Avenue.  The  gardening  is  now  car- 
ried on  by  the  son  and  sons-in-law  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Schuetz.  They  had  twelve  children,  only 
four  of  whom  are  now  living.  They  are:  Mar- 
garet, Alphonzo  Frederick,  Anna  and  Lena. 


Margaret  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Geniskie,  of  Rav- 
enswood,  and  Anna  is  now  Mrs.  Frank  Schneider, 
of  Lincoln  Avenue.  Lena  resides  with  her 
parents. 

Mrs.  Schuetz  is  widely  known  among  the  bus- 
iness men  of  the  city.  She  is  a  member  of  Saint 
Michael's  Roman  Catholic  Church.  In  1891  she 
visited  her  native  land,  and  travelled  through 
France,  Italy,  Switzerland  and  Germany,  spend- 
ing about  five  months  in  the  trip. 


ROBERT  LENARD. 


ROBERT  LENARD,  an  enterprising  and 
energetic  young  business  man  of  South  Chi- 
cago, partakes  of  the  spirit  which  has  made 
Chicago  famous  as  a  business  center,  as  well  as 
the  home  of  art  and  culture,  the  spirit  which 
makes  the  city  the  arena  of  activity  among  young 
men  whose  ambition  and  tireless  industry  have 
told  upon  the  commerce  of  the  whole  world.  It 
is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  trade  and  social 
circles  of  this  city  are  dominated  by  men  below 
middle  age,  and  that  the  highest  rewards  are 
being  daily  gathered  by  these  dauntless  spirits. 
In  olden  times  it  was  the  fashion  for  old  men  to 
direct  affairs  almost  wholly,  while  the  younger 
population  was  forced  to  be  content  to  fill  sub- 
ordinate positions,  under  the  direction  of  those  of 
large  experience.  Under  our  present  educational 
system  men  and  women  are  early  fitted  for  re- 
sponsible situations,  and  the  spirit  of  the  age  de- 
mands that  only  those  possessed  of  strong  ambi- 
tions and  the  greatest  energy  take  control  of 
affairs.  Hence  we  find  every  leading  enterprise 
in  the  hands  of  young  and  energetic  persons,  and 
the  commercial  supremacy  of  Chicago  is  to-day 
the  result  of  this  arrangement. 

Mr.  Lenard  is  a  native  of  Chicago,  having  been 
born  March  27,  1873,  and  has  been  reared  in  the 


midst  of  that  city's  developing  influences.  His 
father,  Martin  Lenard,  is  a  native  of  Germany, 
born  in  the  Province  of  Posen  November  1 1,  1841. 
His  parents,  John  and  Rosalie  (Kaczmarek)  Len- 
ard, lived  and  died  in  his  native  country,  where 
his  grandfather,  Charles  Lenard,  was  a  laborer. 
John  Lenard  died  in  1847,  when  Martin  was  six 
years  old,  and  the  mother  survived  only  two 
years  after  that.  The  orphan  then  entered  the 
home  of  his  maternal  uncle,  Kashmier  Kacz- 
marek, with  whom  he  remained  one  year.  He 
then  began  to  carry  the  serious  responsibilities  of 
life,  and  took  up  the  trade  of  glazier.  By  the 
time  he  had  reached  the  age  of  thirty  years  he 
resolved  to  seek  a  betterment  of  his  fortunes  in 
the  Western  world.  The  experiment  has  proved 
a  most  happy  success.  He  arrived  in  Chicago,. 
by  way  of  Baltimore,  July  4,  1872,  and  accepted 
any  employment  he  could  secure,  being  engaged 
for  some  time  as  a  common  laborer.  In  the  mean- 
time he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  English 
language,  and  was  competent  to  establish  a  bus- 
iness on  his  own  account. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1879  he  se- 
cured a  position  in  the  service  of  the  South  Chi- 
cago Rolling  Mills,  and  took  up  his  residence  in 
what  was  then  the  suburb  of  South  Chicago.  In 


J.  J.  JUNG. 


683 


1 88 1  he  opened  a  grocery  and  meat  market  on 
Mackinaw  Avenue,  and  a  year  later  moved  to  the 
northwest  corner  of  Superior  Avenue  and  Eighty- 
fifth  Street,  where  he  erected  a  building.  In  1893 
this  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  he  immediately 
put  up  the  handsome  brick  block  that  now  occu- 
pies the  site.  In  1872  he  married  Katharine, 
daughter  of  Simon  Schnaza,  who  bore  him  the 
following  children:  Robert,  whose  name  heads 
this  article;  Margaret,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
eight  years;  Baldina,  Medard,  Cecelia  (who  died 
in  infancy),  Leon,  Felix  and  Joseph.  The  last 
died  at  the  age  of  one  year.  Mr.  Martin  Lenard 
is  the  fourth  of  his  father's  six  children,  and  the 
only  one  who  came  to  America. 

Robert  Lenard  attended  the  public  schools  of 
Chicago,  the  German  Catholic  and  Polish  schools, 
and  went  to  Notre  Dame,  Indiana,  in  1888,  and 
spent  two  years  in  pursuit  of  a  business  course  at 
the  famous  Notre  Dame  College.  He  next  entered 
the  Northwestern  University  School  of  Pharmacy, 
from  which  he  secured  a  degree  in  1893.  In 
August  of  that  year  he  established  himself  in  the 
drug  and  prescription  business  on  Superior  Ave- 


nue, near  Eighty- fifth  Street,  where  he  has  con- 
tinued with  success  to  carry  on  business  since. 
During  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  he 
operated  a  restaurant  at  the  south  end  of  the 
grounds,  known  as  the  Tunis  Cafe,  with  satisfac- 
tory results. 

Mr.  Lenard  is  active  in  the  social  and  political 
life  of  the  community,  and  is  recognized  as  an  in- 
fluential member  of  society.  He  is  a  member  in 
good  standing  of  Nonpareil  Lodge,  No.  361, 
Knights  of  Pythias,  and  acts  in  political  matters 
with  the  Democratic  party.  He  has  been  useful 
in  the  committee  work  of  his  party,  and  did  some 
very  effective  campaign  work  in  the  fall  of  1896. 
In  the  spring  of  1894  he  was  nominated  for 
supervisor  of  the  Town  of  Hyde  Park,  but  was  de- 
feated with  other  candidates  on  his  party  ticket. 

September  18,  1895,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Clara  Isabella,  daughter  of  John  Biedrzicki,  of 
Milwaukee.  One  child  born  to  this  union  did 
not  long  survive.  Mr.  Lenard  still  has  much  of 
the  world  before  him,  and  is  bound  to  make  his 
mark  on  .the  social,  political  and  commercial  life 
of  the  great  Western  metropolis. 


JOHN  J.  JUNG. 


(JOHN  JOSEPH  JUNG  was  born  June  10, 
I  1847,  in  Canton  Graubunden,  Switzerland, 
Q)  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Fannie  Jung.  He 
was  reared  in  his  native  country,  receiving  his 
education  there.  His  family  remained  in  the 
mother  country,  and  he  was  the  only  one  of  the 
children  who  emigrated  to  America.  He  arrived 
February  29,  1880,  at  Hoboken,  New  Jersey,  and 
came  direct  to  Chicago.  He  had  learned  the 
trade  of  watch-maker  in  Switzerland,  and  opened 
a  store  and  watch-making  establishment  at  No. 
141  West  Randolph  Street,  which  he  conducted  a 
year  and  one-half.  He  then  opened  the  first 


Swiss  hotel  on  the  North  Side,  which  was  situ- 
ated at  Nos.  101,  103  and  105  North  Wells  Street. 
It  was  called  the  Garden  City  House,  and  was 
conducted  by  him  three  years,  when  he  was  com- 
pelled to  remove  to  the  country  on  account  of  the 
poor  health  of  his  wife.  He  opened  a  saloon  at 
what  is  now  the  corner  of  Western  Avenue  and 
Indiana  Street,  and  kept  a  summer  garden  there 
three  years.  Then  he  became  the  proprietor  of  a 
wine  room  at  Nos.  128  and  130  Fifth  Avenue. 
He  sold  this  one  year  later  and  invested  in  a 
hotel  known  as  the  Exchange,  located  at  No. 
66  Wells  Street.  Later  he  became  traveling 


684 


WALTER  McCALL. 


salesman  for  the  Old  Hickory  Distilling  Com- 
pany, and  spent  four  years  visiting  the  principal 
cities  of  Illinois,  Missouri,  Indiana,  Wisconsin 
and  Iowa,  in  the  interests  of  that  company.  He 
then  became  connected  with  the  interests  of  the 
Acme  Distillery,  of  Tell  City,  Indiana,  and  still 
has  charge  of  its  Chicago  trade. 

April  20,  1896,  Mr.  Jung  opened  business  at 
No.  10287  Indianapolis  Avenue,  and  improved 
what  is  now  known  as  Jung's  Grove.  He  also 
began  the  improvement  of  ground  now  known  as 
Casino  Grove,  at  No.  9601  Ewing  Avenue. 
These  two  resorts  are  among  the  most  popular 
ones  on  the  East  Side  of  South  Chicago.  They 


have  been  fitted  up  with  great  care  under  the 
personal  supervision  of  Mr.  Jung,  and  contain  all 
modern  improvements  and  comforts  to  make  them 
attractive. 

In  December,  1879,  Mr.  Jung  married  Miss 
Maggie  Brenner,  a  native  of  Switzerland,  and 
they  are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  namely: 
Otto,  Lena,  John,  Mollie,  Anton,  Louisa  and 
Frank.  Mr.  Jung  is  a  member  of  Columbia 
Lodge,  No.  150,  Knights  of  Pythias.  In  national 
affairs  he  upholds  the  principles  of  the  Republi- 
can party,  but  in  local  matters  he  chooses  rather 
to  consider  the  man  than  his  party,  and  is  thus 
independent  of  partisan  dictation. 


WALTER  McCALL, 


McCALL,  a  self-made  man  of 
South  Chicago,  was  born  April  13,  1865, 
at  Saint  William's,  Norfolk  County,  Can- 
ada, and  is  a  son  of  James  Walter  and  Adelia 
(Loftus)  McCall.  His  paternal  grandfather  was 
the  founder  of  the  family  in  this  country.  The 
latter  was  born  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  in  his 
native  country  was  a  magistrate.  On  coming  to 
America  he  engaged  in  farming.  His  children 
were:  Fannie,  John  J.,  and  James  W.  (father  of 
Walter  McCall)  besides  others  who  are  deceased. 

The  maternal  grandfather  of  Walter  McCall, 
Dennis  Loftus,  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  emi- 
grated to  Canada  about  1849,  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, and  died  in  1866.  He  married  Miss  Mar- 
garet Denis,  and  they  had  six  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Hugh  F. ,  Dennis,  John,  James,  Mary  and 
Adelia.  All  of  these  children,  except  Mary, 
emigrated  to  the  United  States.  Hugh  F.  Loftus 
is  captain  of  the  steamer  ''Manhattan,"  and 
resides  in  Chicago. 

Walter  McCall  received  his  elementary  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  Saint  William's,  where  he 


lived  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  then 
removed  to  Buffalo,  where  he  found  employment 
as  time-keeper.  After  spending  a  few  months  in 
this  employment  he  became  a  conductor  on  a 
street  car  line,  which  position  he  filled  two  years. 
Realizing  the  advantages  he  would  gain  if  his 
education  were  supplemented,  he  completed  a 
course  at  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business  College. 
After  taking  a  diploma  from  this  school  he  be- 
came a  sailor  on  the  lakes,  and  soon  rose  to  the 
position  of  second  mate.  He  spent  seven  years 
on  the  lakes,  making  Chicago  his  headquarters, 
and  became  mate  on  the  steamer' '  Massachusetts, ' ' 
on  which  he  remained  four  years. 

In  August,  1890,  he  entered  the  service  of  the 
Illinois  Steel  Company  as  crane  engineer,  and 
after  two  years  in  this  position  became  a  lever- 
man  in  the  finishing  mills,  where  he  spent  three 
years.  May  15,  1895,  Mayor  Swift  appointed 
Mr.  McCall  harbor  master  of  the  Calumet  dis- 
trict, which  office  he  retained  until  May  6,  1897. 
He  was  then  made  superintendent  of  the  Chicago 
Ballast  Company,  with  headquarters  at  the  plant 


THOMAS   BOYLE. 


685 


of  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  and  is  thus  occu- 
pied at  this  time.  He  is  now  pursuing  a  medical 
course  at  Harvey  Medical  College,  in  Chicago, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  class  of  "99. 

February  19,  1890,  Mr.  McCall  married  Miss 
Annie  Gardner,  daughter  of  James  Gardner,  of 
Vittoria,  Canada.  Mr.  McCall  is  a  man  who  is 
able  to  concentrate  his  attention  on  whatever  oc- 
cupation he  is  engaged  in,  and  shows  his  ability 
in  a  way  that  inspires  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  his  employers  and  associates.  He  was  made  a 


Master  Mason  in  Walsingham  Lodge,  No.  174, 
Port  Rowan,  Canada,  and  is  now  a  member  of 
Harbor  Lodge,  No.  731,  of  Chicago.  He  took 
the  degree  of  Royal  Arch  Mason  in  Sinai  Chap- 
ter, No.  185,  in  which  he  is  a  Past  High  Priest, 
and  belongs  to  Calumet  Lodge,  No.  569,  Royal 
Arcanum.  He  is  a  man  of  social  habits,  and  has 
a  genial,  pleasant  disposition.  In  politics  Mr. 
McCall  takes  an  active  interest,  and  during  the 
last  campaign  gave  his  party  valuable  help.  He 
supports  Republican  principles. 


THOMAS  BOYLE. 


'HOMAS  BOYLE.  Among  Chicago's  self- 
made  men  who  have  been  very  successful 
in  business  is  Thomas  Boyle.  He  was  born 
in  Dundalk,  Ireland,  January  6,  1842,  and  was 
the  son  of  Patrick  and  Mary  (Megham)  Boyle, 
who  were  natives  of  that  place.  He  is  descended 
from  sturdy  Scotch  ancestry,  and  as  far  back  as 
it  has  been  traced  the  family  were  of  the  better 
class  of  citizens,  who  were  worthy  the  honor  and 
respect  they  received.  His  grandfather,  Daniel 
Boyle,  was  a  farmer,  and  lived  to  the  unusual 
age  of  one  hundred  and  eight  years.  Patrick 
Boyle  was  a  volunteer  in  the  British  army,  and 
fought  in  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  After  the  war 
was  over  he  left  the  profession  of  arms  to  engage 
in  farming.  He  was  married  at  this  time,  and 
became  the  father  of  nine  children.  He  lived  to 
be  sixty-six  and  his  wife  to  be  eighty-eight.  One 
son,  William  Boyle,  is  a  government  ganger. 

Thomas  had  an  opportunity  to  attend  school 
but  a  few  years,  but  by  making  the  most  of  his 
time,  and  by  dint  of  hard  study  by  himself  in  the 
evenings  after  his  day's  work  was  over,  he  had  a 
fair  education  before  he  came  to  America.  For 
many  years  after  coming  to  this  country  he  con- 
tinued his  habit  of  study,  and  he  is  therefore 
practically  a  self-educated  man.  He  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1866,  landing  in  Chicago  on  Fri- 


day, February  13,  with  thirteen  dollars  in  his  pock- 
et, but  with  perseverance  and  integrity,  honesty 
and  rugged  health  in  his  possession,  which  were 
worth  thousands  of  dollars.  So,  as  time  proved, 
he  was  fully  equipped  for  the  struggle  with  for- 
tune in  the  New  World.  He  was  always  very 
conscientious  in  all  his  business  relations,  and  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  careful  as  well  as  suc- 
cessful business  men  of  Chicago,  who  owes  his 
success  to  his  own  unaided  efforts. 

He  had  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  in  Ireland, 
and  his  first  employment  in  Chicago  was  in  the 
exercise  of  this  trade.  The  hours  were  long  in 
those  days,  but  even  though  he  worked  sixteen 
hours  a  day  he  took  time  in  the  evening  to  pur- 
sue his  studies,  in  order  that  he  might  be  better 
prepared  to  fight  the  battle  of  life.  In  1868  he 
established  himself  in  the  grocery  and  ice  bus- 
iness at  the  corner  of  White  and  Franklin  Streets, 
where  he  was  burned  out  by  the  Great  Fire.  He 
owned  a  lot  at  the  corner  of  Halsted  Street  and 
Garfield  Avenue,  and  here  he  built  a  frame  build- 
ing only  a  week  after  the  fire,  with  an  ice-house 
in  the  rear.  Here  he  conducted  his  business  for 
nearly  three  years,  when  he  built  ice-houses  on 
Montana  and  Perry  Streets  in  Lake  View,  and 
devoted  his  whole  attention  to  the  ice  business. 

He  commenced  this  venture  in  a  small  way, 


686 


J.  A.  FAIR. 


and  for  five  years  had  but  one  wagon,  which  he 
drove  himself.  From  year  to  year  he  increased 
the  business,  having  a  partner  who  started  in  the 
business  with  him  and  continued  with  him  till 
called  away  by  death.  With  his  partner,  P.  J. 
Maginis  by  name,  he  started  the  Lincoln  Ice 
Company,  which  at  the  present  time  is  doing  a 
thriving  business,  often  employing  as  many  as 
one  thousand  men  in  winter,  and  in  summer  four 
hundred  men,  and  eighty-two  teams.  For  five 
years  they  had  ice-houses  at  Sturgeon  Bay,  ship- 
ping by  vessel  to  Chicago.  Finally  they  built 
ice-houses  at  Silver  Spring,  three  miles  north  of 
Milwaukee,  and  eventually  sold  them  for  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars,  thus  making  a  clear  profit  of 
seventeen  thousand  dollars.  Then  they  bought 
land  in  Burlington,  Wisconsin,  on  Rockland  and 
Brown's  Lakes,  where  they  erected  new  buildings, 
which  are  connected  with  the  Wisconsin  Central 
Railway.  In  1886  they  established  ice-houses  at 
Camp  Lake,  Wisconsin,  and  in  1890  at  Madison, 


in  the  same  State.  Their  business  has  steadily 
grown  and  requires  close  attention,  but  the  ad- 
mirable way  in  which  every  detail  is  arranged  by 
Mr.  Boyle  makes  it  comparatively  easy  to  con- 
trol. The  company  steadily  employs  harness- 
makers  and  blacksmiths,  and  raises  its  own 
horses.  Many  of  the  men  in  Mr.  Boyle's  em- 
ploy have  been  with  him  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  and  the  policy  of  the  company  is  to  keep 
with  it  as  many  of  the  good  men  as  possible. 

Mr.  Boyle  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Maginis, 
a  sister  of  his  partner,  and  they  have  four  chil- 
dren now  living:  John  P.,  who  was  formerly 
assistant  prosecuting  attorney  under  Hempstead 
J.  Washburne;  James  T.;  and  two  daughters, 
Mary  Alice  and  Irene. 

Mr.  Boyle  is.  a  citizen  of  whom  our  city  may 
well  be  proud.  In  his  politics  he  is  a  stanch 
Republican.  He  will  compare  well  with  many 
men  who  have  had  a  liberal  education  given 
them  and  also  a  start  in  business  and  wealth. 


JOHN  A.  FAIR. 


(JOHN  ADAM  FAIR,  an  honest  and  reliable 
I  citizen  of  South  Chicago,  was  born  June  28, 
Q)  1859,  in  Wyandotte,  Michigan,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  Adam  and  Margaret  (Ruede)  Fair.  An 
account  of  the  life  of  his  father  may  be  found 
elsewhere  within  these  pages.  He  received  his 
education  in  the  common  schools,  and  when  old 
enough  began  work  in  a  mill.  He  was  satisfac- 
tory to  his  employers,  and  has  ever  since  been 
occupied  with  this  kind  of  labor,  for  which  he 
had  ability  and  liking. 

In  1882  he  removed  to  South  Chicago  and  en- 
tered the  service  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Company  in 
the  rolling  mills,  spending  three  years  at  work 
connected  with  the  furnace,  and  since  that  time 
has  been  engaged  on  the  rolls.  He  is  energetic 
and  faithful  to  duty,  and  the  fact  that  he  has  been 


fifteen  years  in  the  employ  of  one  establishment 
attests  his  capability. 

December  15,  1892,  Mr.  Fair  married  Miss 
Bertha  Zoerner,  daughter  of  Ernst  and  Louise 
(Debus)  Zoerner,  of  Chicago.  She  was  born  on  the 
West  Side  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  December  23, 
1866.  They  have  no  children  of  their  own,  but 
have  adopted  a  girl,  Edna  Louise  Zoerner,  born 
June  4,  1891,  and  she  enjoys  the  privileges  and 
affection  which  would  be  hers  if  one  of  the  family 
by  birth. 

In  his  relations  with  his  fellow-men  Mr.  Fair  is 
upright  and  honorable,  and  his  many  friends  can 
depend  upon  his  interest  in  their  welfare.  He  is 
informed  upon  the  most  important  subjects  of  the 
day,  and  is  a  public-spirited  and  highly  respected 
citizen. 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


IIKK.M  \N\   REVDTORFF 


(From  Photo,  by  W.  J.  ROOT) 


HERMANN  RENDTORFF. 


687 


HERMANN  RENDTORFF. 


HERMANN  RENBTORFF,  an  enterprising 
German- American  citizen,  has  been  identi- 
fied with  Chicago  for  over  thirty  years.  He 
was  born  August  6,  1843,  in  Sauk  City,  Sauk 
County,  Wisconsin,  being  a  son  of  Edmund  and 
Henrietta  (Graepel)  Rendtorff,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Hamburg,  Germany. 

Edmund  Rendtorff  came  to  the  United  States 
in  1838.  He  was  highly  educated  in  his  native 
tongue,  as  well  as  in  three  other  languages,  and 
was  employed  as  correspondent  and  general  office 
man.  On  coming  to  this  country  he  worked  on  a 
farm  in  Illinois  for  a  short  time,  and  then  went 
to  Wisconsin.  He  was  among  the  first  settlers 
of  Sauk  City,  and  for  some  time  was  employed  as 
clerk  on  a  steamboat  on  the  Wisconsin  River.  He 
made  a  pre-emption  claim  to  Government  land  in 
Sauk  County,  and  was  able  to  buy  eighty  acres  of 
it  when  it  came  into  market.  His  education  and 
ability  fitted  him  for  activity  in  the  management 
of  public  affairs,  and  he  soon  became  prominent 
in  the  county,  being  its  first  treasurer. 

He  had  been  engaged  to  Miss  Graepel  before 
leaving  Germany.  In  1842  she  came  to  America, 
and  upon  her  arrival  in  New  York  they  were 
married  and  settled  upon  his  land,  where  he  con- 
tinued farming  for  five  years.  In  1847  he  went 
to  St.  Louis  as  bookkeeper  for  Childs  &  Com- 
pany, wholesale  grocery  dealers  in  that  city.  At 
the  end  of  six  years  he  returned  to  Sauk  City  and 
conducted  a  general  store  there  for  a  period  of 
twenty-five  years.  Mrs.  Rendtorff  died  in  1889, 
at  the  age  of  seventy  years,  and  her  husband  sur- 
vived until  1892,  reaching  the  good  age  of  sev- 
enty-six years.  All  of  their  six  children  grew  to 
maturity,  the  eldest  being  he  whose  name  heads 
this  article.  The  second,  J.  Christian  Rendtorff, 
resides  on  North  Avenue,  in  Chicago.  Susanna 
is  the  wife  of  F.  A.  Oswald,  of  the  same  city. 


Johanna  is  the  next  in  order  of  birth.  Emma, 
Mrs.  Theodore  Krueger,  is  also  a  resident  of 
Chicago;  and  Richard  O.  is  deceased. 

Hermann  Rendtorff  had  but  limited  opportuni- 
ties for  education.  He  was  reared  on  the  farm 
and  attended  school  only  during  the  winter 
months.  He  remained  with  his  parents  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  and  might  have 
continued  longer  but  for  the  outbreak  of  hos- 
tilities between  the  North  and  the  South  in  1861. 
He  was  filled  with  patriotic  love  for  the  land  of 
his  birth,  and  on  the  I4th  of  September,  1861, 
having  just  completed  the  eighteenth  year  of  his 
age,  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  Company  D,  Ninth 
Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  bore  an  active 
part  in  all  the  engagements  in  which  his  regiment 
participated,  and  was  wounded  in  the  right  thigh 
by  a  bullet  at  the  battle  of  Newtonia,  Missouri, 
September  30,  1862.  He  spent  three  months  in 
hospitals  at  Fort  Scott  and  Fort  Leaven  worth, 
Kansas,  and  still  carries  in  his  flesh  the  bullet 
which  caused  his  injury.  On  his  recovery  he 
rejoined  his  regiment,  with  which  he  continued 
until  honorably  discharged  at  the  close  of  his 
period  of  enlistment,  at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin, 
December  4,  1864. 

He  returned  to  his  native  place  and  remained 
until  February  20,  1865,  on  which  date  he  became 
a  resident  of  Chicago.  He  entered  the  employ  of 
Ressing,  Inderrieden  &  Company,  wholesale  and 
retail  grocers,  with  whom  he  remained  two  years. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  he  entered  into  partner- 
ship with  G.  E.  Roscher,  in  a  retail  grocery 
store  at  No.  206  North  Clark  Street,  and  two 
years  later  sold  out  to  his  partner. 

He  now  entered  the  hardware  establishment 
of  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Oswald,  at  Nos. 
139  and  141  Milwaukee  Avenue,  and  rapidly 
mastered  the  business.  At  the  end  of  one  year  he 


688 


JOHN  SCHIRRA. 


formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Oswald,  and  they 
opened  a  store  on  the  corner  of  Lake  and  Halsted 
Streets,  under  the  firm  name  of  Rendtorff  & 
Oswald.  This  connection  lasted  only  a  few 
years,  and  Mr.  Rendtorff  removed  to  the  North 
Side  and  established  an  independent  business  on 
North  Avenue.  Two  years  later  he  purchased 
property  on  the  corner  of  North  Avenue  and 
Mohawk  Street,  consisting  of  four  lots  and  build- 
ings, whither  he  removed  his  stock  and  contin- 
ued business.  In  1880  he  added  the  manufacture 
of  stove-boards,  which  he  carried  on  in  connec- 
tion with  his  hardware  store.  In  the  year  1883 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother,  J. 
Christian  Rendtorff,  and  they  opened  two  stores, 
one  being  at  No.  154  North  Avenue,  and  the 
other  at  No.  700  Lincoln  Avenue.  Their  brother, 
Richard  Otto,  had  charge  of  the  former,  and 
after  his  death  they  sold  the  Lincoln  Avenue 
store. 

In  1883  Mr.  Rendtorff  felt  that  he  had  earned 
a  vacation,  and  sailed  for  Europe  in  that  year, 
spending  thirteen  months  in  visiting  England, 
Ireland,  France,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Austria, 
Holland,  Italy  and  Germany.  On  his  return  he 
opened  a  jobbing  house  in  stoves,  at  No.  16  Lake 
Street,  which  he  conducted  until  1896,  and  then 
sold  out.  In  1894,  when  Mr.  Rendtorff  began 
building  the  present  block  at  the  corner  of  North 
Avenue  and  Mohawk  Street,  the  stock  was  re- 
moved to  No,  154  North  Avenue,  now  conducted 


by  his  brother,  J.  Christian,  who  owns  it,  the 
partnership  having  been  dissolved  by  mutual  con- 
sent in  1896. 

Mr.  Rendtorff  has  continued  the  manufacture 
of  stove-boards  since  he  first  established  it,  and 
is  now  extensively  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
a  patent  milk-pail  with  a  detachable  strainer,  and 
a  patent  split-lock  stove-pipe  elbow.  At  present 
he  is  giving  all  his  attention  to  his  manufacturing 
interests,  which  are  rapidly  growing  under  his 
prudent  and  energetic  management.  Thirty-five 
men  are  employed  in  this  business,  and  the 
products  are  shipped  to  nearly  every  state  in  the 
Union.  His  long  business  career  in  Chicago  has 
made  him  a  wide  acquaintance,  and  firmly  estab- 
lished his  reputation  as  an  upright  and  fair-deal- 
ing business  man. 

Septembers,  1875,  Mr.  Rendtorff  was  married 
in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  to  Miss  Ida  Stuetze,  a 
native  of  that  city.  Though  not  connected  with 
any  religious  organization,  Mr.  Rendtorff  is  a 
supporter  of  all  good  works,  and  feels  a  'keen  in- 
terest in  the  moral,  social  and  material  welfare  of 
the  community  in  which  he  resides.  His  first  pres- 
idential vote  was  cast  in  Little  Rock,  Arkansas, 
in  1864,  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  he  has  since 
supported  the  candidates  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  is  a  member  of  Hancock  Post,  No.  560, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  is  highly 
esteemed  by  all  classes  of  citizens  because  of  his 
genial  manner  and  manly  worth. 


JOHN  SCHIRRA. 


(JOHN  SCHIRRA,  a  retired  merchant  of  Chi- 
I  cago,  was  born  January  18,  1822,  in  Dam- 
(*/  floss,  Trier,  Germany.  His  education  was 
received  in  the  schools  of  his  native  country,  and 
he  was  reared  to  farm  life.  He  was  ambitious  of 
better  chances  for  advancement  than  were  offered 


by  his  native  land,  and  in  1850  he  came  to  the 
United  States,  settling  in  Cook  Count}-,  Illinois, 
where  he  found  employment  at  various  occupa- 
tions. First  he  worked  at  farm  labor,  next  at 
getting  out  railroad  ties,  and  then  at  burning  char- 
coal. Later  he  moved  to  the  rapidly  growing 


CHRISTIAN  MADARY. 


689 


city  of  Chicago  and  opened  the  first  grocery  store 
located  north  of  Chicago  avenue,  at  the  corner  of 
Siegel  and  Wells  streets,  in  the  old  stone  house. 

In  October,  1857,  Mr.  Schirra  married  Miss 
Barbara  Scheidt,  and  soon  after  opened  the  store 
above  referred  to.  For  nine  years  he  did  a  large 
and  profitable  business,  and  then  moved  to  the 
sharp  corner  of  Wells  and  Clark  streets  and  Lin- 
coln avenue,  where  he  conducted  a  saloon  two 
years.  While  at  this  location  he  bought  the 
property  he  now  owns,  at  No.  606  Sedgwick 
street,  and  moved  a  building  onto  it,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  grocery  and  saloon  business,  which 
he  conducted  with  good  success  until  the  fire  of 
1871  carried  away  all  his  property  but  the  very 
land. 

After  the  fire  Mr.  Schirra  rebuilt  and  resumed 
business,  carrying  it  on  until  1880,  when  he  re- 
tired with  a  competence.  After  the  fire  he  bought 


two  lots  adjoining  his  business  place  and  built  on 
them,  and  now  occupies  the  house  at  No.  602. 
Mr.  Schirra's  energies  were  always  devoted  to 
his  private  interests  and  he  spent  little  time  in 
politics,  never  having  held  an  office.  He  is,  how- 
ever, interested  in  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  and  is 
a  supporter  of  the  Democratic  party.  His  suc- 
cess in  business  is  due  to  his  industry  and  good 
judgment  in  his  investments  and  his  careful  and 
frugal  habits. 

The  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schirra  has  been 
blessed  with  twelve  children,  only  six  of  whom 
are  now  living.  Matilda  is  the  wife  of  Mr.  Jacob 
Becker.  George  has  been  a  member  of  the  Chi- 
cago Fire  Department  for  many  years.  John  fol- 
lows the  trade  of  plumber.  The  others  are:  Jo- 
seph, Teresa,  and  Martha.  All  are  communi- 
cants of  Saint  Michael's  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  are  worthy  members  of  its  large  congregation. 


CHRISTIAN  MADARY. 


CHRISTIAN  MADARY,  who,  after  a  long 
1 1  life  of  honest  toil  is  enjoying  a  period  of 
\J  comfort  and  rest  in  this  city,  has  lived  here 
many  years,  and  is  well  known  among  the  older 
residents  of  the  city.  He  was  born  November 
29,  1817,  in  Canton  Basel,  Switzerland,  and  re- 
ceived his  education  in  his  native  country.  When 
he  was  old  enough  to  choose  a  trade,  he  wished 
to  learn  silk  manufacture,  and  was  occupied  in 
this  for  many  years  in  Switzerland. 

He  was  married  in  March,  1844,  to  Miss  Eva 
Elizabeth  Meyer,  and  soon  after  resolved  to  try 
his  fortunes  in  the  New  World.  In  1845,  accom- 
panied by  his  wife  and  her  parents,  he  embarked 
at  Havre,  France,  on  a  sailing-ship  and,  after 
forty-five  days  on  the  water,  reached  New  York. 
They  proceeded  on  their  way  to  Chicago  by 
water,  sailing  up  the  Hudson  River  to  Albany, 


whence  they  traveled  by  canal  to  Buffalo,  and 
stopped  six  weeks  at  Detroit.  Upon  arriving  in 
Chicago  Mr.  Madary  was  compelled  to  work  at 
any  honest  labor  he  was  able  to  procure  for  sev- 
eral years,  but  he  was  industrious  and  reliable, 
and  rapidly  succeeded  in  bettering  his  condi- 
tion. 

In  1849  he  rented  a  piece  of  land  on  North 
Clark  street,  and  in  a  modest  way,  suited  to  his 
means,  began  gardening.  This  venture  was  so 
successful  that,  in  1852,  he  was  able  to  purchase 
a  lot  sixty-one  by  two  hundred  fourteen  feet,  on 
North  Avenue,  where  his  home  is  now  located, 
and  was  able  to  build  a  house  in  1855.  For  many 
years  Mr.  Madary  carried  on  gardening,  and  is 
still  in  a  small  way  interested  in  it. 

Of  the  ten  children  who  have  blessed  the  home 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Madary,  seven  are  living. 


690 


JOHN  BRUSZER. 


Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of  Fred  Becker,  of  No.  78 
Wells  street.  Next  in  order  of  birth  are:  Mary, 
William,  Charles,  Carrie,  Albert,  and  Sophie, 
the  last-named  being  the  wife  of  Mr.  William 
Beenner.  Mrs.  Madary  passed  away  April  9,  1886. 
Mr.  Madary's  first  presidential  vote  was  cast  for 
John  C.  Fremont,  and  since  that  time  he  has  sup- 


ported the  Republican  party  in  national  issues. 
He  and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Reformed 
Church  or  the  Evangelical  Association,  and  are 
known  as  citizens  of  loyalty  and  patriotism  to 
their  adopted  country,  and  have  the  respect  of 
the  community  for  their  honest  and  upright  lives 
and  good  works. 


JOHN  BRUSZER. 


(TOHN  BRUSZER,  a  prosperous  and  influen- 
I  tial  citizen  of  Chicago,  was  born  November 
G)  9,  1839,  in  Wadstena,  Oster  Gotland,  Swe- 
den, and  is  a  son  of  Jonas  and  Catarina  Larson, 
his  name  being  changed  by  him  shortly  after 
coming  to  America.  His  education  and  training 
for  the  business  of  life  were  received  in  the  land 
of  his  birth,  where  he  spent  all  his  earlier  life. 
At  the  age  of  eight  years  he  entered  the  marine 
service  as  cabin  boy  on  a  passenger  steamer  ply- 
ing between  Guttenberg  and  Stockholm.  In 
1851,  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years,  he  shipped  as 
cabin  boy  on  the  sailing-ship  Eugenia,  a  govern- 
ment vessel  fitted  out  for  scientific  research  and 
exploration  purposes,  sailing  in  the  northern 
waters  in  search  of  the  North  Pole.  He  remained 
on  this  boat  till  1853.  After  this  he  became  a 
sailor  in  the  summer  and  learned  the  machinist's 
trade  in  the  winter  months.  He  followed  this 
for  many  years.  About  1865  he  bought  a  vessel, 
the  Freda  Nord,  and  sailed  it  on  Lake  Wetter 
until  1868,  when  he  sold  it,  and  the  next  year 
came  to  America. 

One  brother,  Andrew,  came  to  America  in 
1868,  and  this  roused  the  ambition  of  John  Brus- 
zer  to  follow  him  and  try  his  fortunes  in  the  land 
across  the  water.  He  followed  his  brother  the 
following  year,  arriving  in  New  York  April  29, 
and  proceeded  westward  to  the  State  of  Illinois. 
He  remained  one  year  engaged  in  farm  labor 


near  Rock  ford,  and  then  spent  some  time  in  trav- 
eling, going  to  Whitehall,  Michigan;  to  St.  Louis, 
to  New  Orleans,  to  the  State  of  Arkansas,  to  St. 
Louis  again,  to  St.  Paul,  and  then  worked  along 
the  Mississippi  River,  which  often  brought  him 
to  St.  Louis,  a  city  that  he  greatly  liked. 

In  1872  Mr.  Bruszer  established  himself  in 
Chicago,  and  found  employment  on  the  city 
dredges  arid  tug-boats.  He  was  willing  to  spend 
his  time  and  energy  in  any  honest  labor,  and 
during  this  time  was  rapidly  mastering  the  Eng- 
lish language.  Mr.  Bruszer  removed  to  South 
Chicago  in  May,  1873,  and  entered  the  employ 
of  the  Calumet  &  Chicago  Canal  &  Dock  Com- 
pany, on  tug-boats.  He  remained  at  this  work 
about  one  year,  and  then  secured  a  position  with 
the  Chicago  Forge  &  Bolt  Company,  where  he 
remained  nine  years.  At  the  end  of  this  period 
of  time  he  found  employment  in  the  coal  yard  of 
E.  L.  Hedstrom,  and  since  then  he  has  continued 
in  this  employ,  now  acting  as  engineer.  His  poor 
health  causes  the  loss  of  much  time,  but  through 
his  reliability  and  faithfulness  he  is  invaluable  to 
his  employer.  In  1894  he  took  a  well-earned 
vacation,  and  visited  the  scenes  of  his  childhood 
and  also  other  parts  of  Europe,  remaining  from 
September,  1894,  to  April  of  the  next  year. 

Mr.  Bruszer  built  a  house  in  1874,  on  Green 
Bay  Avenue,  between  Eighty-ninth  and  Ninetieth 
Streets,  on  the  east  side  of  the  avenue,  and  re- 


MRS.  E.  E.  THILO. 


69.1 


sided  there  until  1880,  when  he  built  a  house  on 
a  vacant  lot  adjoining  the  one  where  his  present 
home  is  situated.  In  1891  he  built  a  dwelling  on 
the  site  where  he  now  resides,  which  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  1893.  To  meet  his  immediate 
need  he  built  a  house  on  the  rear  of  his  lot,  which 
is  still  standing,  and  in  1894  built  an  elegant 
apartment  house  of  four  stories,  which  is  his 
present  home.  He  has  been  most  successful  in 
his  business  transactions,  and  prosperity  has 
crowned  his  efforts. 


Mr.  Bruszer  was  married  December  25,  1873, 
to  Miss  Matilda  Krantz,  of  his  old  home  in  Swe- 
den. Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  five 
children.  They  are  Oscar  Conrad,  Carl  Wol- 
ford,  Remer,  Chester  and  Elsie.  All  are  living, 
with  the  exception  of  Remer,  who  died  when  two 
and  a-half  years  old.  Mr.  Bruszer  is  active  in 
social  and  political  circles  in  his  community,  and 
has  many  friends.  He  was  reared  in  the  Luth- 
eran faith,  to  which  he  still  adheres.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Republican. 


MRS.  EVA.  E.  THILO. 


IV/lRS.  EVA  ELIZABETH  THILO,  an  old 
I V  I  and  respected  pioneer  of  Chicago,  was  born 
101  in  Langensaltz,  Saxony,  Germany,  Sep- 
tember 25,  1836.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Fred- 
erick Christian  and  Christina  (Ackerman)  Sper- 
ber,  and  came  with  her  parents  to  Chicago  in 
1847.  Christian  and  Christina  Sperber  were  the 
parents  of  five  children,  three  of  whom  died  in 
Germany,  and  when  they  came  to  Chicago  they 
brought  with  them  besides  Elizabeth  one  other 
daughter,  Christine.  Mr.  Sperber  died  about 
1869,  and  the  mother  survived  him  until  August, 
1893,  when  she  also  passed  away,  at  the  age  of 
more  than  ninety  years. 

Eva  E.  Sperber  was  married  March  10,  1851, 
to  Charles  Henry  Nibbe,  who  was  born  December 
6,  1828,  near  Hamburg,  Germany.  He  left  his 
home  at  the  tender  age  of  twelve  years  and  fol- 
lowed a  sailor's  life,  becoming  a  captain  when 
still  a  young  man,  and  at  one  time  became  the 
owner  of  a  number  of  boats  on  the  Great  Lakes. 
In  1848  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and  until 
about  1857  was  a  captain  on  the  Lakes.  At  this 
time  he  engaged  in  the  grocer's  business  on 
Larrabee  Street,  and  continued  this  until  the  fire 
of  1871,  when  he  lost  everything  in  the  confla- 


gration. He  did  not  lose  his  courage,  however, 
and  rebuilt  and  again  engaged  in  business,  being 
successful.  He  was  diligent  and  prudent  and 
was  able  to  accumulate  a  competence.  He  was 
an  ardent  Republican,  and  in  the  success  of  his 
party  he  took  an  active  interest,  and  contributed 
largely  to  it.  For  two  years  he  was  custom-  house 
surveyor  in  Chicago,  during  which  time  he  was 
associated  with  the  brother-in-law  of  President 
Grant,  William  Dent. 

Mr.  Nibbe  was  a  member  of  Saint  Paul's 
Lutheran  Church.  He  and  his  wife  were  blessed 
with  seventeen  children,  of  whom  only  the  fol- 
lowing are  now  living:  Charles  H.,  a  printer; 
Peter;  Elizabeth,  now  widow  of  John  Whitty; 
Minnie,  wife  of  Dr.  W.  H.  Dodge;  Emma,  wife 
of  Reese  Steffy;  Paul;  and  Paulina.  Mr.  Nibbe 
died  January  19,  1881. 

July  12,  1885,  Mrs.  Nibbe  became  the  wife  of 
G.  Wilhelm  Thilo,  who  was  born  December  31, 
1829,  in  Dering,  Saxony,  Germany.  He  re- 
ceived his  education  in  his  native  country,  and 
learned  the  trade  of  mason,  which  he  followed  for 
many  years.  His  ambition  led  him  to  leave  his 
home  for  the  New  World,  where  he  determined 
to  seek  his  fortune,  which,  however,  he  knew 


692 


GEORGE  ERNST. 


could  come  to  him  only  through  his  own  efforts. 
In  1855  he  left  Germany,  and  upon  his  arrival  in 
the  United  States  he  came  direct  to  Chicago. 
For  six  years  he  was  employed  as  a  mason,  and 
then  he  engaged  in  gardening  on  Halsted  Street. 
He  was  married  in  Prussia  to  Miss  Susanna 
Hausen,  a  native  of  the  same  place  as  himself,  in 
1853,  and  by  that  marriage  he  had  five  children, 
only  two  of  whom  lived  to  maturity — Minnie, 
now  Mrs.  Hammerstrom,  and  William,  deceased. 
The  mother  died  in  1883. 

Mr.  Thilo  continued  the  conduct  of  his  garden 
until  he  was  able  to  retire,  about  twenty  years 
ago,  having  acquired  a  comfortable  fortune.  He 


is  now  interested  in  a  factory  for  making  linseed 
oil,  belonging  to  the  Crescent  Linseed  Oil  Corn- 
pan}'.  He  has  been  interested  in  this  industry 
for  fifteen  years,  during  most  of  which  period  he 
has  served  as  vice-president  of  the  company-  his 
present  position .  Mr.  Thilo  has  been  for  many- 
years  a  member  of  the  German  Mutual  Fire  In- 
surance Company  of  North  Chicago,  and  served 
as  its  treasurer  several  years.  He  is  also  promi- 
nently connected  with  various  social  and  benefit 
societies.  In  political  sentiment  he  adheres  to 
the  principles  maintained  by  the  Republican  par- 
ty. He  and  his  family  are  connected  with  the 
Lutheran  Church. 


CAPT.  GEORGE  ERNST. 


EAPTAIN  GEORGE  ERNST,  who  was 
many  years  connected  with  the  Fire  Depart- 
ment of  Chicago,  was  born  in  Baden  Baden, 
German}-.  He  was  a  son  of  Joseph  Ernst,  who 
came  to  Buffalo,  New  York,  when  George  was  but 
eight  years  of  age.  He  died  during  the  epidemic 
of  cholera  in  that  city,  where  his  widow  after- 
ward made  her  residence  until  her  death.  Their 
children  were:  Mary,  Elizabeth,  Joseph,  George 
(of  whom  this  article  is  written),  and  Charles. 
The  last  three  were  residents  of  Chicago.  Joseph 
never  married,  and  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil 
War.  He  is  now  an  inmate  of  the  Soldiers'  Na- 
tional Home,  at  Milwaukee. 

When  a  young  man  of  eighteen  years  George 
Ernst  came  to  the  growing  city  of  Chicago  to  try 
his  fortunes.  He  was  a  cigar-maker  by  trade,  and 
found  employment  readily.  He  was  married  in 
that  city  to  Miss  Anna  Ludwig,  a  daughter  of 
Mathias  and  Mary  (Preseau)  Ludwig,  natives  of 
the  village  of  Idersdorf,  Trier,  Germany,  who 
came  to  Chicago  when  it  was  a  mere  village. 

Mathias  Ludwig  was  well  known  to  the  old 


pioneers  of  the  town,  by  whom  he  was  honored 
and  respected,  as  an  upright  and  honest  citizen. 
He  was  a  grocery  merchant,  and  accumulated 
what  was  in  those  times  considered  a  fortune. 
Late  in  life  he  and  his  wife  removed  to  Saint 
Paul,  Minnesota,  where  both  died.  Mr.  Ludwig 
had  been  educated  in  Germany  with  a  view  of 
taking  up  the  life  of  a  priest,  but  he  fell  in  love 
with  a  pretty  German  girl,  and  gave  up  his  desire 
for  the  sacred  robe  to  marry  her  and  come  to 
America.  Their  six  children  who  grew  to  ma- 
turity are:  Barbara,  Leonard,  Nicholas,  Susan, 
Anna  and  Mary.  Barbara  married  Gilbert 
Budgeser  and  they  have  three  children — Mary, 
Mathilda,  and  Minnie.  Leonard  and  Nicholas 
are  residents  of  Saint  Paul,  the  former  having 
one  daughter.  Susan  married  John  Cody,  an 
attorney,  and  Mary  married  Henry  Stoebly,  a 
shoe  merchant  of  Saint  Paul,  Minnesota.  Anna 
married  Mr.  George  Ernst,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

George  Ernst  was  a   member  of   Long  John 
Wentworth's  Fire  Brigade  and  was  the  first  fire- 


EDWARD  SIMONS,  JR. 


693 


man  in  Chicago  to  receive  any  remuneration  for 
his  services.  He  was  Captain  of  John  Went- 
worth  Hook  and  Ladder  Company  and  served 
for  many  years,  rendering  the  city  valuable 
services  in  that  capacity.  He  died  in  Chicago 
May  18,  1890,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years, 
and  is  buried  in  Rosehill  Cemetery.  Mrs.  Ernst 
survives  him  and  is  to-day  one  of  the  oldest  liv- 
ing pioneers  of  Chicago.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
German  Old  Settlers'  Society,  and  at  a  picnic 
given  in  1897,  received  a  gold  medal  for  being 
the  oldest  woman  settler  on  the  ground.  She 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  early  notables  of 


Chicago,  and  is  well  remembered  by  the  few  sur- 
viving pioneers.  She  is  the  mother  of  three  chil- 
dren, namely:  George,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
forty  years;  Susie,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
eight  years;  and  Louis,  for  twelve  years  a  fireman 
but  now  an  employe  of  the  Chicago,  Alton  & 
St.  Louis  Railroad  Company.  The  latter  married 
Lillie  Whitchurch,  and  they  have  two  children — 
Charlotta  M.  and  Gertrude  L.  Mrs.  Ernst  is  a 
genial  conversationalist  and  her  memory  of  the 
affairs  of  the  city  in  its  infancy  is  very  clear  and 
reliable,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  to  listen  to  her  remi- 
niscences of  pioneer  days. 


EDWARD  SIMONS,  JR. 


JT  DWARD  SIMONS,  a  contractor  of  Chicago, 
K3  is  a  member  of  a  prominent  pioneer  family 
L_  of  Cook  Count}-.  He  was  born  June  4, 
1843,  on  Section  35,  of  Jefferson  Township,  now  a 
part  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  He  is  a  son  of 
Edward  and  Laura  B.  (Sprague)  Simons,  of 
whom  extended  mention  is  made  elsewhere  in 
this  work. 

Mr.  Simons  received  his  early  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  Jefferson  Township,  and  as- 
sisted his  father  on  the  farm  until  the  opening  of 
the  Civil  War.  In  July,  1862,  though  still  a 
mere  youth,  he  enlisted  in  the  Chicago  Mercantile 
Batten',  and  at  once  proceeded  to  the  South.  He 
participated  in  General  Sherman's  campaign  in 
Mississippi,  including  the  battles  of  Arkansas 
Post  and  Yazoo  Pass,  and  the  Siege  of  Vicksburg, 
and  also  in  the  Red  River  Expedition.  In  the 
spring  of  1863,  having  been  taken  violently  ill 
with  swamp  fever,  he  was  placed  on  board  the 
hospital  boat,  City  of  Memphis,  and  sent  to  St. 
Louis,  where  he  was  kept  for  some  time.  While 
at  St.  Louis  he  was  discharged  on  account  of 
disability,  and  later  in  the  year  was  brought 


home,  though  he  had  not  fully  re'covered,  and  in 
fact  suffered  many  years  from  rheumatism,  due 
to  his  exposures. 

In  1866  he  took  a  course  of  business  training 
in  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Commercial  College,  and 
since  that  time  has  engaged  successfully  in  vari- 
ous lines  of  business,  including  real-estate  trans- 
actions and  contracting  for  buildings,  street  pav- 
ing and  sidewalks. 

October  5,  1871,  was  celebrated  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Simons  and  -Mary  E.  Orr,  daughter  of 
Robinson  and  Margaret  Orr.  Mrs.  Simons  was 
born  in  Guernsey  County,  Ohio,  but  during  her 
childhood  removed  with  her  parents  to  Sauk 
County,  Wisconsin.  Robinson  Orr  was  a  mem- 
ber of  Company  D,  of  the  Eighteenth  Regiment 
Wisconsin  Volunteers,  and  died  from  injury  and 
exposure  during  service.  Six  children  have 
blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Simons,  named 
as  follows:  Lottie,  William  W.,  Edith  M.  (now 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Stube),  Edna  L.,  Mary  F.  and 
Frederick  Glover.  The  first-named  died  at  the 
age  of  two  years. 

The  family  is  connected  with  the  Pacific  Con- 


694 


FREDERICK  BERGMAN. 


gregational  Church  and  Mr.  Simons  is  a  member 
of  the  following  societies:  George  H.  Thomas 
Post  No.  5,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic;  Court 
Black  Forest,  Independent  Order  of  Foresters; 
Humboldt  Park  Lodge  No.  813,  Ancient  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons;  Court  Justice  No.  31, 
United  Order  of  Foresters;  and  Camp  No.  22, 
Patriotic  Order  Sons  of  America.  Of  the  second, 


third  and  fifth  he  was  a  charter  member.  Since 
attaining  his  majority  he  has  been  a  Republican, 
casting  his  first  presidential  vote  for  Abraham 
Lincoln,  in  1864.  He  has  always  contributed  to 
the  success  of  his  party,  and  has  held  nearly  all  of 
the  township  offices,  including  the  important 
ones  of  Commissioner  of  Highways,  Supervisor 
and  Collector. 


FREDERICK  BERGMAN. 


[~REDERICK  BERGMAN,  a  retired  gardener 
rft  of  Chicago,  has  resided  on  the  property  he 
I  now  occupies  since  1853.  He  was  born  Oc- 
tober 28,  1836,  in  Westphalia,  Prussia,  and  is  the 
only  living  child  of  Frederick  and  Anna  (Stern- 
brier)  Bergman. 

The  father  was  a  mason  in  his  native  land, 
from  which  he  emigrated  to  America  in  1839, 
first  settling  in  New  Orleans.  He  subsequently 
removed  to  St.  Louis,  whence  he  came  to  Chicago, 
and  here  located  permanently.  He  shortly  after- 
ward purchased  two  acres  of  land  on  North  Wells 
•  Street  at  what  is  now  the  corner  of  Carroll  Street, 
and  was  the  first  settler  in  that  portion  of  the 
city.  Being  without  capital,  he  followed  teaming 
and  laboring  for  some  years,  and  in  1848  bought 
twenty  acres  in  section  twenty-nine,  Lake  View 
Township,  where  he  carried  on  farming  and 
gardening.  He  disposed  of  his  first  purchase 
and  later  secured  a  tract  of  timberland  farther 
north.  Having  left  his  wife  and  two  children,  a 
son  and  a  daughter,  in  Germany,  he  intended 
sending  for  them  as  soon  as  he  was  able,  but  his 
wife  died  before  this  could  be  brought  about,  and 
shortly  after  the  daughter  followed  her,  so  that 
the  son  was  the  only  one  to  reach  America. 
About  1845  Mr.  Bergman  again  married  and  of 
his  second  family  three  children  are  living:  John, 


Herman  and  Louise.  Mr.  Bergman  died  in  1879, 
but  his  widow  still  survives,  having  reached  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-three  years. 

Frederick  Bergman  of  this  sketch  was  about 
three  years  of  age  when  his  father  left  for  Amer- 
ica, and  a  year  later  was  left  an  orphan.  He  was 
supported  by  friends  of  the  family  for  a  few  years, 
but  knew  none  of  his  relatives  except  an  aunt 
with  whom  he  lived  one  year.  He  received  the 
ordinary  educational  advantages  and  since  the 
age  of  six  years  has  been  practically  self-support- 
ing. He  earned  his  first  wages  during  his  seven- 
teenth year,  in  a  brick  yard,  and  a  friend  of  his 
father's  having  looked  him  up  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  him  to  Chicago,  he  left  his  clothes  and 
what  money  he  had  earned  in  order  to  make  the 
journey. 

In  August,  1853,  he  sailed  from  Bremen  for 
New  York,  spending  six  weeks  on  the  water. 
He  proceeded  at  once  to  Chicago  where  he  joined 
his  father  and  remained  with  him  until  he  be- 
came of  age.  He  subsequently  worked  for  others 
for  two  years,  saving  two  hundred  dollars,  with 
which  modest  sum  he  set  up  an  establishment  of 
his  own  after  his  marriage.  By  diligent  applica- 
tion and  hard  work  he  accumulated  one  thousand 
dollars,  which  he  loaned  to  a  friend  and  lost. 
He  then  began  investing  his  savings  in  building 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVFRSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


CAPT.  THOMAS  BROWN 


THOMAS  BROWN. 


695 


lots  and  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death  owned 
ten  lots  and  inherited  eighteen  more.  He  con- 
tinued his  gardening  operations  until  1881,  but 
since  that  time  has  devoted  himself  principally  to 
building  up  and  improving  his  property,  also 
dealing  more  or  less  in  real  estate. 

May  6,  1860,  occurred  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Bergman  to  Miss  Augusta  Arnhold,  who  was 
born  May  n,  1843,  near  Nordhausen,  Prussia, 
and  came  to  Chicago  the  same  year  as  her  hus- 
band. Her  parents,  Christian  and  Justina  Arn- 
hold, both  died  in  Chicago,  the  former  in  1890, 


aged  eighty  years,  and  the  latter  in  1892,  aged 
eighty-one  years.  Seven  sons  and  seven  daugh- 
ters have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bergman, 
but  only  the  following  are  now  living:  Frederick, 
in  the  employ  of  the  United  States  Express 
Company;  Augusta,  wife  of  Henry  Hachmeister, 
residing  on  May  Street;  George,  Annie,  Hattie 
and  Frieda,  living  at  home.  The  family  is  con- 
nected with  the  Independent  Evangelical  Church. 
Mr.  Bergman  has  supported  the  Republican  party 
since  its  organization,  but  has  never  consented  to 
hold  any  public  office. 


CAPT.  THOMAS  BROWN. 


EAPT.  THOMAS  BROWN  was  born  in 
Crail,  Fifeshire,  Scotland,  October  28,  1823, 
a  son  of  Alexander  Brown.  The  latter  was 
born  in  Crail  in  1796,  and  was  reared  in  his  native 
place,  and  educated  in  such  schools  as  were  then 
in  vogue.  He  married  Margaret  Brown,  (no 
relative)  in  1820,  and  April  6,  1834,  they,  with 
their  family,  took  passage  on  the  "Roger 
Stewart,"  a  sailing-vessel,  from  Greenock,  Scot- 
land, for  the  United  States.  The  good  ship  was 
five  weeks  and  two  days  in  plowing  her  way 
through  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  to  New  York, 
where  she  arrived  May  second. 

Chicago  was  the  objective  point  and  thither 
they  traveled,  by  boat  up  the  Hudson  to  Albany, 
thence  by  canal  to  Buffalo,  where  passage  was 
taken  on  a  boat  to  Detroit.  From  that  place  they 
traveled  by  ox-team  and  wagon  across  Michigan 
to  St.  Joseph,  where  they  again  took  boat,  which 
landed  them  in  Chicago  June  8,  1834.  Mr.  Brown 
had  been  reared  to  farm  pursuits.  He  was  am- 
bitious for  the  future  welfare  of  his  children,  and 
not  wishing  to  change  his  vocation,  soon  after 
arriving  he  made  a  selection  of  a  quarter-section 


of  laud  in  Niles  township,  paying  one  hundred 
sixty  dollars  for  a  claim  upon  it  held  by  an- 
other. There  was  a  log  house  on  this  land,  and 
though  small  and  somewhat  uncomfortable,  it  was 
made  to  answer  the  purpose  of  the  family  domicile 
for  two  years.  He  was  a  hard-working  and  in- 
dustrious man,  and  with  such  assistance  as  his 
wife  and  young  children  could  render,  he  soon 
had  a  part  of  his  land  under  cultivation  and  was 
on  the  way  to  prosperity. 

When  the  land  came  into  market  he  bought 
four  hundred  acres  in  all,  at  goverment  prices. 
For  a  year  or  two  after  his  settlement  in  Niles, 
they  had  a  camp  of  Indians  for  near  neighbors, 
who  were  very  annoying  on  account  of  their 
largely  developed  thieving  propensities.  They 
were  only  dangerous  when  drunk,  at  which  times 
they  would  become  quarrelsome  and  murderous. 
Mr.  Brown  was  a  man  who  possessed  the  material 
which  makes  successful  pioneers.  He  was  hardy 
and  courageous.  No  hardship  daunted  him.  He 
was  patient  in  his  labors  of  conquering  the  pri- 
meval soil,  which,  in  this  section,  stubbornly  re- 
sisted man's  effort  at  cultivation.  He  possessed 


696 


THOMAS  BROWN. 


a  high  order  of  intelligence,  which  was  supple- 
mented by  a  good  practical  education.  Reserved 
as  Justice  of  the  Peace  a  great  many  years,  and 
was  universally  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 
He  and  his  estimable  wife,  who  was  in  every 
sense  a  true  and  faithful  helpmate,  were  Presby- 
terians and  among  the  strictest  of  their  faith. 
Mr.  Brown  took  an  active  and  leading  part  in 
erecting  the  first  church  in  the  township.  It  was 
a  sort  of  a  union  affair,  as  all  evangelical  de- 
nominations used  it.  He  took  a  keen  interest  in 
political  affairs,  and  was  an  adherent  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic party. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children  (five  of  whom  were  born  in  Scotland), 
namely:  Andrew,  Thomas,  Alexander,  William, 
Isabella,  Grace,  James  and  John.  The  last  two 
were  born  in  Niles  Township,  and  Grace  was 
born  on  the  ocean.  Mr.  Brown  died  November 
30,  1854,  and  Mrs.  Brown  passed  to  her  final  re- 
ward in  April,  1849,  aged  fifty-one  years. 

Thomas  Brown  was  a  little  more  than  ten  years 
of  age  when  he  came  to  Chicago.  He  had  learned 
to  read  and  write  in  his  native  land.  There  were 
no  schools  here  when  the  family  arrived.  Such 
education  as  he  received  in  his  youth  was  obtained 
in  the  "Land  of  the  heather." 

In  August,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  I, 
Eighty-eighth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry.  Soon 
after,  he  with  his  regiment  was  transferred  to  the 
seat  of  war  in  Kentucky,  and  October  8  following, 
participated  in  the  battle  of  Perryville.  From 
this  time  on  his  command  was  in  the  thick  of  the 
fray,  and  fought  at  Stone  River,  Chickamauga  and 
Missionary  Ridge.  It  then  went  to  the  relief  of 
Knoxville  and  the  release  of  East  Tennessee  from 
threatened  rebel  dominion.  Subsequently,  when 
the  Atlanta  campaign  opened,  the  Eighty-eighth 
Regiment  took  an  active  and  aggressive  part,  sus- 
taining in  many  a  severe  conflict  its  well-known 
and  deserved  reputation  for  the  fighting  qualities 
of  its  men.  After  the  fall  of  Atlanta  the  regiment 
took  part  in  the  campaign  against  the  rebel 
general,  Hood,  acting  in  the  battles  of  Spring  Hill, 
Franklin  and  Nashville,  which  so  disastrously 
resulted  in  the  annihilation  of  Hood's  army. 
At  Spring  Hill  Mr.  Brown  received  a  slight 


wound,  which,  however,  did  not  deter  him  from 
accompanying  his  regiment  in  pursuit  of  Hood's 
flying  remnant,  in  which  large  stores  were  cap- 
tured. Subsequently  the  regiment  went  to  Hunts- 
ville,  Alabama,  where  it  enjoyed  for  two  months 
a  well-deserved  rest,  then  went  to  East  Tennessee, 
and  after  Petersburg  fell,  proceeded  to  Nashville, 
where  it  was  mustered  out  of  service  June  24, 
1864. 

Mr.  Brown  enlisted  and  was  mustered  in  as  a 
private,  and  soon  after  was  made  company  drill 
master;  later,  third  sergeant.  After  Stone  River 
was  fought  he  was  advanced  to  first  sergeant,  and 
after  the  battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain  he  received 
a  first  lieutenant's  commission.  A  little  later  he 
was  promoted  to  a  captaincy  and  assumed  com- 
mand of  his  company.  His  rise  in  rank  was  due 
entirely  to  the  soldierly  qualities  of  the  man. 
Brave  to  a  fault,  clear  of  sight,  decisive  of  action, 
qualities  indispensable  to  a  good  soldier,  he  won 
the  confidence  of  his  superiors  and  the  respect 
'and  esteem  of  his  subordinate  followers,  whom 
he  so  gallantly  led  on  many  hard-fought  fields. 
John  Brown,  brother  of  Capt.  Thomas  Brown, 
served  throughout  the  war  in  the  same  company 
and  regiment.  He  enlisted  as  a  private  and  was 
discharged  a  corporal.  He  was  a  good  soldier, 
and  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 
He  is  now  a  resident  of  Cook  County,  Illinois. 

When  the  war  was  over  Captain  Brown  re- 
turned to  Niles  Township,  and  in  the  following 
spring  settled  in  Chicago,  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided. He  was  married  June  30,  1849,  to  Miss 
Josephine  Schroeder,  who  was  born  on  Long 
Island,  New  York,  in  1833.  To  them  a  child  was 
born,  Margaret  Isabella,  now  Mrs.  A.  Caldwell 
Anderson,  of  Chicago.  Mrs.  Brown  ^ame  to 
Chicago  with  her  mother,  Sarepta  Schroeder,  in 
1838.  A  few  years  after  their  arrival  Mrs. 
Schroeder  married  John  Toops.  They  settled  in 
Northfield  Township,  where  they  lived  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Toops,  in  September,  1848.  Mrs. 
Toops  died  in  Chicago,  in  February,  1878.  They 
had  five  children,  namely:  Charles,  John,  Mary, 
Anna  and  Almira.  The  last  is  deceased.  Mrs. 
Brown,  although  but  five  years  old  at  the  time, 
well  remembers  the  tedious  journey  of  the  family 


EDWARD  SIMONS. 


697 


from  New  York  to  Chicago,  being  three  weeks 
en  route.  Aside  from  having  held  the  office  of 
Justice  of  the  Peace  for  several  years,  Captain 
Brown  has  not  been  identified  with  public  affairs. 


His  first  presidential  vote  was  cast  for  Henry 
Clay,  but  since  the  formation  of  the  Republican 
party  he  has  been  a  stanch  supporter  of  its 
principles. 


EDWARD  SIMONS. 


IT  DWARD  SIMONS,  deceased,  was  promi- 
j^  nentty  connected  with  the  early  history  of 
I  Chicago  and  Cook  County.  He  was  born 
in  Hanover,  Grafton  County,  New  Hampshire, 
January  30,  1811,  and  was  a  son  of  Cady  and 
Eunice  (Loudon)  Simons,  whose  ancestors  settled 
in  New  England  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  War. 
While  he  was  a  child  his  parents  moved  to  Ripley, 
Chautauqua  County,  New  York,  where  his  father 
bought  a  farm,  which  he  afterwards  sold,  and  in 
1820  moved  to  Conneaut  (then  called  Salem), 
Ashtabula  County,  Ohio.  Here  Edward  received 
his  education  and,  in  the  spring  of  1830,  he  ac- 
cepted a  position  as  clerk  in  the  general  store  of 
Bloss  &  Woodbury ,  at  Monroe,  Ashtabula  County. 
They  also  conducted  a  distillery  and  dealt  in  cattle. 
He  remained  with  them  two  years,  after  which  he 
had  charge  of  a  large  store  in  Conneaut  for  a 
time.  On  the  first  of  April,  1834,  he  left  Conne- 
aut for  Chicago,  where  he  arrived  on  the  eleventh. 
He  had  formed  a  partnership  with  Sylvester 
Marsh,  an  experienced  cattle  buyer,  butcher  and 
packer.  Some  time  during  that  summer  he 
bought  Mr.  Marsh's  interest  and  conducted  the 
business  alone,  which  included  supplying  the 
garrison  with  meat.  A  severe  illness  in  the  fall 
of  1834  compelled  him  to  go  out  of  business. 
While  settling  up  his  affairs  he  took  charge  of 
books  in  their  market  for  Archibald  Clybourn  & 
Son,  and  later  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
Clybourn.  This  connection  continuing  about  two 
years. 


In  1836,  he  made  claim  to  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  thirty-five,  Jefferson  Township,  then 
called  Monroe  Precinct. 

December  17,  1837,  Mr.  Simons  was  married  to 
Laura  B.  Sprague,  and  soon  after  this  important 
event  the  young  couple  located  on  his  land  and 
began  their  domestic  life  in  true  pioneer  style. 
They  erected  a  small  frame  house,  twelve  feet 
square,  which  is  still  standing.  He  began  the 
arduous  task  of  developing  a  farm  from  the  raw 
and  wet  prairie,  and  continued  farming  until  the 
fall  of  1847,  when  he  opened  a  general  store  at 
No.  40  West  Randolph  Street,  where  he  had 
bought  property  a  few  years  previously, when  the 
West  Side  began  building  up.  Six  years  later  he 
gave  up  merchandising,  returned  to  his  farm  and 
engaged  in  its  cultivation  until  his  death,  in  1876, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years. 

On  his  arrival  in  Chicago  the  city  contained  a 
population  of  less  than  three  thousand  people. 
Not  only  did  Tie  witness  the  wondrous  growth  of 
the  western  metropolis,  but  nobly  bore  his  part, 
and  aided  in  the  material  advancement  of  both 
city  and  county.  He  was  ever  regarded  as  an  in- 
telligent, enterprising  citizen,  and  on  the  organiza- 
tion of  Jefferson  Township,  was  elected  to  the 
school  board,  being  its  first  treasurer.  In  early 
life  he  was  a  Whig  and  later  adopted  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Republican  party.  In  religion  he  was 
a  Universalist. 

Laura  B.  Sprague  was  born  in  Hamburg,  Erie 
County,  New  York,  February  2,  1815,  and  is  a 


698 


GEORGE  METZ. 


daughter  of  Hosea  Sprague  and  Lucy  Warren, 
both  natives  of  Vermont.  The  Sprague  family 
was  founded  in  that  State  in  colonial  times,  the 
first  immigrant  being  an  English  Quaker.  Jabez 
Warren,  father  of  Lucy  Warren,  was  a  soldier  in 
the  Revolutionary  War,  and  the  son  of  an  English 
officer.  Mrs.  Simons  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools  of  Erie  County,  New  York,  and  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  years  began  teaching.  Two  years  later 
she  entered  Aurora  Seminary,  and  in  1835  left 
that  institution  to  move  with  her  parents  to 
Illinois.  She  was  also  acompanied  by  her  brother, 
Jabez  Warren  Sprague,  and  her  sister  Almira, 
now  Mrs.  Brearley,  of  Rockford,  Illinois. 

The  family  left  Erie  County,  New  York,  May  5, 
and  reached  Chicago  June  3,  having  been  four 
weeks  and  two  days  making  the  journey  with  a 
team  of  horses  and  covered  wagon.  They  stopped 
over  night  at  a  hotel  kept  by  Franklin  Washburn, 
eighteen  miles  east  of  Chicago,  and  on  arriving  in 
Chicago  the}'  rested  some  days  at  the  home  of 
Seth  Washburn,  and  then  journeyed  on  to  Du 
Page  County.  In  the  spring  of  1836,  they  moved 
to  McHenry  County,  which  was  afterward  divided, 
putting  them  in  Lake  County. 

Jabez  W.  Sprague  made  a  claim  to  eighty  acres 
of  land  in  Vernon  Township,  which  he  bought 
from  the  Government  in  the  fall  of  1838.  In  the 
winter  of  1837-1838,  the  first  postoffice  was  estab- 
lished at  Half  Day,  with  Seth  Washburn  as  post- 
master. 

Jabez  W.  Sprague  is  still  a  resident  of  Lake 


County.  His  father  died  there  in  October,  1837, 
and  his  mother  in  March,  1872. 

Laura  B.  Sprague  began  teaching  school  August 
i,  1835,  at  Zarley's  Grove,  near  Joliet,  in  a  small 
log  house,  at  a  salary  of  one  dollar  and  a-half  and 
board  per  week.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  she  re- 
turned to  Half  Day  and  taught  the  first  school  at 
that  place,  it  being  the  first  school  established  in 
Lake  County.  The  schoolhouse  was  on  the  bank 
of  Indian  Creek,  and  was  built  of  logs,  with  a 
puncheon  floor.  She  had  twenty-five  pupils, 
children  of  the  pioneers,  and  as  compensation  she 
received  the  munificent  sum  of  one  dollar  and 
a-half  and  board  per  week.  She  was  also  the 
pioneer  teacher  in  East  Joliet,  where  she  taught 
in  the  summer  of  1837,  in  a  small  unfinished 
building  that  stood  on  what  is  now  Chicago  Street. 
Mrs.  Simons  has  been  a  resident  of  Chicago  for 
nearly  sixty  years,  and  is  one  of  the  few  remain- 
ing links  that  connect  the  pioneer  days  with  the 
present.  She  resides  with  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Winkleman,  and  although  in  the  eighty-third 
year  of  her  age  and  somewhat  frail  in  health,  re- 
tains her  mental  faculties  to  a  remarkable  degree, 
and  converses  interestingly  of  the  times  when  the 
second  city  in  the  Union  was  in  its  infancy. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Simons  were  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  four  of  whom  grew  to  maturity,  as  fol- 
lows: Junius,  of  Washington,  District  of  Colum- 
bia; Almira,  wife  of  Frederick  A.  Winkleman,  of 
Chicago;  Edward,  whose  biography  appears  else- 
where; and  Charles  B.,  a  Chicago  attorney. 


GEORGE  METZ. 


fTjEORGE  METZ,  a  leading  market-gardener 

I  ^^ 

I—  of  North  Chicago,  has  the  honor  of  being  a 
V.J  native  son  of  that  city,  born  June  4,  1851. 
His  parents,  George  and  Katharina  (Spoerer) 
Metz,  natives,  respectively,  of  Baden  and  Bavaria, 


Germany,  were  married  in  that  country,  and  set 
out  to  make  their  home  in  the  New  World,  which 
held  out  so  much  better  hopes  of  advancement 
than  the  Old,  in  1848. 

Mr.  Metz  was  possessed  of  no  capital,  save  his 


CORNELIUS  KUYPER,   JR. 


699 


good  health,  ambition,  and  ardent  hopes  for  the 
future,  all  of  which  were  shared  by  his  faithful 
wife.  In  his  native  land  he  had  acquired  the 
trades  of  cooper  and  brewer,  and  for  two  years 
after  his  arrival  in  Chicago  he  was  employed  in 
this  line  of  labor.  In  1850  he  established  a  brew- 
ery on  State  Street,  which  he  conducted  success- 
fully, until  the  great  fire  of  1871.  About  1865, 
he  built  a  brewery  at  the  suburban  town  of  Blue 
Island,  and  when  the  disaster  of  1871  came  he 
had  built  up  a  very  extensive  business.  His  loss  at 
that  time  was  nearly  half  a  million  of  dollars. 
About  forty  men  were  employed  by  him  in  the 
two  establishments.  At  this  time  his  son-inlaw, 
Edward  R.  Stege,  was  a  partner  in  the  business, 
which  was  conducted  under  the  firm  name  of 
Metz  &  Stege.  Through  the  losses  they  sustained 
by  the  fire  they  were  compelled  to  give  up  the 
Blue  Island  establishment  also,  and  Mr.  Metz  did 
not  again  engage  in  active  business. 

Mrs.  Metz  died  in  1873,  and  her  husband  sur- 
vived until  May,  1880.  As  was  natural  in  the 
case  of  an  active  and  intelligent  business  man, 
Mr.  Metz  felt  a  keen  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his 
native  country  as  well  as  the  city  of  his  home. 
He  was  a  Republican  in  political  principle,  and 
acted  upon  the  counsel  of  his  party,  but  declined 
to  accept  office  for  himself.  In  religious  faith 
both  he  and  his  wife  adhered  to  the  Lutheran 
Church.  They  had  four  children  who  grew  to 


maturity,  and  two  of  these  are  now  living — the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  and  Katharine,  wife  of 
Herman  Prell,  of  Chicago. 

George  Metz  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  Chicago,  and  Dyrenfurth's  Commercial  Col- 
lege. After  leaving  the  latter  institution  he  vis- 
ited Germany,  and  spent  two  years  in  college  at 
Munich,  the  capital  of  Bavaria,  and  at  Wheinste- 
phan,  the  brewers'  school  of  that  kingdom.  After 
this  he  traveled  over  Europe  and  worked  in 
various  breweries,  becoming  a  thorough  master  of 
the  arts  there  employed.  On  his  return  to 
America  he  was  enabled  through  the  knowledge 
thus  gained,  to  be  of  great  service  to  his  father.  In 
1884  he  engaged  in  gardening  for  the  city  market, 
in  Lake  View,  and  has  ever  since  continued  in 
this  line  of  endeavor.  He  is  at  present  engaged 
in  supplying  club-houses  and  restaurants  with 
choice  vegetables. 

December  18,  1884,  Mr.  Metz  was  married  to 
Miss  Emma  Junius,  a  daughter  of  Peter  and 
Barbara  Junius,  of  whom  extended  mention  will 
be  found  in  another  part  of  this  volume.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Metz  have  two  sons,  George  and  Charles. 
The  family  is  identified  with  St.  Michael's  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  its  head  is  a  Republican  in 
political  principles.  He  is  a  reading  man,  and  an 
intelligent  thinker,  and  is  recognized  as  one  of 
the  progressive  and  useful  citizens  of  his  native 
city. 


CORNELIUS  KUYPER,  JR. 


EORNELIUS  KUYPER,  JUNIOR,  was  born 
March  28,  1853,  on  the  corner  of  Michigan 
Avenue  and  One-Hundred-Third  Street,  in 
Roseland,  Illinois,  then  known  as  Calumet.      He 
is  a  son  of  Cornelius  Kuyper,  one  of  the  founders 
of   "The  Holland  Settlement,"    now   known  as 
Roseland. 

The  latter  was  the  only  one  of  his  father's  fam- 


ily to  try  his  fortune  in  America,  and  came  with 
nine  or  ten  other  families  of  his  countrymen  who 
set  sail  for  New  York  City.  They  spent  six  weeks 
on  the  water,  and  before  they  reached  their  desti- 
nation were  attacked  by  the  terrible  scourge  of 
cholera.  Among  those  who  lost  their  lives  were 
four  children  of  Mr.  Kuyper.  On  arriving  in  this 
country  the  little  band  of  immigrants  made  their 


700 


PETER  JUNTOS. 


way  direct  to  Cook  County,  and  bought  a  quarter- 
section  of  land  in  what  seemed  to  them  to  be  a 
desirable  location,  for  five  dollars  an  acre.  This 
land  was  divided  among  them,  Mr.  Kuyper's 
share  being  sixteen  acres.  He  afterwards  invested 
in  other  tracts  of  land,  as  he  was  able,  and  all  of 
this  is  now  a  part  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  He 
built  his  first  house  at  the  corner  of  Michigan 
Avenue  and  One-Hundred-Third  Street,  and  con- 
ducted a  market  garden  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  was  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  community 
and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed Church,  which  he  always  helped  support. 
Cornelius  Kuyper,  junior,  attended  the  schools 
of  Roseland  until  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age, 
acquiring  a  good,  common-school  education.  He 
afterwards  worked  at  farm  labor  for  a  time.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-three  years  he  took  charge  of 
a  farm  at  St.  Johns,  Lake  County,  Indiana,  and 
remained  there  five  years.  He  then  returned  to 
Chicago,  and  in  1881  secured  employment  in  the 
Allen  Paper  Car  Wheel  Works,  at  Pullman, 
where  he  continued  two  years.  In  1883  he  en- 
tered the  employ  of  the  Chicago  &  Western  In- 
diana Railway  Company,  with  whom  he  is  now 
engaged  as  gateman.  In  1885  he  suffered  the 
loss  of  his  left  arm,  by  an  accident. 


In  1 883  Mr.  Kuyper  located  at  Burnside,  where 
he  now  resides,  occupying  property  purchased  by 
him  in  1895.  He  has  always  endorsed  Republic- 
an principles,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed Church,  at  Roseland,  which  his  father  was 
so  influential  in  founding.  He  was  married 
April  9,  1875,  to  Miss  Wilhelmina  Broertjes,  who 
was  born  in  1856,  in  Holland,  and  in  1886  came 
to  America,  making  her  home  at  Roseland  until 
her  marriage.  Their  children  are:  Cornelius, 
born  October  25,  1875;  John,  August  29,  1876; 
Jacob,  May  30,  1879;  Marcus,  February  12, 
1882;  Gertie  May,  July  18,  1885;  William  and 
Cornelia  (twins),  August  8,  1888;  Andrew, 
January  15,  1890;  Nellie  Johanna,  December  25, 
1892;  and  Mary  Martha,  August  3,  1895.  Jacob 
died,  May  9,  1881;  William,  September  20,  1888; 
Cornelia,  September  27,  1888;  and  John  passed 
away  on  the  zgth  of  November,  1890.  Jacob  is 
buried  at  Roseland,  and  the  others  at  Morgan 
Park. 

Mr.  Kuyper  is  a  well-informed  man,  and  takes 
great  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  city,  state  and 
nation.  He  has  broad  ideas  on  all  subjects,  and 
his  actions  in  life  are  governed  by  good  judg- 
ment and  sound  principles.  He  is  a  kind  father, 
and  is  a  lover  of  his  home. 


PETER  JUNIUS. 


JUNIUS,  a  German- American  citizen 
yr  of  Chicago,  who  is  now  enjoying  a  life  of 
\S  ease  and  comfort,  which  he  earned  by  years  of 
toil  and  thrift,  was  born  April  17,  1830,  in  Luxem- 
burg, Germany.  He  is  a  son  of  Peter  and  Made- 
line (Corth)  Junius,  the  former  being  a  native  of 
Lorraine,  France,  and  the  latter  born  in  Luxem- 
burg. 

Peter  Junius,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  lived 
in  his  native  country  until  he  reached  middle  life. 


After  receiving  an  education  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  city,  he  began  working  in  a  manufactory 
where  he  proved  his  industry  and  skill  by  quickly 
learning  the  trade  of  woolen  manufacture.  He 
rose  rapidly,  his  ability  being  recognized  by  his 
employers,  and  he  remained  in  their  service  seven- 
teen years,  finally  occupying  the  position  of  fore- 
man. 

June  29,  1853,  Mr.  Junius  was  married  to  Miss 
Barbara  Wellenstein,    who  was  also  a   native  of 


ADAM  SCHILLO. 


701 


Luxemburg.  Not  being  content  with  the  meagre 
opportunities  for  advancement  offered  in  his  native 
country,  he  determined  to  seek  a  field  of  labor  in 
the  New  World,  and  accordingly  he  and  his  family, 
which  included  four  children,  sailed  for  the  United 
States  from  Antwerp,  in  a  steamship  which  landed 
after  a  voyage  of  fourteen  days,  at  Baltimore,  on 
April  14,  1872.  The  family  came  direct  to  Chi- 
cago, where  Mr.  Junius  spent  two  and  one-half 
years  as  a  laborer,  and  then  embarked  in  business 
for  himself.  This  venture  was  a  garden  in  Lake 
View,  on  the  corner  of  Halsted  and  Addison 
Streets.  He  built  a  residence  at  No.  225  Mohawk 
Street,  and  here  the  family  resided  seventeen 
years. 

Mr.  Junius  was  a  careful  manager,   and  was 
prudent  in  carrying  on  his  business  affairs,  in 


which  he  was  very  successful.  In  1888  he  was 
enabled  to  retire  from  business,  and  the  family 
removed  to  Los  Angeles,  California,  remaining 
there  until  1895.  While  on  a  visit  to  Chicago, 
Mrs.  Junius  died  in  that  city,  December  8,  1894. 
The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Junius  were: 
Peter,  John  B.,  Emma  K.,  and  Anna.  The 
second  is  deceased.  Emma  is  the  wife  of  George 
Metz;  and  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  P.  Crosby, 
of  No.  169  Fremont  Street,  Chicago.  The  family 
won  the  high  esteem  and  regard  of  the  community 
in  which  its  members  lived  for  so  many  years, 
and  wherever  they  are  known,  they  are  held  in 
respect  and  honor.  Mr.  Junius  is  connected  with 
St.  Theresa's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  is  in- 
terested in  all  Christian  and  benevolent  works,  to 
which  he  gives  his  sympathy  and  support. 


ADAM  SCHILLO. 


(S\  DAM  SCHILLO,  one  of  the  prominent 
I_l  German-American  citizens  of  Chicago,  has 
/  I  been  connected  with  the  business  interests 
of  this  city  since  May  8,  1852,  and  is  recognized 
as  a  valuable  and  upright  citizen.  He  was  born 
May  22,  1837,  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Rhine, 
in  the  Province  of  Trier,  Germany,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  and  Katherine  (Klein)  Schillo,  natives  of 
the  same  place. 

John  Schillo  had  served  in  the  German  army. 
He  and  his  family  sailed  from  Antwerp  in  a  sail- 
ing-ship and  in  forty-eight  days  reached  the 
United  States.  Though  this  family  was  poor, 
it  was  honest  and  industrious  to  an  unusual  de- 
gree, and  Mr.  Schillo  worked  as  a  laborer,  care- 
fully saving  his  earnings  until,  he  was  able  to 
buy  two  lots  on  West  Holt  Street.  Of  the  chil- 
dren now  living  the  following  are  the  names: 
Katherine,  wife  of  Peter  Kimllburger,  of  No. 


202  Holt  Street;  and  Peter,  who  resides  on  Wells 
Street.  John  Schillo  died  in  1856,  and  his  wife 
survived  him  until  1864. 

Adam  Schillo  received  his  education  in  his  na- 
tive land,  and  was  employed  as  a  laborer  for  a 
time.  In  1866  he  purchased  an  interest  in  the 
Union  Lumber  Company,  and  remained  with  it 
three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  Mr.  William  Waldo,  with  the 
firm  name  of  Waldo,  Waters  &  Co.  Mr.  Waldo 
and  Mr.  Schillo  bought  out  the  interest  of  Mr. 
Waters,  and  the  name  became  Waldo  &  Schillo, 
under  which  they  continued  the  lumber  trade 
six  years.  In  the  past  twelve  years  Mr.  Schillo 
has  been  alone  in  the  business.  At  the  time  of 
the  fire  of  1871  Mr.  Schillo  lived  at  No.  440 
Sedgwick  Street,  and  in  that  conflagration  lost 
his  home  and  household  effects. 

In  1858  he  was  married  to  Miss    Mary  Jung, 


702 


LOUIS  FISCHER. 


(daughter  of  John  and  Ellen  Jung),  a  native  of 
the  same  part  of  German}'  as  himself,  who  came 
to  Chicago  in  1848.  Mr.  and  Mr.  Schillo  had 
five  children,  namely:  Carrie,  wife  of  Christian 
Wildner;  John;  Louise,  wife  of  Peter  Bantze; 


Mathias  and  Julia.  All  are  communicants  of 
Saint  Michael's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and 
the  family  stands  high  in  the  esteem  and  regard 
of  the  community.  Mr.  Schillo  is  a  member  of 
Saint  Vincent  de  Paul's  Society. 


LOUIS  FISCHER. 


I  GUIS  FISCHER,  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
I C  Kraetzer,  Fischer  &  Company,  manufac- 
l**/  turers  of  sash  and  doors,  is  a  well-known 
resident  of  South  Chicago.  He  was  born  Sep- 
tember 26,  1826,  in  Sachsen- Weimar,  Germany, 
and  is  a  son  of  Johannes  and  Katrina  (Kett) 
Fischer,  natives  of  that  country.  Johannes  Fis- 
cher was  a  son  of  John  George  Fischer,  a  land 
owner  in  Germany.  The  latter  and  his  wife, 
Mary  Ann  Fischer,  were  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren: Johannes,  before  mentioned;  and  Ida,  who 
married  and  resides  in  Germany. 

Johannes  Fischer  was  a  stonemason  and  owned 
about  six  acres  of  land  in  his  native  State.  His 
children  were:  Rosa,  who  died  when  nine  years 
old;  Louis,  of  whom  this  article  is  written;  Law- 
rence, who  came  to  Chicago  in  1892,  and  is  now 
in  the  employ  of  Kraetzer,  Fischer  &  Company; 
Elizabeth,  now  the  wife  of  Peter  Graff,  of  Chicago; 
and  the  oldest  child,  a  boy,  who  died  in  infancy. 
Johannes  Fischer  died  in  1887,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years,  and  his  wife  preceded  him  two 
years,  passing  away  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight. 
Louis  Fischer  received  a  limited  education  in 
his  native  country,  which  has  been  broadened 
since  by  his  own  efforts.  He  learned  the  trade  of 
cabinet-maker  and  followed  it  until  his  removal 
to  the  United  States  in  1881.  His  wife  had 
friends  in  Chicago,  and  upon  his  arrival  in  this 
country  he  proceeded  thither.  Mr.  Fischer  found 
employment  at  carpenter  work  with  Christ  Rasch, 
with  whom  he  remained  eight  years,  with  the 


exception  of  nine  months  when  he  worked  for 
the  R.  A.  Beck  Lumber  Company.  During  this 
time  Mr.  Rasch  was  associated  with  various 
partners,  but  Mr.  Fischer  retained  his  position, 
having  risen  in  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his 
employers  until  he  became  foreman.  In  1889  the 
firm  of  Kraetzer,  Fischer  &  Company  was  formed 
to  succeed  Rasch,  Dornedden  &  Company,  and 
under  this  firm  name  the  business  has  since  con- 
tinued. The  factory  is  located  on  the  corner  of 
Ninety-fifth  Street  and  South  Chicago  Avenue, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  establishments 
for  the  manufacture  of  doors,  sash  and  other  in- 
terior finishings  in  the  city.  There  is  in  connec- 
tion with  it  a  planing-mill. 

Mr.  Fischer  married  Miss  Magdalena  Reinhart 
June  6,  1880.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Adam  and 
Martha  (Miller)  Reinhart,  and  was  born  Sep- 
tember i,  1856,  in  Hessen,  Germany.  Their 
children  were:  Charles,  who  lived  to  be  four  years 
old;  Herman,  who  also  died  at  the  age  of  four 
years;  Freda,  ten  years  old;  Lydia,  aged  eight 
years;  Louis,  aged  four  years;  and  Emil,  who 
reached  the  age  of  seven  months  and  then  passed 
away. 

Mr.  Fischer  is  known  to  be  upright  and  hon- 
orable in  business  and  in  his  social  relations.  He 
takes  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  adopted 
country,  and  has  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  He  does  not  care  for  popularity 
in  social  circles,  but  rather  finds  his  pleasure  and 
recreation  in  his  home. 


FREDERICK  WELLER,  SR. 


703 


FREDERICK  WELLER,  SR. 


REDBRICK  WELLER,  SR.,  a  successful 
locomotive  engineer  of  Chicago,  was  born 
January  i,  1836,  at  No.  131  Scott  Street, 
Baltimore,  Maryland,  and  is  a  son  of  Christopher 
and  Priscilla  (Wilted)  Weller.  His  paternal 
grandfather  was  born  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany, 
and  always  lived  in  his  native  country,  where  he 
was  a  land  owner.  Christopher  Weller  emi- 
grated to  America  from  Germany  about  1834, 
and  located  in  Baltimore,  spending  the  remainder 
of  his  life  there.  He  followed  the  trade  of 
butcher  in  his  native  country',  but  on  coming  to 
the  United  States  he  became  a  farmer,  and  took 
charge  of  the  Ross  Winans  farm,  near  Baltimore. 
His  children  were:  Jac6b,  Ephraim,  Priscilla, 
Frederick,  Katie,  George,  Sophia,  Caroline  and 
Charles. 

Frederick  Weller  received  his  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  State,  and  at  the 
age  of  thirteen  years  began  to  assist  his  father, 
for  whom  he  worked  until  he  was  twenty  years  of 
age.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  began 
switching  for  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad, 
and  svas  afterwards  a  fireman.  In  a  few  years  he 
became  a  competent  engineer,  and  has  continued 
in  this  occupation  since  that  time.  For  fifteen 
years  he  had  charge  of  an  engine  used  in  switch- 
ing, and  then  for  two  years  operated  an  engine 
which  ran  between  Baltimore  and  Martinsburg. 
In  January,  1883,  he  came  to  South  Chicago, 
where  he  had  charge  of  a  switch  engine.  In 
June,  1886,  he  entered  the  service  of  the  Illinois 
Steel  Company,  and  later  was  employed  by  the 
Chicago,  Lake  Shore  &  Eastern  Railroad,  in 


whose  service  he  is  now  engaged.  Mr.  Weller  is 
a  very  able  engineer,  and  is  reliable  and  trust- 
worthy. The  first  engine,  an  old  '  'grasshopper, ' ' 
so-called,  was  named  the  "Thomas  Jefferson, " 
and  is  now  in  the  Field  Columbian  Museum,  as 
is  also  the  next  one  he  took  charge  of,  which  was 
called  the  "Mazeppa." 

June  12,  1857,  Mr.  Weller  married  Ann  Maria 
Rimby,  daughter  of  Reuben  Lewis  and  Sarah 
(Hilton)  Rimby.  She  was  born  February  i, 
1839,  on  Baltimore  Street,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 
Her  grandfather,  Jacob  Rimby,  was  born  in 
Holland,  and  was  a  carpenter.  He  married 
Helen  Taney,  and  their  son,  Reuben  Lewis 
Rimby,  was  an  iron  moulder.  Mrs.  Weller's 
maternal  grandfather,  James  Hilton,  was  pre- 
sumably an  Englishman,  who  followed  the  occu- 
pation of  farming.  He  married  Polly  Hickey, 
and  their  daughter,  Sarah  Hilton,  was  born  in 
Harford  County,  Maryland.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Weller  became  parents  of  the  following-named 
children:  Charles  Christopher,  Ida  Priscilla, 
Reuben  Ellsworth,  Frederick  Washington,  Annie, 
Mary  Virginia,  Katie  Adella,  Lillie  May,  Ella 
Viola,  Harry  Evers,  Walter  Willis,  Edith  and 
Gracie  Allen.  Charles  Christopher  married 
Clara  Slaughter,  and  resides  in  Chicago,  having 
two  children,  Edna  and  Charles  C.  Ida  Pris- 
cilla died  at  the  age  of  three  years,  and  Reuben 
Ellsworth  at  the  age  of  twenty  months.  Annie 
married  Hurd  Ingraham,  and  resides  in  South 
Chicago.  Katie  Adella  married  Henry  Peters, 
and  lives  at  Grand  Crossing.  Lillie  May  married 
William  Wjthnow  a  stationary  engineer  in  the 


704 


CHRISTIAN  ERICKSON. 


employ  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  and  lives 
at  Cheltenham.  Ella  Viola  became  the  wife  of 
William  Gubbins,  and  lives  on  Division  Street, 
Chicago.  Gracie  Allen  died  when  twenty  months 
old.  The  other  children  reside  at  home. 

In  April,  1887,  Mr.  Weller  built  a  residence  at 
No.    8218    Commercial   Avenue,    and    here  the 


family  has  since  resided.  While  living  in  Balti- 
more Mr.  Weller  was  •  a  member  of  the  United 
Brethren  Church,  but  the  family  is  now  con- 
nected with  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  on 
Houston  Avenue.  He  is  a  public-spirited  and 
patriotic  citizen,  and  takes  a  commendable  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  his  country. 


CAPT.  CHRISTIAN  ERICKSON. 


EAPTAIN  CHRISTIAN  ERICKSON  was 
born  May  7,  1839,  in  Bergen,  Norway,  and 
is  the  son  of  Erick  Christensen.  The  family 
is  an  old  one  in  Norway,  where  its  members  have 
lived  for  centuries.  Erick  Christensen  died  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight  years,  leaving  a  good 
record  behind  him.  His  wife,  Bertha,  was  born 
in  1800,  and  died  in  1882.  She  was  the  mother 
of  three  children,  namely.  Mrs.  Marie  Anderson, 
Christian  Erickson  and  Ole  Erickson.  All  are 
now  in  America. 

Christian  Erickson  received  only  a  limited  edu- 
cation, but  learned  bookkeeping  in  Norway.  At 
the  age  of  twenty  years  he  came  to  the  United 
States,  and  when  he  arrived  here  at  once  recog- 
nized the  importance  of  a  good  education,  and 
with  the  intention  of  acquiring  one,  attended  the 
Lake  Forest  College,  making  his  home  for  the 
time  with  Professor  Dickinson.  After  two  years 
of  study  he  came  to  Chicago  and  took  a  position 
in  a  dry-goods  store  on  Lake  Street,  which  was 
owned  by  J.  B.  Shay.  In  March,  1862,  he  en- 
listed in  Company  I,  of  the  Eighty-second  Illinois 
Volunteer  Infantry, as  a  private, and  soon  after  was 
promoted  to  Orderly  Sergeant.  Shortly  after 
entering  the  field  in  Virginia  he  was  promoted  to 
Second  Lieutenant,  and  after  the  battle  of 
Chancellorsville,  to  First  Lieutenant,  and  as  such 
took  command  of  the  company  until  after  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg.  The  next  year  he  took 


part  in  the  battles  of  Lookout  Mountain  and 
Missionary  Ridge,  under  the  command  of  Gen- 
eral Hooker.  Later  he  went  to  Knoxville,  but 
arrived  too  late  for  that  battle.  He  was  with 
Sherman's  army  on  the  campaign  to  Atlanta  and 
the  glorious  March  to  the  Sea,  participating  in 
the  battles  on  the  way.  On  the  March  to  the  Sea 
he  was  on  the  Regimental  Staff  as  Quartermaster, 
and  after  being  honorably  discharged,  was  given 
a  captain's  commission,  signed  by  President 
Johnson,  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services 
during  the  war.  He  was  present  when  General 
Johnson  surrendered  to  General  Sherman,  and 
after  the  return  march  to  Washington  took  part 
in  the  grand  parade. 

His  company  was  nearly  all  from  Chicago,  and 
composed  of  Scandinavians,  and  the  other  nine 
companies  were  Germans.  The  regiment  was 
known  in  the  army  as  the  "Hecker  Boys,"  who 
could  always  be  depended  upon  in  a  fight.  Fol- 
lowing is  a  list  of  the  main  battles  in  which  Mr. 
Erickson  participated:  Chancellorsville,  Gettys- 
burg, Vauhatchie,  Tennessee,  Missionary  Ridge 
and  Lookout  Mountain,  Resaca,  Dallas,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Peachtree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Savannah, 
and  Bentonville,  besides  which  he  took  part  in 
many  minor  engagements. 

Captain  Erickson  was  a  temperate  man  in  all 
things,  and  during  the  war  saved  enough  money 
to  enable  him  to  start  in  business  in  Chicago. 


G.  F.  F.  SUBE. 


705 


He  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  business  on  Mil- 
waukee Avenue,  and  later  he  started  a  branch 
store  on  Division  Street,  which  later  was  de- 
stoyed  by  the  Great  Fire.  In  1882  he  built  a 
four-story  brick  building  at  Nos.  1190-1192  Mil- 
waukee Avenue,  where  he  continued  the  dry- 
goods  business  till  1896,  when  ill-health  compelled 
him  to  retire  from  a  successful  business  career. 

September  u,  1870,  he  married  Miss  Agnete 
Jevne,  a  native  of  Hamar,  Norway.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Hans  Jevne,  who  was  a  tanner  in 
Norway  and  died  there.  She  came  to  America 
in  1867,  and  is  a  sister  of  C.  Jevne,  of  Chicago, 
and  H.  Jevne,  of  Los  Angeles,  California.  She  is 
the  mother  of  four  children:  Ernest  Alexander, 
Agnes  Camilla,  Forence  May,  and  Christian 
Arent. 

Captain  Erickson  is  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  and  the  Loyal  Legion,  and 


takes  an  active  interest  in  their  affairs,  especially 
since  his  retirement  from  business.  He  has  been 
successful,  and  has  earned  a  competency  for  his 
future  years.  Politically  he  is  a  stanch  Re- 
publican. Mrs.  Erickson  is  a  member  of  the 
Relief  Corps,  and  takes  a  deep  interest  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  the  Grand  Army.  In  April, 
1897,  she  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  Illinois  Soldiers'  Widows' 
Home,  at  Wilmington, by  Governor  Tanner.  Both 
Captain  Erickson  and  his  wife  are  valued  and  re- 
spected by  their  many  friends  and  acquaintances. 
Their  children  are  well  settled  in  Chicago. 
Ernest  A.  is  in  the  grocery  business;  and  Agnes  C. 
is  a  musician  of  great  talent.  She  was  educated  in 
Chicago  and  Germany,  and  during  the  World's 
Fair  received  a  bronze  medal  and  diploma  as  an 
amateur  player.  She  has  marked  ability  and 
bids  fair  to  become  renowned  in  her  art. 


GUSTAV  F.  F.  SUBE. 


EUSTAV    FREDERICK    FERDINAND 
SUBE  was  born  July  8,  1847,  in  Pommern, 
Germany,  and   is   a   son   of  Frederick  and 
Augusta  (Krueger)  Sube.     Frederick  Sube  was 
born  December  27,   1820,  in  Pommern,  and  his 
wife  in  September,  1823.     He  was  a  painter,  and 
died  in  April,  1884,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years. 
His  widow  is  still  living  in  Germany.  They  were 
the  parents  of  four  children,  namely:    Augusta, 
Gustav  F.  F.,  Elizabeth  and  Annie. 

Gustav  Sube  received  his  education  in  his  na- 
tive country,  where  he  spent  the  early  part  of  his 
life.  He  resolved  to  emigrate  to  America,  and 
reached  New  York  May  29,  1880,  his  wife  fol- 
lowing later.  He  came  direct  to  Chicago  and 
lived  at  first  on  Weed  Street,  on  the  North  Side. 
He  had  learned  the  trade  of  machinist,  and  work- 


ed six  weeks  in  McCormick's  Reaper  Works, 
after  which  he  found  employment  with  Brown  & 
Smith,  and  remained  with  them  two  years.  He 
next  entered  the  service  of  Benjamin  &  Fisher, 
who  were  then  located  on  Jefferson  Street.  This 
firm  removed  to  South  Chicago,  April  t,  1883,  and 
Mr.  Sube  went  with  it.  In  September,  1886,  he 
was  engaged  by  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  and 
since  that  time  has  remained  in  this  service. 

On  moving  to  South  Chicago,  Mr.  Sube  bought 
ground  at  Colfax  Avenue  and  Eighty-eighth 
Street,  and  built  a  cottage,  which  he  occupied 
four  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  moved  to 
No.  8927  Commercial  Avenue,  where  he  built  a 
most  comfortable  residence,  which  is  his  present 
home. 

Mr.  Sube  was  united  in  matrimony  February 


706 


N.  L.  SCHADE. 


25, 1872,  with  Adelaide  Quant,  daughter  of  David 
and  Johanna  (Dackow)  Quant.  She  was  born 
February  28,  1846,  in  Pommern,  Germany,  and 
joined  her  husband  in  Chicago,  September,  12, 
1880.  They  became  the  parents  of  the  following 
children:  Adolph  Otto,  John  Frederick,  Mar- 
garet, Annie,  Otto,  Mary,  Elizabeth  and  Ger- 
trude. Adolph  O.  Sube  attended  the  public 
school  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  He 
learned  the  finishing  trade,  and  is  now  a  station- 
ary engineer  in  the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Steel 
Company.  He  was  married  July  15,1897,  to  Miss 
Bertha  E.  F.  Becker,  daughter  of  William  and 


Mary  (Banclow) Becker.  John  Frederick  is  a  cigar 
maker;  Annie  married  Adolph  Berke,  and  resides 
in  South  Chicago.  Otto  died  at  the  age  of  eleven 
years,  and  Mary  at  the  age  of  eight  weeks. 

Mr.  Sube  is  a  supporter  of  the  Democratic 
policy,  and  favors  the  free  coinage  of  silver.  He 
is  a  man  of  social  habits  and  is  connected  with 
several  societies.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Inter- 
national Association  of  Machinists,  the  Ancient 
Order  of  United  Workmen,  and  the  Knights  and 
Ladies  of  Honor.  He  was  the  only  one  of  his 
family  who  left  Germany,  and  has  won  position 
and  prosperity  through  his  independent  efforts. 


NICHOLAS  L,  SCHADE. 


NICHOLAS  LEONARD  SCHADE,  who  is 

nV  now  enjoying  a  retired  life  on  North  Avenue, 
\ls  was  born  December  10,  1836,  in  Prussia, 
and  is  the  eldest  son  of  Henry  and  Margaret 
Schade.  The  family  came  to  America  in  1847, 
sailing  from  Bremen  in  a  sailing-vessel,  spending 
ninety-two  days  on  the  ocean  and  landing  at 
Quebec.  Thence  they  sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence 
River  to  Montreal,  and  from  there  to  Oswego  and 
Buffalo,  thence  up  the  lakes  on  the  steamboat 
"Empire"  to  Chicago,  and  spent  the  first  year  in 
what  was  then  known  as  New  Buffalo. 

Nicholas  Schade  attended  school  in  his  native 
land,  where  he  learned  to  read  and  write  the  Ger- 
man language.  After  coming  to  Chicago,  he  at- 
tended the  Wilder  and  Kingsbury  schools  for  five 
years,  becoming  familiar  with  the  English  lan- 
guage, also  attending  a  German  parish  school  for 
a  few  months.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  years  he 
began  learning  the  machinists'  trade,  and  served 
an  apprenticeship  of  two  and  one-half  years  at 
Gates'  shops  He  then  entered  the  employ  of 
Walker  &  Company,  where  he  learned  wood- 


turning  and  millwrighting,  remaining  a  year  and 
a-half.  He  then  worked  for  J.  F.  Temple,  put- 
ting up  machinery  for  a  time,  after  which  he  en- 
tered the  service  of  John  McEwan,  and  for  eight 
years  had  charge  of  his  planing  mill.  At  the  end 
of  this  time  he  began  working  for  the  firm  of 
John  L.  Dietz  &  Company,  where  he  remained 
four  years. 

Mr.  Schade  was  burned  out  in  the  great  fire  of 
1871,  losing  his  house  and  furniture,  and  re- 
ceiving the  paltry  insurance  of  thirteen  dollars. 
After  this  he  returned  to  the  service  of  John  L. 
Dietz  &  Company,  and  remained  three  years, 
after  which  he  was  employed  by  Charles  Ridz  & 
Company,  with  whom  he  remained  two  and  one- 
half  years,  since  which  time  he  has  been  living 
retired. 

Mr.  Schade  has  taken  an  active  interest  in 
public  affairs,  and  formerly  endorsed  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Republican  party,  though  for  several 
years  past  he  has  given  his  support  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  In  1856  he  joined  a  volunteer  fire 
company,  and  served  eight  years. 


CORNELIUS  KUYPER. 


707 


August  12,  1869,  Mr.  Schade  married  Miss  John,  Hattie  and  Nicholas.  The  daughter  is  the 
Barbara  Lang,  who  was  born  February  18,  1847,  wife  of  Fred  Schmidt.  The  family  is  not  coil- 
in  Bavaria,  Germany,  and  is  a  daughter  of  John  nected  with  any  religious  society,  though  inter- 
Lang.  She  came  to  Chicago  in  1866.  Mr.  and  ested  in  any  reforms  or  movements  conducive  to 
Mrs.  Schade  have  four  children,  namely:  Adam,  the  welfare  of  the  public. 


CORNELIUS  KUYPER. 


EORNELIUS  KUYPER  is  the  only  male  sur- 
vivor of  the  founders  of  "The  Holland  Set- 
tlement," now  known  as  Roseland.    He  was 
born  near  the  historic  city   of  Alkmaar,   in  the 
Province  of  North  Holland,  February   13,   1816, 
and  is  a  son  of  Jacob  and    Mary   (Dunnmeyer) 
Kuyper.     Jacob  Kuyper  lived  and  died  in  the  lo- 
cality of  Alkmaar,  dying  at  the  early  age  of  forty- 
seven  years.     His  wife  lived  to  the  great  age  of 
ninety-one  years  and  five  months. 

Cornelius  Kuyper  is  the  only  member  of  his  fa- 
ther's family  who  came  to  America.  In  1849  he 
joined  a  colony  of  emigrants,  consisting  of  nine 
or  ten  families  of  his  countrymen,  and  they  set 
sail  for  America,  the  country  of  free  institutions 
and  cheap  lands.  They  proceeded  to  Havre  de 
Grace,  France,  whence  they  took  passage  on  an 
American  vessel  for  New  York.  The  voyage 
consumed  six  weeks,  and  although  favorable 
weather  prevailed,  its  prosperity  was  sadly  marred 
by  the  deadly  scourge  that  broke  out  among  the 
passengers,  when  only  three  days  out  from  port. 
The  malady  was  soon  discovered  to  be  cholera, 
and  man}-  of  the  immigrants  became  its  victims 
before  New  York  Harbor  was  reached,  four  of 
Mr.  Kuyper's  children  being  among  the  number. 
The  party  proceeded  by  steamer  to  Albany, 
thence  by  the  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo,  and  by 
steamer  thence  to  Chicago. 

After  tarrying  a  few  days  in  Chicago,  in  June, 
1849,  they  decided  to  locate  upon  the  sightly  ridge 
in  Calumet  Township,  now  famous  as  the  site  of 


Roseland.  A  quarter- section  of  land  between  what 
are  now  One-Hundred-Third  and  One-Hundred- 
Eleventh  Streets  was  purchased  at  five  dollars  per 
acre,  and  divided  among  the  families  constituting 
the  colony.  Mr.  Kuyper  secured  sixteen  acres  as 
his  share,  and  subsequently  bought  other  parcels 
of  land,  becoming  the  owner  of  seventy-two  acres 
of  laud  at  one  time.  He  sold  fifty-two  acres  about 
1876  to  the  Calumet  &  Chicago  Canal  &  Dock 
Company  at  two  hundred  dollars  per  acre.  He 
afterwards  sold  thirteen  acres  for  fifteen  thousand 
dollars,  the  property  having  advanced  rapidly  in 
value  after  the  previous  sale.  This  land  has  all 
been  subdivided  and  is  now  a  part  of  the  city  of 
Chicago,  most  of  it  being  improved.  Mr.  Kuy- 
per built  his  first  house  at  the  corner  of  Michigan 
Avenue  and  One-Hundred-Third  Street,  where 
for  a  number  of  years  he  was  engaged  in  market- 
gardening.  He  is  now  the  owner  of  a  farm  at 
St.  John,  Indiana. 

He  was  married  in  1840,  in  Hollaud,  to  Mary 
Dalenberg,  who  died  April  16,  1865,  aged  forty- 
six  years.  Five  of  their  children  grew  up,  name- 
ly: Jacob,  now  deceased;  Annie,  Mrs.  C.  K. 
Madderom,  of  Roseland;  Mary,  Mrs.  Nick  Rog- 
geveen,  of  Chicago;  Nellie,  Mrs.  John  Brant,  of 
Roseland;  and  Cornelius,  gateman  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  at  Burnside.  Mr.  Kuyper  has 
twenty-three  living  grandchildren  and  four  great- 
grandchildren, seven  grandchildren  being  now 
deceased. 

Soon  after  coming  here  Mr.  Kuyper  helped  to 


708 


JONAS  HUEHN. 


organize  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  at  Rose- 
land,  of  which  he  has  ever  since  been  a  member. 
Since  becoming  an  American  citizen  he  has  sus- 
tained the  Republican  party  by  his  voice  and 
vote.  He  served  six  years  as  a  County  Con- 
stable, and  for  a  like  period  as  a  member  of  the 
Hyde  Park  police  force.  For  six  years  he  was 
Road  Commissioner,  and  has  served  twenty-three 
years  as  School  Director.  Though  he  is  over 
eighty  years  of  age,  Mr.  Kuyper  is  still  as  active 
and  sprightly  as  most  young  men,  and  bids  fair 
to  become  a  centenarian.  He  has  seen  marvelous 
changes  in  the  appearance  of  Cook  County.  When 
he  first  arrived  there  was  but  one  brick  house  in 


Chicago — on  Randolph  Street;  the  prairies  to  the 
south  of  the  city,  in  the  midst  of  which  he  made 
his  home,  are  now  occupied  by  many  populous 
suburbs. 

Among  the  curiosities  which  he  cherishes  are 
two  rare  products  of  the  United  States  mint — a 
three-dollar  gold  piece  of  1855,  and  a  gold  quar- 
ter-dollar of  1875.  For  some  years  after  he  came 
here  the  only  bridge  across  the  Calumet  River  be- 
low Blue  Island  was  a  toll-bridge  at  Riverdale. 
Through  Mr.  Kuyper's  influence  the  county  was 
induced  to  build  a  public  bridge  at  that  place, 
thus  relieving  a  large  number  of  people  of  an 
unnecessary  burden. 


JONAS  HUEHN. 


(JONAS  HUEHN,  one  of  the  wealthy  old  set- 
I  tiers  of  Chicago,  who  enjoys  a  life  of  quiet  at 
(2)  his  home  on  the  North  Side,  is  a  representative 
of  the  thrifty  German  element  that  has  so  largely 
contributed  to  the  material  growth  and  prosperity 
of  the  western  metropolis.  He  was  born  January 
8,  1827,  in  Eigenrieden,  in  Thiiringen,  Prussia, 
Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  Christian  and  Rebecca 
Huehn,  natives  of  that  country.  Jonas  Huehn 
was  reared  to  the  occupation  of  farming  and 
worked  at  this  in  the  Fatherland  until  he 
reached  man's  estate,  and  then  he  decided  to 
seek  his  home  and  fortune  in  the  New  World. 

He  took  passage  at  Hamburg  in  April,  1848, 
in  a  sailing-ship  bound  for  America.  After  a 
voyage  of  sixty  days  the  boat  landed  at  Quebec, 
from  which  place  Mr.  Huehn  made  his  way  to 
Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  Though  poor  in  purse 
he  had  plenty  of  determination  to  succeed  and 
consequently  was  willing  to  engage  in  any  honest 
labor  he  might  be  able  to  find.  For  one  year  he 
worked  on  a  farm  and  then  came  to  Chicago,  but 
he  soon  returned  to  the  country  and  found  em- 
ployment again  as  a  farm  laborer,  at  Fox  River, 
Illinois. 

From  there,  in  March,  1850,  accompanied  by 
a  number  of  others,  he  started  for  California  by 


the  overland  route,  then  beset  with  so  many  dan- 
gers. Five  months  were  spent  in  crossing  the 
plains,  and  when  they  were  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Sweetwater  River  their  horses  were  stolen, 
and  in  consequence  they  had  to  pack  their  goods 
for  a  few  days.  For  two  years  he  was  occupied 
at  mining,  and  when  he  returned  at  the  end  of 
that  time  had  about  five  thousand  dollars.  He 
bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  sixty-five  acres  in 
Niles  Township,  near  Evanston,  and  still  owns 
one  hundred  twenty -five  acres  of  this. 

After  spending  six  months  on  his  farm  Mr. 
Huehn  engaged  in  teaming  in  Chicago  for  three 
years  and  then  spent  two  years  in  the  cultivation 
of  his  farm.  He  then  located  in  Chicago  and 
built  a  store  and  dwelling  house  on  the  corner 
of  Beethoven  and  Wells  Streets.  He  opened  a 
grocery  store  here  in  May,  1859,  and  successfully 
conducted  it  until  1868,  when  he  sold  it  to  Mr. 
John  Hufmeyer.  Mr.  Huehn  had  bought  a  dock 
on  the  canal,  at  the  foot  of  Oak  Street,  in 
1865,  and  the  following  year,  1866,  started  to 
conduct  a  wood  and  coal  yard,  which,  under 
his  judicious  management,  became  a  large  and 
profitable  business.  In  1871  his  business  career 
was  interrupted  by  the  great  fire  which  swept 
away  his  coal  and  wood  yards  and  also  a  number 


CHARLES  LINDERMANN. 


709 


of  houses  he  had  built  on  lots  which  he  had  from 
time  to  time  purchased,  thus  causing  him  the  loss 
of  a  handsome  fortune.  Of  his  twenty  thousand 
dollars'  insurance,  he  was  able  to  collect  only  one 
hundred  fifty  dollars.  Soon  after  the  fire  he 
built  at  No.  423  Wells  Street  and  opened  a  gro- 
cery store  and  saloon,  where  he  did  a  thriving 
business  for  six  years.  On  land  owned  by  him 
he  built  a  number  of  small  houses,  which  are 
rented. 

Having  acquired  a  competence,  he  retired  from 
active  business  in  1878.     He  was  a  Republican  in 


political  sentiment,  but  has  never  sought  political 
preferment.  September  23,  1852,  he  married 
Miss  Anna  Mary,  daughter  of  Adam  Hufmeyer 
a  worthy  pioneer  of  whom  more  extended  men- 
tion is  made  on  another  page  of  this  work.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Huehn  have  two  children — Gertrude 
Rebecca,  wife  of  Theodore  Hohenadel;  and  Fred- 
erick August.  Mr.  Huehn  and  family  are  mem- 
bers of  Hartman's  St.  Paul's  Lutheran  Church, 
whose  house  of  worship  Mr.  Huehn  helped  twice 
to  build,  and  to  the  support  of  which  he  has  lib- 
erally contributed. 


CHARLES  LINDERMANN. 


EHARLES  LINDERMANN,  a  pioneer  of 
Cook  County,  was  born  September  16,  1837, 
in  North  Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  Charles 
and  Frederica  Lindermann,  who  were  natives  of 
Germany.  Charles  Lindermann,  junior,  received 
his  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  country, 
attending  them  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age. 
He  was  then  employed  to  take  care  of  a  gentle- 
man's saddle  horses. 

In  1854  he  sailed  from  Hamburg  for  the  United 
States,  and  landed  in  New  York  City,  whence 
he  proceeded  by  rail  to  Chicago.  The  ship  on 
which  he  sailed  for  America  was  a  two-master, 
and  the  journey  occupied  ten  weeks  and  three 
days.  Mr.  Lindermann  found  employment  with 
a  farmer,  and  remained  with  him  until  the  fol- 
lowing spring,  when  he  worked  for  various 
farmers  in  Jefferson  Township,  the  first  year  re- 
ceiving but  six  dollars  per  month. 

Four  years  after  Mr.  Lindermann's  arrival  in 
the  United  States,  his  parents  and  one  brother, 
Andrew,  followed  him.  At  about  this  time  he 
bought  ten  acres  of  land  from  the  Northwestern 
University,  situated  in  Niles  Township,  where  he 
engaged  in  gardening.  Later  he  bought  eight 


acres  from  Mr.  Calvin  DeWolf,  and  still  later,  ten 
acres  from  Mr.  McDonald.  Mr.  Lindermann 
married,  and  lived  in  a  log  house  built  by  him- 
self, his  life  in  the  woods  thus  being  passed  in 
true  pioneer  style.  He  cleared  his  land  and  culti- 
vated it  twelve  years,  growing  trees,  and  conduct- 
ing a  small  nursery  and  garden  for  the  Chicago 
market.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  removed  to 
the  city  and  leased  two  acres  from  Mr.  W.  B. 
Ogden,  and  again  engaged  in  the  nursery  trade, 
this  time  on  Diversey  Street,  and  subsequently  he 
bought  two  and  one-half  acres  on  the  corner  of 
Halsted  and  Diversey  Streets. 

For  seven  years  Mr.  Lindermann  was  super- 
intendent of  the  Rosehill  and  Evanston  gravel 
road,  attending  to  it  in  connection  with  his  own 
interests.  In  1879  he  became  interested  in  real 
estate,  in  addition  to  his  regular  business,  and 
has  frequently  acted  as  the  agent  of  parties  in 
buying  or  selling  property.  He  bought  a  small 
tract  of  land  on  Lincoln  Avenue,  which  he  sub- 
divided, and  subsequently  purchased  five  acres 
from  Mr.  W.  B.  Ogden,  on  Belmont  and  Shef- 
field Avenues.  This  he  also  subdivided  and  sold. 
Later  he  purchased  five  acres  between  Baxter 


7io 


HENRY  BEST. 


Street  and  Seminary  Avenue  from  Mr.  Altgeld, 
which  he  sold  in  the  same  manner,  being  success- 
ful in  all  three  transactions. 

Mr.  Lindermann  has  always  taken  a  great  in- 
terest in  public  affairs,  though  he  is  not  a  politi- 
cian, and  supports  the  Republican  principles  and 
policy.  He  spent  some  time  on  the  special  police 
force  in  Lake  View.  He  is  president  of  the  John 
A.  Logan  Building  and  Loan  Association,  which 
office  he  has  held  for  eight  years.  He  was  at  one 
time  a  member  of  the  Sharpshooters. 

In  1857  he  married  Miss  Caroline  Turner,  a 
daughter  of  Frederick  Turner,  and  a  native  of 
Prussia.  They  had  seven  children,  of  whom  the 


following  are  living:  Charles  J. ,  who  is  interested 
in  real  estate  and  insurance;  Carrie,  wife  of  Theo- 
dore Rieck,  of  Chicago;  Mary,  the  widow  of  Mr. 
Dieckman;  and  George  H. ,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
livery  business  in  this  city.  All  have  emulated 
the  example  of  their  father,  and  like  him,  they 
have  a  reputation  for  fair  and  honest  dealing  with 
their  fellow-citizens.  Mrs.  Lindermann  died, 
December  13,  1891,  in  California,  where  she  was 
spending  the  winter  with  her  husband. 

The  father  of  Mr.  Lindermann  died  about  one 
year  after  arriving  in  Chicago,  but  his  mother  is 
still  living,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-eight 
years. 


HENRY  BEST. 


HENRY  BEST,  of  the  undertaking  and 
livery  firm  of  Best  Brothers,  Wrightwood 
Avenue,  was  born  August  6,  1842,  on  Rush 
Street,  North  Chicago,  and  is  the  eldest  of  five 
children,  born  to  Henry  and  Helen  (Bordiker) 
Best.  The  former  was  born  in  Prussia  in  1804, 
and  learned  the  trade  of  blacksmith  in  his  fa- 
ther's shop.  In  1836  he  immigrated  to  the  United 
States,  first  locating  in  Albany,  New  York,  where 
he  worked  at  his  trade  until  1842.  In  that  year 
he  came  by  way  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  the 
Great  Lakes  to  Chicago,  where  he  secured  work 
on  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal. 

Though  he  was  a  poor  man  when  he  arrived  in 
America,  he  was  industrious  and  economical,  and 
after  working  one  year  in  Chicago,  was  able  to 
purchase  a  team  and  wagon,  with  which  he  es- 
tablished a  teaming  business,  being  engaged 
principally  in  conveying  new  settlers  to  their 
destinations.  He  also  frequently  accompanied 
parties  of  English  sportsmen,  who  visited  Illinois 
for  the  purpose  of  hunting  on  the  prairies,  and 


for  his  services  received  two  dollars  per  day  for 
himself  and  team,  being  frequently  away  from 
home  for  several  weeks  at  a  time.  He  was  the 
first  settler  in  what  was  called  the  Buffalo  settle- 
ment, and  laid  claim  to  a  small  tract  of  land  at 
what  is  now  Rush  Street  and  Bellevue  Place, 
which  he  bought  from  the  Canal  Company  when 
it  came  into  the  market.  He  continued  teaming 
for  some  years,  and  also  hauled  lumber  for  a  lum- 
ber company. 

He  invested  his  savings  in  eight  acres  of  land 
in  Lake  View  Township,  where  his  sons  now 
reside,  and  at  one  time  owned  one  hundred 
sixty  acres  at  Barrington.  He  died  in  1892,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-eight  years.  His  wife  preceded 
him  one  year,  passing  away  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
three  years.  They  were  both  members  of  the 
Evangelical  Church.  Their  children,  all  resi- 
dents of  Chicago,  are  as  follows:  Henry,  Jacob, 
Mary  (Mrs.  Michael  .Kunkel),  Catharine  (Mrs. 
H.  E.  Muehlke),  and  John.  For  some  years  be- 
fore his  death,  Mr.  Best  was  a  conspicuous  figure 


PETER  JUNG. 


711 


at  the  annual  meetings  of  the  German  Old  Set- 
tlers' Society,  and  received  a  number  of  gold 
medals  for  being  the  oldest  settler  present. 

Henry  Best,  Junior,  received  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Chicago,  and  followed  the 
teaming  business  for  many  years,  remaining  with 
his  father  until  after  his  marriage.  In  1885,  in 
company  with  his  brother  John,  he  established  a 
livery  at  No.  1412  Wrightwood  Avenue,  adding 
an  undertaking  department  two  years  later,  and 
now  the  company  does  a  thriving  business  in  each 
line.  Mr.  Best  has  contributed  to  the  success  of 
the  Republican  part}'  in  his  locality,  and  was  for 
three  years  road  commissioner  in  Lake  View 
Township,  but  has  never  consented  to  hold  any 
other  office.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  and  he  and  his  family  are  connected  with 
the  Evangelical  Church. 

In  1873,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  Wahl,  a 


native  of  Darmstadt,  Germany,  and  five  children 
have  blessed  their  union:  Tillie,  Ida,  Anna,  Clara 
and  Harry.  John  Best,  youngest  son  -of  Henry 
and  Helen  Best,  was  born  in  Chicago,  October  3, 
1856.  He  received  his  primary  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  city,  and  attended 
Naperville  College,  at  Naperville,  Illinois,  four 
years.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  he  entered 
the  grocery  store  of  James  Hickson,  on  Madison 
Street,  as  a  clerk.  After  serving  one  year  in  this 
capacity,  he  opened  a  grocery  on  his  own  account, 
at  No.  1406  Wrightwood  Avenue.  He  continued 
this  business  successfully  eight  years,  when  he 
sold  out  and  made  a  visit  to  California.  In  1885, 
he  engaged  in  the  livery  business  with  his 
brother,  Henry,  as  related  above.  In  May,  1887, 
he  married  Miss  Lillie  Nienstedt,  who  was  born 
in  Wisconsin,  of  German  parents.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Evangelical  Church. 


PETER  JUNG. 


POSTER  JUNG  has  been  identified  with  the 
LX  business  interests  of  Chicago  since  1865.  He 
\3  was  born  December  13,  1838,  on  the  River 
Rhine,  in  the  Province  of  Trier,  Germany,  and  is 
a  son  of  Peter  and  Maria  Jung,  natives  of  the 
same  place. 

Peter  Jung  was  the  first  of  the  family  to  emi-" 
grate  to  the  New  World.  He  sailed  from  Ham- 
burg, November  i,  1865,  on  a  steamship,  arriving 
in  Chicago  the  last  of  the  same  month.  Seven 
months  later  his  brother  Mathias  came,  and  the 
same  year  his  parents  and  two  sisters  followed. 
Peter  Jung,  Senior,  was  a  carpenter  by  trade, 
and  served  three  years  as  a  soldier.  He  had 
four  children,  namely:  Peter,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Mathias;  Lena,  the  wife  of  Mathias 
Johannes,  of  Lake  View;  and  Barbara,  the  widow 
of  Mathias  Klein.  The  father  of  this  family  died 


in  the  year  1880,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years, 
and  the  mother,  aged  eighty-six  years,  is  still 
living. 

Peter  Jung,  Junior,  received  his  education  in 
the  public  schools,  attending  them  until  the  age 
of  thirteen  years,  when  he  left  to  learn  the  trade 
of  carpenter  with  his  father.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-three  years  he  voluntarily  enlisted  in  the 
army,  where  he  served  three  years.  He  was  oc- 
cupied at  his  trade  with  his  father  until  he  came 
to  America,  and  after  landing  in  Chicago,  he 
soon  found  employment  at  building.  He  re- 
mained with  one  employer  seven  years,  then  in  the 
Fifteenth  Ward,  now  the  Twenty-first  Ward.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  he  began  contracting  for 
buildings  on  his  own  account,  and  was  careful 
and  thrifty,  so  that  he  was  able  to  invest  in  two 
lots  on  Eugenie  Street.  On  these  lots  he  built 


712 


ALBERT  KRAETZER. 


houses  which  were  destroyed  by  the  fire  of  1871. 
He  is  still  engaged  in  contracting  and  building,  in 
which  he  has  been  very  prosperous. 

Mr.  Jung  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  but  has 
never  sought  office.  He  is  a  member  of  St.  Vin- 
cent de  Paul's  Society,  being  treasurer  of  that  or- 
ganization. He  is  a  member  of  the  German 
Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  pioneer  committee. 

July  17,  1872,  he  married  Margaret  Seger, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Margaret  Seger,  old  set- 
tlers of  Chicago.  She  was  born  in  Chicago, 


January  31,  1854.  Joseph  Seger  was  born  in 
Baden,  and  his  wife  in  Trier,  Germany.  They 
were  the  parents  of  nine  children,  of  whom  the 
following  six  are  living:  Susanna,  widow  of  Peter 
Joseph  Hand;  Christian,  of  Chicago;  John;  Mar- 
garet, now  Mrs.  Jung;  Bernard;  and  Joseph.  Mr. 
Seger  died  in  1879,  aged  seventy-five  years,  and 
his  wife  died  in  1877.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jung 
were  born  six  children,  of  whom  only  two  are 
living,  namely:  John  C.,  and  Marie  Tillie.  The 
family  is  well  known  in  German  circles,  and  is 
everywhere  regarded  with  respect. 


ALBERT  KRAETZER. 


Gl  LBERT  KRAETZER,  of  the  firm  of  Kraet- 
L_l  zer,  Fischer  &  Company,  was  born  May 
/  I  13,  1864,  at  Bainbridge,  Michigan,  and  is  a 
son  of  Ferdinand  and  Marie  (Wagner)  Kraetzer. 
Ferdinand  Kraetzer  was  a  native  of  Eisleben, 
Saxony,  Germany,  the  birthplace  of  Dr.  Martin 
Luther,  and  emigrated  to  the  United  States  in 
1854.  He  first  settled  in  Two  Rivers,  Wiscon- 
sin, where  he  was  employed  at  the  trade  of  car- 
penter. He  removed  to  Michigan  later,  and  after 
spending  fourteen  years  there  he  came  to  Chi- 
cago, where  he  has  since  lived.  For  a  time  he 
was  foreman  for  the  Chicago  Forge  &  Bolt  Com- 
pany. He  spent  five  years  in  California,  living 
in  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles  and  San  Diego. 

Albert  Kraetzer  received  his  education  in  the 
public  schools,  which  he  attended  until  he  was 
fifteen  years  of  age.  Later  he  attended  Cook 
County  Normal  School  for  a  short  time,  and  then 
worked  one  year  in  the  South  Chicago  postoffice. 
Mr.  Kraetzer  spent  three  years  in  the  employ  of 
Christopher  Carr,  a  hardware  merchant,  and  then 
one  year  as  bookkeeper  for  the  South  Chicago 


Wood-working  Company.  Later  he  became  ship- 
ping clerk  in  the  employ  of  Thad  Dean  &  Com- 
pany, where  he  remained  one  year. 

Mr.  Kraetzer  next  bought  a  one-twelfth  inter- 
est in  the  firm  of  Crandall,  Rasch  &  Company, 
and  later  increased  the  interest  to  one-sixth.  The 
firm  thus  became  Rasch,  Dornedden  &  Company, 
and  two  years  later  the  name  was  changed  to 
Kraetzer,  Fischer  &  Company.  The  business  at 
that  time  was  conducted  at  the  present  address, 
Ninety-fifth  Street  at  the  foot  of  South  Chicago 
Avenue.  It  includes  the  manufacture  of  sash 
and  doors,  and  the  planing-mill  business.  At 
first  about  fifteen  men  were  employed,  but  later 
an  addition  of  machinery,  engines,  and  boilers 
required  an  increase  of  the  force,  and  at  present 
about  seventy -five  men  are  here  employed.  The 
firm  has  a  local  trade,  and  also  a  trade  in  all  parts 
of  the  South  Side,  including  Hyde  Park,  Wood- 
lawn,  and  other  suburban  points. 

Mr.  Kraetzer  was  married,  October  20,  1889, 
to  Mrs.  Marie  Reidhead,  daughter  of  James 
Davidson.  He  built  a  comfortable  residence  at 


GEORGE  WITTBOLD. 


No.  8935  Exchange  Avenue,  in  1892,  and  now 
resides  there.  He  takes  a  commendable  interest 
in  political  affairs,  and  favors  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Bowen  Cycling  Club,  whose  rooms  are  at  No.  309 


Ninety-first  Street.  He  assisted  in  its  organiza- 
tion, which  occurred  in  March,  1896,  and  was  its 
first  secretary,  and  is  now  its  presiding  officer. 
He  is  a  patriotic  citizen,  and  is  progressive  in  his 
ideas,  being  a  friend  to  improvement  and  reform. 


GEORGE  WITTBOLD. 


WITTBOLD,  a  florist,  who  resides 
at  No.  1708  North  Halsted  Street,  has  been 
engaged  in  his  present  business  since  1862, 
and  has  been  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Chicago 
since  1857.  He  was  born  on  the  25th  of  April, 
1833,  in  the  city  of  Hanover,  Germany,  and 
is  the  son  of  Frederick  and  Elizabeth  Witt- 
bold. 

Frederick  Wittbold  was  a  florist,  and  after  re- 
ceiving his  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
city,  George  Wittbold  learned  the  details  of  his 
father's  occupation.  The  former  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  this  line  of  work,  which  he  followed  all 
his  life.  George  Wittbold  spent  five  years  in 
the  king's  garden  and  there  learned  many  valu- 
able points  in  his  trade.  In  1857  he  set  sail  for 
the  United  States  from  Bremen,  in  a  steamship, 
and  landed  in  New  York.  He  came  direct  to 
Chicago,  and  upon  arriving  here,  found  employ- 
ment with  Ebenezer  Peck,  taking  charge  of  his 
greenhouses  for  three  years,  and  then  spent  two 
years  in  the  service  of  L.  B.  McCaig. 

In  1862  Mr.  Wittbold  established  himself  in 
business  on  the  corner  of  North  Avenue  and 
North  Clark  Street,  where  he  continued  to  pros- 
per for  many  years.  In  1867  he  bought  four 
acres  of  land  on  North  Halsted  Street,  where  he 
is  now  situated.  Two  years  later  he  improved 


this  land  and  built  two  small  greenhouses,  where 
he  cultivated  flowers  for  the  city  market. 

Mr.  Wittbold  has  confined  his  attention  to 
palms  and  ferns  for  the  past  ten  years,  cultivating 
such  varieties  as  can  be  successfully  grown  indoors, 
and  in  winter  he  has  a  large  decorating  trade.  His 
plants  are  sent  to  most  of  the  different  states  of  this 
country,  and  to  Canada.  About  two  acres  of  his 
land  are  covered  with  glass,  and  he  steadily  em- 
ploys a  force  of  sixteen  men.  He  has  a  sales- 
room at  No.  512  North  Clark  Street,  where  he 
carries  on  a  good  retail  trade,  which  has  been  es- 
tablished fifteen  years.  His  is  the  oldest  estab- 
lishment of  its  kind  in  the  city.  Mr.  Wittbold 
has  always  shown  himself  prudent  and  industri- 
ous, and  has  attended  carefully  to  the  details  of 
his  business,  thus  having  little  time  for  public 
affairs. 

He  was  married  in  1861  to  Miss  Emma  Fricke, 
a  native  of  Germany,  who  came  to  the  United 
States  when  a  child.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Henry 
C.  Fricke,  a  sketch  of  whose  life  appears  in  these 
pages.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wittbold  were  the  parents 
of  eight  children,  namely:  Henry,  Fred,  Gus- 
tav,  Louis,  Otto,  Mary,  Sophia  and  Helen. 
Four  children  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  Wittbold 
and  his  family  are  faithful  members  of  the 
Lutheran  Church. 


7*4 


JOHN   SCHOEN. 


JOHN  SCHOEN. 


C|OHN    SCHOEN,    an    enterprising    business 

I  man  of  Chicago,  was  born  January  12,  1843, 
O  in  the  Province  of  Schlesien,  Germany.  His 
parents,  Joseph  and  Anna  Mary  (Matchke)Schoen, 
were  also  natives  of  that  province,  the  former 
having  been  born  December  5,  1794,  and  the 
latter  August  15,  1804. 

About  1812  Joseph  Schoen  was  engaged  as  a 
soldier  in  a  war  with  Russia.  He  was  taken 
prisoner  by  a  party  of  Russian  soldiers,  but  while 
his  captors  were  intoxicated  he  escaped,  muffling 
his  horse's  hoofs  with  straw  to  prevent  arousing 
the  soldiers.  Returning  to  his  home  in  Germany, 
he  learned  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  also  worked 
as  a  farmer.  He  was  twice  married  before  leav- 
ing the  Fatherland.  By  the  first  marriage  he 
had  two  children,  neither  of  whom  is  living.  Of 
the  second  family  two  sons  survive:  Anton,  now 
living  in  retirement  in  Chicago;  and  John,  whose 
name  begins  this  article. 

The  family  emigrated  to  America  in  1854,  sail- 
ing from  Bremen  to  New  York  on  the  ship  "Von 
Stein, ''which  was  then  making  her  third  voyage. 
They  were  seven  weeks  on  the  Atlantic,  arriving 
in  New  York  August  10,  and  proceeding  at  once 
to  Chicago,  which  city  they  reached  a  week  later. 
Mr.  Schoen  brought  with  him  one  thousand  four 
hundred  dollars  in  gold,  and  did  not  engage  ac- 
tively in  business  after  reaching  America. 

John  Schoen  was  a  boy  of  eleven  years  when 


the  family  located  in  Chicago.  He  was  obliged 
to  devote  himself  whenever  possible  to  profitable 
employment,  his  first  money  being  earned  in  dis- 
tributing handbills.  His  first  business  venture 
was  the  gathering  of  wild  flowers  which  he  made 
into  bouquets  and  sold  on  the  streets,  thereby 
earning  from  three  to  five  dollars  a  week.  In 
winter  he  attended  school,  receiving  part  of  his 
education  in  the  old  Franklin  school  and  part  in 
Saint  Michael's  parochial  school.  When  he  was 
unable  to  attend  the  day  school  he  studied  even- 
ings, thus  showing  his  desire  to  improve  every 
opportunity.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  years  he  be- 
gan an  apprenticeship  in  the  upholstering  busi- 
ness at  which  he  continued  for  seven  years,  gain- 
ing a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  furniture  busi- 
ness. 

In  1859,  in  company  with  Patrick  Walsh,  he 
opened  a  small  furniture  store  on  State  Street,  be- 
tween Jackson  and  Van  Buren  Streets  and  two 
years  later  bought  out  his  partner  and  removed 
his  business  to  the  corner  of  North  Clark  and  Erie 
Streets.  After  one  year  at  this  location,  he  sold 
out  and  entered  the  employ  of  the  Tobey  Fur- 
niture Company,  in  the  upholstering  department 
of  their  establishment.  Having  built  two  build- 
ings on  North  Avenue,  he  opened  a  retail  fur- 
niture store  in  one  of  them  in  1870,  and  continued 
in  business  until  the  great  fire  of  the  next  year. 
This  conflagration  destroyed  all  his  property,  but 


PETER  SIMON. 


having  six  hundred  dollars  in  cash,  and  good 
credit,  he  was  able  to  rebuild  at  once,  and  again 
started  in  business,  clearing  four  thousand  dollars 
the  first  year. 

A  few  years  later  he  engaged  in  the  wholesale 
upholstering  business,  first  as  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Seng,  Schoen  &  Company,  and  afterward 
of  the  Hafner  &  Schoen  Furniture  Company. 
The  establishment  was  on  Canal  Street,  where 
they  did  a  very  large  business,  shipping  goods  to 
many  foreign  countries.  At  the  same  time  Mr. 
Schoen  also  had  an  interest  in  the  Zangerly  Manu- 
facturing Company.  In  1890  he  gave  up  these 
connections,  and  embarked  in  the  lumber  busi- 
ness. He  and  his  sous  constituting  the  Columbia 


Hardwood    Lumber    Company,    located    at    65 
Southport  Avenue,  foot  of  C  Street. 

May  10,  1864,  Mr.  Schoen  was  married  to  Miss 
Theresa  Urwanger,  a  native  of  Bavaria,  who  was 
brought  to  America  while  still  an  infant.  Twelve 
children  have  been  born  of  this  union,  of  whom 
the  following  are  living:  Maria  Theresa,  Mrs.  J. 
P.  Simon;  John,  President  of  the  Columbia  Hard- 
wood Lumber  Company;  Anna  Rosa,  Mrs.  Will- 
iam Reueu;  Joseph,  Secretary  of  the  Columbia 
Hardwood  Lumber  Company;  George  William; 
Edward  C. ;  Alexis  Henry;  and  William  Carl. 
The  family  is  connected  with  St.  Michael's  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  all  are  residents  of  the  city 
of  Chicago. 


PETER  SIMON. 


F^ETER  SIMON  was  born  June  29,  1829,  in 
LX  Bierfelt,  Prussia,  and  is  a  son  of  Mathias  and 
\3  Christina  Simon,  natives  of  that  place. 
Mathias  Simon  followed  the  trade  of  nail-maker 
in  his  native  land,  and  served  three  years  in  the 
army.  He  decided  to  emigrate  to  the  United 
States,  and,  accordingly,  sailed  from  Havre, 
France,  with  his  wife  and  eight  children,  and 
thirty-seven  days  later  they  landed  in  New  York. 
The  family  located  in  Buffalo  and  lived  there 
fourteen  months,  removing  thence  to  Chicago. 
Mr.  Simon  found  employment  at  his  trade  in  Buf- 
falo, but  upon  settling  in  Chicago,  he  was  a  gar- 
dener until  twenty  years  before  his  death.  Mrs. 
Simon  died  in  1873.  From  1870  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1889,  at  the  age  of  nearly 
ninety-two  years,  Mr.  Simon  lived  in  retirement 
from  business  cares.  Of  their  eight  children  only 
three  are  living,  namely:  Peter,  of  whom  this 
biography  is  written;  Maria,  widow  of  Joseph 
Roelle;  and  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Hugo  Stern- 
berg. 


Peter  Simon  was  educated  in  his  native  land , 
and  for  a  short  time  attended  an  evening  school 
in  Chicago.  In  1847  he  began  to  learn  the  tin- 
ner's trade  with  Mr.  S.  J.  Surdam,  at  No.  178 
Lake  Street,  and  for  thirty-seven  years  worked  for 
him  without  losing  a  single  day;  in  addition,  for 
a  few  years  after  leaving  his  employ,  helped  him 
a  few  months  of  each  year  during  the  busy  sea- 
son. 

He  was  an  industrious  and  prudent  youth  and 
his  habits  enabled  him  to  save  a  part  of  his  earn- 
ings, which  he  invested  in  real  estate  from  time 
to  time.  The  property  bought  by  him  in  this 
way  increased  so  much  in  value  that  he  thus  be- 
came wealthy,  and  is  now  living  a  life  free  from 
heavy  business  cares,  having  only  to  look  after 
his  property  interests.  In  1848  he  was  offered  a 
nomination  for  alderman,  but  refused  to  accept  it. 

September  21,  1854,  he  married  Miss  Mary 
Rasher,  who  was  born  within  two  miles  of  his 
home  in  the  Fatherland,  and  came  to  America  in 
1842.  They -had  five  children,  of  whom  the  fol- 


7i6 


PAUL  ABRAHAM.— MATHIAS  JUNG. 


lowing  are  living:  Mary,  who  married  Christ 
Temple,  of  No.  511  LaSalle  Avenue;  Joseph  P., 
who  assists  his  father  in  the  care  of  his  extended 
interests,  and  resides  at  No.  555  Cleveland  Ave- 
nue, with  his  wife,  Theresa  W.,  (born  Schoen) ; 


and  Regina,  wife  of  Walter  Vogler,  residing  at 
No.  484  Sedgwick  Street.  Mrs.  Simon  died  Oc- 
tober 12,  1896.  The  family  is  connected  with 
Saint  Michael's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  is 
highly  respected  and  esteemed  in  the  community. 


PAUL  ABRAHAM. 


[~}AUL  ABRAHAM,  a  German-American  citi- 
LS  zen  of  South  Chicago,  who  came  to  this  city 
1^3  when  a  young  man,  and  who  has  always  been 
a  desirable  citizen,  was  born  October  16,  1859,  in 
Posen,  Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  Charles  and  Er- 
nestina  (Felberg)  Abraham,  both  of  them  natives 
of  that  country.  His  sisters,  Minnie  and  Augus- 
ta, came  to  America  in  1870,  and  thus  his  at- 
tention was  turned  to  the  opportunities  offered  by 
this  country. 

Paul  Abraham  obtained  his  education  in  his 
native  country,  and  in  1880  he  was  able  to  sail 
for  the  United  States.  He  came  direct  to  Chica- 
go, arriving  in  October  of  that  year.  January  i, 
1 88 1,  he  removed  to  South  Chicago,  and  the  next 
year  his  parents  followed.  The  father  lived  only 
a  short  time  after  his  arrival.  He  bought  a  lot  at 
No.  8949  Superior  Avenue,  and  built  the  house 
now  occupied  by  Paul  Abraham. 


Paul  Abraham  built  a  house  at  No.  8406  Mack- 
inaw Avenue,  and  occupied  this  until  1893,  when 
he  bought  the  property  formerly  owned  by  his 
father.  On  coming  to  South  Chicago,  he  entered 
the  employ  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  in  the 
blast  furnace,  where  he  remained  until  1894,  and 
then  for  one  year  he  and  his  brother  Otto  conduc- 
ted a  milk  route.  In  1896  he  returned  to  the 
employ  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  in  the 
plate-mill  department,  and  has  filled  this  position 
ever  since. 

December  10,  1884,  he  was  united  in  holy  mat- 
rimony with  Emma  Rosalinda  Noehring,  a 
daughter  of  Ernest  and  Paulina  (Shieve)  Noeh- 
ring. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Abraham  are  the  parents  of 
two  children,  Ida  Paulina  and  George  Paul.  Mr. 
Abraham  is  a  useful  and  honored  citizen,  and  he  is 
successful  in  his  business  life.  He  and  his  family 
are  connected  with  the  German  Lutheran  Church. 


MATHIAS  JUNG. 


IV  /lATHIAS  JUNG,    youngest   son    of  Peter 

I  V  I  Jung,  whose  biography  appears  elsewhere 
1(91  in  this  work,  was  born  March  24,  1841,  in 
Cornfeld,  Rhine  Province  of  Trier,  Germany.  He 
received  his  education  in  his  native  land  and 


learned  the  trade  of  carpenter,  following  this  oc- 
cupation until  he  emigrated  to  America  in  1865. 
The  sea  voyage  was  made  from  Bremen  in  the 
steamship  "King  of  England,"  which  landed 
him  in  New  York,  and  he  then  spent  seven  days 


PETER  EBERTSHAUSER. 


717 


in  a  journey  to  Chicago.  Mr.  Jung  reached  the 
United  States  not  only  a  poor  man,  but  owing 
seventy-six  dollars  for  his  passage.  A  few  days 
after  reaching  Chicago  he  found  employment 
with  Strauser  &  Kaserback,  and  he  continued  to 
follow  his  trade  until  1879.  He  and  his  brother 
were  contractors  and  builders  for  eight  years,  liv- 
ing on  Eugenie  Street,  near  Sedgwick  Street, 
where  the  latter  owned  a  good,  two-story  house 
until  the  fire  of  1871,  which  left  them  homeless. 
In  1879  Mr.  Jung  opened  a  buffet  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Sedgwick  Street  and  North  Avenue,  and 
conducted  it  with  good  success  until  1884,  when 
he  bought  an  acre  of  land  on  the  corner  of  Ash- 
land and  Lincoln  Avenues,  and  built  the  large 
block  now  owned  by  him,  which  contains  a  saloon, 
a  large  hall,  which  he  rents  to  various  societies, 
and  stables  and  sheds  for  the  accommodation  of 
horses.  Here  he  has  carried  on  a  lucrative  busi- 
ness, and  his  place  is  known  for  its  quiet  and  or- 
derly management.  Mr.  Jung  is  a  genial  host, 


who  never  encourages  excesses  of  any  kind,  and 
is  a  public-spirited  citizen,  taking  a  commend- 
able interest  in  everything  pertaining  to  the  pub- 
lic good.  He  is  a  supporter  of  the  Democratic 
party,  but  has  never  sought  the  emoluments  of 
office,  preferring  rather  to  devote  his  energies  to 
the  management  of  his  own  affairs. 

Mr.  Jung  is  a  great  lover  of  fine  horses,  and 
himself  owns  a  number  of  good  specimens  of  that 
noble  animal.  He  is  a  member  of  Saint  Vincent 
de  Paul,  and  Saint  Joseph's  and  Saint  Alphonse's 
Societies.  January  30,  1872,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Anna,  daughter  of  Mr.  Kreoser,  a  native  of 
Germany,  who  came  to  America  when  two  years 
of  age.  They  have  two  sons  and  two  daughters, 
namely:  Lilly,  George,  Peter  and  Anna,  all  of 
whom  live  with  their  parents  and  are  enjoying  ex- 
cellent educational  advantages.  Mr.  Jung  and 
his  family  are  connected  with  Saint  Alphonse's 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  of  which  he  is  one  of 
the  most  liberal  supporters. 


PETER  EBERTSHAUSER. 


QETER  EBERTSHAUSER,   a  mason  and 

yr  contractor,  residing  at  No.  281  Cleveland 
K9  Avenue,  has  lived  in  Chicago  since  1867. 
He  was  born  October  27,  1848,  in  Nassau,  Ger- 
many, and  is  a  son  of  Jacob  and  Anna  Eberts- 
hauser,  natives  of  that  place.  The  former,  a 
mason  by  trade,  is  still  living,  at  the  age  of 
seventy -five  years,  in  this  city.  In  1867,  the 
family,  including  five  children,  came  to  America, 
sailing  from  Antwerp  in  a  steamship  and  spend- 
ing eighteen  days  in  the  voyage.  Their  children 
were:  Peter,  of  whom  this  article  is  written; 
Katharine,  wife  of  William  Lauer,  of  Chicago; 
John,  whoresidesat  No.  32  Star  Street,  Chicago; 
Jacob,  who  died  in  1895,  and  Henry,  who  is  the 
owner  of  a  cut  stone  yard  in  the  city.  The 
mother  of  these  children  died  the  7th  of  October, 
1890. 


Peter  Ebertshauser  had  the  advantage  of  a 
common-school  education  in  his  native  country, 
and  then  learned  the  trade  of  his  father.  He  has 
always  followed  this  occupation,  and  in  1876  be- 
gan business  on  his  own  account,  as  a  contractor 
and  builder.  He  was  diligent  in  his  efforts 
when  a  young  man,  and  has  been  successful  in 
his  line  of  work,  having  built  many  prominent 
buildings.  Among  these  are  churches,  hospitals, 
elevators,  breweries  and  residences.  When  his 
business  is  most  prosperous  he  gives  employ- 
ment to  from  sixty  to  eighty  men. 

Mr.  Ebertshauser  is  a  man  of  broad  mind,  and 
is  well  informed  concerning  the  most  important 
questions  of  the  day  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
He  feels  an  interest  in  public  affairs  beyond  his 
city,  and  is  a  firm  supporter  of  the  Democratic 
party.  He  was  appointed  building  inspector  in 


7i8 


P.  A.  BIRREN.— BERNHARD  KNOPF. 


his  district  by  the  present  Mayor,  in  June,  1897. 
He  is  a  member  of  Saint  Michael's  Society  also 
Saint  Vincent  de  Paul's  Society,  having  been  for 
seven  years  president  of  the  latter.  He  is  one  of 
the  organizers  of  the  Knights  of  Saint  George 
No.  68,  all  of  whose  members  belong  to  Saint 
Michael's  parish. 

He  was  married  November  14,    1872,  to  Miss 


Gertrude  Eich,  who  was  born  in  Germany.  They 
have  had  nine  children,  four  of  whom  are  living, 
namely:  Anna,  Katharine,  Josephine  and  May. 
All  the  members  of  the  family  are  communicants  of 
Saint  Michael's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and 
are  well  known  and  respected  in  the  community, 
for  their  sympathy  and  help  in  all  movements  for 
improvement  and  reform. 


PETER  A.  BIRREN. 


|~}ETER  A.  BIRREN,  a  prominent  business  man 
LX  and  popular  undertaker,  located  at  No.  842 
K>  Lincoln  Avenue,  was  born  February  14, 
1862,  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  His  parents  were 
Henry  and  Catharine  (Faber)  Birren,  pioneer 
settlers  of  Chicago,  extended  mention  of  whom 
will  be  found  on  another  page  of  this  work.  The 
son  received  his  education  at  Saint  Michael's  pa- 
rochial school,  and  when  old  enough  became  the 
assistant  of  his  father,  with  whom  he  remained 
until  of  age,  learning  all  the  details  of  the  under- 
taking business.  In  1883,  he  and  his  brother, 
John  H.  Birren,  established  themselves  in  the 
livery  business  on  Eugenie  Street,  where  they 
continued  until  December,  1895.  In  December, 
1885,  Mr.  Birren  opened  his  present  undertaking 
establishment,  and  has  had  a  constantly  increas- 


ing and  profitable  trade.  During  the  first  two 
years  his  was  the  only  establishment  of  the  kind 
in  Lake  View.  He  also  has  a  well-equipped  car- 
riage livery  in  connection. 

July  24,  1882,  Mr.  Birren  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Julia  K.,  daughter  of  Nicholas 
and  Catharine  Schneider,  by  whom  he  has  one 
son,  Alex  C.  The  family  is  prominently  con- 
nected with  Saint  Alphonse's  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Mr.  Birren  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic 
Order  of  Foresters,  Independent  Order  of  Mutual 
Aid,  and  other  organizations.  He  is  not  a  poli- 
tician, but  usually  gives  his  support  to  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  in  national  elections.  As  he  is  an 
enterprising  and  public-spirited  citizen,  he  takes 
an  active  interest  in  all  that  best  subserves  the 
public  good. 


BERNHARD  KNOPP. 


BERNHARD  KNOPP,  a  member  of  a  pioneer 
German  family  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  that 
city    December   6,    1844.      He  is  a  son  of 
Henry  and  Anna  Marguerita  (Toening)    Knopp, 
natives  of  Germany,  who  were  born  near  Han- 


over, and  came  to  Chicago  in  1842.  Henry 
Knopp  came  to  America  about  1830  and  located 
in  Philadelphia.  His  father  had  been  a  wealthy 
farmer  in  Germany,  and  he  had  been  reared  to 
farm  work.  He  returned  to  Germany  about  1841, 


JOHN  KOENING. 


719 


and  was  married,  bringing  his  bride  to  Chicago, 
and  settling  on  the  North  Side  near  the  corner  of 
Oak  and  State  Streets.  He  engaged  in  the  dairy 
business,  and  in  this  venture  he  was  successful  to 
a  great  degree  and  accumulated  a  competence. 

In  1848  Mr.  Henry  Knopp  bought  several 
acres  of  land  from  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal 
Company,  in  what  afterward  became  Lake  View 
Township.  A  few  years  later  he  removed  to  this 
place,  and  for  a  number  of  years  conducted  a 
large  garden,  until  compelled  by  age  to  retire. 
The  last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  Oak  Park, 
where  he  died,  in  1890,  at  the  age  of  ninety-three 
years.  By  his  first  marriage  he  had  two  sons, 
namely:  Bernhard,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
and  Henry,  who  lives  on  Florence  Avenue.  Mrs. 
Knopp  died  about  1847,  and  later  Mr.  Knopp 
married  again  and  had  one  son,  Frederick,  who 
resides  in  Lake  County,  Illinois. 

Bernhard  Knopp  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  and  at  Plainfield  College.  He  learned  the 
trade  of  painter,  which  he  has  followed  for  a 


number  of  years.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics 
but  has  never  held  any  office. 

In  the  fall  of  1861  he  enlisted  in  Company  D, 
of  the  Forty-eighth  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry, 
and  participated  in  a  number  of  engagements, 
being  wounded  at  luka,  and  losing  the  thumb 
and  forefinger  of  his  left  hand.  He  spent  two 
months  in  the  hospital  and  then  took  part  in  the 
battles  at  Vicksburg,  Jackson  and  Raymond, 
Mississippi,  and  was  discharged  in  Chicago  early 
in  1865.  He  is  a  member  of  Washington  Post 
No.  573,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

October  14,  1868,  Mr.  Knopp  married  Miss 
Philipina  Zahn,  a  native  of  Morscheim,  Rhine 
Provinces,  of  Germany,  and  a  daughter  of  Diet- 
rich Zahn.  She  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1864,  and  her  father  in  1869.  Her  mother  died 
when  she  was  twelve  years  old,  and  her  father  died 
in  Chicago.  Mr.  Knopp  and  his  wife  have  two 
daughters,  Julia  and  Clara.  He  and  his  family 
are  members  of  the  United  Evangelical  Church, 
and  are  held  in  high  esteem. 


JOHN  KOENING. 


(lOHN  KOENING,  a  dealer  in  general  hard- 
I  ware  and  house-furnishing  goods,  whose 
Q)  place  of  business  is  located  at  No.  494  Lar- 
rabee  Street,  has  been  a  resident  of  Chicago  since 
1851.  He  was  born  August  24,  1850,  in  Darm- 
stadt, Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary 
Koening,  who  were  natives  of  that  place. 

Jacob  Koening,  with  his  wife  and  family,  con- 
sisting of  four  children,  came  to  America  in  1851 
and  located  in  Chicago.  The  ship  on  which  they 
took  passage  sprung  a  leak  during  the  voyage, 
which  consequently  occupied  about  three  months. 
Jacob  Koening  was  by  trade  a  basket-maker,  and 
had  lived  in  America  only  a  short  time,  follow- 
ing this  trade,  when  he  died  of  cholera.  His 


widow  married  again,  and  died  in  1894.  Of  their 
four  children  only  two  are  now  living.  Godfred 
died  in  Chicago  several  years  ago;  Jacob  died  in 
1896;  Katherine  is  the  widow  of  Adam  Kehn, 
and  John,  the  other  survivor,  is  the  subject  of 
this  biography. 

John  Koening  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Chicago.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years 
he  began  learning  the  tinner's  trade  with  Louis 
Henrich,  and  served  an  apprenticeship  of  three 
years.  He  then  worked  at  his  trade  as  journey- 
man until  1880,  when  he  engaged  in  business  on 
his  own  responsibility  in  the  same  block  where 
he  is  now  located.  In  1889  he  bought  his  pres- 
ent store  and  moved  into  it.  He  carries  a  care- 


720 


JOHN  STENGEL. 


fully  selected  stock,  and  has  a  growing  trade, 
having  a  reputation  for  fair  dealing  with  his 
customers. 

In  national  politics  Mr.  Kjoening  favors  the 
principles  set  forth  by  the  Republican  party,  but 
is  not  a  politician.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Foresters. 

October  13,  1876,  he  married  Miss  Magdalena 


Brown,  who  was  born  in  Rochester,  New  York. 
They  became  the  parents  of  one  son,  Robert 
George.  Mr.  Koening  and  his  family  are  members 
of  Saint  Paul's  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 
They  are  held  in  high  esteem  by  their  numerous 
friends  and  acquaintances,  and  are  valuable  mem- 
bers of  society  in  the  community  where  the)' 
reside. 


JOHN  STENGEL. 


(TJOHN  STENGEL  was  born  May  25,  1847,  in 
I  Baden,  Germany,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Q)  Annie  (Dafferner)  Stengel,  who  were  na- 
tives of  that  country.  Mr.  Stengel  was  the  first 
of  his  family  to  emigrate  to  America,  landing  in 
New  York,  March  12,  1869,  and  immediately 
traveling  westward,  as  do  the  majority  of  foreign- 
ers, on  account  of  the  better  opportunities  for 
progress.  He  worked  four  weeks  at  farm  labor 
near  Buffalo,  and  then  came  to  Chicago,  and  was 
engaged  as  a  fisherman  by  Martin  Hausler,  by 
whom  he  was  employed  almost  continuously  from 
that  time  until  1889.  During  the  years  1875, 
1876  and  1877,  he  was  a  companion  with  Peter 
Ringenburg,  who  managed  a  fishery  of  his  own, 
but  he  returned  to  Mr.  Hausler  at  the  end  of 
three  years,  and  has  since  been  connected  with 


his  business,  two  years  as  pile  driver  and  one 
year  driving  a  wagon,  and  is  at  present  Mr. 
Ha'usler's  general  business  manager. 

April  ii,  1875,  Mr.  Stengel  married  Agnes 
Wolter,  a  native  of  Germany,  who  was  born  in 
Berlin,  and  came  to  America  when  a  young  wo- 
man. They  have  three  children,  namely:  Charles, 
Albert  and  Theodore,  besides  two  children  who 
died.  In  1880  Mr.  Stengel  bought  property  at 
No.  9700  Avenue  M.  He  had  previously  been 
living  on  the  lake  front,  and  he  removed  this 
house  to  his  lot,  building  an  addition,  and  thus 
making  a  comfortable  home.  Mr.  Stengel  takes 
an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  day,  and  in  politics 
he  supports  the  Democratic  party.  He  is  an  old 
citizen  of  South  Chicago,  and  is  ever  ready  to 
support  any  measure  for  its  progress. 


INDEX 


Abraham,  Paul 716 

Abrahams,  Heury 285 

Adams,  Dr.  Charles 549 

Adsit,  J.  M 123 

Alsip,  W.  H 283 

Amick,  Pleasant 493 

Anthoniseu,  Carsten 649 

Armour.  P.  D 295 

Arndt,  Adolph 195 

Ayars,  C.  G 459 


B 


Baer,  F.  A 379 

Bailey,  E.  W 133 

Baines,  Dr.  O.  0 468 

Baker,  H.  D 433 

Ball,  G.  H 33 

Barnard,  G.  W 258 

Bartels,  John 624 

Bassett,  O.  P 272 

Beaubieu,  Alex 392 

Beck.  August 239 

Becker.  Michael 516 

Beecher,  Jerome 509 

Berg,  John 241 

Bergman.  Frederick 694 

Best,  Henry 710 

Beye,  William 215 

Birren,  Henry 331 

Birren,  Peter  A 718 

Bisdorff,  Peter  196 

Boening,  William 672 

Bolles,  C.  E 327 

Bowerman,  Dr.  M.  A 603 

Boyle,  Thomas 685 

Brachtendorf,  A.  J  680 

Bradwell,  J.  B 134 

Bradwell.  Myra 135 

Brinkerhoff,  A.  B 330 

Bristle,  Frederick 621 

Britz,  Nicholas 609 

Brown,  Capt.  Thomas 695 

Brundage,  S.  V.  R 34 


Bruszer,  John 690 

Bryan,  C.  P. . . 293 

Buchanan,  John 78 

Budde,  Henry 550 

Budlong,  J.  A 200 

Budlong,  L.A  191 

Burley,  A.  G 227 

Bu?se,  August  674 

Busse,  A.  H 46 

Buschwah,  N 289 

Butters,  George 471 

Byford,  Dr.  H.  T 494 


Caldwell,  Joseph 56 

Camp,  1.  N 346 

Capron,  A.  B 451 

Carbine,  Thomas 21 

Carrington,  N.  S 561 

Carter,  Michael 365 

Case,  E.  W 427 

Castle.  E.  H  544 

Cary,  J.  W 131 

Caton,  J.  D 115 

Ceperly,  C.  H 197 

Chapin,  Newton 305 

Chapin,  J.  P 637 

Chapleau,  Octave 35 

Chipp,  John 399 

Clark,  Jonathan 183 

Clark,  Joseph 378 

Clark, L.C 543 

Clark,  R.  R 229 

Clifford,  J.  O 273 

Clybourn,  Archibald 626 

Cobb,  S.  B 143 

Collins,  Robert 658 

Collins,  Stewart 354 

Cooley,  C.  A 554 

Cossitt,  F.  D.,  Jr , 590 

Coughlin,  Timothy 602 

Coulter,  W.  M 583 

Courtright,  Capt.  J.  D 352 

Crawford,  H.  P 164 

Crawford,  John 292 

Cunningham,  J.  H 651 

Custer,  G.  G 184 

Cutler,  A.  J, 279 


Daniels,  E.  F 543 

Davis,  G.  M 220 

Dearlove,  George 291 

Dearlove,  G.  M 536 

Derby,  W.  R  lBf> 

De  Wolf,  Calvin 385 

Dibben,  Alfred 409 

Dickinson,  John 100 

Diesel,  Frank 635 

Dilger,  R.  F 204 

Dobbins,  P.  H 254 

Dollinger,  J.  A 304 

Doyle,  T.  F 650 

Dresel,  August  44 

Ducat,  Gen.  A.  C 415 

Dunlap,  George 36 

Dupee,  C.  B m 

Dye,  Nathan 276 


E 


Eberhart,  J.  F 151 

Ebertshauser,  Peter 717 

Ebinger,  Rev.  C.  F 194 

Eckert,  John 523 

Eckert,  M.  I, 376 

Edsall,  J.  K 592 

Ellis,  Joel 47 

Erickson,  Capt.  Christian 704 

Erickson,  J.  A 20 

Ernst,  Capt.  George 692 

Ernst,  J.  H 39 

Evans,  E.  W 99 


Fair,  J.  A 686 

Fair,  F.  F 679 

Farnum,  H.  A 653 

Farwell,  W.  W 457 

Patch,  E.  P 566 

Felton,  C.  H 489 


722 


INDEX. 


Fenn,  J.  G 202 

Field,  Marshall 3°3 

Fischer,  Louis 702 

Fitch,  Dr.  C.  M 388 

Foley  T.  A 599 

Fonda,  Dr.  D.  B 103 

Forsyth,  Jacob 87 

Fraser,  George 3°9 

Frey,  L.  A 662 

Fricke,  H.  C 3' 

Frink,  H.  F 122 

Friuk,  Johu '39 

Fuller,  M.  W 127 


G 


Gage,  J.  N 223 

Gage,  L.  J 271 

Galloway,  A.  J S31 

Ganske,  Rev.  W.  H 3*1 

Gardner,  P.  G 559 

Garrity,  Thomas 329 

Gaugler,  Moritz 248 

Gauss,  E.  F.  L 172 

Gerardin,  Victor 27 

Given,  G.  W 638 

Gliues,  A.  P 613 

Goode,  Thomas 108 

Gorges,  J.  A 616 

Gorman,  P.I, 3&2 

Goudy,  W.  C 119 

Gough,  R.  S 299 

Gray,  Prof.  Elisha 79 

Gray,  P.  W...   333 

Greenebaum,  Henry 567 

Groenebaura,  Rev.  Otto 622 

Gross,  S.  E 383 


H 


Hagen,  Capt.  P.  N 514 

Haggard,  S.  B 73 

Hahne,  William 480 

Hakanson,  Alfred.  M.  D 407 

Hall,  Z.  M 37 

Hallett,  R.  C 114 

Halsey,  Rev.  L.  J 105 

Hamilton,  R.  J  577 

Hamilton,  William 483 

Hammer=trom,  I,udwig 629 

Hammett,   Edward 300 

Hannahs,  J.  M 85 

Hansen,  H.  C 244 

Harrison,  C.  H 307 

Harrison,  C.  H.,  Jr 563 

Haskell,  L.  P 552 

Haskin,  J.  H 412 

Hastings,  Robert 634 

Hatch,  A.  F 294 

Hausler,  Martiu 520 

Hawley,  C.  M 343 

Haynes.  Rev.  N.  S 397 

Hedrich,  E.  F 512 

Henderson,  C.  M 391 

Hennebohle,  Frank 403 


Henuing,  F   F 13 

Henrotin,  Dr.  J.  F 581 

Hervey,  Robert 237 

Hews,  Dr.  C.  D 53 

Hill,  R.  S 173 

Hill,  T.  E 584 

Hoffman,  Mathias 557 

Holden,  C.  C.  P 419 

Hollesen,  Sivert 245 

Holley,  L.  G 359 

Hoos,  G.  H 332 

Rowland,  H.  I '. 598 

Hoxie,  J.  R 7 

Hubbard,  Dr.  Theodore 275 

Huber,  Jacob  591 

Huehn,  Jonas 708 

Huestis,  I.  N 474 

Huey,  C.  P 491 

Hufmeyer,  John 673 

Hughes,  J.  0 23 

Hull,  Delos 211 

Humphreville,  T.  L 209 

Hunt,  H.  H 221 

Huntington,  Alonzo    430 

Huutington,  Charles 389 

Huntington,  John 369 

Hutchinsou,  C.  G 234 

Hutchinson,  J.  O 553 

Hutchison,  Francis 538 


Ingraham,  G.  S 287 


Jackson,  Peter 16 

Jacobs,  F.  1 573 

Jewett,  E.  A 348 

Johnson,  Capt.  Christopher 93 

Johnston,  Shepherd 312 

Johnston,  W.  S 207 

Jones,  F.  E.  R 155 

Jones,  J.  H 401 

Jones.  S.  D 499 

Jones,  S.  J.,  M.  D.,  1,1,.  D 159 

Jones.  W.  H 311 

Jung.J.  J 683 

Juug,  Mathias 716 

Jung    Peter 711 

Junius,  Peter 700 

Junk,  Joseph 41 


K 


Karuatz,  Henry 67 

Karthauser,  Nicholas 518 

Kay,  A.  A. 640 

Kay,  J,  A 466 

Kay,  John 628 

Keeler,  W.  O.   161 

Keil,  Sebastian 6n 


Keith,  Edson 149 

Keller,  Celestial 246 

Kelso,  A.  W 162 

Kemper,  Henry .; .620 

Kemper,  W.  J 51 

Kennedy,  A.  D 597 

Kennedy,  J.  M 23 

Kilcran,  Frank 630 

Kirabell,  M.  N 528 

Kinne,  I.  D 604 

Kirscht,  P.  N 371 

Klehm,  G.  C 372 

Kleindieust,  Eduard 469 

Knall,J.0 661 

Knapp,  Asa 217 

Knapp,  A.  A 216 

Knopp,  Bernhard ." 718 

Koenig,  David 411 

Koening,  John 719 

Kraetzer,  Albert 712 

Kramer,  T.  L 17 

Kransz,  Nicholas 671 

Kransz,  N.  H 364 

Knewilz,  Charles .657 

Kuhn,  Frank 75 

Kurz,  L.  F.  J.  M 631 

Kuyper,  Cornelius 707 

Kuyper,  Cornelius,  Jr 699 


Lacy,  E.  S 461 

Lanimoris,  A.  J 63 

Landou ,  A.  W 475 

Larimore,  Prof.  J.  W 91 

Lawrence,  Henry 40 

Leahy.  J.  J.,  M.  D 166 

Lee,  William 49 

Lenard,  Robert 682 

Leonard,  C.  M 77 

Lewis,  T.  E 297 

Lindemiann,  Charles 709 

Link,  Ferdinand 263 

Little,  R.  E 406 

Louergan,  Rev.  A.  P 526 

Long,  E.  C 537 

Lovett,  H.  0 247 

Ludlam,  Dr.  Reuben 497 

Luedtke,  Gustave 670 

Lukowitz,  Charles 608 

Lull,  A.  G 541 

Luut,  Orrington 503 


M 


Mack,  Rev.  J.  A 496 

Madary,  Christian 689 

Magee,  C.  D 43 

Magill,  C.  J 424 

Maginnis,  P.  J 70 

Magnussen,  M.  C 414 

Maltby,  J.  A 449 

Mann,  Mathias 199 

Manz,  Jacob 259 

Martiu,  H.  W 632 

Mas  ey.  H.  H 501 

Mattes,  Peter 678 


INDEX. 


723 


Matthews,  P.  P 302 

McCall,  Waiter 684 

McConnell,  Hon.  S.  P 177 

McCormick,  C.  H 167 

McCormick,  C.  H.,  Jr 487 

McCullough,  J.T 325 

McDaniel.  Alexander 188 

McDonald,  James 669 

McEldowuey,  John  484 

McKldowney,  W.  J 52 

McKinney,  George  575 

McLean,  A.  B 255 

McLean,  Dr.  John 58 

McMahon,  James 181 

Meisner,  Joseph 595 

Meredith,  W.  M 353 

Merz,  Gottlieb 349 

Metz,  George 698 

Mewes,  Carl 64? 

Meyers,  W.  H 666 

Migely,  Frederick 374 

Miller,  B.  C.,  M.  D 83 

Miller,  Frederick 361 

Miller,  Nicholas 517 

Montgomery,  W.  B 660 

Moore,  Dr.  F.  B 59 

Morris.  John 284 

Muno,  Peter 614 


N 


Neff,  Z.  A 5<> 

Neuberger,  Hugo 260 

Newton,  C.  D.  L 668 

Nichols,  C.  L 429 

Nommensen,  Edward 404 

Nordenholt,  George 218 

Northrop,  H.  M 357 

Novak.  F.  H 165 

Nowlen,  A.  J 596 


O 


Ollendorff.  Aaron 437 

Olson,  Nicholas 601 

Ortmayer.  Andrew 317 

Osgood,  E.  S  68 

Oswald,  Louis 60 


Pardridge.  Edwin 431 

Parker,  F.  W 24 

Parmelee.  E.  D 548 

Parsons,  W.  B 422 

Pearsons.  J.  A 112 

Pecher,  Joseph 405 

Peck.  F.  W 339 

Perkins,  A.  H 22 

Perry,  Rev.  F.  N.  R 203 

Peterman,  G.  H 55 

Petersen,  A.  A 410 

Petersen,  Martinus 413 


Petrie,  C.  W 667 

Peugeot,  E.  F 262 

Phelps,  O.  B 140 

Phelps,  W.  W 266 

Philbrick,  G.  A 623 

Pinney,  D.  H 154 

Piper,  C.  E 268 

Polk,  Wesley 562 

Powell,  G.  N 109 

Pratt,  Dr.  Leonard 589 

Pregler,  A.  C.  T 477 

Preston,  A.  H 213 

Prindiville,  John 129 

Proesel ,  John 370 

Prosser,  T.  T 89 

Pullman,  George  M 231 


Q 

Quirk,  Capt.  Bartholomew 65 

Quirk,  Capt.  Daniel 76 

Quirk,  Col.  James 380 


Raap,  J.  H 42 

Ranney,  O.  D 527 

Raymond,  Rev.  M 178 

Reedy,  W.  H 208 

Reich,  Christopher 66 

Reinberg,  Peter 368 

Reis,  J.  A 240 

Reis,I.  J 652 

Reis,  Nicholas 522 

Rendtorff,  Herman 687 

Rexford,  Norman, 481 

Rice,  J.  H 98 

Rice,  J.  M 363 

Richey,  A.  D .606 

Ringgenberg,  Peter 648 

Ristow,  Julius 249 

Ristow,  Otto 617 

Roberts,  Mrs.  M.  A 367 

Robinson.  H.  M 125 

Roelle.  Joseph 676 

Rogers,  G.  M 235 

Rogers,  J.  G 147 

Rogers,  Philip 524 

Roger-,  T.  S 558 

Rollo,  W.  E 146 

Roth,  Gerhard 677 

Rounds,  H.  E 205 

Rubey,  P.  J 663 

Rumsey,  J.  S 314 

Rumstick.  Henry 377 

Rusk.  Richard 242 

Russell,  J.  J 310 

Rutershoff,  Rev.  Joseph 511 

Ruth.L.C 586 


Sage,  R.  H 323 

Sanger.J.  Y 439 

Sauer,  C.  H 644 

Schade,  Henry 473 

Schade,  N.  L 706 


Schaefer,  Maternus 505 

Scheurmeier,  Henry 358 

Schiesswohl,  J .  C 618 

Schillo,  Adam. 701 

Schirra,  Joh  n 688 

Schmedtgen,  H.  A 615 

Schmidt,  K.  G 535 

Schmitz,  Mathias 675 

Schoen,  John 714 

Schreiber,  Michael 373 

Schroyer,  C.  A 36o 

Schuette,  Rev.  B.  J 519 

Schuetz,  Philip 681 

Scott,  Willard 423 

Seamens,  Capt.  Stephen 355 

Shearburn,  G.  W 362 

Shortall,  J.  G 447 

Shurtleff,  Benjamin 101 

Sickinger,  Jacob 610 

Simon,  Peter 715 

Simon,  Simon 250 

Simons,  Ed  ward 697 

Simons,  Edward,  Jr 693 

Simpler,  J.  A 400 

Skinner,  S.  P 438 

Smith,  Charles 201 

Smith,  C.  B 587 

Smith,  Dr.  D.  S 571 

Smith,  I.  G 319 

Smith,  James 464 

Smith,  L.  J 45 

Snow,  W.  B 540 

Sohm,  A 556 

Sommerville,  Dr.  A.  R 71 

Spalding,  Jesse 175 

Sparrow,  H.  S.,  M.  D 408 

Sparrow,  Richard 659 

Spikings,  R.  Y 465 

Spikings,  W.  H 633 

Springer,  T.  G 72 

Stafford,  J.  F 341 

Starr,  Eliza  A 664 

Stead,  William 515 

Stengel,  John 720 

Stewart,  Franklin ...642 

Stewart,  Gen.  H.  L 95 

St.  John,  Everitte 485 

Sube.  G.  K.  F 705 

Sulzer,  Frederick 525 

Swain,  E   D 479 

Sweet.  J.  A 426 

Swett,  Leonard 9 


Taguey,  Thomas 278 

Teall,  E.  M 225 

Thiele,  Christian 564 

Thilo,  Mrs.  E  A 691 

Thomas,  Rev.  H.  W 441 

Tobey.  J.  D 187 

Tobey,  Wales 163 

Tompkins,  Rev.  James 533 

Tope,  Dr.  J.  W 351 

Toppan,  J.  S 394 

Torkilson,  Capt.  Andrew 251 

Travis,  C.  W 402 

Trimingham,  R.  N 256 


724. 


INDEX. 


Turner,  C.  W 

Turner.  John 

Turner,  J.  B 

Turner,  J.  W 

Turner,  Leighton . 

Turner,  T.  A 

Turner,  T.  M 

Tyler.  W.  O 


U 


Unold,  John 551 


Van  derSyde,  Goris.. 

Van  Natta,  John 

Voltz,  Louis 


W 


Waller,  Henry. . 
Waller,  Dr.  J.  D. 


.470  Warner,  Francis 269 

.463  Warren,  Daniel 418 

.170  Warren,  J.  M 337 

.467  Washburn,  D.  E 356 

.324  Webb,  A.  F 565 

.600  Weber,  Henry 455 

.320  Weber,  Michael 198 

.281  Webster.  T.  H 118 

Weimer,  George 506 

Weller,  Frederick 703 

Wemple,  L.  C .'. 243 

Wendt,  F.  J 612 

Wenzlaff,  Carl 641 

Wenzlaff,  C.  A 326 

West,  William •    .186 

Westergren,  C.  0 322 

Wheeler,  C.  T 19 

Wheeler,  J.  R 588 

Wheeler,  U.  H..'. 435 

Wheldon,  Thomas 478 

White,  Dr.  W.  S 508 

Wiedhof,  G.  W 32 

.253  Wiedinger,  B.  M 156 

.219  Wietor,  Henry 513 


.  61 

.  69 
555 


WilcoT,  W.  L 625 

Willard,  C.  W 655 

Winandy,  Michael 607 

Wingate,  Albert 488 

Winkelman,  Henry 30 

Winston,  John 643 

Wiorn,  Martin 639 

Withrow,  T.  F 335 

Wittbold,  George 713 

Wojtalewicz,  F.  M 654 

Wright,  J.  H 646 

Wright,  W.  G 645 


Young,  J.  P 500 


Zender,  John 521 


liiiifilr s 

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